Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009 | 5:32 p.m.
With new teammate Tristan Thompson in tow, Findlay College Prep forward Victor Rudd put on a show Sunday afternoon against Simi Valley (Calif.) Stoneridge Prep.
Rudd, a senior who counts UNLV among the top programs he’s interested in, scored 27 of his 35 points in the first half of the Pilots’ 111-75 victory at the Henderson International School.
Rebels coach Lon Kruger, as he often does, attended the game. When Rudd drained two free throws for a 93-62 lead, a couple of UNLV hoops fans chanted “Rebbbb-elllllls!”
His repertoire included a stunning alley-oop jam off an Issiah Grayson lob and a high, hard reverse dunk on the right side.
Findlay (28-0) trailed, 10-7, when the Pilots ripped off 13 consecutive points to take control. Rudd capped that run with a 3-pointer from the left side.
Stoneridge hit two free throws, then Findlay rattled off a nine-point run, started by a Rudd 3-pointer and finished by his emphatic alley-oop cram off Grayson’ perfect lob.
“He was real hot,” said Pilots point guard Cory Joseph. “We just kept on feeding him and he kept hitting.”
Rudd said his teammates told him to keep shooting.
“So that’s what I did,” he said.
He also sounded as if he’s getting tired of answering recruiting questions. Arizona, Marquette, Memphis and UNLV are somewhere jumbled on his list, and he said he’ll decide in early April.
Or late March.
In any case, he’s excited to have a new teammate. Thompson, a 6-foot-9 junior who left Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s last week, landed at Findlay because of his relationship with Joseph.
They’ve known each other since the fourth grade and have played on the same summer-traveling "Grassroots Canada" team. Thompson sat on the end of the Findlay bench Sunday wearing dark blue adidas sweats.
Pilots coach Mike Peck expects him to be eligible to practice this week and he might play against Duncanville (Texas) in Dallas on Friday.
“It's great to have him here," Joseph said. "We have a lot of chemistry. He won't be a cancer."
With Willie Hankins’s recent departure, Peck’s roster was cut to eight players. After the game, Thompson sounded grateful for being at Findlay.
“They’re playing as a team and I like their style, kind of like when Mike D’Antoni coached the Phoenix Suns,” he said. “The coaches are great and it’s like a family. I’m happy to be here.
“I’m real excited. I’ll just be another tool in the tool box.”
D.J. Richardson, the senior guard headed to Illinois next fall, added 18 points for the Pilots, and Texas-bound guard Avery Bradley and Joseph chipped in with 14 apiece.
Thompson verbally committed to the Longhorns in the fall, so he'll be a teammate of Bradley's in two seasons.
Rudd’s reverse jam gave Findlay an 88-48 advantage with 9 minutes, 44 seconds remaining, and Stoneridge tried making it respectable.
Guy Landry led Stoneridge with 35 points.
“That’s really a great team,” Landry said of the Pilots. “It’s why they’re ranked No. 1 in the country. They play good offense and defense. We just have to learn from this. You really have to guard them, especially Victor Rudd. But it’s hard.”
The Pilots missed five dunks.
Rudd said it was a good game for him, but not the best of his life. For that, he dreamt back to the summer before his sophomore season.
He had 31 points and 15 rebounds for his traveling team “2D1” in a game in Houston, Texas. That, he said, was before he became well-known.
With games like Sunday’s this season, he’s become very well-known.
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