[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

3/26/06

Posted on Sun, Mar. 26, 2006
Future looking good for Buckeyes

By Terry Pluto

COLUMBUS - Scribbles in my notebook from the state basketball tournament...

• On the same Value City Arena court Saturday, you could find Ohio State recruits Daequan Cook and David Lighty, along with Malone-bound Linc Rottman. You could see a team like Triway, which represents the best of high school basketball. You could see North College Hill, whose two top players moved to the Cincinnati area from Huntington, W. Va.

• There is nothing illegal or against the rules about O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker moving into the North College Hill district, but it doesn't feel the same as watching Dayton Dunbar win the Division II title with Dayton-area kids, many of whom have played together since they were in junior high.

• Dunbar beat Triway 73-46, ending Triway's season at an amazing 26-1.

After the game, Triway coach Keith Snoddy broke down as he talked about his three seniors -- Linc Rottman, Jamie Breneman and Jeff McCartney. Snoddy started to say, ``I don't have any sons
... '' and couldn't finish the sentence.

• Triway making it to the Division II state final two years in a row is a tremendous accomplishment for a school with no Division I college prospects. It's a testimony to the unselfishness of the players, along with the coaches who have trained these kids going all the way back to elementary school. When a team has a cumulative 3.5 grade-point average, the players remain winners regardless of what happens in the state finals. If that sounds like a cliche, so be it.

• Triway has no reason to be embarrassed. Dunbar is a powerhouse with at least two other future Division I recruits, in addition to Cook. It lost only two games this season -- to Memphis Ridgeway and Indianapolis Lawrence North, the nation's top-ranked team.

• Rottman found himself matched up against Cook. The 6-foot-5 Dunbar forward is ranked the 20th-best senior in the country by Rivals.com, a respected recruiting service. Rottman said: ``Cook is a ridiculous athlete; his hands are so big. I usually can gain ground on anyone when we run down the court. He just took a couple of steps and pulled past me. He made a bunch of free throws; that's great confidence... he's going to Ohio State for a reason.''

• Cook finished with 23 points. He plays way above the rim. His jumper is so-so, and he can be a little sloppy with his ball-handling. When he wants to defend, he's very tough. You can easily imagine OSU coach Thad Matta molding him into a very effective player in the Big Ten. He has NBA-type athleticism.

• The other OSU recruit here was Lighty, the 6-foot-5 jumping jack who scored 20 points for Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph. I liked Lighty a little better than Cook. He's ranked right behind Cook at No. 21 by Rivals.com. Lighty has the ballhandling skills to play guard. He's skinny, about 185 pounds, with thin legs. But he played in the middle of his team's zone defense, and out front handling the ball on offense. He's fearless driving to the basket. He seemed a little more determined than Cook this weekend.

• You add Cook and Lighty to Indianapolis Lawrence North recruits 7-foot Greg Oden (Ranked No. 1) and 6-1 guard Mike Conley (No. 26), and it is truly an incredible recruiting class for OSU.

• Then there's O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker, the two North College Hill stars.

Mayo seemed to breeze his way to 34 points, swishing 10-of-15 shots against Villa Angela-St. Joseph. He has a soft jumper, is an excellent passer, plays like a 10-year NBA veteran and has the body of one at 6-5, 210 pounds. But he does not play with a lot of passion.

• Mayo cut a class on Thursday, which meant the school had to sit him out of Friday's Division III semifinal game. I give the school credit for sitting him out. Mayo has been billed as the next LeBron James. At this point, Mayo is a much better shooter than James was as a junior at St. Vincent-St. Mary.

But I've never seen a high school player pass the ball like James.

• Mayo's teammate is Walker, listed at 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds. Like Mayo, he's a remarkable physical specimen. He's more of an inside player, a leaper.

Neither Mayo nor Walker sweated much on defense. Supposedly, new Kansas State coach Bob Huggins has the inside track on these two juniors.

They probably could use Huggins screaming and using some tough love on them. Both might have gone to the NBA in 2007 but a new rule prohibits players from declaring for the draft until a year after their high school careers.

• I really appreciate how Canton McKinley's players remain under control and play together. They have a superstar in Michigan State-bound Raymar Morgan (ranked No. 48), but Morgan and his teammates really do carry themselves with class. Lots of credit to coach Dave Hoover.

• A personal list of the five best players I saw this weekend in order: 1. Mayo. 2. Lighty. 3. Cook. 4. Walker. 5. Morgan. A strong honorable mention to Dayton Dunbar's 6-9, 280-pound junior center Aaron Pogue (would be great for OSU), along with Linc Rottman and Marcus Johnson of St. Vincent-St. Mary. Rottman's younger brother, junior Jock Rottman, played with a bandage on his nose and must have set a state tournament record for floor burns. His hustle was inspiring.