Hoops Notes: America’s hottest high school hoops city

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the Memphis Grizzlies are dead last in the NBA in attendance.

The city’s major college program is averaging 16,726 fans per game (2,000 more than the Griz) and a flourishing high school scene is drawing big numbers to see nationally-touted teams and players.

Last Saturday at White Station High School in Memphis, a reported 3,500 fans packed the “Spartan Palace” to watch the home team and star guard Joe Jackson get thumped by rival Ridgeway, 89-52. Crowds like that aren't uncommon when the city's AAA powers meet.

With fans flooding to local gyms, two nationally-ranked teams and at least nine major Division I college recruits in the junior and senior classes, Memphis might be the hottest of basketball hotbeds.

Two schools are featured in this week’s Xcellent 25 National High School Boys Basketball Rankings – Melrose at No. 8 and Ridgeway at No. 24. Both are undefeated with a combined mark of 27-0. White Station was a preseason Xcellent 25 selection and nearby Germantown put itself on the radar with an early thrashing of another team on that list in Wheeler of Marietta, Ga.

MaxPreps.com’s computer-generated Freeman Rankings (which measure quality wins and strength of schedule) list 13 Memphis-area schools among the top 25 teams in Tennessee. Ridgeway, Melrose, Memphis Central and White Station – all Memphis public schools – hold down the top four spots, respectively. Germantown is No. 5.

"I attribute it to all of the legends that have paved the way," Melrose head coach Jermaine Johnson said of the city's basketball ascension. "Guys like Penny Hardaway (who played at Treadwell High School), Lorenzen Wright (Booker T. Washington), Elliot Perry (Treadwell) and Keith Lee (West Memphis).

"We've always had the players, but now because of some of the things we are doing, we have kids that qualify. People are starting to take notice."

Individually, three of the state’s top 2010 college prospects call the 901 area code home.

White Station’s Jackson has been a scoring sensation since his freshman year, making 30 points look routine and leading the Spartans to the AAA state championship game the last two years with a title in 2009. Rated the No. 11 2010 player in the country by MaxPreps, Jackson will stay close to play for the Memphis Tigers.

Tarik Black, a 6-8 forward at Ridgeway, is also a top 50 player nationally that will join Jackson in head coach Josh Pastner’s program. A third local star, Chris Crawford of Sheffield, is also a Tiger signee.

At Germantown, 6-4 guard Austin Hollins is headed to Minnesota to play for Tubby Smith and teammate Todd Mayo – the younger brother of Memphis Grizzly O.J. Mayo – has emerged as a hot commodity with college coaches.

Then there is the 2011 class headlined by the Melrose trio of Adonis Thomas, Chris Jones and Bobby Parks Jr.

Thomas, a 6-5 wing, could be a top 10-talent nationally next season, while Jones is an explosive scorer from the point guard position. Parks, Tennessee’s Division II-AA Mr. Basketball last year at Collierville St. George’s, transferred into the program just before the season and has already seen his stock raise playing alongside other elite talents.

White Station junior guard Andre Hollins will be another 2011 standout to keep an eye on.

Melrose's Johnson also believes the arrival of current Kentucky head coach John Calipari to the University of Memphis in 2000 was a positive.

"Coach Calipari changed a lot of things as far as some of the people he brought into this city and outreach through camps and tournaments," Johnson said. "The exposure he brought, winning conference titles, being on ESPN and CBS and all that. All of the sudden Derrick Rose, a kid from Chicago, wants to come to Memphis."

Germantown will be involved in key games on back-to-back nights next week that should clear up the debate over the area’s No. 1 team. The Red Devils will face Melrose in the MLK Jr. Day High School Classic at the Fed Ex Forum on Monday (Jan. 18), then follow at Ridgeway on Tuesday.

The other dates circled on fans’ calendars are Feb. 2 and 13, which is when Melrose faces White Station in a pair of games that will likely decide a champion in AAA District 16.

Drummond gone, but Capital Prep still rising

Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Conn., opened its doors in 2005 and has less 80 high school boys. So when 6-10 rising star Andre Drummond left after his sophomore season for prep school St. Thomas More, an unlikely program on the rise appeared to take a major hit.

But a new star has emerged, and according to stats submitted to MaxPreps.com, he is the nation’s leading scorer among freshmen playing high school varsity basketball. Kahlil Dukes, a 5-10 guard, is averaging 29.1 points per game, which is the 33rd-highest per-game clip in the country.

“He can flat-out score,” Capital Prep head coach Levy Gillespie said. “He played in middle school here at Capital Prep and had some 40-point games and things like that, so we had an idea of what he could do coming in.”

Dukes posted a season-high 43 points last week against Sports and Medical Sciences Academy of Hartford and has topped 30 in six of 11 games.

Although the Trailblazers are just 6-5, two freshmen (Dukes and 6-3 forward Brandon Marshall) and a sophomore (6-3 wing Dewayne Wynn) are the team’s most productive players statistically.

Drummond, who played with the United States’ Under-16  gold medal team in Argentina this summer, wasn’t the only big loss for Gillespie as 2,000-point scorer Stepfan Holley also graduated.

“Guys will come and go,” Gillespie said. “I stay in touch with Andre. We still speak and I’ve seen him play. We’ve been fortunate that we’ve had some guys that can do some nice things. We also have some young guys that will do the same in the future.”

Capital Prep reached the Class S semifinals a year ago and the quarterfinals two years ago. Gillespie has been with the program from the start, which included an 0-20 inaugural record in 2005-06.

Player of the Year talk

There is still a lot of time for additional contenders to emerge, but nine players have jumped out early as MaxPreps National Player of the Year candidates with big numbers and impressive wins. Here they are, listed alphabetically;

Harrison Barnes, Ames (Iowa): Dominated in an ESPN-televised game against Illinois-bound Jereme Richmond and Waukegan (Ill.) in December and has been overmatching in-state opponents for two years now. State title hopefuls in the Hawkeye State have to be looking forward to him moving on to Chapel Hill.

Kyrie Irving, St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.): The Duke-bound guard earned MVP at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic and is averaging 26.1 points per game for the nation’s top-ranked squad.

Cory Joseph, Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.): The Canadian product is posting 17.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.8 steals per game on the nation’s deepest and most talented team. The 2009-10 version of Avery Bradley for the Pilots.

Brandon Knight, Pine Crest (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.): The reigning Gatorade POY and teammates had a roug two-game stretch at the Hawk Kreul Classic in December, losing to Oakland Park Northeast and then Quality Education Academy (Winston-Salem, N.C.) by 22 points. Other than that, it’s been business as usual for Knight with 29.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game and a 13-2 record for Pine Crest.

Doron Lamb, Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.): Lamb captured MVP honors at the Les Schwab Invitational in Oregon despite Oak Hill’s loss to Westchester in the finals. Even with talent like Connecticut-bound Roscoe Smith in the lineup, Lamb is the clear go-to guy for head coach Steve Smith.

Ray McCallum, Detroit Country Day (Beverly Hills, Mich.): McCallum posted huge numbers and led his Yellowjackets to a series of convincing wins over out-of-state opponents during the holidays.

Jared Sullinger, Northland (Columbus, Ohio): Sullinger already popped once this season on national television against Findlay Prep and will have a couple more opportunities against the nation’s best – including Saturday at the Hoophall Classic against Oak Hill Academy. Sullinger is posting a humble 26.4 points and 13 rebounds per game.

Deshaun Thomas, Bishop Luers (Fort Wayne, Ind.): Thomas will share the court with Sullinger at Ohio State next season, which should be a formidable duo given his 34.1-point and 16.4-rebound per game averages. Thomas poured in a season-high 52 points to go along with 19 boards Jan. 2 against Muncie Southside.

Joseph Young, Yates: Right player in the right system at the right time. The future Providence Friar is averaging 27.7 points per game. Teammate Brandon Peters isn't too far behind.

Some other seniors having huge seniors and on the cusp of national consideration;

Ryan Harrow, Walton (Marietta, Ga.): North Carolina State fans have to be anxiously awaiting his arrival. Harrow has topped the 40-point mark twice this season en route to 32.2 points per game.

Corey Hawkins, Estrella Foothills (Goodyear, Ariz.): The 6-3 Arizona State-bound guard is filling up the box scores this season with 34.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 4.4 steals and 3.2 assists per game. The Wolves are garnering serious consideration as Arizona’s best team regardless of class despite being a 3A (up to 5A) school.

Terrence Jones, Jefferson (Portland, Ore.): Still undecided on his college future, Jones averaged 32.6 points and 11.0 rebounds at the Les Schwab Invitational in December – including a 41-point outburst against Seattle power Rainier Beach.

Richaud Pack, Seaholm (Birmingham, Mich.): Seaholm is unbeaten thanks to Pack’s efforts, which have included a 56-point effort last week. Pack, a 6-4 guard headed to Florida International, is averaging 34.8 and 7.3 rebounds per night.

A few juniors of note;

Jahii Carson, Mesa (Ariz.): Even as his team struggled to a 1-3 record, nobody lit up the crowd at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic this season like Carson. Committed to Oregon State, the 5-10 guard is chipping in with 23.9 points and 5.5 assists per game.

Branden Dawson, Lew Wallace (Gary, Ind.): The 6-6 wing forward is making it pretty clear as a junior why schools like Georgetown, Indiana and Purdue are vying for his services, posting 25.4 points, 16.9 rebounds and 5.0 steals per game.

P.J. Hairston, Dudley (Greensboro, N.C.): A future North Carolina Tar Heel, Hairston already has a 53-point game under his belt and is pumping in 29.7 points per game.

Sam Thompson, Whitney Young (Chicago, Ill.): Thompson isn’t putting up the gaudy numbers that others highlighted are, but he picks his spots well. Against fellow Chicago power Simeon, the 6-7 forward tallied 17 points and 14 rebounds. He topped that in the final of the prestigious Proviso West Holiday Classic with 28 and 13.

Josiah Turner, Sacramento (Calif.): A one-time Arizona State commitment, Turner has opened up his recruitment and is out to impress.  Highlighted by a 48-point effort against Pasadena in late December, the 6-3 guard is averaging 28.5 points per game.

And a couple of sophomores;

Perry Ellis, Wichita Heights (Wichita, Kan.): No sophomore slump for the 6-7 forward, who is tallying 26.9 points and 11.3 rebounds per outing.

Michael Frazier, Plant (Tampa, Fla.): ACC and SEC programs are swirling around this 6-3 wing, who is putting up 26.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.