Wednesday, March 25, 2009 | 11:11 p.m.
Findlay College Prep continues to be a hot spot for collegiate basketball coaches.
Before the season began, Lorenzo Romar of Washington, Bruce Weber of Illinois, Jim Boylen of Utah and others – Lon Kruger of UNLV is a regular – popped into the tiny gym at the Henderson International School to see the Pilots practice.
That was seven months ago.
The 30-0 Pilots, ranked No. 1 by USA Today and prepping for the eight-team ESPN RISE National High School Invitational next week in Bethesda, Md., are still playing.
The same can’t be said for Washington, Illinois, Utah or UNLV, or Ohio State, Texas A&M or Texas.
Wednesday afternoon, Buckeyes coach Thad Matta and assistant Archie Miller, and Aggies coach Mark Turgeon showed at the Henderson gym to watch Findlay.
More specifically, to see standout point guard Cory Joseph, a junior from the Toronto area who is being wooed by some of the best coaches in the country.
During one trip to Kentucky this season, Pilots coach Mike Peck arranged for his squad to watch a Louisville practice. No doubt Cardinals coach Rick Pitino was grateful.
If Pitino goes to Arizona, does that increase or decrease Joseph’s chances of playing for him?
About 20 minutes after the practice, I ran into Longhorns coach Rick Barnes, who had just entered a front gate to the Henderson School and asked for directions to the gym.
He was checking on wildly talented senior shooting guard Avery Bradley, who will play for Barnes next fall, and junior power forward Tristan Thompson, who will be a Longhorn in 2010.
Findlay isn’t just a magnet for top-tier Division-I coaches, either. Sports Illustrated writer Phil Taylor was actually in the house Wednesday.
Well, he was in the Pilots’ house, the two-story stucco home a short walk up a hill from Henderson International, the elite prep school with which Findlay is affiliated.
The players live in the home, which is supervised by Findlay assistant coach Todd Simon and his wife Kati. This is the third season of the basketball program. Peck, in two seasons running the team, is 62-1.
All of which will make for some interesting copy, maybe in next week’s issue, in Sports Illustrated.
But it won’t surprise a handful of top-notch coaches or wise local basketball fans who know the way to the gem of a gym in the Henderson foothills.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy