OHIO HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL REPORT
by Chris Johnson, Ohio & International Editor of the HOOP SCOOP 

                    By our count there have been eight players since 2003 that have played high school basketball at some point in their high school career in the Buckeye State who have been named to the McDonald's All-American Team.  We're talking about LeBron James, Andrew Lavender,  and Ivan Harris in 2003; Daequan Cook in 2006, O.J. Mayo, and Kosta Koufas in 2007, and 6'5 William Buford from Toledo (Libbey) OH and 7'1 B.J Mullens from Canal Winchester (H.S.) OH in 2008.  And, if Billy Walker hadn't been ineligible, 6'6 Delvon Roe from Lakewood (St. Edward) OH hadn't been sidelined with a season ending knee injury in the opening game of the season and 6'8 Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH were a little bit more consistent, that number could easily be 11.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that the race among these four players (Mullens, Buford, Roe, and Gates) is really still almost too close too call, as they all are ranked among the very elite players in the senior class nationally. 
                    In my opinion Mullens gets the nod over Buford due to his rare combination of size, skills and athleticism.  Mullens might be the best white (not including Europeans) NBA prospect at center since Bill Walton dominated at UCLA in the early 1970's.  But, that will only happen if Mullens plays with the passion and intensity that Walton did, and if he remembers he is 7'1, 260-pounds with a 7'5 wingspan and not a Dirk Nowitzki.  Mullens made a name for himself during his freshman and sophomore years playing AAU ball and in particular at the adidas Superstar Camp.  However, he underachieved in high school due to a lack of coaching and good players around him. Then, the opposite occurred during his junior and senior seasons after he transferred to a different high school where he received excellent coaching.  But, Mullens regressed a bit last year while playing AAU ball on the most underachieving AAU team (Ohio Basketball Club) I have ever seen in Ohio. 
                    Buford is a coach's dream, because he always plays within the system and never forces shots, yet he always gets his points.  He has a deadly mid-range jumper, shoots the three well, and can slash with the best of them.  Best of all, Buford does this quietly, never showing much emotion or trash talking.  Roe is a long armed power forward who is a great defender and rebounder and always plays with great passion.  I never like to see anyone get injured, but I was particularly dismayed when I heard his knee injury would be season ending.  There is not a better more personable kid off the court than Roe.  The thing Roe has to remember is that right now he is a power forward, not the wing forward that he was played last summer at the LeBron James U.S. Skills Academy.  Gates could top this list, as, at 6'8, 250-pounds and with long arms and great explosiveness, he has all the tools a post player needs.  But Gates sometimes lets his emotions get the best of him and he often strays too far away from basketball on offense firing up threes, thus negating his size. 
                  In contrast, the Class of 2009 is very average and the top players are borderline top 100 players nationally.  My #1-ranked player in the class is Michigan State-bound 6'9 Jr Garrick Sherman from Kenton (H.S.) who has a solid build at 235 pounds and good quickness and athleticism.  He plays for a non-traditional high school and has not done much on the AAU trail, as he played for the Spiece Indy Heat 16-Under team a year ago, but was on the Columbus Basketball Club this spring.  That is in contrast to our #2-ranked player - 5'10 Jr Carl Jones Garfield Heights (H.S.) OH, who has been nationally ranked and known since the 6th grade.  He also has shown brightly this spring, particularly in the King James Shooting Stars Classic, and, as a result, this quick slick ball handling scoring point guard has picked up a number of scholarship offers recently from Big Ten and ACC teams.  The player in 2009 who benefited the most this April by being seen by the college coaches was 6'9 Jr Drew McGhee from North Ridgeville (H.S) OH.  I had McGhee ranked #12 before, but he now checks in at #3 on my list.  McGhee is a skilled power forward who has gone from getting Mid-American Conference offers to looks by schools like Notre Dame, Saint Louis and most of the Big-10.  And of course there is 6'8 Jr Bobby Capobianco from Loveland (H.S.) OH, who recently verbally committed to Indiana and is a good old-fashioned blue collar power forward that does all of the dirty work inside for the loaded Indiana Elite team.  After that there isn't much separation from #5 to #15 and, as a result, it wouldn't surprise us one bit if somebody ranked in the early teens ended up being in the top five. 
                    However, things return to normal once again with the Class of 2010, as the top two players in the class - 6'8 Soph Jared Sullinger from Columbus (Northland) OH and #6'9 Soph Adreian Payne from Dayton (Jefferson) OH - are both good enough to be ranked among the top 25 nationally and five of the top six in the state all play AAU together with All-Ohio Red, which was the winner of 15-Under Nationals last year and is the best 16-Under Team in the country this year (sorry D.C. Assault).  Sullinger may not be the best prospect in the nation in his class, but he certainly is the most productive.  Sullinger also is a winner, as is evident by the fact that his team has lost only three AAU games since March 2007 (one to a 17-Under team in pool play in a tournament they won, another to Ohio Basketball Club in a playoff game last April, and the last one to DC Assault on a buzzer beater in the championship game of the Hoop Group Jam Fest Pittsburgh last month).  His high school team also was undefeated in games he played in during this same era.  Sullinger is a throwback player who loves to stay in the low post, enjoys contact, and has huge hands, which he uses to catch just about everything. Throw in a huge rear end and the fact that Sullinger has great basketball IQ, thanks to the fact that he has been around basketball his whole life with two older brothers who played in college and a father who is a coach, and it's easy to see why he's one of our favorite players to come down the pike in a long time.  Worst case scenario, Sullinger will be like Alabama's Richard Hendrix.  Best case senario, Sullinger turns out to be the next Karl Malone from the Utah Jazz. 
                    Payne is a long-armed explosive leaper who has improved dramatically since he started playing AAU ball a year ago.  He dominates defensively by blocking shots, ripping down rebounds, and stealing passes in the lane with his length and, as a result, we're tempted to tout him as a young Kenyon Martin.  Both Sullinger and Martin have been invited to the Nike Hoop Jamboree in June and, when the dust has settled, I will be shocked if they are not two of the top five players in camp.  The #3-ranked sophomore in the state is pretty good too, as 5'10 Soph Juwan Staten from Dayton (Marshall) OH is the point guard and quarterback of the All-Ohio Red team.  Staten also uses his quickness to change speeds and play great defense, plus he can drain the three.  Staten has faced all of top point guards in the East and Midwest in his age group and nobody has gotten the best of him.  Dayton got a steal early when Staten committed in March, because he'd be getting a lot of big time attention if he were still on the board.  The player the most on the rise in the class in the state is 6'4 Soph Jordan Sibert from Cincinnati (Princeton) OH due the fact that he did not start most of the year for his loaded high school team.  However, I already had Sibert ranked #5 before April, because I had seen last summer a few times and I don't worry about who starts in high school games, just whether you can play.  Sibert reminds me former Kansas star Kenny Gregory, but with less hops and more basketball skills.  There also is 6'4 Soph Cameron Wright from Cleveland (Benedictine) OH, who has a great frame for a 2-guard and is very explosive.  But he will have to work on his outside shot and free throwing to play that position.  Wright also is still growing and, minus the outside shot, he reminds me of former Cincinnati player Damon Flint. 
                    The Class of 2011 is led by 6'6 Frosh Chane Behanan from Cincinnati (Aiken) OH, who just garnered MVP honors after leading his Ohio Basketball Club team to the 15-Under Championship at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions last weekend in Chapel Hill, NC.  Behanan is a man-child and a freak-like athlete just like Billy Walker.  Behanan has to be top 10 freshman nationally, thanks to his rare combination of size, strength, and explosiveness.  However, he had better watch putting too much weight on too soon, as he already has added 10-15 lbs. since the high school season ended.  It was a close call for #2 in the freshman class between 6'10 Frosh James Price from Lakewood (St. Edwards) OH and 5'8 Frosh Stevie Taylor from Gahanna (Lincoln).  Taylor is a lightning quick point guard who is a great passer, prolific scorer, and true winner, as is evident by the fact that he led his team to the 14-Under Nationals last summer and was the leading scorer in the championship game of the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions this past weekend.  Price is a long, athletic shot-blocking center who has just started playing organized ball a couple of years ago.  He is a young freshman projected to grow at least to 7'0 and also is extremely well coached in high school by Eric Flanney, who has already taught Price a variety of low post moves.  In other words, Taylor is the better player right now, but Price has the size, potential, and coaching necessary to be a pro someday.