not much Celts content

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

I don't know who else this interests, but with this Summer's shoe camps 
having concluded, there are suddenly three New England area players ranked 
in the top ten nationally by Recruiting USA/ESPN.

That alone is very unusual, because NE basketball historically gets dissed 
nationally. But maybe the more remarkable thing is you have two or three 
additional New England prep basketball players ranked high enough currently 
to have a shot to play in the McDonald's All Star game next Spring: right 
now you have five players in the top-24 and another rated #29 according to 
this recruiting service.

I'm not sure if any of these players are affiliated with Leo's BABC team, 
which I noticed was a runnerup at one of the big Summer festivals. I 
wouldn't be surprised if Leo is watching them closely though.

I have a hard time remembering any local players who had a national 
reputation in high school....Caron Butler (a U Conn power forward) is one 
guy and I think Dan Gadzurik (a UCLA center by way of Holland) also prepped 
a year somewhere near Boston. Several future pros played for Leo's AAU club 
(Rick Brunson types) but they weren't really in the national spotlight at 
that age.

You have to go back a loooong way (like Patrick Ewing days) to come up with 
any big names.

Anyway I hope some of you guys get a chance to see these kids play in 
person some weekend or weeknight. Wherever they play, I'm sure you'll see 
some familiar Division I coaching faces taking notes.

This being New England prep basketball, I'm sure some of them play in small 
gyms without rafters or cheerleaders or anything like that. These are 
really "preppy" schools....kids named "Chip" and "Holden" etc.

Anyway, here are some names to watch.

4. Antione Wright 6-7 Groton, Mass. (Lawrence Academy)
8. Marshall Strickland 6-2 Winchendon, Mass. (Winchendon Academy)
9. Rashad McCants 6-3 New Hampton, N.H. (New Hampton School)
17. Torin Francis 6-10 Marion, Mass. (Tabor Academy)
24. Martin Iti 6-11 Winchendon, Mass. (The Winchendon School)
29. Jarrett Jack 6-3 Worcester, Mass. (Worcester Academy)

None are likely to declare for the NBA next summer though. No matter what 
people say, there seems to be a huge drop-off in nearly NBA-ready talent 
this year compared to even the Eddie Griffin/Darius Miles class of 2000. 
This Summer's 01 class was just off the charts.

The list can be found at http://espn.go.com/recruiting/s/010815top75.html

There is also a long article about Torin Francis' self-paid recruiting 
trips at:
http://espn.go.com/ncb/s/weeklyword/0817.html

Joe

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