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'06 NJ F Lance Thomas (Duke signee)

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Who knows what the kids motivation is. There could be any number of factors to why he wouldn't play this season. Maybe his team is going to be bad or maybe he doesn't want to get hurt and jeopardize an offered scholarship. Who knows. Maybe he just needs to grow into his body a little this season and fill out before going to college. He's got a pretty impressive list of recruiters so maybe he just wants to do better in school or take some time off and enjoy some freedom befor the rigors of ncaa athletics. Being Mr. Basketball may not be important for him. He plays enough basketball all season long that his skills shouldn't diminish over a season, especially if he's working out.
 
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LINK

6/12/05


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The USA White team captured gold at the 2005 International Sports Invitational, defeating USA Blue by a 107-85 final, despite a game-high 31 points by Blue's O.J. Mayo (North College Hill H.S. / North College Hill, Ohio).

USA White was able to pull away in the second half, outscoring Blue 31-19 in the fourth quarter as foul trouble kept Blue big men, Robin Lopez (San Joaquin Memorial H.S./Fresno, Calif.), Mike Washington (Heritage Christian Academy (Texas)/McGehee, Ark.) and Dwayne Collins (Miami Senior H.S./Miami, Fla.) on the bench for much of the second half.

The two teams battled back and forth in the first quarter and the game was tied at 23 with 23 seconds left, after Mayo scored 15 out of 16 straight points for the USA Blue team. Two free throws by Bryce Webster (St. Thomas Academy/St. Paul, Minn.) gave the White squad a slim 25-23 lead after one.

White pulled ahead by six points, 40-34 with 5:33 left in the half ,before Blue began a 7-2 run capped by a Mayo jumper at the 4:03 mark to cut the lead to one, 42-41. But, a cut above his right eye with just over three minutes remaining in the second quarter forced Mayo to head into the locker room early. USA White capitalized, outscoring Blue 15-5 over the remainder of the quarter to take a 58-46 lead at halftime.

Coming out of the locker room, the Blue squad inched closer, 76-66, after the third quarter. However, the fourth quarter belonged to USA White. With an 11-point cushion, 82-71 with 7:44 left in the game, White began a 15-3 run, that included five dunks by four different players and gave them a 97-74 lead, sealing the victory with 4:09 left in the game. From that point the teams exchanged buckets, and USA White walked away with a 107-85 victory.

"It was really exciting," said White head coach Pat Fitterer (Eisenhower H.S./Seattle, Wash.). I'm most excited because we had 29 assists tonight, that was awesome. This is the most unselfish crew I've ever had. Greg Oden thanked everybody for letting him be a part of the team and everybody else was just awesome, they had a great team concept. I told them now I want them to go out and win a couple more gold medals for USA."

Three players scored in double figures for USA White, including 28 points (11-22 FGs) from Paul Harris (Niagara Falls H.S./Niagara Falls, N.Y.). Center Greg Oden (Lawrence North H.S. . Indianapolis, Ind.) and forward Bill Walker (North College Hill H.S. / Cincinnati, Ohio), aided by the foul trouble of the Blue squad, chipped in 21 and 18, respectively, and Oden pulled down 11 rebounds. Five players also dished out at least five assists. Oden also broke the USA Youth Development Festival record for field-goal percentage, shooting 74.4 percent (32-43 FGs) in the tournament.
"This feels good," said Harris. "I told my dad, ‘If I win, I'm giving you the gold medal,' so I'm going to give it to my dad."

Mayo and Wayne Ellington (The Episcopal Academy/Wynnewood, Penn.) shouldered the load for USA Blue. In addition to 31 points (11-24 FGs), Mayo also tallied six rebounds and seven steals. Ellington finished the game with 27 points (11-23 FGs) and a game-high 12 rebounds.

"I know O.J. (Mayo) is a good player so I tried to play full court on him and set a lot of picks." added Harris. " I tried to contain him but he's very good."

Mayo finished as the high-scorer for the tournament, averaging 27.5 points per game.

USA Blue Team member Thaddeus Young (Mitchell H.S. / Memphis, Tenn.) suffered a second degree (moderate) ankle sprain in his squad's 118-57 victory over New Zealand on June 8. Listed as day-to-day, Young was evaluated and treated by the U.S. Olympic Committee medical staff..

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Thomas had 9 points and 3 rebounds in the loss.
 
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SchoolSports.com (free link)

6/21/05


Quote:
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</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>By Ryan Canner-O'Mealy
Date: Jun 20, 2005

The field of 10 for the AND 1 High School Basketball Championship (HBC) is set. And what a field it is.
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After weeks of regional play, the field of 10 for the AND 1 High School Basketball Championship (HBC) is set. And what a field it is.

The tourney’s 2005 edition must be exactly what the organizers had in mind, as some of the nation’s top teams from all across the country will meet in Philadelphia this weekend to crown a champion.

There are some new faces and plenty of old ones, but everywhere you look, there seems to be an overflow of talent.

This past weekend, the defending champion, Dunwoody (Ga.) secured its free trip to Philly with a 68-63 win over Chapel Hill. An’Juan Wilderness scored a game-high 29 points to keep Dunwoody’s hopes for a repeat alive.

In the East I regional, St. Benedict’s (N.J.) and star senior Lance Thomas (13 points) just squeaked by St. Patrick’s (N.J.), 43-42.

For the third straight year, Canton McKinley (Ohio) won its regional, defeating Taft, 78-67. McKinley, which won the Ohio state title this year, was led by Raymar Morgan who had 17 points and nine rebounds. Marcus Parker also added 17 points in the winning effort.

Marshall (Ill.) took advantage of Custer, 90-58, to win the Midwest II Regional. This will be the second straight year that Marshall has been one of the elite 10 to make it to Philadelphia for the HBC. Senior guard Patrick Beverly scored 29 points, including 11-of-12 from the free throw line.

So now the field is set: Dunwoody, St. Benedict’s, Canton McKinley, Marshall, Charlestown, Dallas Carter, Laurinburg, Artesia, Rainier Beach and Paul VI.

* * *

And there will be several intriguing subplots in the City of Brotherly Love.

For example, will Canton McKinley and Dunwoody meet again, as they did last year? And if so, can McKinley extract revenge on its way to an elusive tournament championship?

Also, Massachusetts is one of the few states that doesn’t allow its coaches any coaching time in the summer. So while most other coaches can be on the bench during these games, Charlestown’s Jack O’Brien cannot. He can be in the building, but won’t be allowed to diagram plays, call subs or anything like that. In the Northeast regional, nearly every team was in the same situation, so there were no competitive disadvantages, but at the national level, it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

Regardless, O’Brien and his troops seemed pretty happy to be going and weren’t really worrying about late-game strategy. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
 
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rivals.com (free)

7/2/05

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Who's next on the hoops radar? <HR width="100%" noShade SIZE=1></TD></TR><TR><TD>Jeff Rapp
BuckeyeSports.com Staff Writer </TD><TD noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Gordon Gekko once surmised that "greed is good." While that is a debatable point at best, it may not hurt Ohio State men's basketball coach Thad Matta as he now looks to add to what already is being hailed as the best recruiting class in the country.

<!--Start Matta Image--><SCRIPT language=Javascript>document.write(insertImage('http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/917/163623.jpg', '163623.jpg', 1, 322, 276, 1, 'Ohio State coach Thad Matta\'s tireless work ethic is enticing many of the nation\'s top players.', '', 1120253844000, 'Matta', 917, 'Align=Left'));</SCRIPT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=284 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=278>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=right>Associated Press</TD></TR><TR><TD height=3>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>Ohio State coach Thad Matta's tireless work ethic is enticing many of the nation's top players.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Matta Image-->Matta was able to land verbal commitments from consensus No. 1 schoolboy Greg Oden and his prep teammate Mike Conley (No. 40 among seniors-to-be according to Rivals.com) with their landmark announcement Wednesday at Indianapolis Lawrence North High School.

They doubled a recruiting class that already included the top seniors-to-be in Ohio -- 6-4 Daequan Cook of Dayton Dunbar (No. 8) and 6-5 David Lighty of Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph (No. 20).

Matta has as many as three more scholarships at his disposal for the class and is all but certain to spend at least one of them on a power forward or combo forward, meaning the class could one day share the court like the storied "Fab Five."

Not coincidentally, OSU is right in the mix for as many as six such players, and that doesn't even count 6-8 Josh Chichester of West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West (No. 136), a two-sport star who committed to the Ohio State football program July 1 but admitted he is entertaining the idea of joining the men's basketball team.

Chichester has promise as a collegiate four-man but would not be able to join the Buckeyes on the hardwood until January 2007 at the earliest, and that would be as a walk-on. He told BuckeyeSports.com earlier this summer that Matta had given his blessing for such a scenario but he wasn't sure if he would indeed try to play both sports.

That then begs the question, who is going to complete the Thad Five?

The most prominent candidates at the moment appear to be 6-8 Thaddeus Young of Memphis (Tenn.) Mitchell (No. 3 on the recently updated Rivals Top 150), 6-8 Lance Thomas of Fanwood (N.J.) St. Benedict's (No. 22), 6-9 Jamil Tucker of Gary (Ind.) West (No. 45), 6-7 Luke Harangody of Shereville (Ind.) Andrean (No. 80) and 6-7 Raymar Morgan of Canton (Ohio) McKinley (No. 85).

Another possibility is 6-9 Bryce Webster of Mendota Heights (Minn.) St. Thomas Academy (No. 113), but his interest in OSU has apparently wavered.

Cook said he chatted up Young while the two played together in the USA Basketball Youth Developmental Festival in San Diego in early June.

"We talked a lot," he said. "We talked about what it's going to be like in college ball. It wasn't about what school he was going to go to, we just talked about how fun it would be to play together."

Cook and Conley also popped the idea on Thomas, who like Young is a premier athlete and scorer but not a classic power forward.

Conley and Oden got their first look at Harangody recently when the three played together in a state all-star series. Harangody reportedly is favoring Notre Dame but could get a full-court press from Matta soon since Conley offered him a glowing report.

"He was very good," Conley said. "I like the way he played. He's physical and tough and would do all the dirty work, and I feel that we need somebody like that. We don't need all superstars who can jump out of the gym. We need big men who can do the little things as well."

Tucker has listed OSU as a favorite along with Purdue and Indiana. Somewhat soft inside but well-skilled, Tucker has not yet received a firm offer but one could be on the way.

"He really likes Ohio State a lot," Conley said. "He wants to be with us and go to the same college with us. I think he's really sold on Ohio State. If the scholarship's open for him, I think he would take it."

Morgan also has not been offered yet as he is trying to attain a qualifying test score. He has had two clear favorites for months: Michigan State and Ohio State. Like the four commitments, Morgan is a winner, having led McKinley to the 2005 state title.

He is considered a 3-4 but can rebound in the trees when the situation calls and has the athleticism and passing ability to mesh in with the likes of Conley, Cook, Lighty and Oden.

"We need somebody that can rebound and play defense, score some," Cook said. "That's about it."

Matta may agree and go after Harangody, a classic banger who could take a lot of physical toll away from Oden. Or he could play it safe and tab Tucker or Morgan, who apparently wouldn't take long to jump on board.

However, the inside word is that Matta will go the way of Gekko and hold out for Young or Thomas -- whose recruiting likely will stretch into the late fall if not next spring -- with dreamy thoughts of employing four players flanking Oden who all can shoot outside, score, handle, pass and drive.

As it is he'll have Conley, Cook, Lighty, Sylvester Mayes, Ron Lewis and Jamar Butler in 2006-07.

Maybe greed is good.
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rivals.com$

7/6/05

Good Article about Matta and Company hitting the three major summer camps going on during July. The staff can evaluate from July 6-15 and July 22-31, with July 16-21 considered a "dark" period. Article touches on who could be the next addition to the 2006 class.

The following prospects of interest to Buckeye fans will be in action...

Greg Oden
Mike Conley
Daequan Cook
Jamil Tucker (could be the next verbal to the 2006 class)
Luke Harangody
Thaddeus Young
Josh Chichester
Raymar Morgan
Kosta Koufus
O.J. Mayo
Bill Walker
Keenan Ellis
Lance Thomas
Dallas Lauderdale
DeJuan Pursley
Aaron Pogue
Eric Gordon
Yancey Gates
B.J. Mullens
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Remember that this is the same kid who thinks taking his senior season off is going to help him.......and now he is talking about Rutgers? You have to wonder what is fact or fiction with Thomas.

indystar

7/7/05



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July 7, 2005


Opponent says Oden keeps getting better
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"He just gets more dominant and more dominant," said Lance Thomas, a 6-8 forward from New Jersey, whose team lost to Oden's 67-55 Wednesday. "Last year, he was dominant. This year, he's unstoppable. There's nothing you can do.

"If you try to keep him away from the rim, he's going to hit that 15-foot bank shot. He just goes to work, he punches it toward the rim every time and if he's under there, there's nothing you can do."

Oden had game highs of 12 points and nine rebounds as his Sonics beat Thomas' Mavericks. In his second game, Oden had 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots in a 71-29 victory. He was 12-for-15 from the field on the day. (Camp rules state everyone plays at least two quarters, so no one actually plays more than two.)

Etc.

Lawrence North teammate Mike Conley was fifth in assists after the first day, averaging 4.5 per game, out of the 200 players. He had seven in the first game. . . . Oden had three spectacular dunks in the fourth quarter of the first game, including one where he missed a jump shot in traffic, landed, jumped back up quicker than everyone and threw it down two-handed.

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Collegehoopsnet.com

7/8/05

A scouting report from Collegehoopsnet at the ABCD camp....

120 - Lance Thomas - Scotch Plains, NJ - 6’8 - 210 - Mavs

Thomas is obviously a big talent, but he needs to stop with the fashion flair (colored headband around the neck and around his sock) and let his game do the talking. Thomas is most comfortable running on the wings, where his long legs and arms come in handy. He tries to get out on the break and runs very well, despite having a somewhat awkward bow-legged physique. He still needs to get stronger, so that he can finish with strength and not have to avoid the contact.
Click to expand...
 
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