It’s the only Las Vegas high school sports event that TV commercials promote. Bishop Gorman High and Findlay Prep meet for their annual game Monday at the South Point Arena. The teams, which are two of high school basketball’s most respected programs nationwide, always have rosters loaded with blue-chip college recruits, including several prospects hometown UNLV is courting.
Add California coach Mike Montgomery to the ever-growing list people around the country impressed with UNLV freshman Anthony Bennett. “He’s a man,” Montgomery said Friday. “There’s no question about that. He’s got muscles on top of muscles.”
When the UNLV basketball team gathers for its offseason conditioning next fall on the campus track, incoming freshman forward Christian Wood might be one of the leaders in the sprints and distance drills. Wood, who Wednesday signed his national letter of intent with the Rebels on the first day of the early signing period, is more than familiar with conditioning from his past two seasons at Findlay Prep in Henderson.
Every morning Todd Simon swings his legs out of bed and prepares for the worst. The unsettling crunching sound is a given. So is the pain. “Those first two steps are just agony,” said Simon, the new coach of Findlay Prep.
Mike Peck is leaving Findlay Prep for the head coaching position with the Idaho Stampede, the Portland Trail Blazers’ NBDL team, it was announced Tuesday.
McDonald’s All-American forward Anthony Bennett has been cleared to play this fall, UNLV coach Dave Rice confirmed Thursday. “We are excited for Anthony and for our team,” Rice said.
The steady stream of fans into the Cox Pavilion on Friday afternoon for the 2012 debut of the NBA Summer League came from all walks of life. Scouts looking at players. Family members in town to show support. Kids looking for autographs from what they’re sure will be the next NBA superstar. Los Angeles Lakers fans. There’s little doubt that Vegas is Laker country, but what do you do if you want to catch some good games and don’t have an NBA team you root for?
UNLV incoming freshman Anthony Bennett likely won’t be able to play in the team’s August trip to Canada as he awaits NCAA certification, but it isn’t expected to affect his eligibility for the 2012-13 season.
Christian Wood, a 6-foot-8 forward who is verbally committed to the UNLV basketball team for the class of 2013, is ranked as the nation’s No. 35 prospect in the Rivals150, which was updated Tuesday by recruiting website Rivals.com. Wood shined last month at the Pangos All-American Camp in Long Beach, Calif., to firmly establish himself as one of the top players in his class, vaulting from a No. 55 ranking in April (Rivals updates its rankings three times annually) to No. 35.
The second time around, Nigel Williams-Goss found a better fit than UNLV. Williams-Goss, a 6-foot-4 senior-to-be guard at Findlay Prep, on Wednesday morning made his second college announcement: he’s going to Washington.
Anthony Bennett made it official Tuesday. Bennett, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward at Henderson’s Findlay Prep, signed a letter of intent to take his skills 12 miles north to UNLV’s campus. He’s the third Pilot graduate to make that trip.
Anthony Bennett isn’t like most top recruits. On Saturday, after a long recruiting process that finished with a month as the nation’s highest-rated uncommitted player, Findlay Prep’s Bennett kept it simple. After deciding to make a verbal commitment to UNLV over Oregon, he informed the concerned parties, including Findlay coach Mike Peck, sent out a tweet and stepped away to let the reactions fall where they may.
Findlay Prep’s Anthony Bennett is now the top recruit on the market. Bishop Gorman’s Shabazz Muhammad is going to UCLA. Nerlens Noel, out of Massachusetts, is going to Kentucky. Bennett, ranked No. 7 overall by rivals.com, is the biggest fish still out there, and really he’s just getting started. A 6-foot-7, 230-pound power forward, has all five of his official visits ahead of him. They include UNLV, Kentucky, Florida, Oregon and Washington.
Nigel Williams-Goss hit a floater with just less than 20 seconds left, and Brandon Ashley finished with 31 points as Findlay Prep erased an 18-point deficit and defeated Montverde 86-83 in overtime for the ESPN National High School Invitational Championship. It’s the Pilots third title in four years (2009 and 10) at the tournament, which is played in Bethesda, Md.
