PG Mike Conley (Memphis Grizzlies)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

RIVALS

SCOUT

Lawrence North High Indiana (Indianapolis, IN)

Ht: 6'1
Wt: 170
PPG: 11.3 (Jr year)

Ranked the #18 Recruit overall by Scout.com. Ranked #1 point guard by Scout.com. Considered an elite point guard. Teams with Greg Oden to form one of the best 1-2 punches in high school basketball. Ranked #26 overall by Rivals.com.

Has offers from tOSU, Arkansas, Michigan St, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Illinois and Indiana.

Profile Updated: 3/23/06

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

SCOUT PREM 8 FEB 05

Conley says Wake Forest is his leader. Conley does however, have his list down to five main schools: Wake Forest, Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Arkansas.

“We both like Wake Forest and Ohio State. I know I want to play with him and he wants to play with me.” (Daequan Cook)

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

Losing Cook to WF would hurt really really bad.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

SCOUT

North Carolina was in to see Conley play.

[wadc45]

It appears as though Conley (rated the #6 PG by Rivals) is Wake's prime target at PG, but the #1 PG in the country by Rivals, DJ Augustin, the #2 PG in the country by Rivals, Tywon Lawson, and the #8 PG in the country by Rivals, Javaris Crittenton, also list HIGH interest in Wake. DJ is not listed as having any offers at this point (his coach says it is understood that all his favorites either have verbally offered or will offer), and Javaris does not have a Wake offer at this point. UNC seems very interested in Augustin and Conley, and GT is hard after Tywon, Javaris, and Will Walker, the #20 PG by Rivals.

Should be interesting to see how this all plays out. At least at OSU, Conley knows that there is no other major PG targets that we are going after. Our coaches have supposedly been to see Walker play, although he favors GT, and Tory Jackson seems to like scUM an awful lot. That really only leaves Conley as the only true-PG we are recruiting. That has to count for something...

[wadc45]

Rivals Premium

2/16/05

From the Arkansas site...Arkansas is heavily recruiting three point guards. Marcus Larence, Willie Kemp, and Mike Conley, Jr. All three have offers from the Hawgs. The article concedes that Wake is Conley's current leader, but that Arkansas, Illinois, and OSU are still in pursuit.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

SCOUT


2/16/05

Per Illinois site......Conley has narrowed his choices down to Wake Forest, Illinois and tOSU, with Wake in the lead. Says he will visit all three schools again before making a decision.

[wadc45]

Rivals $

3/1/05

From the UNC site...Conley has a new top 4 and it's Wake (leader), UNC, Illinois and Ohio State. All four have offered.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

LINK


3/6/05

lawrence north 60, arlington 45
Oden's 18 blocks rock No. 1 Knights
Wildcats avenge earlier loss behind their 7-foot sensation

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By Jeff Rabjohns
<SCRIPT ********************><!--document.write(''+'jeff.rabjohns'+'@'+'indystar.com'+'');//--></SCRIPT>jeff.rabjohns@indystar.com
March 5, 2005


In one of the most anticipated high school basketball games in years, Lawrence North got its revenge.

Junior center Greg Oden blocked 18 shots, and the Wildcats survived a frenetic and physical test to stop top-ranked and unbeaten Arlington 60-45 Friday night in a battle of state title contenders.

The Lawrence Central Class 4A sectional semifinal was a rematch of Arlington's 70-60 victory Dec. 17 that knocked defending state champion Lawrence North from its perch as the top-ranked team and helped vault the Knights into the No. 1 spot.

Arlington, bidding to become the first Indianapolis Public Schools team to win a state title since Broad Ripple in 1980, ended the season 23-1.

In tonight's final at 7:30, third-ranked Lawrence North (19-2) plays Cathedral (13-8). The Irish turned a 12-10 first-quarter deficit into a 74-49 rout of Tech in the first game.

Six hundred tickets are available for tonight's game, and they go on sale at 6:30 p.m.

Lawrence Central's 3,000-seat gymnasium was overflowing, with fans sitting in the aisles and standing in the four corners.

Oden finished with 12 points and seven rebounds to go with his 18 blocked shots. Junior guard Mike Conley had a team-high 16 points to lead Lawrence North, which went on a 16-0 run to turn a 35-32 deficit into a 48-35 lead with 4:15 to play.

Indiana University recruit Deonta Vaughn, a senior guard, scored 18 points to lead Arlington. The Knights shot 8-for-30 in the second half and went scoreless for nearly eight minutes from the middle of the third quarter to the middle of the fourth.

People began lining up at 2:15 p.m. Friday for the 600 remaining tickets that went on sale at 5 p.m. When the doors opened, approximately 500 people were lined up at the front entrance and another 500 at the rear entrance, leading to hundreds being turned away.

The crowd included Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser, Ohio State coach Thad Matta and North Carolina assistant Joe Holliday. All three schools are among those ardently pursuing Conley. Oden is expected to be among the top picks in the 2006 NBA draft.

Oden had 10 of his blocked shots in frenetic and physical first half that ended with the Wildcats up 32-25.

Call Star reporter Jeff Rabjohns at (317) 444-6183.

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Conley had a team high 16 points in the win.

[wadc45]

Scout $

3/6/05

By Kyle Lamb of Bucknuts...Conley and Oden did not make it over for yesterday's upset, but Conley watched it on TV. He was glad to see the Bucks win. Matta saw him and Oden play on Friday. He likes the way the guards play in Matta's offense. Wake still leads.

[crazybuckfan40]

Ok here is how I see it. If we can get D. Cook to make a decision sometime early over the summer, and then IU cans Davis. Then Conley and Oden want to play together and would like to play with D. Cook so they all end up at tOSU and we become a top 10 team very fast.

I can dream can't I.

[msj2487]

Haha, I'll dream with ya! However, it certainly seems that Matta has all the cards of the deck in his hands right now. He gave us more than what we could have hoped for this season, has us in on plenty of top prospects for both the '06 and '07 classes and has a commitment in the '08 class. Now it just depends on how he plays these cards. Certainly winning the B10 tourney this year can only make things 10x better.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

RIVALS$

3/11/05

Defending champ Lawrence North Prevailed over rival Indianapolis Pike, 54-46. The game was the Indianapolis regional 4A's opening semifinal match-up.

Conley had 16 points for the winners.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

3/14/05


Lawrence North rode a swarming defense to repeat as Indianapolis Regional 4A champions with a 56-42 triumph over North Central.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

LINK

3/20/05

Conley had 17 points and 7 assists in the win.

lawrence north 71, terre haute south 52
'Cats poised for a repeat
Braves have no answer for Oden

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=210 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=10></TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD>Lawrence North's Mike Conley (right) puts up a shot against Terre Haute South's Armon Bassett. -- Matt Kryger / The Star


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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#eeeeee>Related content


• Preps Plus news, school pages and more
• Ask the expert: Pat McKee
• Boys scoreboard

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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#eeeeee>Multimedia


Lawrence North - Terre Haute South photo gallery
Roncalli - Washington photo gallery
Knightstown - Forest Park photo gallery

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By Pat McKee
<SCRIPT ********************><!--document.write(''+'pat.mckee'+'@'+'indystar.com'+'');//--></SCRIPT>pat.mckee@indystar.com
March 20, 2005


Balanced, efficient, explosive and businesslike.

All four terms were fitting Saturday for the Lawrence North High School boys basketball team.

With Greg Oden scoring 20 points to lead four players in double figures, the defending champion and third-ranked Wildcats earned a shot at another state title with a 71-52 victory over Terre Haute South in the Class 4A semistate at Southport Fieldhouse.

"We're on a mission," said Oden, the 7-foot junior who added eight rebounds, two blocks, three assists and triggered a game-clinching burst for the Wildcats (23-2), who will face No. 2 Muncie Central (27-1) in Saturday's State Finals at Conseco Fieldhouse. "And the mission's not over."

Despite 74 percent shooting (28-of-38) and offensive balance that saw junior Mike Conley chip in 17 points, senior Brandon McPherson add 15 and senior Donald Cloutier score 11, it still took a late surge for Lawrence North to put away the Braves (22-6).

Terre Haute South, which had only senior Armon Bassett score in the first half, rallied from a 19-point third-quarter deficit to trail just 52-44 on two free throws by Anthony McNeal with 6:18 to go.

But Wildcats coach Jack Keefer then switched his team to a 1-3-1 zone defense, and Lawrence North responded with a 14-0 blitz over a 3:13 span. The burst included two Oden dunks, a Cloutier dunk, a Cloutier tip-in, a McPherson finger-roll and two Conley layups to seal the result.

Bassett topped the Braves with 29 points, 19 coming in the first half when Lawrence North took a 34-19 advantage. McNeal, who added eight points, was South's first player other than Bassett to score, 3:12 into the third quarter.

"We knew (South) would get on a run," Oden said. "They weren't a team to lay down and die, but we were able to play through it. I thought Brandon McPherson took over for part of the fourth quarter."

McPherson credited the Braves for forcing the Wildcats into some sloppy play, but he said he never doubted his team.

"They came at us hard," McPherson said. "But I knew if we stayed strong with the ball, we would be OK."

Terre Haute South coach Mike Saylor said Lawrence North just wears opponents down.

"I felt like we had a rally going and a chance," Saylor said. "But what do they have, four Division I players and one NBA player? Even when they went 1-3-1, we wanted to penetrate and kick, but we couldn't get it done."

The Wildcats' balance and 14-of-17 shooting led to the big halftime margin. They extended the margin to 42-23 on the second of Oden's four dunks midway through the third quarter before Terre Haute South began its comeback. Several fouls allowed the Braves to chip away, and eight straight free throws early in the fourth quarter prompted Keefer to switch to the zone.

"They had some fine shooters, so I wasn't sure about going to the 1-3-1," said Keefer, whose 'Cats seek to add a third title to those won in 1989 and last year. "But it worked for a couple of minutes, and we were able to get some things going."

At the end, the Lawrence North players were pleased but not euphoric. They had a simple explanation, pointing to the "mission" to which Oden had referred.

"We know what it's like to win semistate and state," Conley said. "We want to defend, and we're all business until then."

Added McPherson: "We're happy. But we know how it feels to win state, so we want more. If we win state, you'll see (emotion)."

Call Star reporter Pat McKee at (317) 444-6182.



Lawrence North 71, TH South 52

<TABLE rules=all width="100%" border=0 frame=box><TBODY><TR><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD>Terre Haute South</TD><TD>8</TD><TD>11</TD><TD>17</TD><TD>16</TD><TD>--</TD><TD>52</TD></TR><TR><TD>Lawrence North</TD><TD>17</TD><TD>17</TD><TD>15</TD><TD>22</TD><TD>--</TD><TD>71</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>