Sunday, July 11, 1999
COLLEGE BASKETBALL INSIDER
Nike session more like boot camp than summer camp
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
TEANECK, N.J. — One might think the competition was the biggest adjustment for Purcell Marian guard Keith Jackson as he played with roughly 140 other top college basketball prospects this past week at the Nike All-American Camp.
It might have been startling, as well, to look in the stands and see 500 or so Division I coaches, when, in the past, an extraordinary day might have brought three or four to his gym.
He was ready for that stuff.
But getting up at 7a.m.? On a summer day?
“I'm not used to this,” Jackson said. “I'm used to sleeping until 12, then going to play.”
Nike runs a very regimented camp. Players — including 6-foot-7 junior Danny Horace of Western Hills and 6-6 junior Matt Sylvester of Moeller — also were instructed what to wear during different periods and ordered to attend class sessions on leadership training and college preparation before they can pick up a ball.
The first two days of the Nike camp included a combined two hours of basketball for the players attending.
“I knew eventually we'd be playing a lot of basketball,” Jackson said. “I didn't know it would be classes for three hours and then going back to class for three more hours.”
A 6-5 guard who averaged 15.4 points and 9.6 rebounds at Purcell as a sophomore, Jackson decided to attend Nike because he thought it offered the best compe tition. But he believes the class sessions were valuable.
“We were talking about being leaders — about how in your school, you're going to be the top player and people are going to be looking at you and how you should deal with situations like that,” Jackson said. “I think I kind of know how, but I'm taking something away from this.”
JEFFRIES MAY STAY: Jared Jeffries is right there in Bloomington, so close he couldn't miss the spectacle that developed when star sophomore Luke Recker decided to transfer from Indiana.
Recker became the third McDonald's All-American to leave IU in the past three years, but even though he's likely to make the McDonald's game at the end of this season, Jeffries insists the others' experience won't influence whether he chooses to attend IU.
“Not at all. I don't really worry about it, because I feel as though they're different types of players than I am,” said Jeffries, a lean, skilled, 6-9 forward. “Maybe I can be successful where they weren't.”
Although Jeffries maintains this independence and defends coach Bob Knight, that doesn't mean he's ready to stay home. He's getting a lot of pressure from hometown Hoosiers fans and is bothered by this more than the sight of Knight dressing down an IU player.
Jeffries is considering 10 schools in addition to IU, with Kentucky and Cincinnati on that list. Connectict and Arizona are probably near the lead.
“I want to see what's out there,” he said. “I don't want to go to a school where I feel like I'm pressured into it.”
WRIGHT GUY, WRONG PLACE: Cincinnati basketball fans surely remember Lorenzen Wright, a 6-11 center who helped Memphis battle the Bearcats for conference championships before leaving for the NBA after his sophomore season.
Wright has a brother who can play but who plays nothing like his brother.
Lou Wright is a 6-6 guard who weighs barely 175 but has remarkable ballhandling skills and a great shooting touch. He hit 55 percent of his three-point attempts here at the adidas ABCD Camp.
Lou moved from Memphis to Southern California when his brother was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers. But as much as he enjoys the weather and the scenery in LA, he misses home.
Lorenzen is not planning to return to the Clippers; Lou said his next stop could be the L.A. Lakers. But with the uncertainty, Lou has decided to return to Memphis and play his senior year at Raleigh-Egypt High. There, he'll team with 6-3 Scooter McFadgon, another wing rated among the country's top 75 prospects.
That does not mean, though, Lou will wind up following his brother with the Memphis Tigers. He is being recruited by numerous schools and said he likes Duke, Connecticut and Kentucky.
“I could end up anywhere,” he said. “I might go to Vancouver, if they've got a college up there.”
HIGHS AND LOWS: Some impressions after a week spent watching nearly 27 hours of basketball spread over seven courts in two cities at the Nike and ABCD camps:
• Best player: Eddie Griffin, 6-9 power forward, Philadelphia. He came in with a reputation for playing solid ball and was so solid he became spectacular. Griffin runs the floor beautifully and has a numbing array of offensive moves.
• Most overrated player: Imari Sawyer, 6-1 point guard, Chicago. He's convinced the game revolves around him. It doesn't.
• Most underrated player: (tie) Mario Austin, 6-8 power forward, York, Ala., and Eddie Starks, 6-2 guard, Miami. Austin has great low-post skills and is a devastating passer. Starks is a rugged sort who can fill either backcourt position and fills the basket with deep shots and creative finishes.
• Most entertaining player: Andre Barrett, 5-8 point guard, New York. When he plays, the other nine guys are at his command.
• Most spectacular player: Gerald Wallace, 6-7 forward, Childersburg, Ala. No one in basketball — at any level — gets the ball to the rim quicker from the wing.
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