Findlay Prep’s roster cut to eight with Hankins departure (UPDATED)

By Rob Miech

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 | 12:46 p.m.

Findlay College Prep will play the rest of its season with only eight players after Willie Hankins’s recent departure.

Academics played a role in Hankins going home to Southern California, according to his father Bill.

“That was only part of it,” said Bill Hankins. “Couple that with not getting playing time, which we thought he deserved. Their agenda didn’t fit ours.

“I don’t want to make it sound like it was academics. That was half the reason. He came here to play … his minutes were decreasing, it seems like.”

Willie Hankins played in 19 games for Findlay, averaging 5.6 points and 2.3 rebounds.

The Pilots are 24-0, back at No. 2 in the USA Today national Super 25 rankings and barreling toward a top seed in a national high school tournament in Bethesda, Md., in early April.

“We’ve been there before,” said Findlay coach Mike Peck, who is 56-1 coaching the Pilots. “Last season, against Wheeler in Kentucky, we had seven guys. Like anything, I tell the guys it’s less than ideal.

“But we have to deal with it, be a little more creative in practices now going offense against defense and defense against offense.”

Findlay is led by senior guard Avery Bradley, who will play at Texas next fall. He averages a team-best 18.8 points, and he grabs 4.4 boards, dishes out 3.1 assists and steals 3 passes a game. He's shooting 55.5 percent from the field. Fellow guard D.J. Richardson, who has committed to Illinois, averages 11.9 points.

Versatile 6-foot-7 senior Victor Rudd averages 15.6 points and a team-high 8.7 rebounds, and he is shooting 53.3 percent.

He will decide on a host of schools, that includes UNLV, but wants to concentrate on his schoolwork, and upcoming ACT and SAT tests, and the Pilots’ season.

Bill Hankins also is Rudd’s guardian and said about 15 collegiate programs have offered Rudd a scholarship.

“UNLV is still high on his list,” Hankins said. “So is Gonzaga. Memphis offered last week. People at UNLV should know that UNLV is still high on his list. He probably won’t make a decision until after the basketball season.

“All of the schools that have offered have the same type of offensive scheme we’re looking for, allowing him to get up and down the court, shoot ‘threes,’ get to the basket and defend the ‘one’ through ‘four.’ ”

UNLV-bound center Carlos Lopez, who averages 8.5 points and 5.8 rebounds, and junior power forward Godwin Okonji are the interior players for the Pilots.

Junior point guard Cory Joseph, a Toronto-area native who has visited Louisville's practice, averages 8.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists. He's shooting 47.4 percent from the 3-point arc.

Findlay plays Foothill on Wednesday night at the Henderson International School, with which the Pilots are affiliated, and play at Bishop Gorman on Thursday night.

“It’s not anything we’re not used to,” Peck said of his shortened roster. “It’s one of those things. Players will get legitimate minutes off the bench. It might not be for 30 seconds. It might be for good stretches.

“So be prepared and be ready to step up.”

Findlay had dropped from second to third in the USA Today rankings, but Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s, which had jumped to No. 2, lost twice last week. One of those came at No. 1 Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei on Saturday.