Drew gives UNC head start on 2008
North Carolina ended a long drought and addressed a future need that could arise sooner than later when it received a commitment from Larry Drew Jr. last week.
Drew is the first basketball prospect landed by the Tar Heels since the middle of October, 2005. That is when Brandan Wright sealed the best 2006 recruiting haul in the nation for UNC, which signed six of the top 100 high school players in the country.
Ironically, Wright is the first player from that class to leave Carolina. Following his freshman season, he announced his intentions to leave school early for the NBA draft, then closed the deal by acquiring an agent.
There were some people who felt point guard Tywon Lawson would also head for the pros after his rookie year, but he will return to the Tar Heels. As that is unlikely to happen again, Roy Williams and his staff worked hard to go out and grab a top-flight point guard from the Class of 2008.
Drew fills the bill. Ranked the No. 33 rising senior overall by prepstars.com and the fifth-best point guard in the 2008 class, he is the same type player as Tywon Lawson in that he looks to pass first. Like Tywon Lawson, he is not an outstanding outside shooter.
The 5-foot-11 Drew averaged 14.8 points, 6.3 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game as a junior at Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft High School.
He said last year that Carolina was his favorite school, and he chose the Tar Heels from a final three that also included Arizona and UCLA. His decision was made easier when the Wildcats and Bruins both received pledges from highly acclaimed point guards.
Brandon Jennings, the No. 1 point guard in the 2008 class and the No. 6 prospect overall, committed to Arizona. He is from Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy. UCLA has promises from Malcolm Lee and Jerime Anderson, the Nos. 2 and 3 point guards, respectively. Lee (No. 13 overall), is from Riverside (Calif.) North, while Anderson (No. 17 overall), is from Anaheim (Calif.) Canyon.
The No. 4 point guard in the class, JaMychal Green (No. 18 overall), is from Montgomery (Ala.) St. Jude. He is considering Georgia Tech, Virginia, Florida, Alabama, Auburn and Mississippi.
Drew’s father, Larry Sr., played in the NBA for 10 years. He is currently an assistant with the Atlanta Hawks.
Buckeyes top 2007
Ohio State, which had the No. 2 class last year behind Carolina, has the No. 1 2007 hoops recruiting haul after signing five of the top 100 prospects.
The Buckeyes’ group includes No. 13 Kosta Koufos, 6-11 center from Canton (Ohio) Glen Oak; No. 37 Dallas Lauderdale, 6-8 power forward from Solon (Ohio) High School; No. 46 Evan Turner, 6-6 small forward from Westchester (Ill.) St. Joseph; No. 64 Eric Wallace, a 6-6 small forward and a native of North Carolina, who played his senior season at Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy; and No. 95 Jon Diebler, 6-7 small forward from Upper Sandusky (Ohio) High.
Florida has the No. 2 class in our national rankings after getting four top-100 prospects. Duke, with tremendous strength if not great length, is No. 3 after grabbing three of the top 20 high school seniors. The newest Blue Devils are No. 5 Kyle Singler, 6-8 power forward from Medford (Ore.) South; No. 16 Taylor King, 6-7 small forward from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei; and No. 20 Nolan Smith, 6-4 wing guard from Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy.
Rounding out our first six 2007 classes are, in order, Syracuse, Arizona and Purdue.
See more
at www.fayobserver.com
