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Galena basketball star looking at Nevada, four other schools
RENO, Nev. -- Luke Babbitt, Galena High School's 6-foot-7 star forward, has narrowed his possible college choices to Nevada, UCLA, Arizona, Gonzaga and Ohio State.
Babbitt is a junior so still has another year left at Galena. Last week, Nevada coach Mark Fox announced Malik Cooke of Charlotte, N.C., and Armon Johnson of Reno had signed national letters of intent to play at Nevada next year.Babbitt earlier had a list of 10 schools he was considering but it did not did not include Ohio State, which contacted him two weeks ago."They called me and said that they heard that I was from Ohio and that they wanted to start recruiting me," said Babbitt, who is originally from Cincinnati."That was real exciting for me because I grew up a fan of Ohio State," he told the Reno Gazette-Journal.Babbitt, one of the most highly recruited players in the country, said he has eliminated Stanford, Washington, Kansas, Texas, Illinois and Duke from the list this week."I think they all appreciated that I told them as soon as possible so they could start looking at other players," he said. "Hopefully this will eliminate a lot of the phone calls and text messages."I just really want to concentrate and focus on our season coming up. I might make one or two visits to a couple of those schools just to see them in a game but my focus now is on our season."Babbitt said UCLA, Arizona, Gonzaga and Nevada were among the first schools to start recruiting him. He has gone to camps at Arizona and UCLA over the past two summers. Ohio State is the only school on Babbitt's Final Five not located in the western United States."I've rooted for them ever since I started watching basketball," Babbitt said. "But all five are equal to me right now. I have no idea who I will choose. I like all five and I would feel real comfortable at any of them."Babbitt was named the Northern 4A Region's Co-Player of the Year last year along with Johnson, Reno Hug's 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard.Johnson led the Northern Region in scoring at 30.4 points per game to go along with 7.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game. A first-team all-state selection, Johnson led the Hug Hawks to the Sierra League championship and the Class 4A state semifinals last season.Cooke is a 6-foot-5, 190-pound forward _ an all-state and all-league selection at Christ School in Arden, N.C. He averaged 19 points and 9.5 rebounds last year, while as a sophomore in 2004-05, he helped lead his team to a state title. He earned team MVP honors in 2005-06 after leading the Greenies to an 18-14 record, a tie for second place in the conference and a berth in the North Carolina state tournament."We are very excited to add these two young men to our program," Fox said."Malik is a true small forward. He is a long, athletic player who can finish. He also has a real knack to get to the glass. I really wanted a true small forward, and he is a good one," Fox said."Armon is a combo guard who really knows how to score. It is so pleasing to have a local player who wants to stay here and play. He will eventually play both backcourt positions."
Galena basketball star looking at Nevada, four other schools
RENO, Nev. -- Luke Babbitt, Galena High School's 6-foot-7 star forward, has narrowed his possible college choices to Nevada, UCLA, Arizona, Gonzaga and Ohio State.
Babbitt is a junior so still has another year left at Galena. Last week, Nevada coach Mark Fox announced Malik Cooke of Charlotte, N.C., and Armon Johnson of Reno had signed national letters of intent to play at Nevada next year.Babbitt earlier had a list of 10 schools he was considering but it did not did not include Ohio State, which contacted him two weeks ago."They called me and said that they heard that I was from Ohio and that they wanted to start recruiting me," said Babbitt, who is originally from Cincinnati."That was real exciting for me because I grew up a fan of Ohio State," he told the Reno Gazette-Journal.Babbitt, one of the most highly recruited players in the country, said he has eliminated Stanford, Washington, Kansas, Texas, Illinois and Duke from the list this week."I think they all appreciated that I told them as soon as possible so they could start looking at other players," he said. "Hopefully this will eliminate a lot of the phone calls and text messages."I just really want to concentrate and focus on our season coming up. I might make one or two visits to a couple of those schools just to see them in a game but my focus now is on our season."Babbitt said UCLA, Arizona, Gonzaga and Nevada were among the first schools to start recruiting him. He has gone to camps at Arizona and UCLA over the past two summers. Ohio State is the only school on Babbitt's Final Five not located in the western United States."I've rooted for them ever since I started watching basketball," Babbitt said. "But all five are equal to me right now. I have no idea who I will choose. I like all five and I would feel real comfortable at any of them."Babbitt was named the Northern 4A Region's Co-Player of the Year last year along with Johnson, Reno Hug's 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard.Johnson led the Northern Region in scoring at 30.4 points per game to go along with 7.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game. A first-team all-state selection, Johnson led the Hug Hawks to the Sierra League championship and the Class 4A state semifinals last season.Cooke is a 6-foot-5, 190-pound forward _ an all-state and all-league selection at Christ School in Arden, N.C. He averaged 19 points and 9.5 rebounds last year, while as a sophomore in 2004-05, he helped lead his team to a state title. He earned team MVP honors in 2005-06 after leading the Greenies to an 18-14 record, a tie for second place in the conference and a berth in the North Carolina state tournament."We are very excited to add these two young men to our program," Fox said."Malik is a true small forward. He is a long, athletic player who can finish. He also has a real knack to get to the glass. I really wanted a true small forward, and he is a good one," Fox said."Armon is a combo guard who really knows how to score. It is so pleasing to have a local player who wants to stay here and play. He will eventually play both backcourt positions."
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