Where they're headed: Baltimore Select's '08 prospects
Three recently graduated Baltimore Select players will continue their basketball careers next season.
Scott Bowden, the AAU program’s director and founder, said today that point guard Omar Strong (Douglass) is headed to Cecil College and guard Dwayne Wheeler (Mount Carmel) will prep for a year at Princeton Day Academy in Lanham. Center Jakub Kusmieruk (John Carroll) signed with Central Florida last fall.
Strong, who averaged 22 points per game as a senior and was named to The Sun‘s All-Metro first team, is a “definite high mid-major, mid-major DI ballplayer,” according to Bowden.
“[Strong] wanted to stay home,” Bowden said. “He had many JUCO offers from some of the major ones in Texas and Utah and Kansas, but he really wanted to be as close to home as possible. He’s a Baltimore City guy."
Wheeler will become the second recent Select alum to attend prep school at Princeton Day Academy. Shooting guard Beloved Rogers starred for the first-year Christian prep school before signing with Oral Roberts in the spring.
“[Wheeler] was not too far off from meeting Division I requirements,” Bowden said. “Basically, he just needs to increase his SAT score and at the same time, he did think he could get a better look with one more year. He had some interest from High Point and Bethune Cookman, but he thought he could maybe go a little better with one more year and an increased SAT.”
Two of Select’s 2008 players will play football in college. Gerrard Sheppard (McDonogh) will suit up for Connecticut as a wide receiver, while James Carmon (City) plans on attending Lackawanna College, a junior college in Scranton, Pa., Bowden said.
Looking ahead to 2010, DeMatha point guard and Select member Josh Selby was recently rated the No. 5 player in the country for 2010 by Rivals.com .
“Selby’s off the charts right now,” Bowden said. “His mom and I are kind of keeping that one quiet. Basically, it’s between [schools in] the ACC, Big East and SEC. We don’t want to leave anyone out [by naming schools].”
Comments
I've not heard much at all about him. Has Selby just recently shot up the rivals.com board? (If so, that's quite a leap.) And how does he compare to Epps, the #76 rated player and, who I understand is the Terps' 2010 top/preferred PG prospect? Even if Maryland is interested in Selby, have you heard whether he has any interest in the Terps? The rvials.com listing does not reflect UM as a school of interest.
Posted by: Terp'nTexas | July 14, 2008 4:47 PM
Hey just to let you know-Cecil College is a pretty nice program. The Top Juco in the state of Maryland-alot of the players move on to D1 schools. Coach Lewitt runs a great program-welcome to Cecil College Omar.Looking forward to seeing you play.
Posted by: Dave | July 14, 2008 5:28 PM
Terp 'n Texas -- Selby's been a big-time guy for awhile, but I believe Rivals' rankings for 2010 are brand new. I just don't think the mutual interest between Selby and the Terps is there. Epps being the top point guard target is a good indication of that.
Dave -- Thanks for the info on Cecil. Sounds like a good fit for both parties.
Posted by: Matt Bracken | July 14, 2008 6:57 PM
I think that GW is trying for once to stay with the top guy for the 2010 prospect for MD. I think that if you notice that saying they are the top guy for your program and being there with the top throughout the recruiting process are two different things. Just ask Donte Taylor, the Terps labeled him as there top guy for 2009 since late last year. You have to stay on these kids for as long as it takes if you think that they could really help your program. You have to take the rivals rankings with a grain of salt because a lot of these are ranked high and when they get to college they get that wake up call and some of those kids never recover from that.
I have not seen Selby play but Epps plays just like Chris Paul with a better jump shot with out a doubt.
Posted by: Big Mike | July 15, 2008 10:33 AM