Alex Kline of BoxofMess.com continues to put in work interviewing many of the top high school prospects in the New York metropolitan area.
In this piece, Kline gets Burlington (N.J.) Life Center stars Dion Waiters and LaQuinton Ross talking about their future goals and plans.
The 6-foot-8 Ross has already been compared to Kevin Durant by Burlington coach Wilson Arroyo.
The junior transferred from Murrah (Miss.) High in order to play a national schedule against better competition.
Here he lists these schools among his possible choices: Villanova, Georgetown, Syracuse, UConn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Florida and Texas.
Asked if he might join Waiters at Syracuse, Ross said: “It’s a possibility.”
Asked about his visit schedule, he said: “I probably plan on taking some this summer…I’m going to narrow [my list] down to the top five next summer. Top five, Syracuse will be in there.”
As for the 6-3 Waiters, he has been following Syracuse’s progress this year and says, “I hope they win a national championship.”
Waiters joins a Top 3 recruiting class that includes 7-foot Fabricio de Melo of the Sagemont (Fla.) High School; C.J. Fair, a 6-8 forward from Baltimore who attends Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H.; and Baye Moussa Keita, a 6-9 forward at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy.
“They all bring something to the table,” he said.
HARRIS REACHES 2,000 POINTS
Congrats to Tennessee-bound forward Tobias Harris for scoring his 2,000th career point Tuesday night in an 80-63 win over Copiague in a Suffolk Class AA quarterfinal.
According to Newsday, the 6-8 Harris reached the milestone on a layup with two minutes left in the third quarter, and became the 11th Long Islander to accomplish the feat.
“It means a lot to me,” Harris, who has 2,008 points and added 17 rebounds, told Newsday. “It’s a great step in my career and it’ll be nice to look back on, but for now I’m just worried about us winning states.”
Half Hollow Hills West coach Bill Mitaritonna credited Harris’ work ethic for his success.
“He downplays everything because he’s only concerned about the team,” Mitaritonna, whose team improved to 20-0 and will face Bay Shore in the semifinals Sunday at Farmingdale State, told Newsday. “He works when nobody’s around. Before the season he was waking up at 5:30 a.m. to run, he does his lifting and speed drills after games and he’ll come back to school at night and take 1,000 shots. He’s a special player and that’s why he’s a McDonald’s All-American.”
IRVING’S CAREER WINDING DOWN
Kyrie Irving’s high school career is winding down.
Because St. Patrick was banned from the New Jersey state tournament, the Duke-bound Irving can play only two more games with the Celtics.
Top-seeded St. Patrick meets Union Wednesday night in one Union County semifinal at 7:30 at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth, while No. 2 Plainfield (20-2) takes on No. 3 Linden (16-5) in the other.
“It’s really starting to hit me..i have 2 games left in my season…73 more points to a 1000 with st patricks..I’m gonna miss these guys..h&h,” Irving wrote on his Twitter page.
The championship game is Saturday at 3 at Kean University, and will be shown Sunday at 9 on MSG.
FREE THROWS
Desmond Hubert, a 6-9, 200-pound junior center from New Egypt (N.J.) High, has offers from Villanova, Pittsburgh, Penn State, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Rutgers and Seton Hall, according to Mike Quick of MSG. Hubert already has more than 1,000 points.
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