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HOOP SKILLS RECRUITING SCUTTLEBUTT: FINDLAY PREP EDITION

by RAY MERNAGH

Findlay Prep of Henderson (NV) won the State Farm Tournament of Champions this past weekend in Peoria, IL. The three wins has Findlay at 7-0 on the young season, with the mega-star-outfit from Vegas averaging 102.4 points per game while only allowing 67.6 points per.

Cory Joseph, Findlay’s elite guard (see NBE scout Doug Ferguson’s report on him here) was named the tournament MVP after averaging nearly 24 pts, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals for the event on 60% shooting from the field. The all-tournament team included Joseph, Tristan Thompson, Jabari Brown, Quality Education’s Quincy Miller and IMG’s Dwight Powell.

Findlay assistant Todd Simon caught up with me via email right before hopping a flight to Kentucky for this weekend’s Marshall County Hoopfest, where Findlay will face their “first big test” of the season according to Simon against #11 ranked Christ School (NC) on Friday and Our Savior New American (NY) on Saturday.

Here’s a rundown of the uncommitted Findlay kids and the schools Simon is fielding calls from on their behalf…

Godwin Okonji is a 6-foot-8, 225 pound power forward in the 2010 class. Okonji, a native of Lagos (Nigeria), is getting interest from Connecticut, New Mexico, Hawaii, TCU, Wake Forest, Oklahoma, Colorado, San Diego State and UNLV.
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Nick Johnson is a 6-foot-3, 195 pound combo guard from Gilbert (AZ) with phenomenal athleticism. Johnson, a 2011 standout, is being courted by a who’s who of top programs, including Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio State, Oregon State, Stanford, Arizona, Gonzaga, Arizona State, USC and UNLV. Confirmed offers as of this writing are from the two Arizona programs, Ohio State and Gonzaga. Look for Johnson’s stock to explode now that he’s immersed in Mike Peck’s program at Findlay. He’ll get stronger, play harder, and become a leader next year with Cory Joseph leaving for college.
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Jabari Brown is a 6-foot-4, 205 pound guard from the Bay area (Oakland, CA). Brown plays for the Drew Gooden Soldiers in AAU. Brown is making his mark at Findlay already as evidenced by his All-Tourney team selection in Peoria. Currently the 2011 standout is hearing from Washington, Stanford, Cal, UNLV, New Mexico, Arizona, Marquette, Notre Dame, Wake, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon State, and Utah.
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Winston Shepard is a young (class of 2012) 6-foot-7, 200 pound forward from Texas who’s hearing from Texas, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Kansas, Louisville, Arkansas, Memphis, UNLV, Villanova, Arizona, Arizona State, USC, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State and Baylor already.
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Cory Joseph is among the best guards in the 2010 class. As we reported late last month Joseph has narrowed his list to UConn, Villanova, Texas, Minnesota and UNLV. He’s currently planning on visiting UNLV on December 12th.
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Dakeeba Battee Aston is another young (2012) talent who comes in at 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds from the Northern Territory of Australia. Early on he’s hearing from Stanford, St Mary’s, Washington State and Oklahoma State. The fact that St Mary’s Randy Bennett is already involved should shock nobody given the Gaels Australian connections.
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Nigel Williams-Goss is the baby of the group coming from the class of 2013. He’s a 6-foot-3, 180 pound guard who’s already getting interest from the likes of Washington, UNLV, Oregon State and Arizona. Williams-Goss is a Portland, Oregon product who we’ll be keeping an eye on for you.
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Finally the last name is a familiar one in basketball circles. Marko Petrovic is the nephew of late-Nets star Drazen Petrovic. Petrovic is a 6-foot-4, 180 pound guard in the 2010 class out of Zagreb, Croatia. Petrovic is hearing from Rutgers and Northwestern.

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