Brandon Ashley, a multi-talented 6-foot-8 forward at Northern California power
Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.), will transfer to national power
Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) in the fall for his senior season.
Brandon Ashley
Photo by Nike Koza
The
No. 25 recruit in the Class of 2012, Ashley led Bishop O'Dowd to back-to-back Division III Northern California championships.
He was also a key cog for a Drew Gooden/Oakland Soldiers AAU team that won the inaugural Fab 48 tournament in Las Vegas last July.
Ashley will join a team that finished No. 20 in the
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Basketball Rankings and 28-4 overall. Findlay, the 2009-10 mythical national champ, houses players from throughout the country and plays a national schedule, much like a college program.
Findlay coach Michael Peck confirmed the transfer to MaxPreps Thursday and believes Ashley will fit in nicely in all aspects. Findlay just completed its fourth season.
"First of all, he's a great person," Peck said. "He comes from a great family, his mother has done a fantastic job raising him. What makes him so special as a player is how skilled and talented his is. He can handle the ball, is good with either hand, he plays hard. At the end of the day, he's just a winner."
Ashley's numbers have been rather modest over his three-year career in the balanced and defensive-minded O'Dowd program. He averaged roughly 15 points and 10 rebounds a game last season for the Dragons.
"He'll do really well in our (fast-paced) style," Peck said. "He'll be allowed to play to his strengths. He'll flourish in our system."
Ashley is at the Amar'e Stoudemire Skills Academy in Chicago and according to Peck, will enroll at Findlay Prep on Aug. 22.
Bishop O'Dowd coach Doug Vierra told
Jimmy Durkin of the Oakland Tribune: "Brandon's been a huge part of our basketball family for the last three years and a huge part of our success. Everybody on the team wishes him well for his future."
Ashley is the second San Francisco Bay Area recruit to leave a top program for Findlay Prep. The other was incoming Oregon freshman Jabari Brown, who left 2009 state champion Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) to start his junior year.
Brown left Findlay in December of 2009 and finished out his prep career at Oakland High School.
Ashley's mother Lashiem Clark told MaxPreps that she and her son made the decision on Tuesday and that her son felt extremely positive about the move.
"He was light and he was joking - you could tell by his demeanor that he was very happy," she said. "There was a sense of relief. Of course it was a tough decision. He'll be leaving his friends and coaches and family and support system he's had the last three years. But he's willing to do it to take the next step. He wants to be a factor his first year of college.
"The thing is for my son is to be challenged on a daily basis. And boy will he be challenged. Going everyday against Anthony Bennett will definitely challenge him."
Findlay's
Bennett, a 6-7, 230-pound incoming senior, is the nation's No. 44 recruit from the class of 2012.
