D-I prospects will be Findlay’s foundation

Rob Miech

Findlay College Prep basketball players (from left to right) Avery Bradley, Carlos Lopez and D.J. Richardson, have all made early verbal commitments to Division-I colleges. Bradley will attend Texas next season, Lopez will play at UNLV and Richardson will represent his home state when he dons an Illinois uniform. They will be the core of the Pilots’ program this season.

By Rob Miech

Friday, Oct. 3, 2008 | 2 a.m.

The three Findlay College Prep basketball players needed to work as a team Wednesday night, feeding off each other and taking cues for seamless transitions.

Carlos Lopez, Avery Bradley and D.J. Richardson, the Pilots who have given early verbal commitments to elite Division I programs, were ready for a showdown in their government debate class.

Should abortion be legal in this country?

“I heard them talking about it a little,” said Findlay coach Mike Peck. “It kind of got those guys to prepare something, speak before a group, take a stand and support that stand. That’s good. It got them thinking beyond an opinion.”

The Henderson International School, with which the Pilots are affiliated, is no ordinary high school. The three aforementioned debaters are no ordinary prep hoops players.

The three Pilots, like the rest of the students at the prestigious school, are pressed to produce in the classroom and on the court.

They will be the backbone of the team this season, and each said having decided his college future should eliminate distractions.

“I want Illinois fans to know I’ll be eligible,” said D.J. Richardson, an explosive 6-foot-3 guard from Peoria, Ill., “and I’ll be ready to play for the orange and blue next season.”

Findlay has become a regular stop for coaches from the top D-I programs, and Utah boss Jim Boylen popped in to watch Tuesday night’s practice.

UNLV coach Lon Kruger and Illini coach Bruce Weber recently had an animated 90-minute exchange, talking strategy and defense, during a Pilots practice. Weber kept an eye on Richardson.

Richardson said he had been considering Virginia and Tennessee, but his mother has a fear of flying and she told him those schools were too far from home.

He looked at Illinois closer. Assistant coach Wayne McClain won three consecutive Illinois Class-AA titles at Peoria Manual High and fellow Illini assistant Jerrance Howard is from Peoria.

“I know coach Howard will take care of me and stay on me,” Richardson said. “I like hearing about all the people from Peoria who went to Illinois. They teach defense, too.

“It’ll help me a lot staying in my home state, playing for my home coaches, with support from my city and from all over the state. I think it’s best playing for the state you’re from.”

Bradley also had UCLA high on his list, but he tired of incessant recruiting calls. He knew he wanted to go to Texas before he made an official visit.

“I didn’t want to wait,” Bradley said. “I’m excited about it. I knew I wanted to go to Texas. I came here to focus on my academics, not to worry about the recruiting process anymore.”

His relationship with Texas assistant Chris Ogden, whose 97 victories as a Longhorn are a UT record, convinced Bradley to go to college in Austin.

“He had a big impact on my commitment,” Bradley said. “Once I got to the school, man. I mean, my mom wanted me to wait but I didn’t want to. It wasn’t hard at all.”

Lopez, a 6-10 native of Puerto Rico who will be the lone Pilot to play all three seasons of the program’s existence, said committing to UNLV was an easy decision for him.

He met Kruger early in his Findlay career. They struck up a friendship that swayed Lopez toward UNLV.

Friends and relatives in Lajas, Puerto Rico, believe Lopez could not have made a better decision.

“Everyone back home is so proud of me,” he said. “They think I made a really good choice. I do, too. I was just this skinny kid, shooting all day and night. I wasn’t focused, just screwing around.

“Then I decided to be real about what I want in the future. I am going to keep working hard.”

The Pilots have experienced a near total makeover from last season, when they went 32-1 and lost the National Prep School Championship by two points in the Bronx, N.Y.

Only Lopez and much-improved Godwin Okonji return from that squad. Peck said the 6-9 Okonji might start at center and Lopez at power forward this season.

The Pilots lost a huge dose of experience and excitement last week when 6-8 Clarence Trent, a native of Gig Harbor, Wash., who committed to Washington, transferred to the Patterson School in North Carolina.

Trent’s dunks are well documented on YouTube, and the reasons for his leaving Findlay are not clear.

“I wish him the best,” Lopez said. “I hope he’ll graduate and go to Washington and have a great, great career. He was funny, hilarious. When someone was going through bad times, he was there for you.

“He always worried about you. ‘How are you doing in classes? How are you feeling?’ Those small parts are very important. But we don’t have him and we can’t feel bad. We can’t lay on our backs.”

Victor Rudd, a 6-8 forward from Los Angeles who boasts of a wide variety of dunks in his arsenal, looks like he could fill Trent’s high-flying role. He filled out the Findlay quartet that debated the legality of abortion.

Guards Cory Joseph, Willie Hankins and Issiah Grayson also will power the Pilots, and Peck plans to bring in an international big man within the week.

Bradley is from Tacoma, Wash., and has known Trent since the eighth grade.

“Losing him from this team is hard to swallow,” Bradley said. “But we’re a team. Brothers don’t fight. If we play together, we could be the No. 1 team in the nation.

“He brought a lot of energy and athleticism to the team, but we’ll just have to make it without him. We can do it.”