Best High School Basketball

[tomegun]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

You really can't count Oak Hill in that mix - they recruit players from all over the country. I lived in the Baltimore area for 3 years . . . the greater DC/B'more area is good, but NY is good, Philly is good, FL is good, TX is good and CA is good too - WV seniors play OH seniors every year and the record is about 50-50 over the past 10-12 years so I certainly wouldn't count OH as a bastian of basketball. Huntington HS here in WV is among the top teams this year but that's a oddity in WV.

I agree with you and this is a hard question to answer. The only reason I mentioned Oak Hill is because of what you pointed out; they recruit from all over the country and during the 05-06 season all 5 starters were from the DC area. Their captain now is from the DC area - Nolan Smith - and will be at Duke next year.

Between DC and Baltimore, there may be 4 players that will make the McDonald's all American team.

[Mountaineer]

Originally Posted by tomegun

I agree with you and this is a hard question to answer. The only reason I mentioned Oak Hill is because of what you pointed out; they recruit from all over the country and during the 05-06 season all 5 starters were from the DC area. Their captain now is from the DC area - Nolan Smith - and will be at Duke next year.

Between DC and Baltimore, there may be 4 players that will make the McDonald's all American team.

I'm sure Oak Hill will finish #1 this year. I'd like to see Huntington play them. They beat DeMatha by 12 last week. OJ Mayo is incredible (could go NBA without the new rules) - with 3 other starters going D1 that's not a bad team either.

[Ref Daddy]

Possible Clue ... Top Boy's in 2006. Looks like Chesapeake and Ohio Valley areas win!

1) Greg Oden (7-0, 240, C) - Indianapolis, Indiana (Lawrence North HS)
2) Kevin Durant (6-9, 205, F) - Maryland (Montrose Christian)
3) Brandan Wright (6-9, 200, F) - Tennessee (Brentwood Academy)
4) Chase Budinger (6-7, 190, F) - Carlsbad, California (La Costa Canyon)
5) Wayne Ellington (6-4, 185, G) - Merion Station, Pennsylvania (Episcopal Academy)
6) Demond Carter (5-10, 165, PG) - Reserve Christian School (Reserve, LA)
7) Thaddeus Young (6-8, 205, F) - Memphis, Tennessee (Mitchell Road)
8) Paul Harris (6-4, 215, G) - Niagara Falls, New York (Niagara Falls)
9) Derrick Caracter (6-8, 275, F) - Elizabeth, New Jersey (St. Patrick's)
10) Vernon Macklin (6-10, 190, F) - Portsmouth, Virginia (I.C. Norcom)
11) Tywon Lawson (6-0, 180, G) - Forestville, Maryland (Oak Hill Academy)
12) Spencer Hawes (6-10, 220, C) - Seattle, Washington (Seattle Prep)
13) Jonathan Kreft (7-0, 240, PF) - Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland, FL)
14) DeShawn Sims (6-7, 225, SF) - Pershing High School (Detroit, MI)
15) Duke Crews (6-7, 225, SF) - Bethel High School (Hampton, VA)

[Mountaineer]

Originally Posted by Ref Daddy

Possible Clue ... Top Boy's in 2006. Looks like Chesapeake and Ohio Valley areas win!

1) Greg Oden (7-0, 240, C) - Indianapolis, Indiana (Lawrence North HS)
2) Kevin Durant (6-9, 205, F) - Maryland (Montrose Christian)
3) Brandan Wright (6-9, 200, F) - Tennessee (Brentwood Academy)
4) Chase Budinger (6-7, 190, F) - Carlsbad, California (La Costa Canyon)
5) Wayne Ellington (6-4, 185, G) - Merion Station, Pennsylvania (Episcopal Academy)
6) Demond Carter (5-10, 165, PG) - Reserve Christian School (Reserve, LA)
7) Thaddeus Young (6-8, 205, F) - Memphis, Tennessee (Mitchell Road)
8) Paul Harris (6-4, 215, G) - Niagara Falls, New York (Niagara Falls)
9) Derrick Caracter (6-8, 275, F) - Elizabeth, New Jersey (St. Patrick's)
10) Vernon Macklin (6-10, 190, F) - Portsmouth, Virginia (I.C. Norcom)
11) Tywon Lawson (6-0, 180, G) - Forestville, Maryland (Oak Hill Academy)
12) Spencer Hawes (6-10, 220, C) - Seattle, Washington (Seattle Prep)
13) Jonathan Kreft (7-0, 240, PF) - Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland, FL)
14) DeShawn Sims (6-7, 225, SF) - Pershing High School (Detroit, MI)
15) Duke Crews (6-7, 225, SF) - Bethel High School (Hampton, VA)

Am I missing something? I don't see Ohio listed on here at all . . .

[Ref Daddy]

The Ohio RIVER a.k.a. Ohio VALLEY. Generally covers PA, KY, TENN, Western VA, WV.

[bigdogrunnin]

I have worked in Texas (DFW Metroplex, Houston, and Austin areas), North Carolina, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. I would take a DFW or Houston group anytime versus anyone. LOTS of athletes, runnin-and-gunnin. Of course, if you want to talk "fundamentals," I haven't seen anything come close to the Panhandle in Texas.

[Jimgolf]

Kevin Durant is from Texas, not Maryland.

The top ten or twenty-five lists are not the best predictors of the level of talent in an area. These are usually freak athletes that have natural ablility and/or size far in excess of the rest of the players.

A better test of the talent levels in a region might be the number of D1 players that hail from the area. By example, in 2005-2006, over 200 D1 players were from New York City. There are probably an equal number from the rest of the Greater NY metropolitan area. I don't know the exact numbers for any other region, so I won't claim that they best basketball is in the NYC region. It's pretty good, though, especially in the NYC CHSAA and PSAL AA divisions.

Texas, Michigan, California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio also produce a lot of D1 players. This is mostly a by-product of population; the more players you have, the more skilled the better players will be.

BTW, there actually is a HS "national championship" tournament sponsored by And1.