Part one in a two part series details the matchup featuring top five high school senior and North Carolina signee Brandan Wrights Brentwood Academy (TN) against local powerhouse Scott County (KY).
Brentwood Academy (TN) vs. Scott County (KY)
The main purpose of scouting this game was to see highly touted senior Brandan Wright once again and presumably watch Brentwood blow out a much weaker Kentucky team. The big surprise here was that Scott County put up a terrific fight with their scrappy play and excellent outside shooting, but Brentwoods superior size and athleticism proved to be too much when it was all said and done.
Scott County, led by junior PG Matt Walls (considering Colorado, New Mexico St., and Army amongst others), was able to carry a seven point lead into the fourth quarter. Brentwood then realized that they needed to get the ball to Brandan Wright on each and every possession, and he absolutely took over. Wrights length and athleticism allowed him to change the game on both ends of the floor. Offensively, he was able to get a hand on just about every possible offensive rebound and/or outjump every other player on the floor. Defensively, he completely changed the game with his freakish wingspan and perfectly timed leaps for shot block attempts. Brandans dominance proved to be too much for Scott County, as they were outscored 23-12 in the final quarter on their way to a narrow 2 point loss.
Prospect of the game: Brandan Wright, 610 Senior PF, Signed with North Carolina; 31 points, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks
The North Carolina recruit lived up to his billing as one of the top five seniors in the country, changing the game on both ends of the floor. Offensively, Wright is totally left hand dominant, but is seemingly unstoppable at this level when he touches the ball. Although the form on his shot is very awkward, Wright seems to have no problem knocking down the mid range jumper when left open, although his biggest strength is using his length and leaping ability to merely shoot over opponents near the rim. When watching the Brentwood star play, you can expect to see a good amount of highly athletic dunks, and he did not disappoint this evening as he finished with four. Of those four dunks, he had a pretty simple two handed slam in which both of his elbows were so far above the rim that everyone in the crowd had to ask each other if they had just seen how high up he had gotten. On the flip side however, while Wright attempted to show off his ball-handling skills, they just arent there at the moment at a consistent enough level. He lost the ball numerous times when pressured bringing the ball up the floor, and made some pretty bad decisions that resulted in Brentwood turnovers. Ball-handling and a lack of a right hand are by far Wright s two biggest weaknesses on the perimeter, but his superior athleticism has allowed him to dominate on the high school level thus far.
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On the defensive end, Wright is an absolute shot blocking machine who completely dominates the paint. By the end of the night, Scott County players were afraid to come in the lane and put anything up on Wright, settling for short jump shots instead of going all the way to the rim. His freakish wingspan is pretty amazing to see in person, as his arms seemingly never end. Wright also does a great job of boxing out, allowing him to rebound the ball extremely well. One glaring weakness that the Tennessee star does have is a lack of lateral quickness, which was shown by the fact that he was easily beaten off of the dribble by the smaller and less athletic Scott County players. As long as Wright does not have to go out on the perimeter and guard small forwards, this should not be a problem due to the fact that he moves adequately enough to guard power forwards.
Draft fans will want to keep an eye out for Wright, considering that had the current NBA age limitation not been implemented, he would have most likely entered the draft out of high school. It will be very interesting to see a potential starting lineup of likely McDonalds All American Tywon Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Reyshawn Terry, Tyler Hansbrough, and Brandan Wright along with Bobby Frasor, Marcus Ginyard, and Danny Green coming off of the bench in Chapel Hill next year. Needless to say, North Carolina will be a very exciting team to watch in the 2006-2007 season.
On the defensive end, Wright is an absolute shot blocking machine who completely dominates the paint. By the end of the night, Scott County players were afraid to come in the lane and put anything up on Wright, settling for short jump shots instead of going all the way to the rim. His freakish wingspan is pretty amazing to see in person, as his arms seemingly never end. Wright also does a great job of boxing out, allowing him to rebound the ball extremely well. One glaring weakness that the Tennessee star does have is a lack of lateral quickness, which was shown by the fact that he was easily beaten off of the dribble by the smaller and less athletic Scott County players. As long as Wright does not have to go out on the perimeter and guard small forwards, this should not be a problem due to the fact that he moves adequately enough to guard power forwards.
Draft fans will want to keep an eye out for Wright, considering that had the current NBA age limitation not been implemented, he would have most likely entered the draft out of high school. It will be very interesting to see a potential starting lineup of likely McDonalds All American Tywon Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Reyshawn Terry, Tyler Hansbrough, and Brandan Wright along with Bobby Frasor, Marcus Ginyard, and Danny Green coming off of the bench in Chapel Hill next year. Needless to say, North Carolina will be a very exciting team to watch in the 2006-2007 season.
Oak Hill Academy (VA) vs. Harmony Community School (OH)
When plans were made to make this trip, a friend from the basketball community insisted: You better make sure that you get to the game a half hour early, because Oak Hill puts on a dunk show during warm-ups that is just as good as the NBA dunk contest. He was absolutely right it turns out, as the Oak Hill players (along with the Harmony players) put on a dunk show that had the entire gym on their feet during warm-ups. Oak Hill standout junior Michael Beasley did just about every single dunk that Gerald Green did in the 2005 McDonalds All American Dunk Contest, plus more. His between the legs dunk brought the house down. To give you an idea of what a spectacle this was, the entire gymnasium of 3,000 plus were already all on their feet during the warmups of this game. Not to be forgotten however, Alex Tyus of Harmony Prep and Jeff Allen of Oak Hill both also had some spectacular dunks in their own right, but it was Beasley who stole the show.
Oak Hill Academy came into the contest with a 12-0 record, and was ranked #2 in the countrys latest USA Today Super 25 rankings. The Warriors are led by 60 senior PG Tywon Lawson, who signed with North Carolina this fall. Unfortunately, Lawson has been suspended for the past few weeks for undisclosed reasons, and did not make the trip. Luckily, Oak Hill has two of the nations top 20 juniors in 69 SF/PF Michael Beasley and 63 SG/PG Nolan Smith. Beasley, regarded by most as a top 3 player in the class of 2007, is a smooth post player who can easily step outside to the wing if needed. His AAU teammate and best friend Nolan Smith, son of ex-Orlando Magic player Derek Smith, is a skilled guard who has been forced to play point guard with Lawsons suspension. The Warriors rotation is rounded out with 67 WF/PF Jeff Allen (Virginia Tech signee), 66 WF Landon Melbourne (Maryland signee), 65 WG Billy Clark, and 610 C Alberto Jackson (Georgia signee).
While Oak Hill boasted quite the lineup, Harmonys was not too far behind. Led by 68 JR PF/SF Alex Tyus (Arizona, Washington, Illinois, and Kansas lead), the small prep school from Cincinnati boasts a nice mixture of high school players with fifth year post graduates looking to improve their game and get better collegiate offers, or to boost their current academic status. Tyus receives his fair share of help from a strong cast of division one talents including ex-Indiana commit PG Deonte Vaughn, 63 PG Marcus Rhodes (Indiana leads), 64 wing Josh Tabb (Tennessee signee), 64 combo guard Tyrone Appleton (considering Louisville, Washington, Iowa, among others), 69 JR PF Quincy Owens (Seton Hall commit), and 610 PF/C Tearon Hill (considering Gonzaga, Tennessee, Baylor, among others).
This game was a very exciting, fast paced game with plenty of dunks and three pointers. There was a definite lack of defense played here, so basketball purists may not have cared as much for it, but any common hoops fan would have loved to catch this one. As mentioned before, Oak Hill was without their star PG and UNC signee Tywon Lawson, so junior stud Nolan Smith for forced to take over his reign. Smith did a pretty job throughout the first half of breaking down the Harmony defense and finding slashing combo forwards such as Jeff Allen, Landon Melbourne, and Michael Beasley for open dunks and lay-ups. Oak Hill ran into some problems with Harmony however as the game speed picked up, in which Tyrone Appleton and Alex Tyus really began to put a hurting on the perennial powerhouse from Virginia. Harmonys fast paced game began to wear down the Warriors, as they only played seven players throughout the game.
Oak Hill coach Steve Smith made some adjustments for the second half, slowing the game down a bit in order to save his players legs because of their short bench. By slowing the game down, Oak Hill began to turn the tides on this game, as Harmony is used to playing a hectic, run and gun type of game. The slower tempo threw the Cincinnati prep school off mightily, causing them to blow what once was a ten point lead to Oak Hill. Alex Tyus strong performance proved to be too little too late, as Jeff Allen, Nolan Smith, and Michael Beasley led a strong second half performance to give Oak Hill a 78-68 win.
Prospects of The Game:
Oak Hill Academy- Michael Beasley; 68, 220 lbs; PF/WF; 2007; Committed to UNC-Charlotte