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ST. JOHN’S NORTHWESTERN MILITARY ACADEMY PROFILE

by JEFF BORZELLO

For the most part, New England has been the destination of choice for high school seniors looking to attend prep school or do a post-grad year before college.

If early signs are any indicator, though, a Midwest power could begin to emerge over the next few years.

St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy, the same school that produced former Wisconsin guard Trevon Hughes, is entering its first season with a post-grad program.

“We’ve never had a post-grad program,” assistant coach Bryan Clayton said. “The high school has been around for over 100 years, but this is the first year for our post-grad program. I think it’s something that fills the void, since there are no prep schools in the Midwest. The choices are limited. I mean, in New England, you have Brewster, South Kent, the full gamut, it’s more established.”

The Lancers will have a chance to prove themselves against some of the more experienced post-grad programs this season. They play Brehm Prep (Ill.), La Lumiere (Ind.), Hargrave Military Academy (Va.) and will also participate in the National Prep Invitational, where they face South Kent (Conn.) and Princeton Day (Md.).

They already won two games at the Kankakee Community College Jamboree last weekend and opened their regular season against Summit Christian Academy (Mich.) last Friday.

SJNMA has a 12-man roster, filled with at least six future Division-I players, according to Clayton.

The two players getting the most attention are forwards Martin Bruenig and Brandon Mobley.

Bruenig is a 6-foot-9 forward from Germany who is still getting acclimated to life in the states.

“He’s a Big East kid,” Clayton said. “He’s still adjusting to American basketball; it will take time. But the more people see him, the more they like him. From a potential standpoint, he’s definitely one of our most talented players.”

Right now, Breunig has interest from Cincinnati, Marquette, Iowa State, Hawaii and USC, but one school in particular is standing out.

Mobley is a 6-foot-9 forward from Georgia who had reportedly trimmed his list to Cincinnati, Indiana and South Carolina before his senior year in high school. However, his academics were somewhat suspect, leading several high-majors to back off him.

“He’s maturing; it’s like night and day from when he got here,” Clayton said. “We didn’t think he would make it through the first 10 days of military training, but he’s maturing. It’s about the test score with him. But his recruiting will push up again like it did in high school.”

Right now, Mobley holds offers from Wichita State, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Rhode Island, with interest from East Carolina, South Carolina and Nebraska.

The Lancers also have another potential big-time player up front in Ude Ifeanyichukwu, a 6-foot-10 center from Nigeria.

“He was fresh off the plane when he came here, only got here in September,” Clayton said. “He’s a great kid. But he’s never been instructed on how to play. He has a great motor; he runs the floor. He’s active on the offensive glass and he blocks shots. But he has no post game, so we’re trying to teach him a jump hook, one move and a countermove. He could block five shots per game if he understood spacing.”

He is obviously raw at this point, but he has still heard from Iona, Chattanooga, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Boise State. Clayton did add, though, that Ifeanyichukwu might come back next season to SJNMA.

“He’s a high-mid-major after two years of work,” he said.

On the perimeter, Lawrence Alexander and Josh Humphrey are the two main guns for the Lancers.

Humphrey, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, is the younger brother of Boston College swingman Matt Humphrey, who will sit out this season after transferring from Oregon.

Josh Humphrey was a full qualifier but wanted to see if he could get bigger offers by coming to SJNMA. He currently is getting interest from Horizon and MAAC schools.

Alexander is a 6-foot-2 combo guard from Peoria, Ill., who will run the point for the Lancers.

“Outside of [Breunig] and Mobley, he will probably sign at the next highest level,” Clayton said. “He’s unbelievable.”

Alexander is hearing from Boise State, Rhode Island and TCU. Boise tried to get him on campus for a visit, but he told them he would be signing in the spring.

“We play Brehm Prep within the next month, and I think going against [Oregon] commit] Bruce Barron will help his recruiting,” Clayton said.

Clayton also said that former Simeon (Ill.) forward Rob Robinson is making strides in both his play on the court and attitude off the court.

“He’s a great kid,” Clayton said, adding that Robinson is getting low- and mid-major looks and could get Atlantic-10 looks as the season progresses.

In terms of perimeter depth, Clayton discussed Myles Henry and Rashad Gadson, two guys who could be players at the Division-II level. He called Henry his best defender and talked about Gadson as a competitive player who can knock down open shots.

A military academy in Delafield, Wis. might not seem like a prime location for top-notch basketball players looking to spend another year before college. However, Clayton insists they can recruit anywhere in the country – or the world.

“We’re 20 miles easy of Milwaukee, so we can get any player in Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Chicago,” he said. “We have an international scout from Germany, so we got two kids from Germany. I think we’re going to get one European and one Nigerian every year. I played in California and coached AAU so I have contacts with the grassroots.”

He is not trying to compare his roster to the Brewsters and South Kents of the world; Clayton is confident they can compete with the sort of roster they have right now.

“We don’t need seven high-majors every year; we just need one or two and then we can fill out the roster from there.

“We have a nice niche here.”

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