To the delight of coaches across the country, high school basketball is in the midst of a down off-season in terms of high-profile transfers.
In June of 2010, nine Top 100 rising seniors and juniors
had already signaled their intentions to play for a new school, including five-star talents like
Myck Kabongo and
Quincy Miller.
While the transfer train probably has some surprises in store before schools re-open in the late summer and fall, just four Top 100 rising seniors and juniors have made plans to transfer public so far this year.
Here's at a few of those situations and how they will impact the 2011-12 season;
D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, North Central (Indianapolis, Ind.); Jordan Tebbutt, Horizon Christian (Tualatin, Ore.) and Ikenna Iroegbu, Franklin (Elk Grove, Calif.) to Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.)Nobody reloads like Steve Smith. The Oak Hill head coach solidified his backcourt with the addition of two Top 50 players from the Class of 2012 in Smith-Rivera and Tebbutt to join a cast of as many as six solid holdovers from the 2010-11 squad. Iroegbu is a promising point guard prospect from the Class of 2013.
L.J. Rose will play for Westbury Christian next season.
Photo by Michael Henderson
Despite experiencing a great deal of success at Second Baptist, Rose sought a fresh start and will get it at perennial powerhouse Westbury Christian, who went 37-2 and played for a private-school state championship last year. Rose is the highest-profile prospect at Westbury since Ndudi Ebi.
D.J. Fenner, Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) to O'Dea (Seattle, Wash.)Fenner was a freshman sensation in Seattle's Metro League two years ago – averaging over 17 points per game – before moving on to Gonzaga, where he struggled to breakout as a sophomore on a loaded roster. He is back in the Puget Sound area playing for the Seattle Rotary club and set to enroll at O'Dea for his junior season. With Fenner, the Fighting Irish could be the favorite in Washington's 3A classification after going 24-4 a year ago under accomplished (five state titles in 12 years at Garfield) first-year head coach Al Hairston.
Javontae Hawkins, Powers Catholic (Flint, Mich.); Ray Lee, Romulus (Mich.); Elijah Macon, Marion-Franklin (Columbus, Ohio) and Evan Payne, Walsh Jesuit (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) to Huntington Prep (W.Va.)Huntington Prep head coach Rob Fulford struck gold in Michigan by landing a pair of backcourt talents in Hawkins and Lee. Hawkins, a 6-5 wing, averaged 17.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game as a junior at Powers Catholic. Lee helped Romulus go 45-4 over the past two seasons. Macon is a 6-foot-8 one-time West Virginia verbal commitment who adds even more size to a Huntington Prep frontcourt that already includes 7-4, 350-pound
Sim Bhullar and 6-9
Stefan Jankovic. Don't sleep on the Express next winter.
Javarion "Jay" Simpson, Central (Champaign, Ill.) to La Lumiere (LaPorte, Ind.)La Lumiere took its program national last season, bringing in talents like
Obij Aget,
Antonio Drummond and
Hanner Perea and scheduling the likes of Academy of the New Church, Blair Academy and Findlay Prep. The addition of Simpson, a 6-8 forward already committed to Purdue, is another big step toward relevance for the Indiana boarding school.
Other notable transfersAnrio Adams,
Franklin (Seattle, Wash.) to
Garfield (Seattle, Wash.)Taj Adams,
West Adams Prep (Los Angeles, Calif.) to
Fairfax (Los Angeles, Calif.)Carl Brown III,
Valley (Louisville, Ky.) to
Western (Louisville, Ky.)Anthony Dallier,
North Allegheny (Wexford, Pa.) to
Northfield Mount Hermon (Northfield, Mass.)Anthony January, home schooled last year to
Taft (Woodland Hills, Calif.)Peter Jok,
Roosevelt (Des Moines, Iowa) to
Valley (West Des Moines, Iowa)Maurice Kirby,
Poston Butte (San Tan Valley, Ariz.) to
Basha (Chandler, Ariz.)Pierson Ro,
LACES (Los Angeles, Calif.) to
Fairfax (Los Angeles, Calif.)Geno Thorpe,
Shaler Area (Pittsburgh, Pa.) to
Blair Academy (Blairstown, N.J.)Gavin Thurman,
Southeast (Wichita, Kan.) to
Wichita Heights (Wichita, Kan.)
