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<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>AND 1 High School Basketball Championship Final 10
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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.
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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.
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<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Canton McKinley (Ohio) Captures AND 1 HBC title
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</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>By Jon Mahoney
Date: Jun 27, 2005
Canton McKinley (Ohio) emerged victorious at the AND 1 High School Basketball Championship in Philly with a 78-68 victory over Artesia (Lakewood, Calif.) in Sunday's title game.
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Click Here for more AND 1 HBC coverage
The fourth annual AND 1 High School Basketball Championship (HBC) featured tremendous play from some of the nation’s top high school basketball programs. And after three days of intense competition during the finals this past weekend at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Canton McKinley (Ohio) trumped the competition en route to capturing the 2005 team championship.
The AND 1 HBC is viewed as the March Madness of high school hoops because if you lose once, you can’t win the title. McKinley was one of 10 regional winners at the finals, but it proved to be the best of the bunch with a 78-68 victory over Artesia (Lakewood, Calif.) in the championship game.
McKinley lost in last year’s semifinals to eventual tournament champion Dunwoody (Ga.), which lost to Rainier Beach (Wash.) in this year’s tourney. Unfortunately, Dunwoody was forced to play without star forward An’Juan Wilderness, who was at the NBA Camp.
Raymar Morgan, who was named tournament MVP, had a game-high 26 points and had 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in the win over Artesia. He added 17 points and nine boards in the Midwest I regional final win over Taft, which gave McKinley its third straight regional HBC title.
“His play all weekend long was exemplary,” said McKinley head coach David Hoover. “He’s just a great player who can do a lot of different things.”
Winning the HBC title capped off an amazing season for McKinley, which also won the 2005 Division I Ohio state title.
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Matta may not be finished landing some of the country’s best high school juniors. The Buckeyes may turn their attention toward McKinley’s Raymar Morgan. OSU has not offered Morgan yet, but if he were to sign along with the four verbals, Matta would have a class made entirely of top 30 national recruits.
“Ohio State hasn’t offered,” said Morgan, who has offers from Michigan State and Michigan. “My interest in Ohio State, though, is pretty high. I’ve seen (Oden and Conley) play before, but I’ve never played against them. It would be exciting to play with them if that happens.
“Because they’re going to Ohio State, that factors into the equation for me and pushes my interest up more. I’d say Ohio State and Michigan State are at the top of my list.”
<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Morgan a Hot Commodity
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Raymar Morgan
</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>By Sam Webb Columnist/Photographer
Date: Jun 30, 2005
The race for Canton (OH) McKinley forward Raymar Morgan is heating up…and after his performance in last weekend's AND 1 High School Basketball Championship, it's easy to see why.
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Canton McKinley, which won division 1 state title in Ohio this past year, was looking to continue its tourney winning ways at last week's AND 1 High School Basketball Championship in Philadelphia. For his part, Raymar Morgan did his best to ensure his team would do just that.
"It was all right," Morgan said of his performance. "We played in the championship. We won and I played pretty good. I was named the MVP." The MVP trophy is a clear sign that the versatile athlete's showing was more than just "all right." His 26 points and 10 boards were game highs in McKinley's 78-68 victory over Lakewood (Ca) Artesia in the title game. He also chipped in three assists and three blocks.
Morgan's ability to do so many things on the court has a number of programs very interested in his services, but three Big Ten schools stick out for him at this point. When GoBlueWolverine last spoke with him, Morgan indicated that he had yet to receive a scholarship offer from any of them. That, however, is no longer the case. "Pretty much just Michigan State," Morgan said regarding what offers he currently has on the table. "Ohio State said they would probably offer and Michigan said that they would probably offer."
The Spartans were the early aggressors in Morgan's recruitment, and that gave them the leg up for quite some time. That said, the Ohio State Buckeyes have now loosened that grip a bit. When asked if the top-flight recruiting class the Buckeyes have put together affects how he looks at them, Morgan answered honestly. "Yeah, it does…a lot," he said. "But I'm still waiting. Ohio State and Michigan State are pretty much my top two right now. Then its Michigan."
According to Morgan, all three schools still have a chance to win him over. He is in no hurry to make a decision and probably won't visit any of the schools for the reminder of the summer. What will likely be the deciding factor in when he sits down to makes his choice? "Probably the visit," he said. "I've visited all three of them already, but the official will probably be what does it. I will probably make my visits during school next year. I don't really have a set timeframe [for making the choice], but I think I'll probably make it in November."
GoBlueWolverine will have more on Morgan in the coming weeks.
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Despite landing four of the top 25 players in the nation, Ohio State is still shopping, too.
The Buckeyes are searching for a power forward to pair with center Greg Oden, wings Daequan Cook and David Lighty and point guard Mike Conley.
Raymar Morgan, a 6-7, 210-pound swingman who led Canton McKinley to a state title last season, is interested, and his stock is soaring. He vaulted 16 spots in Scout.com's national rankings this summer to 33rd after winning MVP honors at the AND1 tournament in Philadelphia.
Michigan State and Michigan have offered scholarships, but OSU told Morgan they're still evaluating him.
"They're recruiting me pretty hard — they just haven't offered yet," said Morgan, who admits he may not fit the paint-patrolling profile. "They just say, 'Rebound the heck out of the ball.' "
Topping the Buckeyes' wish list is 6-8 Thaddeus Young of Memphis. He is rated third nationally behind Oden and Texas-bound Kevin Durant and reportedly is considering OSU.
Morgan said a chance to link up with Oden and Co. would be hard to pass up.
"Actually, I never even thought of Ohio State when I was growing up as being a basketball school," he said. "But now with all those guys going there, it's getting exciting."