Central Florida Recruiting

EYBL – BOO WILLIAMS: PREP SCHOOL PROSPECTS SHINE ON AAU TRAIL

BY PAT STEVENS

HAMPTON, Va. – The first major national event of the travel hoops season took place this past weekend with the first session of Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League getting underway in it’s annual spot of long-time coach Boo Williams’ backyard.

Several prep school players were in action with their 17-under division teams, as BABC went 5-0 with Tilton (N.H.) teammates Georges Niang, Nerlens Noel, Goodluck Okonoboh and Wayne Selden (who mostly played 15U where they reached the championship game).

The Playaz also went undefeated with its backcourt shared by Myles Davis (Notre Dame Prep) and Darrick Wood (NIA Prep).

Albany City Rocks featured New Hampton (N.H.) teammates Zach Auguste and Olivier Hanlan along with Ricardo Ledo (Notre Dame Prep, MA), who averaged just under 24 points per game for the weekend.

Other prep school players included Mike Tobey (Hotchkiss/NY Gauchos/Virginia commit) and Sam Cassell Jr. (Notre Dame Prep/Baltimore Elite).

We managed to catch a pair of games in between session of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament while in town last weekend…

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TODD MAYO NARROWS LIST; 2011 SG HIGH ON MARQUETTE FOLLOWING VISIT

By Matt Whitfield

Todd Mayo is looking to pick a college before the month is up. While he has effectively narrowed his recruitment to four schools that have been on him the hardest of late, one school looks to be quickly emerging as the favorote in the race to land the Class of 2011 shooting guard as his recruitment enters the stretch run.

“I plan on making my decision before April…I’m going to go with the schools that have been on me the toughest,” Mayo told NBE earlier this afternoon. “I know West Virginia, Kansas and Maryland and some other schools have been recruiting me, but they haven’t been on me as tough as Marquette, Baylor, UCF and Oklahoma State, so I might have to go with those four schools. And make my decision by the end of March.”

Mayo just took a visit to Marquette this past weekend and came away pleasantly surprised with the BIG EAST’s Milwaukee representative, despite the weather.

“Marquette…the visit went well and I definitely bond with the team and the coaches real well,” said Mayo. “And Milwaukee is a nice place even though it was snowing. And it went well. It went better than I thought.”

Mayo also enjoyed spending time with the Golden Eagles personable head coach, Buzz Williams.

“Me and Buzz, the head coach, bonded pretty well,” he said. “He’s a tough coach and that’s something I’m looking for. I want a tough coach to push me to my limit and make better to get me closer to my dream and my short term goals.”

Mayo also is planning to visit the other three finalists before a final decision is made at this point.

“I have UCF, coming up sometime, either the 9th or the 12th, I’m sure yet, or it might be the 9th through the 12th,” he said of visiting Central Florida, a recent entry making a strong push in his recruiting sweepstakes. “They have to call me today and we got to figure something out, but I know it’s going to be around that area. I’m going to visit Oklahoma State and definitely get Baylor in there before March [is over].”

NBE will continue to monitor the recruitment of Todd Mayo as it winds down in the coming weeks.

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The BIG EAST conference season has moved into the stretch run and the 2011 Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden is just one week away. You can visit the NBE 2011 Big East Tournament & Tickets page for the event schedule and links to purchase tickets to each and/or all sessions. NBE is uniquely partnered with TicketNetwork.com to bring our readers Tickets to All Sporting Events during ANY season. WE HAVE YOUR SEATS!!
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For travel deals and arrangements, click here: Book Air and/or hotel for NYC and 2011 BIG EAST Tournament

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STEFAN JANKOVIC CLIMBING RECRUITING LADDER TO TOP TIER OF 2012 PROSPECTS

2012 forward seeing recruiting amp up higher with move to Huntington Prep

6-foot-10 Canadian import Stefan Jankovic continues to make a big name for himself on the recruiting trail and his recent mid-year transfer from Kiski to Huntington Prep was aimed to better prepare his game for the college level and the competition he would be facing with the schools recruiting him.

“I made the change because I felt that it was needed, I wasn’t facing the top competition at Kiski that I’m facing now at Huntington Prep, as they play a nationally ranked schedule,” said Jankovic. “Skill development was huge too, I didnt think at Kiski I was developing enough, especially in the weight room, but Huntington Prep is a whole different situation, they have me in the weight room constantly, and practice is tough and I’m getting a lot better.”

Jankovic also feels he has seen the results and his game and body are improving…

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual membership to read more on Stefan Jankovic as the impressive 2012 prospect talks about the transition of moving to Huntington Prep, the improvement in his game since arriving at Huntington and his recruitment, which continues to grow, and although he is still open, he gives a preview of what schools would be at the top of his list today. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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TODD MAYO: SEARCHING FOR OWN PATH TO BASKETBALL GLORY

by MATT WHITFIELD

The basketball odyssey of Todd Mayo’s older brother has been well chronicled, in fact, in many ways, given the rise of the internet, the story was the first of its kind due to the subject’s age at the time we all began hearing about him. That, the locations involved, and a prepubescent teen with a seemingly full mustache made everyone interested in hoops stand up and take notice.

O.J. Mayo was from Huntington (WV) but began playing high school basketball as a seventh grader at Rose Hill Christian School in Ashland (KY). And he didn’t just play with kids five years older than him, he mostly dominated them, averaging over 20 points a game on the varsity in both his 7th and 8th grade years. The hype and microscope followed O.J. throughout his celebrated four-year (or can we say six-year?) prep career, which included another stop at North College Hill HS in Cincinnati (OH), before winding up back home at Huntington (WV) High School. Next came the single season at USC, where Tim Floyd eventually paid for Mayo’s matriculation with his job. Finally, the day critics said would never come back when he was getting so much attention as a 13-year-old did, and Mayo became the third player selected in the 2008 NBA Draft.

The microscope in which O.J. Mayo operated under was always intense. Being a celebrated prospect before turning 14 years old brought all sorts of attention and hangers-on. Just a month prior to the 2008 NBA Draft a story from ESPN alleged Mayo received improper benefits both before, and during, his time at USC. Ultimately, Mayo was found to be ineligible during his time in LA, and the Trojans vacated all 21 wins earned with Mayo on the team while also withdrawing from postseason competition during the 2009-2010 season.

After averaging over 18 points a game in his first two NBA seasons, where he was the runner-up for the NBA’s rookie of the year award in the 2008-2009 season, Mayo’s third season in the NBA has not gone as well. His numbers are down (he’s currently scoring under 13 points a game) and even more damning, he’s in the midst of serving a 10-game suspension for testing positive for the steroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which violates the league’s anti-drug program. Mayo blamed an over the counter supplement, that he didn’t know was banned by the NBA, for the positive test.

So it’s pretty clear that O.J. Mayo has been a magnet for attention over the last several years and that much of that attention has been negative in scope.

Now…imagine trying to be his younger brother.

Not enough context for you?

Okay, imagine trying to be his younger basketball playing brother, a talented guard in your own right trying to make your way in a game who’s talking heads — the holier than thou voices of the “amateur/billion dollar basketball industry” — seem to never pass on a chance to hold up your hero as an example of everything that’s wrong with it.

It’s got to be tough right?

Well, Todd Mayo has been living just outside the glare of that spotlight and in his brother’s shadow, for years now. A 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard, Mayo is now officially a person of interest to some of the same college basketball coaches that once salivated over his more (in)famous brother. In fact, as college basketball heads towards the late signing period this spring, Todd Mayo is among the hottest unsigned names remaining in the 2011 class.

This is his story…

When asked Monday evening by NBE, Mayo rattled off a strong list.

“I got Baylor, Kansas, Marquette, Oklahoma State, Providence, West Virginia and I’m not sure if Pitt’s going to talk to me, but they said something would open up in the offseason. Then just today Donnie Jones just called me from Central Florida.”

Mayo recently had a very good visit to Providence, seeing the Friars upset nationally ranked Villanova, and told NBE he had a visit to Baylor lined up on February 22nd.

At this time he is still talking to all of the coaches recruiting him and he had no favorites, but Mayo did say he planned on making his decision sometime in mid-March.

“I really don’t have any favorites yet because I’m still getting to know all the coaching staffs,” he said. “And I want to be around and take my visits and see how they play and be around players and just vibe with them. I really don’t have a favorite team yet because I just [don't] know where I fit in yet. I’m just looking. Then by the end of this month, the end of February I should know where I fit in. Then by mid-March I really should know where I fit in and make my decision.”

Like his older brother, Todd Mayo has been a bit of a basketball nomad moving from high schools in Ohio to Memphis before landing in the prep school ranks this season, but he has found stability playing for coach Ryan Hurd at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg (MA) this season. He is greatly enjoying the experience of playing on a talent-laden team that is among the best in the country at the prep level.

“[I came to Notre Dame Prep] just to win games and I knew that there was a lot of good talent here,” he said. “And I hadn’t won that many championships in my basketball career and high school career and I just thought Notre Dame had the pieces to win a national championship this year and I just thought it would be the best position for me to come here and play. Before I came here I talked to Will Barton and Antonio Barton. I saw them at Memphis and we had conversation when I saw them out, after the Memphis-Bucks, it was a little summer league event. I just talked to them and I thought Notre Dame would be the best place for me.”

Always gifted offensively, Mayo has learned to concentrate more on the other half of the game playing under Hurd.

“I am more focused on defense, not just offense, because defense is a big part of a prep school.”

Mayo also feels Notre Dame Prep has helped him become much better prepared for the rigors of college basketball and the competition he will see at the next level.

“It [has] helped me by just not settling. And getting to the rim. Mentally and physically, just keeping my head on the court. Just playing through any bad game because every night we play competition.”

Mayo feels he’ll be ready for the college game next season assuming he doesn’t slack off in the offseason.

“I see myself doing pretty good [next season],” he said. It all counts on what I do in my off season. So right after the Notre Dame season and I get qualified and I pick my school and after the National Tournament I go home and not just sit around and just workout in the off season and just get ready for the college level.”

Last month Notre Dame Prep took on South Kent (CT) in a highly anticipated match-up in the Big Apple Basketball High School Showcase over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in NYC. IN a game littered with high-major college talent, including several BIG EAST commits playing for South Kent, Mayo scored 20 points on an array of deep jumpers, drives to the rim and fast break finishes as ND Prep overcame a slow start in an 86-70 victory.

Hurd referred to Mayo as a “beast” after the game when discussing his guard with Zach Smart of NBE, mentioning the high-motor guard can create his shot in traffic, off the dribble, and doesn’t get fazed by Ziploc-tightened defense.

“His ability to take over games this year,” Hurd said of what has impressed him the most of Mayo this year. “I don’t think, since I’ve been here, we’ve had a guy who can put up numbers as quickly as he can. And I’ve had great players.”

High praise from a coach who has seen top talent annually flow from his program to the top programs of college basketball and Todd Mayo is looking more and more like the next in line to do so out of the ND Prep program.

Even with his older brother’s experience of being one of the most hotly contested and highest profile basketball recruits ever, Todd Mayo told Matt Whitfield he is taking his future in his own hands to make the decision that is best for himself.

“My brother, lately, he hasn’t been trying to tell me what college to go to,” said Todd. “It’s a 100 percent my decision and he doesn’t want to interfere with me and my decision because this is going to be the biggest decision of my life and I’m going to become a man after this and he really wants me to become a man and be a better person and want me to fit in wherever. He’s going to be behind 100 percent in whatever decision I make.”

Todd did mention how impressed he was to see his older brother pick a school away from home and excel on his own, outside of the normal comfort zone he had developed. With his brother currently playing in Memphis, many thought the Tigers would be very involved in the recruitment of the younger Mayo, but Todd is looking to take the next step of his life away from his brother’s shadow and get away as well.

“When I moved to Memphis I was looking at Memphis hard when Calipari was there,” said Todd. “But I kind of marked that off my list two years ago. So, I mean maybe it probably will be good for me to get away and play away from home. And just grow up a little bit because I remember when O.J. was out at USC and I was in Ohio I was just amazed how he did that and I want him to feel the same about me when I go off to play.”

Wherever Todd Mayo winds up playing his college basketball comparisons to his older brother will be made.

However, this Mayo is certainly succeeding on his own path to basketball glory and will leave his own mark in the game at the college level for one lucky program.

Note – NBE Staff and RAY MERNAGH contributed to this story

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The BIG EAST conference season might be just getting underway, but it is not too early to begin thinking about tickets for the 2011 Big East Tournament this coming March in Madison Square Garden. You can visit the NBE 2011 Big East Tournament & Tickets page for the event schedule and links to purchase tickets to each and/or all sessions. NBE is uniquely partnered with TicketNetwork.com to bring our readers Tickets to All Sporting Events during ANY season.
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BATTLE OF THE BORDERS SHOWCASE – HUNTINGTON PREP ROLLS PAST COOLIDGE

by RAY MERNAGH

This one was in doubt for about literally 45 seconds or so.

Huntington’s talent, led and orchestrated on the floor by their terrific point guard Charles Lee, swarmed Coolidge from the jump.

Negus Webster-Chan got to the rim in transition, hit a three and then caught an oop back-to-back-to-back. By the time Coolidge coach Vaughn Jones (ex-DeMatha star) got a chance to try and slow things down with a timeout it was 17-0 with barely 3 minutes gone.

And Coolidge is a decent team. They had some players, one in particular that kind of “popped” to me, but Huntington is just too deep and talented for most teams at the HS level. And the Express also get coached, which was the best thing about sitting next to head man Rob Fulford and his staff courtside. They stay on their kids every possession no matter what the score is — taking them to task when they stray from their core principles both defensively and offensively. It’s also done with a great deal of what I like to call “coach humor” — which can be described as things coaches say that would make you laugh pretty hard if you ever had the chance to hear them.

Examples: Sim Bhullar, the 7’4 junior center who recently transferred to Huntington from Kiski, watching as a guard penetrated the lane and scored on an easy layup. “Get Sim,” Fulford told a kid on his bench. As he was coming off the floor Fulford pointed to the first seat on the bench and told Bhullar to sit in it.

“How tall are you?” he asked Bhullar.

“Seven-four,” the kid responded.

“Why are you out of the game?” asked Fulford.

“I didn’t contest the shot,” said Bhullar.

“Do I need to say anything else?,” said Fulford, “contest shots!”

Bhullar went back in shortly thereafter and…contested shots!

Another highly regarded player came in, didn’t run the play that was called and then had a mental breakdown on defense. Fulford calmly called him over and said in a discussion-tone of voice “I’m trying real hard to find a reason to keep you on the floor but you keep doing things that are gonna have you sitting next to me, you got to give me a reason to play you out here.”

Jeremiah Davis, a highly-regarded guard out of Indiana who’s headed for Cincinnati, had some breakdowns as well and Fulford subbed him out. “I can’t play you if you’re gonna do that JD.” Davis went back in and stayed on task.

Stefan Jankovic, the 6’10 junior with enormous skills, got more than a few reminders to run the floor and also to get where he needed to be. Those are just afew examples.

Even Maurice Aniefiok, the strong physical senior guard, didn’t run at one point when Webster-Chan had a breakaway. Webster-Chan ended up losing the ball as he went up and it bounced off the rim. A Coolidge player ended up getting the ball after it came off. “That’s why you run Maurice! Come on man! That will kill us in a close game!” Fulford reiterated his message when Aniefiok came out of the game. “You know better than that man, you have to run.” Aniefok nodded his head.

Huntington won handily but Coolidge competed throughout.

Scouting reports are below and also look for at least three premium updates in the near future — today or tomorrow — on Jankovic, Webster-Chan and others from the event with new schools that are involved and how their recruiting process is progressing.

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual membership to read more from the Huntington/Coolidge match-up as many high-major recruits hit the floor. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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KEEP AN EYE ON IAN BAKER IN 2012 CLASS

Ian Baker Intro: Brother’s Keeper Getting Looks From All Over

By Zach Smart

Is Ian Baker his brothers’ keeper?

Baker, a rising junior at Arlington Country Day school in Jacksonville, Fla., is certainly keeping the Baker name alive and intact on the court. The cerebral combination guard, who averaged 10 points and four assists per game as a sophomore, has been actively pursued by a number of Division-I hardwood homes. One Big East school has been the front runner, with schools from the ACC and CAA looking to sell the kid from the rich basketball bloodline.

Two of Ian’s older brothers, Evann and Jeremy Baker, played for Quinnipiac in the Northeast Conference.

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GIBBONS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS FINAL RECRUITING NOTEBOOK

The Bob Gibbons’ Tournament of Champions wrapped up on Sunday evening and the event lived up to it’s well-earned reputation as one of the elite travel team events annually. Jeff Borzello was on hand for NBE and kept our readers up to date on the latest news and notes and provided evaluations on many of the top players throughout the weekend. How busy was Jeff this weekend? Well, evaluations of 41 players and recruiting updates on 35 of them can be found in the articles posted over the weekend, and linked below for your convenience. The latest recruiting scoops on Adonis Thomas, Shabazz Muhammad, Marshall Plumlee, Cody Zeller, JP Tokoto, Kaleb Tarczewski, Damien Leonard, Nick Jacobs, Adjehi Baru, Winston Shepard, Angelo Chol, Andre Drummond, Chane Behanon, Tavon Sledge, Norvel Pelle, Chasson Randle, Frank Kaminsky, Peter Jurkin, Obi Aget and many, many more that the high-major schools across the country are chasing…

Previous Gibbons Tournament of Champions Coverage:
- Gibbons TOC Day One Recruiting Notes
- Gibbons TOC Day One Recap
- Gibbons TOC Day Two Recap
- Gibbons TOC Day Three Recap
- Alex Murphy Talks Recruiting with NBE

Now we clean out the notebook with several more recruiting updates, including a Team Philly pair (Savon Goodman and Amile Jefferson) that impressed greatly this weekend, an update on Chris Hill who was with OBC this weekend and is still working to qualify for 2010, but also discussed other options for next season with NBE, as well as Daniel Dingle, Devin Brooks, Trashon Burrell, Kamari Murphy, Ge-Lawn Guyn, Jeremy Hollowell, Amir Garrett and Madison Jones in this update…

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read our final recruiting notebook fromt he TOC or any of the other TOC articles from the weekend, as well as any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage.

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SOUTHERN JAM FEST PLAYER REVIEW & RECRUITING NOTES (PART III)

BY JEFF BORZELLO

HAMPTON, Va. – The Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton, Va. is quickly becoming the place to be for AAU events in the spring. It hosted the first leg of the Nike EYBL a few weeks ago, and then hosted the Southern Jam Fest, run by the Hoop Group, this past weekend. While not as loaded as the EYBL, the Jam Fest featured several of the top AAU teams in the mid-Atlantic region, with teams also coming from various states throughout the country (and Canada). In Part I of our Review (found HERE), we took a look at some of the key players with Team Loaded, Boo Williams, Grassroots Canada and more, while in Part II of our coverage (found HERE), we broke down the always talented DC Assault program. Here is the third installment of our look at some of the top players, and their college recruitment, from the weekend with the CP3 All-Stars program as well as Westchester Hawks, Team NJABC and more.

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more of our coverage from the 2010 Souther Jam Fest, as well as any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage.

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