NEW YORK CITY PREP  REPORT
by Ron Naclerio, New York City Editor of the HOOP SCOOP &
Michael Moore, New York City Middle School & Elementary School Editor of the HOOP SCOOP
Published June 17, 2005
*** Denotes will be a 5th Year Player when reaches senior year in high school

Danny Green, 6'5, Sr, 2G, Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY
New York City Metropolitan Area HOOP SCOOP Player-of-the-Year

FIRST TEAM ALL-METRO NEW YORK
Position	Player	Height	Class	Hometown	High School	State	College
C	Curtis Kelly	6'9	Jr	New York	Rice	NY
PF	Derrick Caracter	6'9	Jr	Elizabeth	St. Patrick	NJ
PF	Lance Thomas	6'8	Jr	Newark	St. Benedict's	NJ
WF	Earl Clark	6'8	Jr	Rahway	Rahway	NJ
2G	Danny Green	6'5	Sr	Manhasset	St.  Mary's	NY	North Carolina
SECOND TEAM ALL-METRO NEW YORK
Position	Player	Height	Class	Hometown	High School	State	College
C	Andrew Bynum	6'11	Sr	Metuchen	St. Joseph's	NJ	Connecticut/NBA
PF	Brandon Costner	6'8	Sr	West Orange	Seton Hall Prep	NJ	N.C. State
PF	Antonio Pena***	6'7	Jr	Oakdale	St. Thomas More	CT
2G	Edgar Sosa	6'3	Jr	New York	Rice	NY	Louisville
2G	Larry Davis	6'3	Jr	Middle Village	Christ the King	NY	N.C. State
THIRD TEAM ALL-METRO NEW YORK
Position	Player	Height	Class	Hometown	High School	State	College
PF	Tyrell Biggs	6'8	Sr	Ramsey	Don Bosco Prep	NJ	Pittsburgh
PF	Jonathan Mitchell	6'7	Jr	Mt. Vernon	Mt. Vernon	NY
2G	Melquan Bolding	6'4	Soph	Beacon	Beacon	NY
2G	Corey Fisher	6'1	Soph	Elizabeth	St. Patrick	NJ
PG	Levance Fields	5'10	Sr	Brooklyn	Xaverian	NY	Pittsburgh

FOURTH TEAM ALL-METRO NEW YORK
Position	Player	Height	Class	Hometown	High School	State	College
PF	Shamari Spears***	6'6	Jr	Blairstown	Blair Academy	NJ
PF	Gary Inman	6'8	Sr	Montverde	St. Joseph	NJ	Rutgers
WF	Jaron Griffin	6'6	Sr	Manchester	Manchester	NJ	Rutgers
2G	Corey Stokes	6'4	Soph	Newark	St. Benedict's	NJ
PG	Eugene Harvey***	5'11	Jr	Newark	St. Benedict's	NJ
FIFTH TEAM ALL-METRO NEW YORK
Position	Player	Height	Class	Hometown	High School	State	College
WF	Tyson Johnson	6'5	Sr	Manhasset	St. Mary's	NY	Monmouth
2G	Ricky Torres	6'4	Sr	Bronx	St. Raymond's	NY	St. John's
PG	Kyle McAlarney	6'2	Sr	Staten Island	Moore Catholic	NY	Notre Dame
2G	Mike Coburn	6'1	Soph	Mt. Vernon	Mt. Vernon	NY
PG	Vic Morris	5'11	Sr/Jr	Bayside	Cardozo	NY	Hofstra
SIXTH TEAM ALL-METRO NEW YORK
Position	Player	Height	Class	Hometown	High School	State	College
WF	Jeff Robinson	6'5	Soph	Elizabeth	St. Patrick	NY
WF	Lance Stephenson	6'4	8th	Brooklyn	I.S. #96	NY
2G	Stephen Woods	6'3	Jr	East Elmhurst	McClancy	NY
PG	Malcolm Grant	6'1	Jr	Brooklyn	Paul Robeson	NY
PG	Erving Walker	5'6	Frosh	Middle Village	Christ the King	NY

FIRST TEAM ALL FRESHMAN METRO NEW YORK
Position	Player	Height	Class	Hometown	High School	State	College
PF	Samarto Samuels	6'9	Frosh	Centereach	Our Savior New American	NY
PF	Mookie Jones	6'5	Frosh	Peekskill	Peekskill	NY
2G	Ashton Gibbs	6'2	Frosh	West Orange	Seton Hall Prep	NY
2G	Khalif Staten	6'2	Frosh	Brooklyn	Lincoln	NY
PG	Erving Walker	5'6	Frosh	Middle Village	Christ the King	NY
FIRST TEAM ALL MIDDLE SCHOOL METRO NEW YORK
Position	Player	Height	Class	Hometown	High School	State	College
PF	Javon Pinkston	6'4	7th	Brooklyn		NY
WF	Lance Stephenson	6'4	8th	Brooklyn	I.S. #96	NY
2G	Durrant Scott	6'3	8th	New York		NY
2G	Davontay Grace	5'10	7th	Brooklyn		NY
2G	Lamont Jones	5'9	8th	Bronx		NY
SECOND TEAM ALL MIDDLE SCHOOL METRO NEW YORK
Position	Player	Height	Class	Hometown	High School	State	College
C	Paul Bilbo	6'6	8th	Hempstead		NY
WF	Dexter Strickland	6'2	8th	Rahway		NJ
2G	Deron Lamp	5'10	8th	New York		NY
2G	Steve Whittingham	5'9	7th	Bronx		NY
PG	Tevon Sledge	5'5	6th	Spring Valley		NY

Editor's Note:  Naclerio's list of the top 296 seniors, 197 juniors, and 124 sophomores; Naclerio and Moore's list of the 69 freshmen; and Moore's list of the 12 8th graders, 10 7th graders, and five 6th graders can be found by clicking below on Naclerio & Moore Rank Em:  The Top High School & Junior High School Players in New York City.

Senior Class is Down, but the Future is Bright for the New York Metropolitan Area
by Clark Francis, Editor & Publisher of the HOOP SCOOP

                    Unfortunately the level of high school basketball talent in New York City, which always has been one the biggest hotbeds for talent in the nation, is really down.  And nowhere is this better illustrated than on the six All-Metro New York City Teams, which include the top 30 players in the Metropolitan Area regardless of class and position, as only 11 players - 6'9 Jr Curtis Kelly from New York (Rice) NY, 6'3 Jr Edgar Sosa from New York (Rice) NY, 6'3 Jr Larry Davis from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 5'10 Levance Fields from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'4 Ricky Torres from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'2 Kyle McAlarney from Staten Island (Moore Catholic) NY, 5'11 Vic Morris from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, 6'4 8th Grader Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (I.S. #96), 6'3 Jr Stephen Woods from East Elmhurst (Monsignor McClancy) NY, 6'1 Jr Malcolm Grant from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY, and 5'6 Frosh Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY - on the list are from "The City."  And only four of these players (Fields, Torres, McAlarney, and Morris) are seniors.  Part of this is just due to a down cycle, but the fact that the parents of the a lot of the top up-and-coming players are moving to places like Long Island, Westchester County, Connecticut, and New Jersey, as they make more money and achieve upward mobility in our society, is also taking its toll.  And diluting the talent level even further is the fact that an alarming number of the top players are going the prep school route and many of them (i.e. Antonio Pena) aren't even waiting until they are seniors in high school to make the move.  Thus, explains why basketball in the city is down, while, at the same time, the IS8 Spring League and Fall League and the club teams (i.e. the Long Island Panthers, New York Gauchos, Team Next, et al.) that travel all over the country and play in major national tournaments with players who compete in NYC on a regular basis are as strong as ever. 
                    Also more than making up for the lack of talent in the senior class is the number of great young players on the horizon.  As a matter of fact, four of the top five players - 6'9 Jr Derrick Caracter from Newark (St. Benedict's NJ, 6'8 Jr Earl Clark from Rahway (H.S.) NJ, 6'8 Jr Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, and 6'9 Jr Curtis Kelly from New York (Rice) NY - in the New York Metropolitan Area are juniors; 6'3 Jr Edgar Sosa from New York (Rice) NY and 6'3 Jr Larry Davis from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY have already verbally committed to Louisville and N.C. State; and 6'7 Jr Antonio Pena from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT and 6'7 Jr Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY are both prime targets of a lot of Big East schools.  And backing this point up even further is the fact that the junior class has already passed the senior class, as there are 12 juniors and only 11 seniors ranked on our six above All-Metro New York City Teams.  There also are five sophomores - 6'4 Soph Melquan Bolding from Beacon (H.S.) NY, 6'1 Soph Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'4 Soph Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'1 Soph Mike Coburn from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'5 Soph Jeff Robinson from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ -  who are good enough to be ranked among our top 35 sophomores nationally; 5'6 Frosh Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY is ranked among the top five freshmen in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP and promises to be the next great point guard from New York City; and 6'4 Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (I.S. #96) NY is the #2 ranked 8th Grader in the nation and is already a key player on the New York Panthers 17-Under traveling team.  There also are some other outstanding freshmen, like 6'2 Frosh Ashton Gibbs from West Orange (Seton Hall) NJ, 6'9 Frosh Samarto Samuels from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 6'3 Frosh Khalif Staten from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'5 Frosh Mookie Jones from Peekskill (H.S.) NY, 6'3 Frosh Sylvan Landesberger from Flushing (Holy Cross) NY, 5'10 Frosh Terrell Holloway from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, and 6'1 Frosh Travon Woodall from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, and the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classes are off the hook, as Stephenson, 6'3 8th Grader Durrant Scott from New York, NY, 5'9 8th Grader Lamont Jones from Bronx, NY, 5'10 8th Grader Deron Lamp from New York, NY, 6'6 8th Grader Paul Bilbo from Hempstead, NY, 6'2 8th Grader Dexter Strickland from Rahway, NJ, 5'10 7th Grader Davontay Grace from Brooklyn, NY, 6'4 7th Grader Javon Pinkston from Brooklyn, NY, 5'9 7th Grader Steve Whittingham from Bronx, NY, 5'11 7th Grader Dashawn Wiggins from Bronx, NY, 5'5 6th Grader Tavon Sledge from Spring Valley, NY, 5'8 6th Grader Shaquille Stokes from New York, NY, and 5'1 6th Grader Sterling Gibbs from Scotch Plains, NJ all have already established their national reputations at their respective age levels. 
                    However, a lot of this is not reflected in Ron Naclerio's latest New York City rankings, because he does not feel like he has the expertise necessary to go into the same type of depth when it comes to ranking players outside of the city limits that he always provided for the five boroughs of New York City.  And this is too bad, because, any way you slice it, the one great player in the senior class from the New York City area this past season was 6'5 Danny Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NJ.  Not only did Green lead his team to 25 straight wins and a #2 ranking in the USA Today prior to losing Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY in the CHSAA State Class AA Title Game, but he also was the co-MVP for the East Squad in the Roundball Classic with 15 points and nine rebounds and had seven points in the McDonald's All-American Game.  In other words, Green turned out to be a lot better than we expected.  Did you know that we had Green ranked #33 on our list of the Top 400 Juniors that we published on February 20, 2004.  But, after seeing him player a number of times in the spring a year ago, I thought he wasn't tough enough nor athletic enough to be ranked that high.  And I said so in print.  Green has come on like gangbusters since then, but this is one I'm happy to be wrong about.  Not only is Green a great 3-point shooter and an extremely skilled basketball player, but he's also a great kid, tremendous competitor, and has an incredible understanding of the game.  So it should come as no surprise that we will rank Green #13 nationally in the senior class when we publish our Final Rankings of the Top Players in the Class of 2005 later this month.  Instead, a quick look at Naclerio's list shows that the #1-ranked player within the city limits is 5'10 Levance Fields, who will be the only senior on his list who will be ranked among our top 100 seniors nationally in our Final Rankings of the Top Players in the Class of 2005.  Yes, the senior class in New York City really is that bad! 

Editor's Note:  I also want to thank Michael Moore, who is the director of the Team Next club team program, which is one of the top up-and-coming AAU programs in the nation, for his help with ranking the top 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th graders on this report.  Obviously without both his and Naclerio's time, dedication, and hard work, the HOOP SCOOP would not continue to be way ahead of the competition in terms of ranking the top players in one of the most important basketball areas of the nation.