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11/2/05
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Ohio’s Best Boys Basketball Players
Buckeye state boasts more talent than ever before
By Steve Helwagen
Over the course of the summer, Ohio’s best boys basketball players showed their stuff in various AAU and summer camp events from coast to coast.
These events helped Ohio’s best players earn reputations as the nation’s very best. The national rankings supplied by ScoutHoops.com are dotted with players from Ohio.
Five of the current seniors are in the national top 100, led by Dayton Dunbar’s Daequan Cook at No. 16. Even better is the Class of 2007, where seven Ohio prospects are listed among the top 50. That group is led by the North College Hill duo of O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker, ranked first and fourth nationally, respectively.
The sophomore class in Ohio also boasts two of the nation’s top 15 prospects, including Cincinnati Hughes’ Yancey Gates at No. 5.
“You would be hard pressed to go back and find three years consecutively where there is this type of talent in the state of Ohio,” said HoopScoopOnline.com Ohio editor Chris Johnson. “And there is not only talent but also some size. In that sophomore class, there are four or five really good players who are already 6-8 or taller.”
The Ohio talent quotient would be even better if Herb Pope, a 6-8 forward considered a top-10 national junior, had followed through with his stated plan to transfer to a school in Ohio. Instead, he began the new school year at his old school in Aliquippa, Pa.
With the summer camp and AAU season over, Johnson has reassessed his lists of Ohio’s top prospects and updated them. The following is a look at the top prospects in each class in Ohio high school boys basketball, as rated by Johnson.
Juniors-To-Be (Class of 2007)
* 7. Jon Diebler, 6-5, wing forward, Upper Sandusky – Helped lead Upper Sandusky (27-0) to the Division II state title game, scoring 32 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in the title game win over Wooster Triway. Diebler was a second-team All-Ohio pick, averaging 25.9 points and six rebounds a game. He committed to Valparaiso last January, but decommitted and picked Ohio State over Valpo, Michigan and N.C. State in September.
“Obviously, he can shoot the three,” Diebler said. “He can shoot the ball off the dribble. He has a great feel for the game. He should be able to score points from either wing position. He can also help bring the ball up the floor in an emergency.
“He battled illness and had an up-and-down summer.”
