Phil Forte is the leading scorer for national No. 2 Marcus High School of Flower Mound, joining McDonald's All-American Marcus Smart in the Marauder backcourt.
Photo by Keith Owens
Texas state tournament play begins Thursday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, providing an exclamation point for what may turn out to be a high-water mark for high school hoops in the Lone Star State.
While identifying a peak season in any state's hardwood history is a difficult task, consider the evidence in the case of Texas' 2011-12 campaign:
* A dozen prospects in the MaxPreps
Class of 2012 Top 100 hail from the state of Texas, including five of the Top 25. No other state has more than six.
* Seven more Texans appear in the MaxPreps
Class of 2013 Top 100, including four of the Top 15. No. 2 overall prospect
Julius Randle and star twins
Aaron (No. 7) and
Andrew Harrison (No. 4) are among the state's stellar junior crop. No. 12
Matt Jones, a 6-foot-4 guard from
DeSoto, is already committed to Duke.
* Including the state's private schools, which compete in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS), eight different teams have appeared in the national rankings this season. No. 2
Marcus (Flower Mound), No. 9
Prestonwood Christian (Plano), No. 11
Grace Prep (Arlington) and No. 15
Fort Bend Travis (Richmond) all appear in
this week's MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Boys Basketball Rankings presented by the Army National Guard. The
MaxPreps Freeman Rankings (computer-generated) Top 25 include six Texas teams.
Top 100 junior Keith Frazier and Kimball take on Alamo Heights in the semis.
Photo by Keith Owens
"I've never seen a better Texas crop since I started covering high school sports in 2004," Dallas Morning News columnist and MaxPreps contributor Matt Wixon said. "I've been told by some recruiting analysts that Texas is now one of the best, if not the best, states for finding basketball talent. It's obviously not just about football anymore."
Wixon points to the proliferation of club teams as one of the reasons for the explosion of talent, spurred by University Interscholastic League (UIL) legislation passed in 1995. Outside of neighboring California, no state had more teams in Las Vegas last summer for the top showcase events than Texas. A staggering 76 teams made the trip to Nevada for the adidas Super 64 and Fab 48. By conservative estimates, that would put more than 600 select prospects in action against some of the nation's top competition that weekend alone.
It's all led to a highly anticipated UIL final four weekend on the campus of the University of Texas, where crowds of nearly 17,000 will be on hand to watch the big-school finals on Saturday.
"Football is still the king in Texas, but the state basketball tournament is always a hot ticket," Wixon said.
The Class 5A final could be particularly intriguing. Defending champ Marcus is looking to cap a historical run. Behind the play of Oklahoma State-bound guards
Marcus Smart – a McDonald's All-American – and
Phil Forte, the Marauders own an incredible 112-6 record over the past three seasons with three straight trips to Austin.
One the other side of the bracket is 35-3 Fort Bend Travis and the Harrison twins. Both teams will have to survive tough tests in the semifinals to make that happen.
A
Kimball (Dallas)-
Yates (Houston) final in 4A would also have the state's attention. The programs have combined for the past three state titles in that classification and Yates has become one of the nation's premier attractions with its attack-mode style.
UIL boys basketball state tournament scheduleFrank Erwin Center – AustinThursday semifinals8:30 a.m. (1A Division I) –
Clarksville vs.
Olton10 a.m. (1A Division I) –
Kerens vs.
Mumford2 p.m. (3A) –
Argyle vs.
Estacado (Lubbock)3:30 p.m. (3A) –
La Vega (Waco) vs.
Miller (Corpus Christi)7 p.m. (4A) –
Alamo Heights (San Antonio) vs.
Kimball (Dallas)8:30 p.m. (4A) –
Ryan (Denton) vs.
Yates (Houston)Friday semifinals8:30 a.m. (2A) –
Brock vs.
Cole (San Antonio)10 a.m. (2A) –
Idalou vs.
White Oak2 p.m. (1A Division II) –
Grady (Lenorah) vs.
Graford 3:30 p.m. (5A) –
Fort Bend Travis (Richmond) vs.
Warren (San Antonio)7 p.m. (1A Division II) –
Calvert vs.
Roxton8:30 p.m. (5A) –
Marcus (Flower Mound) vs.
Naaman Forest (Garland)Saturday finals8:30 a.m. – 1A Division I final
10 a.m. – 3A final
2 p.m. – 2A final
3:30 p.m. – 4A final
7 p.m. – 1A Division II final
8:30 p.m. – 5A
