File Photo by Todd Shurtleff
Tyler will take his serious hops overseas.
1. Stepping Out
For a 6-foot-11 kid, Jeremy Tyler (San Diego, Calif.) is remarkably athletic and a real jumper. But not many saw this leap. In a real shocker, the junior post told yahoo.com reporter Dan Wetzel Wednesday that he will skip his senior year and play ball in Europe for two years before likely holding down the No. 1 spot in the 2011 NBA draft. At least one current blue chipper from the current senior class – John Wall, Lance Stephenson or Renardo Sidney – has been speculated to follow the bold path of 2007-08 MaxPreps Player of the Year Brandon Jennings to Europe. As of today, none have made that commitment. But Tyler, who has tremendous athletic talent, a short fuse and lots of room for improvement, will follow the advisement of legendary shoe man Sonny Vaccaro and expand his game abroad. This could have major repercussions to the way young can’t-miss basketball standouts approach their professional basketball careers. Tyler will be the first American-born basketball player to leave high school early to play overseas. We’re betting now that he won’t be the last. Unless the NBA changes its rules.
adidas Dunk Champion - Jeremy Tyler San Diego, CA
Tyler in action
2. Oh Henrys
Xavier Henry, the multi-talented 6-6 off guard from Putnam City (Oklahoma City, Okla.), announced this morning his commitment to Kansas. The first-team MaxPreps All-American and his older brother C.J. Henry — a former first-round pick of the New York Yankees — held a press conference at school this morning about his commitment. Xavier Henry was granted a release from his letter of intent to Memphis when coach John Calipari left last month and accepted the same post at Kentucky. C.J. Henry was already at Memphis but will also transfer to Kansas, where their parents both attended and played basketball. The younger Henry, who led Putnam City to a state title this season, considered following Calipari to Kentucky. Thursday he said that "I've always loved Kansas, I've always watched them and it's always been a dream school for me." See story. Now we'll see how this move effects the college plans of Wall and Stephenson, who have each mentioned Kansas as a possible landing spot.
File Photo by Henny Ray Abrams/McDonalds
Henry (red) will take his game - and defense - to Kansas.
3. Forty Years and Counting
At 76 and with 834 wins, Cordova (Rancho Cordova, Calif.) baseball coach Guy Anderson continues to defy time. He is featured in this superb piece by Sacramento Bee reporter Joe Davidson. Anderson shows no signs of slowing down in this his 40th season as the Lancers are 12-7. His victory total is the third highest in high school baseball history and he’ll be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame this summer.
4. All eyes on Schuster
After two straight no-hitters it starts to get ridiculous. That’s why all eyes nation wide will be on Mitchell (Port Richey, Fla.) senior left-hander Patrick Schuster on Tuesday (April 28), his next scheduled start. Schuster fired his fourth straight no-hitter on Monday, a 5-0 win over Pasco when he struck out 17. The Florida-bound standout is 8-0 this season with 110 strikeouts in 55 innings with a 0.64 ERA.
5. Committed to Volleyball
Sylmar (Calif.) senior Tyler Honeycutt is a MaxPreps and Parade All-American in basketball but that's not stopping him from keeping a commitment to his volleyball teammates. Even though certainly coaches and fans of UCLA, where he'll play college hoop next year, are no doubt wishing he would start focusing on basketball the 6-8 forward is finishing out his senior year by completing his volleyball career. He may be the most dominant player in Southern California as the Spartans are 28-1. See story in Los Angeles Times.
National High 5 is a regular feature highlighting the top high school sports news and features on the Net. Let us know if there are some interesting reads that we’ve missed. E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.