OJ Mayo dunk and apparent ejection

[earmitage]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

Well not really hit the roof - it didn't even make it high as the second level. As strong as the kid is, I don't think he could hit the roof with a ball. I know it's WV, but the coliseum does seat over 12,000 - there was just a little over 10,000 in attendance.

And you guys can blast the kid and the school - Lord knows I have, but remember he IS a kid. And show me a high school with that much talent on it from a little place like Huntington, WV. Every kid on that team was born and raised in Huntington. OJ moved away but came back, Bill Walker at Kansas St. was supposed to be in that class too and someone said there's a kid in Mississippi that moved away when he was in 8th that is going to a major D1 next year too. Teams like Oak Hill recruit for their talent - Huntington just got "lucky".

I think he's going to have difficulty next year too, but you cannot deny his talent.

Larry, actually Bill Walker played varsity as an 8th grader in Kentucky. I watched Walker, Mayo and Ellis win the state championship as sophomores. They repeated the following year without Ellis because he had emotional problems and was kicked off the team. What a shame because he was 6'11" as a sophomore. I was really looking forward to a 3 peat when word got out that Walker was ineligible.

I'll tell you something, I learned a lot watching those "kids" play ball over those two years. Walker and Mayo both have a lot of growing up to do, there is no disputing that and I couldn't stand the way Walker would allow himself to be suckered into confrontations. Too often he appeared to be looking for it. But, conversely, when I say I learned a lot, I saw a lot of "good white Catholic boys" from schools like Summit and Country Day take real cheap shots at these guys. In some instances, Walker could have been seriously hurt the way he was undercut on some of his unbelievable dunks. Whereas initially I tended to only see the strut and immaturity of Walker and Mayo, I also saw these boys getting targeted game after game.