Bogans goes the distance

Apparently, Keith Bogans wasn't in the room when the great minds of basketball got together and decided all-star prep events are about exposure, rather than wins and losses.

Already rated one of the top prospects in the nation, the 6-5 point guard got on a plane on Saturday and flew from Washington D.C. to Las Vegas for one reason only: to help his DC Assault club repeat as champions of the Big Time Tournament.

"This is my team, so I always want to come help them when I can," said the player ranked in nearly every talent evaluator's top 10.

When the event kicked off last week, Bogans was one of only a handful of the country's top prep players not in attendance. He was back in the Washington area, attending summer school at DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, Md.

But when Friday's classes ended, the senior-to-be packed his bags and hopped on an early-morning flight.

His arrival couldn't have come at a better time for the Assault.

Although the Washington squad won all three of its pool contests with relative ease, coach Curtis Malone's group looked anything like a team loaded with Division I talent. The word around town was that the defending champs looked ripe for an upset.

That is, until Bogans arrived.

With the versatile guard joining a lineup that already includes 6-9 post player DerMarr Johnson -- considered by many experts to be the top incoming senior in the nation -- the Assault routed its first two opponents in bracket play.

That trend continued on Sunday morning, when the club defeated a solid QBL Lakewood (Calif.) team by 12 points. And when the Assault ran into unexpected trouble against a feisty Iowa Indians squad in the night session, Bogans made sure his trip wasn't for naught.

After a relatively quiet first half in which his time away from the court showed, the dynamic floor leader raised his game down the stretch. He scored 12 of his 17 points then, coming up with several key steals and icing the game in the final seconds with a clutch free throw.

"He just does whatever is necessary to make his team win," said prep talent scout Bob Gibbons, who added that Bogans may be the country's No. 1 prep prospect by the end of the summer.

Indeed, Bogans does know a thing or two about winning. Not only did he help the Assault to last year's Big Time crown, but his DeMatha club captured the top spot in USA Today's national rankings after a 34-1 season last winter.

"He brings the whole package," said Malone, who has coached Bogans for the past three summers. "He knows the game so well, and he knows how to make everybody else better."

Not surprisingly, Bogans' short list of potential addresses next year reads like a who's who of college basketball, with Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Connecticut, Villanova, Michigan and Georgia Tech leading the pack.

Where he ends up may be anyone's guess. But after this week, Bogans' suitors can be sure of at least one thing: When it comes to winning, distance is no obstacle.

archive