Hoops Notes: Findlay Prep Not Going Away

Findlay Prep head coach Michael Peck has heard all of the negativity directed toward his program before, but those hoping the program will somehow disappear into the desert surrounding its home base of Henderson, Nev., are about to be disappointed.

“I accept that there are going to be naysayers,” Peck said. “But being here on the ground everyday, I know we are going about things in the right way.”

And Peck’s way has attracted a roster ripe with major conference college basketball talent. Texas-bound Avery Bradley, a native of Tacoma, Wash., saw his stock soar with the Pilots last season, finishing as the nation’s top-rated class of 2009 talent by some media outlets.

Bradley led Findlay to a 33-0 record, the ESPN Rise Invitational title and a No. 1 final national ranking by MaxPreps.com’s Dave Krider. Prep eliminated post-graduate players (fifth-year seniors) after the 2007-2008 season, essentially giving the Pilots a national title in their first year as a four-year program.

Another Texas pledge, 6-foot-9 Canadian-born forward Tristan Thompson, will be the featured talent next year. Thompson landed at Findlay Prep mid-year after coming over from New Jersey powerhouse St. Benedict’s Prep.

Fellow Canadian Cory Joseph, a 6-3 point guard, Issiah Grayson (5-9, G), Godwin Okonji (6-10, F) and Rasham Suarez (6-2, G) are also expected to return after gaining experience last year.

“I’ll be the first one to admit, our setup isn’t for everyone and we don’t force it upon anyone,” Peck said. “We don’t poach kids, but we do provide a need and an environment that allows them the opportunity to get to the next step.

“We aren’t sitting across the street and advertising, we don’t need to do that. We want people to look at us as a positive, a place that gets kids ready and prepared for next level.”

An incoming player – just a freshman – may provide the clearest signal of the program’s sustainability and direction. Peck confirmed Wednesday that Nigel Williams-Goss, a guard from suburban Portland, Ore., identified by multiple talent evaluators as the nation’s top incoming freshman, is expected to enroll next fall.

Playing Oak Hill Academy in the final of the Rise Invitational on ESPN gave Findlay Prep an invaluable opportunity to shine on high school basketball’s brightest stage and Peck’s team took advantage, beating the storied Virginia program 74-66. Interest in the program has skyrocketed.

“(We’ve got) voicemails and e-mails coming out of the woodwork,” Peck said. “There were five or six today that came in and you try to respond to all of them in a professional manner. It’s been difficult to do that. It’s not like we have a staff of eight. It’s just myself and my assistant.

“But it’s been tremendous. You can’t put a number or figure out there in terms of the value for our program.”

After ending last season with just eight players on the roster, Peck hopes to have a steady group of 10 to run with in 2009-10. That means at least four more additions are likely to be made.

“It has to be the right fit. We look at transcripts and it doesn’t matter if they are a four-star or five-star (recruit) … we are locked in on putting the right pieces together,” Peck said.

LAKE CLIFTON RELOADED?

Head coach Herman Harried and Baltimore’s Lake Clifton High School experienced a special season in 2008-09, running the table with a 28-0 record and capturing Maryland’s Class 3A state title in emphatic fashion with a 25-point thumping of Friendly in the final.

Baltimore Sun All-Metro player of the year Will Barton was the catalyst, averaging 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists per game. Despite being listed as a junior, eligibility standards will require the 6-foot-6 guard – who has emerged as one of the elite college prospects in the class of 2010 – to spend his senior year at a prep school.

“One of the things that impressed me most about Will is that as a teenager … he can handle the attention that he’s gotten so maturely,” Harried said. “He is so selfless and that’s what made us so good this year.

“He never came in and said, ‘I’m taking over, I’m the man.’ He came in and fit in and earned the respect.”

Harried rattled off Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Memphis, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh and Villanova as some of the primary schools involved in his recruitment.

No tears for Harried and the Lakers, however. There’s still plenty to like about the Baltimore school’s returning talent.

It starts will Barton’s brother, Antonio, also an All-Metro selection as a junior who joined the Lake Clifton program prior to last season after transferring from National Christian Academy (Fort Washington, Md.). The 6-2 point guard is also a highly-coveted recruit.

“He is our coach on the floor and can really put the ball in the basket,” Harried said.

Adding to the backcourt firepower will be DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) transfer Josh Selby, a Tennessee verbal who is already enrolled at Lake Clifton and attending classes, according to Harried.

Selby was regarded as one of the area’s top players before parting ways with the storied Washington Catholic Athletic Conference program last season.

In the post, 6-7 Karee Watson is a developing force after taking up organized basketball just four years ago, according to Harried.

The Lakers will feature several other promising, young talents, but Harried prefers to see results before recognition, an aspect of the program’s philosophy that keeps his student-athletes motivated.

“The key for us has been hard work, discipline, unselfishness, academics and then athletics,” Harried said. “At the end of the year, they all come together. Hard work is the key.”

Harried, a member of Baltimore Dunbar High School’s celebrated 1983 national championship team and former Syracuse standout who also played professionally in Europe, will begin his 13th year at the school and as head coach next fall. He has served as the athletic director for the last four.

Under his tutelage, the Lakers have compiled a record of 72-6 over the past three years.

“We have a great administration here, great people and I’m from the area. I’m home,” Harried said.

Don’t be surprised if another state title trophy makes Lake Clifton home next March.

HUSTLE POINTS

* USA Basketball announced its 2009-2010 Men’s Developmental National Team last week featuring top sophomores and three freshmen. The group of 21, which will eventually be trimmed down for competitions this year in Argentina and the U17 World Championships in 2010, features an especially compelling set of bigs.

The squad includes 10 players 6-8 or taller, including California’s Kyle “K.C.” Caudill (7-0), Angelo Chol (6-9) and Norvel Pelle (6-9), Connecticut’s Andre Drummond (6-10), Georgia’s Tony Parker (6-8), Illinois’ Mike Shaw (6-8), Kansas freshman Perry Ellis (6-8), Tennessee’s Adonis Thomas and Virginia’s James McAdoo (6-8).

“I think some of them are versatile enough to play a couple of different positions, so that is a bonus,” USA head coach Don Showalter of Mid-Prairie High School in Iowa said.

Tony Wroten Jr. of Seattle’s Garfield High School will join the team in Colorado Springs, Colo., for training beginning Saturday, but due to prior commitments won’t have the opportunity to join the squad in Argentina.

Showalter pointed to St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) forward Michael Gilchrist as another potential addition a year from now if the team is able to qualify for the 2010 FIBA U17 Word Championship.

USA Basketball is also dealing with ongoing complications regarding the dual-citizenship status of Chol, who was born in Sudan and lived in Egypt in 2000 before coming to the United States and landing at Hoover High School in San Diego, Calif. Showalter is optimistic they will be cleared up in time for Chol – who swatted away an astonishing 9.6 shots per game at Hoover last year – to participate with the team this summer.

* While it’s a little too early to start slotting teams into our preseason top 25 for 2009-2010, the addition of Highland (Gilbert, Ariz.) star guard Matt Carlino to defending Indiana 4A state champion Bloomington South puts the Panthers in the conversation for the No. 1 national ranking.

South finished No. 9 in the MaxPreps/National Guard National Rankings and No. 7 in Dave Krider’s Xcellent 25 after going 26-0 this year.

* Incoming freshman Ethan Telfair, the brother of Minnesota Timberwolves guard Sebastian Telfair, would like to follow in Sebastian’s footsteps at Lincoln High School in Brooklyn. Making that difficult is the fact that the family now lives in the Poughkeepsie, N.Y., area.

Ethan, who appeared in the documentary “Through the Fire,” which chronicled Sebastian’s rise from high school straight to the NBA in 2004, is playing this summer with the Juice All-Stars and is considered to be a promising point guard prospect.

* Although travel circuit basketball generally grabs most of the attention during the summer months, defending Washington 3A state champion Franklin will host a major high school tournament this weekend in Seattle.

The adidas-presented “Quaker Summer Slam” features 32 teams, including Seattle-area powers like Federal Way, host Franklin, Garfield, Kentwood, O’Dea, Rainier Beach, Renton and Seattle Prep. Strong Pierce County programs like Bethel, Curtis, Foss Lakes and Lincoln are also in the field, along with out-of-area attractions Mark Morris of Longview and Oregon 5A champion Jefferson of Portland.

The event will be played at Franklin High School, West Seattle High School and The Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club beginning Friday and running through Sunday.