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UD's hoops recruiting class living up to billing

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Larger type Smaller type By Doug Harris, Staff Writer 1:24 AM Thursday, January 14, 2010
One high school basketball coach believes the University of Dayton has a future NBA player joining the team next season — and he’s not talking about Juwan Staten, who flashed that kind of potential on the AAU circuit and is doing it again as a senior at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia.
Kalamazoo (Mich.) Central High School coach Mike Thomas thinks UD signee Devin Oliver ultimately will make the leap to the pros. The 6-foot-7 wing, who has been sidelined recently with a foot injury, is averaging 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists and is versatile enough to play all five positions.
“You guys are getting a great player,” Thomas said. “I called it last year: Devin is going to be in the NBA.
“I say that because he’s skilled, and he’s a sponge. I know he’s going to a good program that’s going to teach him nothing but the right way. Once he takes everything in, the sky’s the limit. He can shoot it, he can post, but the best thing about him is how he shares the ball.”
The Flyers’ five-member 2010 recruiting class is ranked 23rd nationally by Rivals.com, one spot behind Xavier. Staten is rated as the 44th-best prospect individually, but he’s not the only one to make the Rivals’ top 150.
Chicago Simeon guard Brandon Spearman has cracked that exclusive list at No. 116. He’s known for being a lock-down defender and blossomed offensively last summer. He’s averaging 15 points and seven rebounds on a team loaded with Division I prospects.
“We’re only playing him 18-19 minutes because of the balance we have,” said Simeon coach Robert Smith, whose squad is ranked fourth in the Illinois all-division state poll. “If we had to keep him out there longer, his stats would definitely be higher. But we’re a well-rounded team and don’t have to kill him.
“He’s doing well, REAL well. ... We wouldn’t be where we are without him.”
The 6-foot-6, 200-pound Ralph Hill of Westerville North was recruited by UD as a power forward, but he recently put his shooting range on display against Dublin Scioto by knocking down six 3-pointers.
He’s averaging 21.5 points and 7.0 rebounds.
“He’s attracting a lot of individual attention, which is a compliment to him,” coach Kevin Thuman said. “He’s getting a lot of combination defenses — box-and-ones, face-guarding, making it tough for him to catch the ball. They’re not playing him straight up.
“But a lot of things (UD coach Brian) Gregory liked about him are there. He’s real athletic, really runs the floor well and plays defense.”
Although 6-1 guard Jesse Berry of Lafayette (Ind.) Jefferson was suspended for one game for undisclosed reasons, he’s been a scoring machine again this season. He’s averaging 25.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists while shooting 40 percent on 3s and 47 percent overall.
But Lafayette Jeff, which plays in perhaps the toughest prep league in the state, has struggled to a 7-4 record.
“He’s doing real well, but he’s all we’ve got,” coach Scot Bunnell said.









ADD COMMENTComments feed
with the ho-hum season C[hris]W[right] is having, it would be to his benefit not to declare for the draft. When you factor in the breakout season C[hris] J[ohnson] is having, this team can be very very talented next season.
Doug8:35 AM, 1/14/2010
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Oak Hill Acadamy will be on ESPN this Sat. at 4:00 A good chance to see Juwan play....Go Flyers!
Mongoose4:57 AM, 1/14/2010
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Wow, just think if Chris Wright stays for his senior year. Gregory is getting it done. He's a great face of the program. These are great times, Flyer fans!
FLYER52:03 AM, 1/14/2010


By Kyle Nagel Monday, January 18, 2010, 01:34 PM
During the summer, after Westerville North senior Ralph Hill committed to play basketball at the University of Dayton, Flyers coach Brian Gregory sent him a list of things to work on.
He CC’d Westerville North coach Kevin Thuman. A major priority: Shooting hundreds of free throws per day.
The work has showed. Thuman said Hill is averaging better than 90 percent from the line this season, and the 6-6 senior made 8-of-8 free throws as part of his 28 points in North’s 67-56 defeat of Flora Macdonald Academy on Monday, Jan. 18, at the Flyin’ to the Hoop boys basketball event at Trent Arena.
Hill made 9-of-15 shots and 2-of-6 3-pointers while collecting nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Even more, Hill was often matched against Flora’s Luke Cothron, a 6-8 North Carolina State recruit who finished with 23 points and eight rebounds.
Thuman said Hill’s commitment to the Flyers has created crowds littered with UD fans even at North games. Hill said he noticed the significant amount of Flyers fans in the crowd for the game on Monday, which North accepted in part to ensure Hill could play in the Dayton area.
“It was great to see the people out here who were excited,” Hill said.
Permalink Comments (0) Post your comment Categories: Flyin' to the Hoop 2010
Northland
Friday, January 22, 2010 2:57 AM
By Steve Blackledge
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Ohio State recruit Deshaun Thomas of Fort Wayne, Ind., is averaging 34.3 points this season." Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal-Gazette
Ohio State recruit Deshaun Thomas of Fort Wayne, Ind., is averaging 34.3 points this season.
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Any nervousness Deshaun Thomas feels about playing in Value City Arena for the first time Saturday against two of his future Ohio State teammates is trumped by sheer excitement.
"How many teams get the opportunity to travel out of state and play the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the nation in front of a big crowd in a major college arena?" asked Thomas, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound senior forward for Bishop Luers of Fort Wayne, Ind.
"I'm sure a lot of Ohio State fans will be there to check out the guys coming in next year and we want to live up to their expectations as well as our own. This is something I've looked forward to all year."
Thomas will share the spotlight with center Jared Sullinger and forward J.D. Weatherspoon of Northland when their teams meet at 7:15 p.m. as part of the seven-game Ohio Scholastic Play-By-Play Classic.
A fourth Buckeyes recruit, guard Jordan Sibert of Cincinnati Princeton, will play in the 8:45 game against Cleveland Benedictine.
Pressure should be nothing new for Thomas, who passed over in-state schools Indiana and Purdue for Ohio State. His quest to become Indiana's all-time leading scorer is being watched closely.
"Some of my teachers still ask me why I'm leaving the state, but they don't seem to understand that I wanted to get out and experience new things," Thomas said. "Ohio State just felt like home when I visited. Not everybody in Indiana is sore. There are a lot of OSU fans over here, too. You see bumper stickers all over the place."
Thomas averages 34.3 points, 16.4 rebounds, 3.3 blocks and 3.2 assists for Bishop Luers (9-3), the defending state champion in Indiana's third division.
Having scored 2,665 points, the left-hander needs to score about 33 points per game the rest of the season to overtake former Indiana star Damon Bailey, who has 3,134.
"I'm having fun with it," Thomas said. "It's hard to ignore with all the attention it's getting and the record is really prestigious, but I'm not going to force shots or anything to get it."
The Ohio State recruits met for the first time during the Ohio State-Southern California football game in September. Sullinger and Weatherspoon already were friends with Sibert, their teammate on a three-time national championship AAU team.
Thomas has joined the fraternity mostly through phone and text messages and e-mails.
"I've watched Deshaun play in AAU ball for a long time," Sullinger said. "He's a prolific scorer and poses a real matchup problem. He can shoot and handle the ball, is a tremendous rebounder and has a high motor."
Weatherspoon, who likely will guard Thomas, said the six Ohio State recruits formed an instant bond.
"Our whole communication process was almost uncanny," he said. "We already started talking about winning a national championship."
sblackledge@dispatch.com