MaxPreps 2014-15 Preseason Top 25 Basketball preview: No. 6 Huntington St. Joseph Prep

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The bar has been set high for first-year Huntington St. Joseph Prep (W. Va.) head coach Arkell Bruce.

Predecessor Rob Fulford built the program from the ground up, turned the Fighting Irish into a national overnight and recruited one of the most talented prospects of the last decade (Andrew Wiggins) to Huntington – not exactly a high school hoops hotbed.

Until now.

See the entire preseason national Top 25



Outside of Findlay Prep, Montverde Academy and Oak Hill Academy, nobody has sent more players to the Division I level over the last five years than Huntington St. Joseph Prep.

Despite the coaching change, the talent flow from Huntington to major college programs all over the country will continue under Bruce.

This year's roster is highlighted by a plus-sized front line featuring 6-foot-11 Thomas Bryant, 6-10, 290-pound Levi Cook and 6-8 Ted Kapita, who could pass for a SEC defensive end.

Newcomer Karim Ezzeddine, a 6-9 French import, could also be a factor for the Fighting Irish.

"Nobody has better bigs than we do," Bruce said. "We've got a group that's going to be tough to compete with."

Not to be overshadowed, the backcourt has its fair share of firepower as well. Wing Miles Bridges is a five-star junior prospect and guards Ronshad Allen-Shabazz and Curtis Jones can fill it up.



View gallery of Huntington St. Joseph Prep preseason photo shoot

Freshman guard Jonathan Kabongo is another intriguing name on the perimeter. He is the younger brother of former Findlay Prep and Texas point man Myck Kabongo.

Huntington St. Joseph Prep's last five years:
2013-14 – 28-5, No. 11 final national ranking
2012-13 – 30-3, No. 5 final Academy Top 10 national ranking
2011-12 – 28-2, No. 3 final Academy Top 10 national ranking
2010-11 – 25-3
2009-10 – 27-5{PAGEBREAK}

State Association/Division:
Independent. Fighting Irish players attend St. Joseph Central Catholic School in Huntington, W.Va., and live with host families in the area. Huntington St. Joseph Prep is a college prep basketball academy housed within a pre-existing private school. St. Joseph Central is a member of the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission.

Enrollment:
St. Joseph Central Catholic has an enrollment of around 200 students. Huntington St. Joseph Prep has an enrollment that equates to the number of players on the team's roster at that time.

Head coach:
Arkell Bruce

Career record:
This will be Bruce's first year as head coach at Huntington St. Joseph Prep, though he was instrumental in getting the program off the ground when it was known as Mountain State Academy and housed in Beckley, W.Va. Former head coach Rob Fulford translated his on-court success and recruiting ability at HSJP into an assistant coaching position at Missouri under Kim Anderson.



Former Fighting Irish in college/pro basketball:
- Herve Aholode, Gardner Webb junior forward
- Maurice Aniefiok, North Texas junior wing
- Sim Bhullar, Reno Bighorns (NBDL) center
- Jeremiah Davis, Ball State junior guard
- Gorgui Dieng, Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA) center
- Ibby Djimde, Southern Illinois junior center
- Williams Gabriel, New Hampshire sophomore forward
- Montaque Gill-Ceaser, Missouri freshman forward
- Javontae Hawkins, Eastern Kentucky sophomore guard
- Stefan Jankovic, Hawaii junior forward/center
- Aleksander Kesic, Charleston junior forward
- Moses Kingsley, Arkansas freshman forward/center
- Travon Landry, New Mexico State freshman guard
- Jalen Lindsey, Providence freshman forward
- JaQuan Lyle, IMG Academy post-grad guard
- Elijah Macon, West Virginia freshman forward
- Ron Mvouika, Missouri State senior wing
- Evan Payne, Loyola Marymount freshman guard
- Josh Perkins, Gonzaga freshman guard
- Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Florida State freshman guard
- Patrick Strake, Texas Tech junior forward
- Negus Webster-Chan, Hawaii junior wing
- Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA) guard
- Dominic Woodson, Tennessee sophomore center{PAGEBREAK}

Miles Bridges (6-7, Jr., F)
Top 25 2016 prospect according to 247Sports Composite has offers from Kansas, Michigan State and North Carolina State among others.

Thomas Bryant (6-11, Sr., F/C)
Considered leader for Rochester, N.Y., native and Top 25 senior prospect.

Levi Cook (6-10, Sr., C)
Big bodied center was longtime West Virginia commitment but recently opened things up.

Ivan Gandia (6-1, Jr., G)
Has played internationally for Puerto Rico.

Impact newcomers:

Ronshad Allen-Shabazz (6-3, Sr., G)
Appalachian State verbal commit



Karim Ezzeddine (6-9, So., F)
Has played internationally for France.

Curtis Jones (6-3, Jr., G)
Top 100 junior guard has several ACC and Big Ten offers.

Jonathan Kabongo (6-3, Fr., G)

Ted Kapita (6-8, Sr., F)
Arkansas, Florida, Memphis and Missouri involved with powerful forward.
{PAGEBREAK}

Circle the date: First-year coach Bruce certainly didn't hold back on the scheduling front. The Fighting Irish will get their first big test Dec. 6 at the Marshall County Hoopfest in Kentucky against preseason No. 9 Arlington Country Day.

The road gets really tough in January with matchups against defending Illinois state champ Whitney Young (Chicago), Quality Education Academy (Winston-Salem, N.C.), three-time defending Mississippi state champ Callaway (Jackson) and No. 16 Our Savior New American (Centereach, N.Y.) at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.

Tournament time: It's technically not a bracketed tournament, but the Fighting Irish will host the Huntington St. Joseph Prep Invitational Jan. 29-30 with games against Kennedy Charter (Charlotte, N.C.) and The Miller School (Charlottesville, Va.).



If things go their way, the Irish hope to end their season in New York City for the Dick's Sporting Goods National High School Tournament.