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- Thread starter OSUBasketballJunkie
- Start date
OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
onn
3/22/06
3/22/06
Trojans, Bulldogs geared up for run at back-to-back titles
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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Like a cat toying with a cornered mouse, Cincinnati North College Hill used to delay the inevitable.
Coach Jamie Mahaffey, a former standout at Miami (Ohio), says his Trojans team looked at the tapes from last year's state championship run and saw that for some reason it had an aversion to putting games away.
Don't expect such drama later this week when O.J. Mayo, Bill Walker and the rest of the Trojans are back to defend their Division III title at the 84th annual Ohio boys state tournament at Value City Arena.
"Last year we didn't finish teams," Mahaffey said. "We'd play good defense for two or maybe three quarters, then we'd let up. Now we're trying to play through the entire game."
North College Hill (24-1), ranked among the top four teams in the nation by several publications, takes on Archbold (21-4) on Thursday night in the first Division III semifinal. Wheelersburg (23-2) takes on Ohio State signee David Lighty and Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph (20-5) in the nightcap.
Other teenagers carry the hopes of their communities on their backs, but it's a different kind of pressure for North College Hill's players. They go into the tournament with everyone expecting them to win and win big; anything less and they've failed.
"People don't expect you to lose or for the game to even be close," Mahaffey said. "We know people think that, but we have our own goals.
We're not trying to impress people; we're only trying to impress ourselves."
The tournament kicks off with the Division IV semifinals. South Webster (24-2) _ who wouldn't like a team with the nickname Jeeps? _ battles Lockland (23-3), with Columbus Grove (20-5) meeting Windham (22-3).
By the way, the village of Columbus Grove is nowhere near the state capital. The school is a qualifier from the Northwest District, nestled in a small town not far from Gomer, Seitz and Jones City _ or just a little north of Lima, if you prefer.
The bigger schools take over the arena Friday, with Columbus DeSales (19-6) tackling last year's state runner-up Wooster Triway (25-0) and first-team All-Ohioan Linc Rottman in the first Division II semifinal.
Illustrating the many connections between the state qualifiers, one of DeSales' top players is Alex Kellogg, the son of former NBA and Ohio State star Clark Kellogg, who scored 51 points for Villa Angela-St. Joseph in the 1979 state championship game.
Dayton Dunbar (24-2), a semifinalist a year ago, meets Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (21-3), LeBron James' alma mater and now the launching pad for Marcus Johnson, who will be a Dayton Flyer next year.
"We haven't lost to anybody (in Ohio) and we hope it ends that way," Dunbar coach Peter Pullen said last week after a 77-54 victory over New Albany in the regional finals. The Wolverines' only losses have come to Ridgeway (Tenn.) and Indianapolis Lawrence North _ which features 7-footer Greg Oden and Mike Conley, who will join Dunbar's Daequan Cook and Lighty as members of the "Thad Five" under Ohio State coach Thad Matta next season.
North College Hill's only loss came to an out-of-state school, Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, in a game that was played before more than 16,000 paying customers at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati last month. So the Trojans haven't been beaten by an Ohio team, either.
Toledo St. John's (21-5) draws defending state champion Canton McKinley (23-2) in the first Division I game in the final four, with Lancaster (25-1) playing Trotwood-Madison (21-5) in the night game.
McKinley is led by 6-8 Raymar Morgan, the Division I player of the year who has signed to play next season at Michigan State. The Bulldogs' only loss came to North College Hill.
The return to Columbus is an odd circumstance for McKinley, which is making a record 28th appearance at the state tournament. Ardent Bulldogs fans have had their hearts broken so many times at the state tournament _ winning only two titles despite a who's who of Ohio prep superstars.
Yet McKinley, of all schools, is poised to become only the sixth Division I team to win back-to-back crowns.
"I think we sense the history," said Morgan, who averages 24.5 points a game. "But that's not really on our minds right now. We're just focused on winning state."
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Fuel for the Mayo and Walker to follow Huggins rumors.
http://www.cleveland.com/sportsflas...rts-20/114307106489050.xml&storylist=hssports
BTW - I thought the new NBA rule was strictly geared towards age. This article says you must be one year out of HS. Anyone know the actual wording?
http://www.cleveland.com/sportsflas...rts-20/114307106489050.xml&storylist=hssports
BTW - I thought the new NBA rule was strictly geared towards age. This article says you must be one year out of HS. Anyone know the actual wording?
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
3/23/06
3/23/06
Over the top?
Collection of top talent helps North College Hill win games, rake in money, raise eyebrows
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Todd Jones
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG> PAT KASTNER DISPATCH ILLUSTRATION
More than a basketball team, the North College Hill Trojans are a polarizing and mesmerizing reflection of the changing times in high-school sports.
North College Hill wins, usually by wide margins, thanks in large part to stars O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker, both rated among the nation’s top five juniors.
But the Trojans, who will be in Columbus this weekend defending their Division III boys state championship, also have sparked debate about the increasing commercialization of the high-school game because of the makeup of their roster and the revenue they earn.
Much like the LeBron James-led Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary squads of a few years ago, North College Hill is the latest incarnation of a high-school team with so much star power that it transcends the normal boundaries of the sport. Games no longer are mere contests staged in gymnasiums but are big events played in expensive arenas. Players no longer are thought of as high-school students but are viewed as future NBA stars who are the objects of sneaker-company battles.
In and around such a school’s community, success is a point of pride. To its competitors, however, such a formidable team can breed jealousy and charges of impropriety. As for the vast middle ground, even impartial observers must look at a team such as North College Hill and wonder where high-school sports are headed.
"There’s been an unbelievable amount of change in the last 10 years," said Dan Ross, commissioner of the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
"Where is the next 15 going to take us? We need to constantly look at what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate so we don’t cross the line."
Ross added that North College Hill – a public, suburban school about 10 miles northwest of Cincinnati hasn’t broken OHSAA rules en route to its state semifinal today against Archbold at Value City Arena. And a 72-3 record the past three seasons has instilled unity in the school of 500 students and the North College Hill community of about 10,000 residents.
"It’s been a wonderful ride," said Dan Brooks, mayor of North College Hill for 23 years.
The Trojans, however, haven’t been free of scrutiny, criticism and innuendo since Mayo and Walker, both natives of Huntington, W.Va., transferred to the school in April 2003.
Sports Illustrated has profiled North College Hill twice this season. Mayo, a 6-foot-5-inch swingman who yesterday was named Mr. Basketball in Ohio for the second straight season, has been the subject of stories by ESPN, CNN and national magazines the past three years.
Radio talk shows in Cincinnati often discuss North College Hill and the topics of player transfers, team travel and scheduling, as well as the growing influence of Amateur Athletic Union summer-league teams and shoe companies on high-school basketball.
"The calls are mixed, but one thing’s for sure, they’re very energy-packed," said Tom Gamble, who hosts two sports talk shows in Cincinnati. "People are not at a loss for opinion about" NCH.
Cincinnati takes prides in its neighborhood orientation, so debate about the arrival of Mayo and the 6-foot-6-inch Walker — at a school that went 2-18 without them in 2002-03 — increased last year when their summer AAU teammate Keenan Ellis transferred to North College Hill from Cathedral High in Indianapolis.
"I call them, ‘Now Cohabitating Here,’ " Gamble said. "It pains you that we’ve reached this level in high-school sports: people from another state representing a community."
Ellis, a 6-foot-11-inch center rated among the nation’s top 50 juniors, was dismissed from the team for undisclosed reasons in February before the Trojans (24-1) lost for the only time this season, to Oak Hill Academy (Va.), rated No. 1 nationally by USA Today.
"There are things I am critical of about our basketball program, but one is not related to recruiting," said Gary Gellert, in his sixth year as superintendent of North College Hill City School District after 10 years as the high school’s principal. "That’s not an issue. There was no recruiting."
Alisha Mayo reportedly wanted her son to escape the constant spotlight in Huntington and Ashland, Ky., where O.J. Mayo attended Rose Hill Christian as a seventh- and eighth-grader because Kentucky’s rules, unlike West Virginia’s, allow middle-school students to play varsity basketball.
Dwaine Barnes, the longtime coach of Mayo and Walker’s summer AAU team, knew North College Hill coach Jamie Mahaffey and felt comfortable with him. Mayo isn’t related to Barnes, 43, but calls him "grandfather."
Barnes became Mayo’s legal guardian three years ago when they moved into an apartment across the road from the school.
Nancy Walker said she sent her son to NCH, "For a good education, that was the main thing."
Brooks, the mayor, is tired of recruiting allegations, especially since the OHSAA investigated and deemed the transfers legal.
"Tell me a private school that won’t take somebody outside their parish," Brooks said. "Jealousy is the greatest form of flattery and that’s about it.
Maybe this is being paranoid, but we’re a small town, and what irritates me is if (Mayo and Walker) went to a bigger, private school, we’d be seeing headlines about how great this is."
North College Hill athletics director Joe Nickel, who has been at the school for 33 years, has a stock defense against critics of transfers.
"Everyone looks at Jesse Owens as a great icon in Ohio sports," he said.
"Where was Jesse Owens born? Alabama. Why did his parents take him to Cleveland? For a better opportunity. People have the freedom of choice."
Mayo and Walker transferred to a school that had traditional basketball success (including a Division III state runner-up finish in 1989) but that was in a district so financially strapped that Nickel was considering the idea of payfor-play to help fund NCH sports.
Not now. Nickel estimates that the school’s basketball program will earn $100,000 this season from gate receipts, compared with $10,000 the year before Mayo and Walker arrived.
Considering NCH reportedly made $60,000 off basketball the previous season, and the fact that Mayo and Walker are juniors with one more year of eligibility, the school’s sports program suddenly is financially sound.
"Our No. 1 goal is to keep this athletic department from having to consider pay-to-play for 10 to 15 years," Nickel said. "Our community cannot afford that."
The school increased its revenue this season by moving two home games to the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University, and by playing 12 nonconference games after its league, the Miami Valley Conference, agreed to reduce the school’s status to associate member.
The Trojans played two games in Huntington and one in Charleston, W.Va. They also participated in the Scholastic Play-by-Play Classic in January at Value City Arena and at a December event in southern California sponsored by Reebok.
Reebok, which sponsors Mayo and Walker’s AAU team, donated uniforms, warm-ups and shoes to North College Hill after those two players enrolled there.
"We don’t have a contract with anybody," Nickel said. "In a school district like ours, when you’ve got somebody who wants to give you $10,000 worth of basketball equipment over four years, it’s not fair to the community to say no."
LeBron James showed the prep-level earning potential when Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary reportedly made more than $200,000 during his senior year of 2002-03 by playing home games at the University of Akron and by being paid appearance fees upward of $10,000 for games in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, North Carolina and New Jersey.
"You’re seeing a continuing trend toward the professionalism of young athletes," said Bruce Svare, director of the National Institute for Sports Reform. "We have enough of a cesspool already with the college game. Now, we’re doing the same thing with the high-school game. What’s going to come along with that is what we see on the college scene: academic corruption, big money and recruiting wars for kids."
The year after James graduated, the OHSAA changed its rules so teams may travel for games outside states or provinces contiguous to Ohio only once, provided no classes are missed. Ross said this week that the OHSAA has established committees to further study whether the association’s bylaws need to be changed, not only as they relate to issues surrounding North College Hill but to assure overall fairness.
Even with new restrictions on travel, Nickel said he receives phone calls or e-mails every day from tournament directors inviting the team to play in their events next season.
"Someone wanted us to come to the state of Washington, to Florida, New York, South Carolina, a lot of different places," he said. "I got a call three weeks ago from a lady in Texas who said she wanted to fly O.J. down to an autograph show. She said they’d pay his expenses and give him $50. I said we can’t do that. He’s an amateur."
Tickets for NCH home games this season were $6 for adults and $4 for students. They were $8 and $10 when the Trojans played at the University of Cincinnati and Xavier. A sellout crowd of 16,202 at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati paid $15 and $25 to see the team’s loss to Oak Hill Academy.
"I never imagined that I could go to a high-school basketball game, like we did in California, and people would pay $50 to sit in the front row," Nickel said. "And after the first night sold out with $50 seats, on the second night they doubled the price, and it sold out. I said, ‘This is amazing.’ "
Others consider it frightening that an atmosphere exists in which ESPN televised nine high-school games this season, up from three last year.
"I think it’s going to get worse," said Peter Roby, director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University. "Now we’re starting to identify kids in the sixth grade as the next phenom, which is so asinine it’s unbelievable."
Mayo and Walker are 18, polite and soft-spoken. They say they’re comfortable at NCH, which has revived its alumni association in the past two years.
"We’re treated like regular students," Walker said. "We just fit in."
They also fit in in the North College Hill community, which last May passed a $564,000 annual school-funding levy for the first time since 1989.
"We have a nice town where they’re not hounded by paparazzi," Brooks said.
The players know life is different at games. "When we step between the lines, people expect a lot out of us," Mayo said.
Mayo’s all-around skills and Walker’s soaring slam dunks had the crowd buzzing last week during NCH’s 94-54 regional victory over Bloom-Carroll at the Nutter Center in Fairborn.
"It’s quite a show to see them play," said Steve Collier, who coached NCH’s state runner-up team in 1989. "You’re paying almost for entertainment, like you do at the upper level."
After last week’s game, autograph seekers swirled around Mayo and Walker, who posed for photos and signed scraps of paper, towels, game programs and dollar bills.
Earlier this year, the players signed a man’s bald head.
"This is the way it’s been since the sixth or seventh grade," Mayo said. "It’s kind of a normal thing."
John Lasonczyk, a North College Hill patrolman and the school’s resource officer, sits on the NCH bench to keep autograph seekers away from players during games. He often chases fans from the team bus.
"It’s kind of mind-boggling, really," Lasonczyk said.
To direct such attention toward a high-school athlete is unsettling to many old-school fans. But it’s also worth noting that Mayo and Walker are at ease in the vortex of commotion.
"If you want to be great, you’ve got to deal with it," Walker said. "Who wouldn’t want that kind of attention?"
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BuckBackHome
Wolverine is largest member of weasel family
Tim Rogers
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus - Cincinnati North College Hill basketball star O.J. Mayo, regarded as the top junior in the country, will not play in tonight's Division III state semifinal against Archbold for disciplinary reasons.
North College Hill Athletic Director Doug Krauss would not comment further, other than to say the 6-6 Mayo would not play.
All inquiries were directed to school principal Marcia Rozevink, who was not available for comment.
Mayo, averaging 28.5 points and 3.5 steals, was named as Ohio's Mr. Basketball for the second year in a row on Wednesday.
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus - Cincinnati North College Hill basketball star O.J. Mayo, regarded as the top junior in the country, will not play in tonight's Division III state semifinal against Archbold for disciplinary reasons.
North College Hill Athletic Director Doug Krauss would not comment further, other than to say the 6-6 Mayo would not play.
All inquiries were directed to school principal Marcia Rozevink, who was not available for comment.
Mayo, averaging 28.5 points and 3.5 steals, was named as Ohio's Mr. Basketball for the second year in a row on Wednesday.
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NorthernBuck
Senior
OJ Suspended!!!!!!
Holy Cow! My prayers were answered! OJ Suspended for tonights game!
Holy Cow! My prayers were answered! OJ Suspended for tonights game!
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buckeyeboy
Still fortitudinous
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