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Basketball Recruits?

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Mayes is expected to play this year...


I assume Matta is now pushing hard for Clemente and Bell/Hererra. With Oden a definite NBA casualty next year, getting Cook and Conley would be nice but we may need to target another big man...
 
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http://nbadraft.net/profiles/sylvestermayes.asp
(for the poor asses-like myself)



Sylvester Mayes
Birthdate:
NBA Position: Point Guard
College: Juco
Class: Sophomore
Ht: 6-2
Wt:
Hometown: Ft Wayne, IN
High School: Ft Wayne

2004 Stats

NBA Comparison:

Strengths: Tremendous shooter with great range. Can catch and shoot equally as well as he can shoot off the dribble. NBA caliber physique with outstanding athleticism. Has sensational body control and is able to avoid the charge when penetrating. Has great explosion off the dribble. Can get to the rack on any defender. Is an excellent passer and penetrater. Is a scoring point guard who makes others around him better. Has good floor vision, and is a slick ball handler.

Weaknesses: Needs to concentrate all the time on defense. He has the ability to shut his man down when he stays focused. Tends to get bored with lesser competition.
 
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Here's the free verison on Bustnuts:

A week after announcing that he had accepted 6-4 guard Ronald Lewis as a transfer from Bowling Green, Ohio State men’s basketball coach Thad Matta accepted a verbal commitment from Redlands Community College point guard Sylvester Mayes.

The 6-2 Mayes made an official visit to OSU this past weekend after visiting UNLV previously. Mayes canceled a visit to Indiana upon verbaling to the Buckeyes. He will play one more year at Redlands, located in El Reno, Okla., before joining the Buckeyes in 2005-06. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.

“Coach Matta is a real great guy,” said Mayes, who was also looking at Purdue, Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas and Houston. “Ohio State has been recruiting me for a long time. They have always been one of my top options. I think it’s a real good situation for me because I should be able to step in and play right away.”

Mayes could be OSU’s point guard of the future – at least for 2005-06 and 2006-07. He was ranked as the nation’s 19th-best prospect by Hoop Scoop coming out of Fort Wayne (Ind.) Wayne last year. But academic deficiencies sent him the JUCO route.

“Ohio State fits my style real good,” Mayes said. “They like to open up the floor and run a lot of ball screens. That should help my style a lot. Coach Matta also likes ballhandlers to create shots. That’s one of the things I do well as well.”

Over the weekend, Mayes attended OSU’s football game with Marshall at Ohio Stadium. He also got to play in a pickup game with OSU’s returning players as well as Utah prep star Brayden Bell, who was also visiting.

“That went real well. I got along with the guys real good,” Mayes said. “I felt I played real well and I thought we played real well together. I think I fit in with that team real well.”

When asked what swung it for Ohio State, Mayes said, “It was definitely the people. There were good people there in Columbus and good people there in Ohio. I definitely felt at home there.”

Recruiters first learned of Mayes as an underclassman at South Bend (Ind.) Clay. He transferred to Wayne as a senior, when he averaged 26.9 points per game.

Last year, he averaged 14.4 points per game at Redlands.

“My strengths, basically, are shooting and ballhandling,” Mayes said. “I’m pretty good from long range. I’m also a pretty good passer and can see the floor pretty well. I’m quick and I love to push the floor. Probably my biggest weakness that I’m working on right now is just to play with more intensity on every play. If I do that, I think I’m going to be in really good shape at the college level.”

Redlands coach Steve Eck added, “He’s a scorer and a tough kid who has really improved his defensive intensity. He’s got a really good mid-range game, which you don’t find a lot.”

Matta and his staff now have two scholarships left for current high school seniors. They seem to be targeting one big man and one guard with those last two spots. OSU then could have as many as five scholarships to offer current high school juniors next year, when the state of Ohio is brimming with top talent.
 
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The dispatch had an article stateing his verbal (he is the kid from the oklahoma juco, right?)... Sounds like several good schools were after him, and he choose the bucks...

It said he is considered a top 12 juco talent... and when he was in high school he was considered the 18th best highschool kid in his class... it also said he didn't make grades so he went the juco route.
 
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Lewis Eager To Return Home

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Lewis Eager to Return Home
By Kyle Lamb
Date: Sep 15, 2004

When Ronald Lewis made the decision to transfer from Bowling Green, he could have chosen any of a number of schools. But he elected to come back to his hometown of Columbus and play for the Buckeyes. Kyle Lamb recently talked with Lewis about his decision.

Who says you can't go home again? Certainly not Bowling Green transfer Ronald Lewis, who just last week announced he was transferring to the Ohio State University.

Lewis, a 6-4 guard who played high school ball at Columbus Brookhaven, averaged 17 points a game this past season as a sophomore for the Falcons.

Immediately after announcing his intentions to transfer a few weeks ago, Lewis received a barrage of phone calls from interested schools inquiring about the possibility of luring him.

Within the first hour, Lewis said his brother, Lamont, who was handling his recruitment, received calls from seven different schools. When it was all said and done, Lewis trimmed his list from about 30 possibilities down to 10.

"I just wanted to go to the place that best suited me," Lewis said. "In the end, Ohio State just became the best option."

Ohio State became the best option for Lewis over Seton Hall, Evansville, West Virginia, Penn State, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Massachusetts, and San Diego State, amongst others.

As an athletic combo guard, Lewis comes to the Buckeyes as an explosive scoring option that gets to the free throw line, and makes free throws-a rarity for Ohio State teams the past few years.

There's no hiding the fact Lewis aspires to get to the NBA, and he feels playing point guard gives him the best option to do just that.

"I'm willing and I know how to play the point guard position," Lewis explained. "I just know that a lot of players my height in the NBA play point, so that's just what I'm getting ready for."

Contrary to popular belief, however, Lewis has no preconceived notions of where he will play at Ohio State.

In fact, that has not even been discussed with Coach Matta to this point.

"I think he's going to play me as a combo guard," Lewis said. "We really haven't talked about it."

Quickly, Lewis has found himself fitting in with the players at Ohio State, and said the team has been really easy to get along with.

While Lewis will have to sit out the 2004-2005 season due to NCAA transfer regulations, he will have the chance to work on a jump shot as well as his ball handling.

Any improvements to those facets of his game could be a lethal combination to an already impressive repertoire of explosive ability.

"My strengths are driving and scoring, really," Lewis said. "I know how to score in a lot of different ways."

Lewis is happy to be back at home near his mother and brother, both of who he is very close to. He's also thrilled they will be able to see him play quite often.

Lewis' top priority at Ohio State, however, will simply be to win.

"I'm a person that is determined to win, and will do anything for the team to win," Lewis said. "Winning is the ultimate goal here (at Ohio State) and that's what I came here to do."

He has been very happy with the direction Coach Matta is taking Ohio State.

"Well from what I see, Coach Matta is going to do very well here," Lewis added. "I've seen what he has done at Xavier and I think he will be able to do the same at Ohio State as well. We have enough talent and enough skill in each of our players."

And then there's that little thing about returning home…

"Being able to come back home and play, it doesn't get any better than that," Lewis said.


* More can be read on Lewis and his commitment to Ohio State in next month's edition of Bucknuts the Magazine.
Click to expand...
 
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Looks like Clemente is now a longshot with Mayes in the mix. Hererra and Bell are now priorities, as are Cook, Ode, and Conley next year. Could you imagine having three commits all who are ranked #1 in the country at their position? Apparently it is not TOO farfetched if you read the Schott in the Arm...
 
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