UNC has to prepare for Lawson's eventual departure
Tywon Lawson is one of the fastest players on the court with a basketball in his hands. Although it was obvious during his freshman season that he had plenty of room for improvement, the North Carolina point guard was frequently sensational.
Many people thought he might head to the NBA after his freshman year, but he decided to return for another season. That is unlikely to happen again, meaning the Tar Heels need to land a top-flight point guard from the high school class of 2008.
The No. 1 prospect at that position, according to just about everyone’s rankings, is 6-foot-1 Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy. He has already committed to Southern Cal.
UCLA has pledges from two of the best junior point guards in 6-3 Malcolm Lee of Riverside North and 6-1 Jerime Anderson of Anaheim Canyon, both from California. Other highly ranked 2008 lead guards making promises include 6-4 Anthony Crater of Flint Hill (Mich.) Southwestern (to Ohio State), 5-11 Korie Lucious of Milwaukee (Wis.) Pius XI (to Michigan State), 5-9 Isaiah Thomas of South Kent (Conn.) Prep (to Washington) and 6-4 Brad Redford of Frankenmuth (Mich.) High School (to Xavier).
Larry Drew is the No. 2 rising senior point guard, according to prepstars.com. He is the son of former NBA player Larry Drew Sr., who is an Atlanta Hawks assistant coach.
Listed anywhere from 5-10 to 6-0, Drew has been quoted as saying that Carolina is his favorite school. His final three includes UNC, Arizona and UCLA.
Still trying for 2007
The top-ranked player of the 2008 class is attracting plenty of attention. Greg Monroe, a 6-10 power forward from Harvey (La.) Cox High School, has a long list of suitors that includes Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, Florida, Texas, Louisville, Connecticut, Louisiana State and Southern Cal.
According to newspaper reports, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and his top assistant, Johnny Dawkins, arrived in a limousine for an April visit to Cox High.
Coach K, in an attempt to expand an already outstanding 2007 recruiting class, also made a trip to West Virginia last month. He was paying an in-home visit to Patrick Patterson. A 6-8 power forward from Huntington High, Patterson ranked No. 12 in the class of 2007. He is also considering Kentucky, Florida, Virginia and Wake Forest.
Like Duke, Virginia and Wake, Maryland is still trying to add to its current recruiting class. The Terps have signed five high school seniors and would match Virginia Tech with the largest Atlantic Coast Conference 2007 class if they corral Jai Lucas.
The 5-10 point guard from Bellaire (Texas) High is the son of former Maryland backcourt star John Lucas. Jai’s final five includes Florida, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kentucky. He is the No. 38 senior.
Back-to-back national champion Florida is wasting no time in reloading. Billy Donovan has signed three top-100 prospects in a four-man 2007 class. If he gets Patterson and Lucas, his haul would come close to matching UNC’s 2006 haul that featured six top-100 players.
The Gators have signed letters-of-intent from 6-5 combination guard Nick Calathes (No. 18) and 6-7 small forward Chandler Parsons (No. 77), both from Winter Park (Fla.) Lake Howell; Alex Tyus (No. 30), 6-8 power forward, Cincinnati (Ohio) Harmony Christian; and Adam Allen, 6-6 small forward, Milton (Fla.) High.
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