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The guys start with an update on the NBA Playoffs. How did the Heat outmatch the Bucks? Will Boston be the favorite if it were to make the ECF? Lakers and Clippers have both had missteps, are they still on a collision course for the WCF? is this the last we see of Giannis in Milwaukee?

Click the play button below to listen!

Ron and Dev then discuss the proposal presented by ACC coaches to create an "All-Inclusive" NCAA Tournament. What would March Madness look like with 353 teams participating? Why does it make sense? Why doesn't it make sense?

Finally, the guys break down the high school standouts at the Pangos Rocky Mountain Summit and discuss the trend of high school players in California making the switch to prep schools for the fall and winter. Paolo Banchero, Nolan Hickman and Kaden Perry showed out for Seattle Rotary, while a handful of Vegas and California-based prospects put their names on the map!

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Final Score 80-66 Chaminade

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Not only did the 225-pound point forward and 2003 SVSM graduate live up to the tremendous hype surrounding him, he transcended high school sports and became a cultural phenomenon during his senior year. James’ high school accomplishments and legacy clearly resonates through the current state of high school basketball and its elite players. High school players have never enjoyed a bigger spotlight than today and the biggest factor, along with the improvement of hand-held technology that makes social media thrive, is commonplace national television exposure thanks to James.

The elites at many perennial FAB 50 powers are household names while still in high school. This has resulted in players from all over the country, and now the world, wanting to attend schools that regularly appear on television and in the weekly national rankings. Just as the 1992 Dream Team helped globalize professional basketball, the globalization created by the desire to play on high school basketball’s biggest stage is clearly reflected on the Ballislife All-Decade All-American Team for the 2010s.

While at Box Hill (Melbourne, Australia), the college a young Ben Simmons was mostly familiar with was Duke, whose games on ESPN in 2018-19 drew more average viewers (2.23 million) than NBA broadcasts (just under 2) on the same network and its mother station, ABC. At the 2012 Pangos All-American Camp in Southern California, Simmons’ first exposure to American Grassroots basketball he told us he knew about Duke and not much about any other college. When Simmons left Box Hill for the states in 2013, he landed at a school that, at the time, was quickly becoming a go-to destination for elite players: Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)

As a result of his skill level, production and playing a big role in Montverde Academy winning three consecutive FAB 50 national titles (2013-15), today Simmons has been named the Ballislife Player of the Decade and headlines our 30-man All-Decade All-American Elite Team for the 2010s.

After moving to Florida in January 2013, Simmons helped the Eagles overcome two regular season losses to capture the 2013 ESPN NHSI tournament (now GEICO Nationals) with a 67-65 come-from-behind title game victory over St. Benedict’s (Newark, N.J.). On a team led by point guard Kasey Hill (Florida), shooting guard D’Angelo Russell (Ohio St.) and post Dakari Johnson (Kentucky), Simmons made all three of his field goals, and finished with six points, four rebounds and three assists in the championship game.

In his junior campaign, Simmons teamed with Russell (who was seriously considered for All-Decade accolades) to lead the Eagles to another GEICO Nationals title. Ironically, the star of that 2012 Pangos Camp played a big role in handing Montverde Academy its only on-court loss of the 2013-14 season. That player was center Cliff Alexander and he had 30 points, 12 rebounds and five bocks in a 73-69 come-from-behind win by Curie (Chicago) that was later forfeited. That dominant performance, and some stellar showings on the post-season all-star circuit, allowed Alexander to clip Simmons, and All-Decade selections Stanley Johnson and Jahlil Okafor for Mr. Basketball USA honors.

In his senior season, Simmons didn’t have as strong as supporting cast, but it seemed at times he willed the Eagles to victory against stellar national competition. He capped his Montverde Academy career with a 20-point, 11-rebound, six assist performance in a 70-61 victory over Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) at Madison Square Garden to win an unprecedented third straight GEICO Nationals crown.

Simmons had 13 points in the fourth period against Oak Hill Academy (the team Montverde Academy also defeated in the 2014 title game) and for the season averaged 27.1 ppg, 11.6 rpg, and 5.3 apg for a 31-1 club. Simmons’ domination led him to be the first consensus Mr. Basketball USA since James. He was a bonafide national player of the year candidate for two years running and the fact he also finished his career No.2 in points (145), No. 1 in rebounds (88) and No. 2 in assists (31) all-time at GEICO Nationals helped secure his status at the decade’s best all-around player.   

When All-Decade choice Andrew Wiggins of Huntington Prep (Huntington, W. Va.) was named Mr. Basketball USA in 2013, it marked only the second time overall a foreign-born talent had earned the nation’s highest individual honor. 1990's All-Decade performer Felipe Lopez of now defunct Rice (New York) via the Dominican Republic was the first in 1994. R.J. Barrett enrolled at Montverde Academy the season after Simmons graduated and when the All-Decade choice was named 2018 Mr. Basketball USA, it marked the third time in six seasons the nation’s top individual performer was foreign-born. Like Wiggins, Barrett is Canadian.

Consistent exposure that James (and HD video cameras) helped create led to the globalization of elite high school basketball over the past decade. The competition level has never been better and the path to with a mythical national title never more difficult.

2010's Ballislife All-Decade All-American Elite Team               

Editor's note: Based on high school accomplishment and the annual All-American Elite Team selections of the past 10 years. All players must have been chosen first five All-Americans to be eligible for this team. If all five first players were chosen, then second five All-Americans were given consideration. The criteria was to evaluate all high school accomplishment, not just senior year accolades, and extra consideration was given to players who were All-Americans more than once. Those considered fifth-year players in their final year of high school competition were not considered. Players are listed by year of graduation and the position they played in high school.

FIRST TEAM

First Five

G — Lonzo Ball, Chino Hills (Calif.) 6-6, Class of 2016

Our 2016 Mr. Basketball USA was one of the most unique talents of the decade. There were conventional players more efficient in terms of shooting percentage and style of play, but some of the skill Ball possessed only comes around once every ten years. A pinpoint passer all 84 feet of the court with uncanny rebounding ability for a true point guard, Ball was a two-time All-American (third five as a junior). The 2016 Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Basketball honoree and a two-time Division I State Player of the Year, Ball recorded a state record 25 triple-doubles for the unbeaten 35-0 FAB 50 national champs and finished his senior season with averages of 23.9 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 11.7 apg, 5.1 spg, and 2.0 bpg. Ball finished his four-year career with 2,522 points, 1,204 rebounds, 1,214 assists (state No. 1 all-time) and 592 steals (state No. 2 all-time).

G — Kyrie Irving, St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) 6-2, Class of 2010

It was difficult to separate Irving and Ball, arguably the two most talented and productive lead guards of the 2010's. Ball had two monster seasons statistically and won a FAB 50 national crown and even though Irving didn’t have as much team success, his individual skill is too hard to ignore. In some showcase games, Irving simply looked like he came down a level from college with his ability to handle the ball and score. As a senior, he stepped out of the shadows of former teammate Dexter Strickland and fellow All-Decade teammate Mike Kidd-Gilchrist to average 24.5 ppg, 6.5 apg, and 4.5 rpg for a 24-3 team that finished No. 7 in the FAB 50. The Gatorade State Player of the Year in 2010 (Kidd-Gilchrist was the winner as a sophomore the prior season), Irving scored over 2,100 career points and capped his career with a MVP performance at the Jordan Brand Classic.

F — Harrison Barnes, Ames (Iowa) 6-7, Class of 2010

Wings were by far the deepest position of the decade and that’s where the deepest discussion lay to sort through the glut of talented forwards. When Barnes gradated from Ames high school, there was little doubt he was the most well-rounded player in his class and he ended up one of the most polished of the decade. After all, there was a reason he was voted preseason A.P. College Player of the Year in 2010-11 before ever playing a single game for North Carolina. He was extremely productive at the high school level, leading the Little Cyclones to repeat, unbeaten Class 4A state titles and a winning streak of 53 games. As a senior, Barnes averaged 26.1 ppg, 10.0 rpg and 3.6 apg for the No. 10 ranked team in the FAB 50. For his career, Barnes was a two-time All-American (third five as a junior) and was a three-time all-state choice who finished with 1,787 career points.

F — Ben Simmons, Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) 6-9, Class of 2015

Our 2010's Player of the Decade. As a senior, Simmons was the first Mr. Basketball USA consensus choice since LeBron James 12 years earlier. He played on teams that won three consecutive mythical national titles and was the difference maker in the big games for two seasons. As a junior, Simmons averaged 22.7 points and 9.5 rebounds for a team that lost once on-court against arguably the nation’s toughest schedule. As a senior, he was even better, as he dropped 27.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. A two-time first five All-American selection, Simmons’ dominance over his peers from a team perspective cannot be underestimated.

C — DeAndre Ayton, Hillcrest Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.) 7-0, Class of 2017

After first seeing the Bahamian native at the 2012 Pangos Jr. All-American Camp, it was evident the eighth-grader had a chance to be a dominant force at the highest levels of the game. By his sophomore season, it was clear Ayton was the most talented post player regardless of class in the country. He was a three-time All-American (the first since Kidd-Gilchrist and Austin Rivers in 2009-11) and made the first five twice after making second five as a sophomore. After averaging 29.2 ppg, 16.7 rpg and 3.8 bpg as a junior, Ayton used his rare combination of size, coordination and athleticism to lead Hillcrest Prep in Arizona to a 33-6 mark and to the Under Armour Grind Session championship as a senior while averaging 26 ppg, 15 rpg and 3.5 bpg.

Second Five

G — R.J. Barrett, Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) 6-7, Class of 2018

After Simmons graduated, the bar was set extremely high for the Eagles’ next superstar player. In order to be mentioned in the same breath with Montverde Academy’s other star players (Hill, Russell, Simmons, etc.) Barrett knew going into his final season he needed to lead his team to a FAB 50 title. After earning fourth five All-American honors and being named National Sophomore of the Year for 2016-17, Barrett re-classified up to the 2018 class. He had two fantastic seasons for the Eagles, as he was the team’s leading scorer as a freshman and averaged 22 points and 7 rebounds in his second season. It all came together in 2017-18, as Barrett completed his career quest of leading the Eagles to the FAB 50 title. The southpaw power guard averaged 28.7 ppg for a 36-0 club that won 15 games against FAB 50 or previously ranked foes. Another notch that pushed our 2018 Mr. Basketball USA to All-Decade second five status was averaging 26.7 ppg in three wins at GEICO Nationals to seal the title and scoring an event record 177 points (22.1 ppg) in eight games.

G — Kyle Anderson, St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) 6-8, Class of 2011

Likely the surprise pick on the All-Decade team for many, until one closely examines the criteria. Yes, Anderson was official runner-up to good friend Shabazz Muhammad for 2012 Mr. Basketball USA honors, but Muhammad was compared to the wings and forwards in the All-Decade deliberations, whereas Anderson was evaluated against the group of guards on the board, because, despite his 6-foot-8 frame, Anderson's approach to the game was that of a point guard. Winning on a national level was also a strong factor in the selection process and “Slow Mo” was one of the biggest winners of the decade. In fact, he didn't play in a losing game his last two seasons with the 65-0 Friars. St. Anthony won the mythical national title his junior year and what he did in the Friars’ huge 62-45 win over then No. 1 St. Patrick (in one of the biggest No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdowns of the decade) illustrated his impact at the high school level. He had 11 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals while helping to limit Kidd-Gilchrist to 7 points. A three-time all-stater, Anderson averaged 14.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 3.9 apg as a senior when the Friars went 32-0 with a repeat New Jersey TOC crown and No. 3 FAB 50 ranking.

F — Jayson Tatum, Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) 6-8, Class of 2016

One of the most gifted scorers of the decade, Tatum was the third legitimate Mr. Basketball USA candidate his senior year along with fellow All-Decade choice Josh Jackson and eventual honoree Lonzo Ball. Tatum averaged 29 ppg, 9 rpg, 3 apg and 2 spg for a 27-5 team that finished No. 15 in the FAB 50. In his final game at Chaminade, Tatum exploded for 40 points and 14 rebounds, as the program win its first Missouri Class 5 state title. Winning that title and breaking the school scoring record held by the player in consideration for a spot on second or third five (Bradley Beal) was the reason for Tatum landing this high. Tatum was also the first four-time Metro Catholic Conference Player of the Year and a three-time Gatorade State Player of the Year.

F — Stanley Johnson, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 6-7, Class of 2014

Arguably the decade’s ultimate winner, Johnson kept adding wrinkles to his game and improving his team’s fortunes each of his four seasons. As a result, Johnson led the Monarchs to a 135-7 record in his four-year career and to four state titles, the first player ever to accomplish that feat in the CIF’s highest classification. A third five All-American as a junior, Johnson was a two-time D1 State Player of the Year and a finalist for Mr. Basketball USA as a senior. What secured his nod to this team was expanding his game as a senior to handle point guard duties and facilitating on a team that lost a starter after school started. Johnson averaged 25.1 ppg, 8.1 rbg, 3.1 apg and the Monarchs were still able to go 35-0 and finish No. 2 in the FAB 50 behind Montverde Academy in a close call. Johnson is the greatest player ever to don a Mater Dei uniform.

F — Jabari Parker, Simeon (Chicago) 6-8, Class of 2013

We didn’t get a true post on the second five, but just as he did in his lone season at Duke, Parker can play inside if need be. One of the most decorated players of the decade, Parker was a Sports Illustrated cover subject in May 2012 and one of the few to receive the “Best Since LeBron” tag. Although Wiggins edged Parker for Mr. Basketball USA honors as a senior due to a slow start from lingering injuries, he joined Johnson as a four-time state champion in the largest classification of a power state (Class 4A). He had a strong close to his senior season, which included a 29-point, 13-rebound performance over third five choice Jahlil Okafor and Whitney Young in a sectional title game. Parker went 118-15 in his four seasons at Simeon and was the 2012 Gatorade National Player of the Year as a junior. He was also the first non-senior to be named Illinois Mr. Basketball and the first freshman ever to start full-time at Simeon.      

Third Five

G — Trae Young, Norman North (Norman, Okla.) 6-2, Class of 2017

His monster senior season made Young the third true point guard to earn a berth on this All-Decade team. Young made second team All-American as a junior, but made a big jump up is his final season at Norman North. Prior to his spectacular senior season, Young and fellow All-Decade choice Michael Porter Jr. led Mokan Elite to the 2016 Nike EYBL title while avenging 27.0 ppg and 7.3 apg. A two-time Gatorade State Player of the Year, Young averaged 42.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists for a 19-6 club. He goes down as one of the best players ever from Oklahoma along with the likes of 1982 Mr. Basketball USA Waymon Tisdale, Richard Dumas (1987), Wilfred Boynes (1975) and Alvin Adams (1973).

G — Austin Rivers, Winter Park (Winter Park, Fla.) 6-4, Class of 2011

This shooting guard spot came down to Rivers and Beal, and in the end Rivers’ three-time All-American status and performances in big games were too hard to ignore. He opened eyes as a sophomore when he scored 120 points against four nationally-ranked teams at the City of Palms Classic in Florida, including 46 against Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler. Rivers was named to the COP all-tourney team three times and as back-to-back Class 6A state champs, his team played in GEICO Nationals twice, where he averaged an event record 31.3 ppg in three tourney games. A two-time state player of the year, Rivers averaged 28.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg and 2.8 apg against a challenging national schedule as a senior and the three-time all-stater finished with 2,957 career points.

F — Zion Williamson, Spartanburg Day School (Spartanburg, S.C.) 6-7, Class of 2018

A two-time All-American (second five as a junior), Zion was tailor made for this decade, as his breath-taking dunks and gravity-defying defensive plays we captured in HD camera and spread in real time on social media every single game. One of the most viral players of the “Mixtape Decade," Williamson is one of the most explosive talents the high school game has ever seen. What kept him off the second five (next to classmate R.J. Barrett) was a general lack of national level competition and missing nine games because of various injuries as a senior. As a junior, Williamson averaged 36.8 ppg, 13 rpg and netted 51 points in a state title game win. As a senior, Williamson led Spartanburg Day School to a third consecutive SCISA Class 2A state title and a 20-8 mark, which five of those defeats he did not play in. For the season, he averaged 36.3 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 4.7 apg, 2.4 bpg and 3.6 spg while shooting 78 percent from the field and finished his career with 3,202 points (32.0 ppg), 1,131 rebounds (11.3 rpg), 304 steals (3.0 spg) and 293 blocks (2.9 bpg).

F — Michael Porter Jr., Nathan Hale (Seattle, Wash.) 6-9, Class of 2017

Similar to his good friend and travel ball teammate Trae Young, Porter moved up from second team All-American status as a junior with a monster senior season. After leading Falter Tolton (Columbia, Mo.) to a MSHAA Class 3 state title as a junior, Porter topped that by winning a Class 3A title in Washington while averaging 37.6 ppg, 14.5 rpg and 5.2 apg. He led Hale to a 29-0 season and FAB 50 national title, including a 27-point, 15-rebound, 4-steal, 3-assist performance in a key win over all-Decade talent Marvin Bagley, III (who only played his freshman and junior year of high school) of Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon, the club that handed No. 2 La Lumiere its only loss of the season. Hale was the first team ever from Washington to win a mythical national title and Porter the first ever player from the Pacific Northwest named Mr. Basketball USA.

C — Jahlil Okafor, Whitney Young (Chicago) 6-11, Class of 2014

The last post spot on this five came down to three Chicago big men: Anthony Davis, Cliff Alexander and Okafor. Davis was the easiest to eliminate because he didn’t have much team success and wasn’t even known outside of Illinois prior to a late growth spurt and excellent 2010 spring and summer. Davis’ high school team also finished 6-18 his senior year despite his obvious budding talent. Alexander put together one of the most dominant single-game performances of the decade versus Montverde Academy and out-played Okafor in the 2014 Chicago Public League title game, but we give the nod to the Whitney Young standout because he had the most productive career of the three. Although Alexander was Mr. Basketball USA, Okafor was Player of the Year by Parade, USA Today and McDonald’s and was a serious national player of the year candidate for two seasons. In 2013, he led the Dolphins to the CPL title over Simeon and was named Chicago Sun Times POY as a junior over Jabari Parker.    

Second Team

(listed alphabetically)

? C — Cliff Alexander, Curie (Chicago) 6-9, Class of 2014

? G — Cole Anthony, Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 6-3, Class of 2019

? G — Bradley Beal, Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) 6-5, Class of 2011

? F — Jaylen Brown, Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) 6-7, Class of 2015

? F — Anthony Davis, Perspectives Charter (Chicago) 6-10, Class of 2011

? G — De'Aaron Fox, Cypress Lakes (Katy, Texas) 6-4, Class of 2016

? F — Aaron Gordon, Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) 6-8, Class of 2013

? F — Mike Kidd-Gilchrist, St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) 6-8, Class of 2011

? F — Josh Jackson, Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) 6-8, Class of 2016

? G — Brandon Knight, Pine Crest (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 6-3, Class of 2010

? G — Romeo Langford, New Albany (New Albany, Ind.) 6-4, Class of 2018

? F — Shabazz Muhammad, Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) 6-6, Class of 2012

? C  —  Jared Sullinger, Northland (Columbus, Ohio) 6-9, Class of 2010

? F — Andrew Wiggins, Huntington Prep (Huntington, W. Va.) 6-7, Class of 2013

? G — Nigel Williams-Goss, Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) 6-3, Class of 2013

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After abusing some kids at his hometown ProCamp in St. Louis, Jayson Tatum picked on a few ballers his own size and the results were pretty much the same.

Here's the highlights from the 20-year-old Celtics star's visit to the Patrick McCaw Pro-Am (yes, Patrick McCaw of the Golden State Warriors has a Pro-Am in St. Louis) on Saturday. Highlights from the visit include a few nice dunks (none as nice as his poster on King James during the NBA Playoffs) and step-back threes James Harden would approve of.

During his homecoming, the walking bucket also checked off a bullet on his bucket list by throwing out the first pitch during a Cardinals game.

“It went great,” Tatum said on TV. “It could have been better, but I wasn’t nervous. This has always been a dream of mine, to come out here and throw the first pitch, so I’m glad it was able to happen.”

Jayson Tatum after throwing out tonight's first pitch: "The mound is a lot farther than I expected." #STLCards pic.twitter.com/hRcecQeHZF

— FOX Sports Midwest (@FSMidwest) July 14, 2018

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlMbGa_FWSS

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlGnLv-Ho39

JAYSON TATUM IN HIGH SCHOOL

And here's some mixtapes we made of Tatum when he wasn't just the smoothest and best player in St. Louis but arguably in the nation.

The post Jayson Tatum Dominates Pro-Am, Dunks on A Kid & Throws A First Pitch During Return To St. Louis appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Joel Embiid: "My ball."
Jayson Tatum: "How? I beat you in the playoffs?"

That's one of the great moments from Episode 10 of Pure Sweat's online series Unseen Hours with trainer Drew Hanlen, who was in the gym with his first client at 7 in the morning and ended his day with an 11 PM workout session.

Besides great footage of Embiid going 1-on-1 with Tatum and Magic rookie Mo Bamba, the episode focuses on the transformation of Markelle Fultz's much-discussed shot.

Enjoy the video and a few of my favorite past episodes.

The post Unseen Hours EP 10: Embiid, Bamba & Tatum Play 1 on 1, Markelle Fultz's Shot Transformation appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Not one but three for Jayson Tatum! I'm not talking about girlfriends (that's two), I'm talking about the three highlights he had against the Denver Nuggets' Torrey Craig, who had a night he probably doesn't want to remember.

The first highlight came late in the opening quarter, when he hit Craig with a behind the back dribble before hitting a tough layup.

The second highlight came midway in the third, when he showed Craig his fancy footwork that led to Craig taking a seat on the floor to watch Tatum's pretty jumper.

Then with 20 seconds left in the third quarter, Tatum blew by Craig and threw down a one-hand dunk to tie the game at 80-80 (1:55 mark of the following video).

If being on multiple Jayson Tatum highlights wasn't bad enough, Craig had a potential game-winning shot called off (3:04 mark in the previous video; they should have passed it to him since he was wide open). Nuggets lose by one and Craig finishes with 0 points, 4 rebounds and 0 assists in 14 minutes of action.

I heard an actor once say the worst day on a movie set is better than any day off of one. So as bad as this day probably felt for the undrafted Craig, he's in the NBA now and has shown he belongs -- like he when he put up 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting against the Thunder last month.

As for Tatum (20 points, 8-13 FG, 2-4 3PT, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in 33 minutes), he not only belongs in the league, he's going to be a star in it. And I'm not just going to say it's because of this game because I think Tatum was looking for revenge on the Nuggets after what Trey Lyles did to him earlier in the season.

The post Jayson Tatum Abused Torrey Craig Three Times During Craig's Not So Great Night appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

You got to shoot that Darius!

Rule No. 7 in The Professor's book on handles: If you drop a player, you must shoot the ball or throw an alley-oop. Rule No. 7c: If you drop a rookie of the year candidate, you have to shoot the ball no matter what!

Miller only made 1-of-5 shots on the night and has missed 14 of his last 18 threes, so I can see why he was a little hesitant to pull the trigger....but if you drop a star in the making like Jayson Tatum, you need to shoot the damn ball.

As for Tatum, he was looking for a little payback, got Miller to pick up a foul and then knocked down two free throws as Miller took a seat on the bench. A minute after that, Tatum showed off his Kyrie-like handles to Jrue Holiday. And since Tatum has read The Professor's book on handles, he took and made his shot after the move.

BONUS VIDEO

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In the latest episode of 'Unseen Hours,' we get to watch a few of NBA trainer Drew Hanlen's clients -- rising stars Kelly Oubre, Jayson Tatum and Jordan Clarkson -- go 1-on-1 against each other and a workout with new Chicago Bull Zach LaVine, who seems to be recovering well from his season-ending ACL tear.

You can see more of Drew with Kelly and Jordan in previous episodes of the online series by Pure Sweat Basketball.

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Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and a bunch of other NBA players took to Twitter on Thursday's Draft night to send their congrats to former and future teammates and friends. As expected, a few great jokes were also said.

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Tatum and Monk were 1 and done college stars. Miles Bridges is expected by many to jump to the NBA following his sophomore season at Michigan State.
Check out these exclusive highlights from Jayson Tatum, Malik Monk, Miles Bridges, Charlie Moore and others from Arkansas Wings and Mac Irvin Fire
at "The 8" at Bigfoot Hoops' Las Vegas Classic.
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Props to Footlocker for being able to get players to make themselves like no other brand. In their latest hilarious self-mocking ad, top draft prospects De'Aaron Fox, Jayson Tatum, Jonathan Issac and Lonzo Ball talk about all of the great things their Dads have done for them in honor of Father's Day.

Fox talked about those 1-on-1 games in the driveway where his Dad let him win; Issac talks about his Dad waking up early to drive to far tournaments; Taytum reflected on fishing with his Dad; Lonzo brought up the special day when his Dad went off on his high school coach because he wasn't getting enough touches, sat him down and told him where he was going to college, when he copyrighted his name, went on First Take and said he was better than the MVP of the league and then tells 29 of the 30 NBA teams to not bother drafting him.

Genius!

BONUS VIDEOS: BALLS ON KIMMEL

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RELATED: 2015-16 Preseason Tracker | Tracker No. 2 | Tracker No. 3 | Tracker No. 4 |  Final Tracker

Many factors go into naming a national player of the year. As it turns out, playing for a winning program is a big one if the past two high school basketball seasons are any indication. For the second consecutive season, the best player off the nation's No. 1 ranked team has earned the title Mr. Basketball USA.

Last year is was 6-foot-9 forward Ben Simmons of FAB 50 champ Montverde Academy (Fla.) earning the nation's most prestigious honor and this season it's 6-foot-6 point guard Lonzo Ball of Chino Hills (Calif.). Ball's team finished 35-0 and ranked No. 1 in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com and his impact on an unbeaten, championship team was the determining factor.

Last year Simmons, who has declared for the NBA Draft after one season at LSU and is a strong candidate to be the No. 1 pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, was the first and only candidate to ever be No. 1 on all 10 ballots turned in by the Mr. Basketball USA panel. Simmons was a unanimous No. 1 on each ballot all season long. This time around, the voting was quite different.

Ball, a 6-foot-6 point guard headed to UCLA, began the season in sixth place, appearing on four preseason ballots with no vote higher than third place. That all changed as Chino Hills piled up wins and he piled up triple doubles. He ended the season with a new reported California record of 25 triple-doubles in a season while averaging 23.9 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 11.7 apg, 5.1 spg, and 2.0 bpg. Ball moved up the ladder and actually became the top vote-getter in the fourth tracker of the season, surpassing preseason favorite Josh Jackson of  Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) by two points (87 to 85 points) and was No. 1 on seven ballots. Jackson closed strong with a strong performance at the McDonald's All-American Game in Chicago. He scored the same amount of points, but gained more second and first place votes. In the final Mr. Basketball USA Tracker, Ball finished with six No. 1 votes and Jackson with four.

We don't and will never have ties in our honors or team rankings, so a decision had to be made. We considered dropping the lowest vote total for each candidate and having a re-vote between Ball and Jackson. At the end of the day, however, we want to keep the process as credible as possible. The voting at times for both top candidates was erratic considering their season resume, but in the end all ten panel members voted either Ball or Jackson as their top candidate -- six for Ball and four for Jackson.

"I knew he was going to be a good player when I saw him for the first time in fifth or sixth grade at my camp in Chino Hills," said Steve Baik, his coach for four seasons at Chino Hills High School who resigned in the off-season and recently was named the head coach at Fairfax (Los Angeles). "He already was a good passer and meeting his parents (Lavar and Tina Ball) with his size potential, I immediately knew I had something special."

Ball is indeed a special player and this was the closest national player of the year race in the nine-year history of the Mr. Basketball USA Tracker. Jackson is also special and a few of the panel members feel he is the most NBA-ready player in high school basketball. Jackson could have easily been the choice, but this is production-based honor, not one based on potential down the line and/or recruiting lists, so it's hard to knock Ball's resume for the 2015-16 season and his career.

Today Ball becomes the first player from California to earn Mr. Basketball USA honors since future NBA Hall of Fame point guard Jason Kidd of St. Joseph (Alameda, Calif.) in 1991-92 and the sixth overall. He's the first choice from a West Coast program since Minnesota Timberwolves' small forward Shabazz Muhammad (Bishop Gorman, Las Vegas, Nev.) was chosen for 2011-12.

Ironically, Ball and Kidd both won a CIF state championship in the top division as seniors and end their respective prep careers with similar career numbers. Kidd finished with 2,662 points (20.6), 1,123 rebounds (8.7), 1,165 assists (9.0), 719 steals (5.57), and approximately 279 blocks in 129 games for St. Joe's. Ball finished with 2,522 points (19.1), 1,204 rebounds (9.1), 1,214 assists (9.2), 592 steals (4.48) and 343 blocks (2.6) in 132 games for the Huskies. Ball was often compared to Kidd the past two years and now as national player of the years they'll forever be linked.

For the all-time list of Mr. Basketball USA honorees, CLICK HERE.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores

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The finals ballots are in and after the expanded ballots are tallied, for the first time in nine years there is a tie at the top. UCLA bound point guard Lonzo Ball of FAB 50 champion Chino Hills (Calif.) and Kansas bound wing Josh Jackson of Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) both net 85 overall points. Will there be a co-National Player of the Year? What is the difference in their candidacies? The only other players to receive at least one second-place vote are Alabama-bound Braxton Key and junior center DeAndre Ayton.

After last summer's grassroots season created preseason positioning for legitimate national player of the year candidates, the production at major holiday tournaments, showcases and various state playoff tournaments around the country that changed that original positioning. Even after the national high school all-star game circuit closed out the season, for the first time ever the final Mr. Basketball USA Tracker powered by www.ebooksnet.com balloting has ended in a tie.

After the completion of the 2015-16 high school basketball season, the distinguished Mr. Basketball USA panel had a hard time deciding if UCLA-bound Lonzo Ball of FAB 50 national champion Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.) or Kansas-bound Josh Jackson of Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) was the best and most productive player in the country. Both players are considered top five senior recruits in the country and have compelling resumes, so the factors that will ultimately decide who will forever be bestowed with the prestigious honor of 2015-16 Mr. Basketball USA must be further reviewed and broken down.

For starters, there will be no co-national player of the year. For decades, we've never had ties when it comes to team rankings or individual honors -- and we never will. We'll continue to break down the relevant results or factors and ultimately pick a winner or No. 1 team -- and take any heat that comes with it. The Ball-Jackson debate is no different.

Jackson, who missed seven Prolific Prep games while resting nagging injuries or because of schedule college visits,  averaged 26.9 ppg, 13.1 rpg, 6.3 apg, 3.5 steals and 3.9 blocks for a 26-7 team. Jackson likely help his candidacy with a strong performance at the 2016 McDonald's All-American Game after he was overtaken by Ball in points in the second-to-last tracker, but he still finished with the same amount of overall points as before (85). Jackson appeared on nine overall ballots, while Ball was one of two candidates to appear on each ballot.

Ball had a historic season for Chino Hills, which finished 35-0 and the first team from California to finish No. 1 in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com in 16 years. The 6-foot-6 point guard averaged a triple double of 23.9 ppg, 11.3 rpg and 11.7 apg to go along with 5.1 spg and 2.0 bpg. While Jackson went 9-of-11 from the field to finish with 19 points while looking like perhaps the most NBA-ready player in Chicago for the McDonald's Game, Ball also played a great hand in helping the West team to victory. He didn't score, but tallied four rebounds, two blocked shots and tied the event record with 13 assists. A few weeks later at the 2016 Ballislife All-American Game (watch the complete BILAAG here), Ball broke the event record for assists with 13 (as did guard Andrew Jones of MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas).

Although he appeared on one more ballot than Jackson, Ball actually had two votes lower than second place to allow Jackson to finish with the same overall point total. Jackson didn't have a vote lower than second place, while Ball finished with sixth first place votes, with the other four going to the Kansas-bound small forward who originally hails from Michigan.

The other candidate to appear on all ten ballots was Duke-bound forward Jayson Tatum from Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.), Gatorade's National Player of the Year choice. Behind the strength of six third-place votes and two fourth-place tallys, Tatum finished a strong No. 3 in overall points with 67. Junior center DeAndre Ayton of Hillcrest Academy (Phoenix, Ariz.), who finished in fourth place with 58 points, was the only candidate other than the two front-runners to tally more than one second-place vote. Tatum, despite his consistency on the ballots, did not tally a second place vote. Twenty-five candidates earned recognition as a national player of the year candidate in the final, expanded tracker.

Since the Mr. Basketball USA Tracker began for the 2007-08 season, there has never been a tie in the final balloting before the Ball-Jackson race. At the conclusion of the 2009-10 season, small forward Harrison Barnes of Ames (Ames, Iowa) finished with 89 points on nine ballots to edge power forward Jared Sullinger of Northland (Columbus, Ohio) by a single point. Barnes, who now plays for the defending NBA champ Golden State Warriors, edged Sullinger behind the strength of eight first place votes, while the current Boston Celtics power forward tallied the other two first-place votes and six second-place votes. Barnes was eventually named Mr. Basketball USA for 2009-10.

Barnes is carving out a more than solid NBA career and although it was a tough choice, in retrospect it appears Barnes was the correct call. With the panel having an even tougher time splitting hairs between Ball and Jackson, will the right choice be made this year? Only time will reveal that answer.

Editor's Note: Click on the "+" sign next to each player's number to view how many first, second, third or fourth place votes he got and his overall point total.

Rank	Prev.	Name	High School	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
1T	1	Lonzo Ball (10)	Chino Hills (CA)	6	2	0	0	85
1T	2	Josh Jackson (9)	Prolific Prep (CA)	4	5	0	0	85
3	4	Jayson Tatum (10)	Chaminade (MO)	0	0	6	2	67
4	3	DeAndre Ayton (8)	Hillcrest Academy (AZ)	0	2	2	2	56
5	5	De'Aaron Fox (9)	Cy Lakes (TX)	0	0	0	1	48
6	8T	Markelle Fultz (6)	DeMatha (MD)	0	0	0	1	29
7	6	Miles Bridges (6)	Huntington Prep (WV)	0	0	0	0	27
8	7	Mustapha Heron (5)	Sacred Heart (CT)	0	0	0	1	25
9	NR	Terrance Ferguson (4)	API (TX)	0	0	0	2	20
10T	10	Bam Adebayo (4)	High Point (NC)	0	0	0	1	18
10T	NR	Cassius Winston (4)	U of D Jesuit (MI)	0	0	1	0	18
12T	16T	Frank Jackson (5)	Lone Peak (UT)	0	0	0	0	11
12T	13	Malik Monk (3)	Bentonville (AR)	0	0	0	0	11
14	8T	T.J. Leaf (5)	Foothills Christian (CA)	0	0	0	0	10
15	16T	Braxton Key (1)	Oak Hill (VA)	0	1	0	0	9
16	NR	Rawle Alkins (1)	Word of God (NC)	0	0	1	0	8
17T	NR	Trevon Duval (1)	API (TX)	0	0	0	0	4
17T	12	Alterique Gilbert (1)	Miller Grove (GA)	0	0	0	0	4
17T	NR	Brandon McCoy (1)	Cathedral Catholic (CA)	0	0	0	0	4
20	16T	Davy Singleton (1)	Bishop Montgomery (CA)	0	0	0	0	3
21T	NR	Jarrett Allen (1)	St. Stephen's (TX)	0	0	0	0	2
21T	16T	Marques Bolden (1)	DeSoto (TX)	0	0	0	0	2
21T	15	Ethan Thompson (1)	Bishop Montgomery (CA)	0	0	0	0	2
24T	NR	Wendell Carter Jr. (1)	Pace Academy (GA)	0	0	0	0	1
24T	NR	Chris Lykes (1)	Gonzaga (DC)	0	0	0	0	1

2015-16 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker Panel

Paul Biancardi, ESPN National Director of Basketball Recruiting
Frank Burlison, BurlisonOnBasketball.com Publisher
Van Coleman, TheBasketballChannel.net VP of Content
Ronnie Flores, www.ebooksnet.com National Grassroots Editor
Clark Francis, Hoop Scoop Editor & Publisher
Bob Gibbons, All-Star Sports
Jerry Meyer, 247Sports.com Director of Scouting
Scott Phillips, NBC Sports National College Basketball Writer
Patrick Stanwood, Patrick Stanwood Basketball
Dinos Trigonis, Fullcourt Press Editor & Publisher

About Basketball USA Tracker Panel
www.ebooksnet.com's panel of 10 experts, which includes six McDonald’s All-American selection committee members, casts its vote for the top national player of the year candidates. Each panelist lists his top seven candidates regardless of class. The votes are then tabulated on a 10-point scoring system with a first-place vote equaling 10 points, a second-place vote earning nine points and down to four points for a seventh-place vote. The number in parenthesis refers to the numbers of ballots on which a player appeared and previous rankings refers to position in the previous tracker.

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By Ronnie Flores

The first nine and 16 teams overall that appear in this week's FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com are still playing, as the season is quickly coming to a close. There will be two more sets of ratings after this week, including the final FAB 50 rankings on Monday, April 4.

One of the teams still playing is current FAB 50 No. 1 Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.), which plays for the CIF Open Division state championship next Saturday night versus new No. 50 De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, Calif. It will be a matchup of two nationally-ranked teams, but it still has a bit of a David vs. Goliath feel. Chino Hills has beaten No. 40 Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.) by 20 points twice (106-86 and 82-62), No. 41 High Point Christian (High Point, N.C.) by 25 points (100-75) and just defeated No 36 Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.) by 22 points (84-62) in the SoCal open regional final to advance to the state title game.

The Huskies, led by Mr. Basketball USA front-runner Lonzo Ball, only beat Bishop Montgomery by four points in their first matchup. The Knights still have a strong enough resume to be ranked No. 2 in the state, according to CalHiSports.com, as Chino Hills is firing on all cylinders right now. Ball, who is averaging a triple-double, was confirmed to be California's all-time assists leader by Cal-Hi Sports and will play in the 6th Annual Ballislife All-American Game taking place the night of April 30 at Long Beach City College (Long Beach, Calif.).

Wrapping Up State Titles

Another player who will participate in the Ballislife All-American Game, point guard Shamorie Ponds, just wrapped up a championship season, as Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) won its first ever New York Federation Class AA title with a 72-65 win over FAB 50 bubble club Aquinas (Rochester, N.Y.). Jeff also win its first PSAL title since 1954.

Ponds was in some foul trouble, but his teammates, particularly Rasheem Dunn and C.J. "Big Shot" Smith, stepped up to lead the Orange Wave to victory. Dunn finished with 21 points, while Ponds and Smith added 16 and 15, respectively. Jefferson moved up five spots to No. 38 in this week's rankings, and no matter what the other results are from around the country over the final two weeks, the Orange Wave will remain behind No. 37 West Linn (West Linn, Ore.) in the final rankings. Oregon's Class 6A state champs beat Jefferson at the City of Palms Tournament in December.

Jayson Tatum, a Mr. Basketball USA candidate, led Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) to its first Missouri Class 5 state title with a 72-59 win over bubble club Kickapoo (Springfield, Mo.). In his final game in a Chaminade uniform, the Duke-bound forward exploded for 40 points and 14 rebounds, as the Red Devils moved up to No. 18 this week.

No. 11 Stevens Point (Stevens Point, Wis.) wrapped up a Wisconsin Division I state crown by downing Muskego (Muskego, Wis.), 89-64, to end the season on a 37-game winning streak. The Panthers dominated their in-state competition, but lack a signature out-of-area win to be in mythical national title contention. Stevens Point concluded its season with a 33.2 ppg winning margin that actually grew in the state playoffs.

In Pennsylvania, Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.) moved up two spots this week to No. 15 after capturing its second consecutive PIAA Class 4A title, while Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) won its sixth Class 3A crown in seven years to move up three spots to No. 24

Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
Powered by www.ebooksnet.com

(Fourteenth poll of the 2015-16 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, March 20; Previous ranking in parentheses; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included; ***Indicates season not complete)

No.	Prev.	High School (City)	Record
1	1	Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.)	34-0***
2	2	Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)	25-1***
3	3	Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.)	42-1***
4	4	St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.)	31-0***
5	5	University of Detroit Jesuit (Detroit, Mich.)	25-0***
6	6	Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.)	28-1***
7	7	St. Benedict's (Newark, N.J.)	35-1***
8	8	Providence Day (Charlotte, N.C.)	30-3***
9	9	La Lumiere (LaPorte, Ind.)	25-3***
10	10	DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.)	32-5
11	11	Stevens Point (Stevens Point, Wis.)	28-0
12	13	DeSoto (DeSoto, Texas)	35-2
13	14	Greenforest Christian Academy (Decatur, Ga.)	30-2
14	18	Memphis East (Memphis, Tenn.)	32-2
15	17	Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.)	27-4
16	15	Atascocita (Humble, Texas)	38-1
17	16	Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.)	28-3
18	19	Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.)	27-5
19	21	Dakota (Macomb, Mich.)	25-0***
20	22	H.D. Woodson (Washington, D.C.)	32-0**
21	26	Althoff Catholic (Belleville, Ill.)	32-2
22	25	St. John's (Washington, D.C.)	30-5
23	23	Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.)	31-1
24	27	Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.)	27-4
25	12	Blackman (Murfreesboro, Tenn.)	33-1
26	28	Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah)	29-3***
27	29	Federal Way (Federal Way, Wash.)	29-0
28	31	Lancaster (Lancaster, Texas)	36-2
29	33	Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.)	30-2***
30	32	Advanced International Prep (Dallas, Texas)	34-7***
31	35	West Oaks Academy (Orlando, Fla.)	25-4
32	37	Overland (Aurora, Col.)	25-3
33	42	New Albany (New Albany, Ind.)	26-1***
34	38	Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.)	22-8
35	39	Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.)	23-6
36	20	Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.)	28-3
37	40	West Linn (West Linn, Ore.)	26-3
38	43	Thomas Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.)	26-9
39	41	Bingham (South Jordan, Utah)	24-2
40	36	Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.)	25-5
41	45	High Point Christian (High Point, N.C.)	24-6
42	NR	Westerville South (Westerville, Ohio)	26-4
43	NR	Curie (Chicago, Ill.)	29-3**
44	46	Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.)	28-5
45	24	Lima Senior (Lima, Ohio)	29-1
46	NR	Linden (Linden, N.J.)	25-5***
47	48	Fort Bend Elkins (Missouri City, Texas)	36-3
48	49	Apple Valley (Apple Valley, Minn.)	29-2
49	NR	Grandview Prep (Boca Raton, Fla.)	34-0
50	NR	De La Salle (Concord, Calif.)	31-2***

Dropped Out: Previous No. 30 Simeon (Chicago, Ill.), No. 34 Morgan Park (Chicago, Ill.), No. 44 Modesto Christian (Modesto, Calif.), No. 47 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.), No. 50 Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.).

Bubble Teams: Aliquippa (Aliquippa, Pa.) 30-0; Allderdice (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 28-2; Aquinas (Rochester, N.Y.) 23-4**; Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 25-7; Benet Academy (Lislie, Ill.) 31-4; Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.) 25-4; Columbus (Columbus, Miss.) 27-5; Crespi (Encino, Calif.) 32-4; Dillard (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) 28-5; Edmond North (Edmond, Okla.) 27-1; Eleanor Roosevelt (Greenbelt, Md.) 24-3; Garfield (Seattle, Wash.) 26-3; Houston Math Science & Tech (Houston, Texas) 33-5; Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.) 24-6; J.O. Johnson (Huntsville, Ala.) 29-5; John Carroll (Bel Air, Md.) 27-11; Jonesboro (Jonesboro, Ga.) 28-5; Kickapoo (Springfield, Mo.) 29-3; Lee's Summit (Lee's Summit, Mo.) 29-1; Liberty County (Hinesville, Ga.) 28-1; Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 23-8; Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) 22-4; Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 27-5; Modesto Christian (Modesto, Calif.) 32-2; Morgan Park (Chicago, Ill.) 26-4; Mustang (Mustang, Okla.) 20-7; Natchitoches Central (Nachitoches, La.) 32-3; National Christian Academy (Ft. Washington, Md.) 30-2; Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) 26-4; Norland (Miami, Fla.) 25-5; Norman North (Norman, Okla.) 24-4; Oldsmar Christian (Oldsmar, Fla.) 29-9*; Omaha South (Omaha, Neb.) 28-1; Ozen (Beaumont, Texas) 31-4; Putnam City West (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 24-5; Rainier Beach (Seattle, Wash.) 24-6; Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 28-7; Sacramento (Sacramento, Calif.) 30-2; Sacred Heart (Waterbury, Conn.) 26-2; Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, La.) 34-3; Shadow Mountain (Phoenix, Ariz.) 27-5; Shenendehowa (Clifton Park, N.Y.) 24-1; Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) 26-5; Simeon (Chicago, Ill.) 30-4; Southport (Indianapolis, Ind.) 22-7; Starkville (Starkville, Miss.) 27-6; St. Augustine (Richland, N.J.) 30-2; Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) 21-7***; Victory Rock Prep (Sarasota, Fla.) 25-6; Wayne (Huber Heights, Ohio) 25-1; Westfield (Chantilly, Va.) 26-3; Westlake (Atlanta, Ga.) 27-4; Westtown School (West Chester, Pa.) 28-6; Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) 22-6; Wilmington (Wilmington, Ohio) 26-2.

Note: The FAB 50 powered by www.ebooksnet.com is a continuation of the National Sports News Service ratings that began in 1952. These were the first national high school rankings and the late Art Johlfs of Minnesota compiled them. They were compiled for many years by the late Barry Sollenberger of Phoenix, who merged them into the FAB 50 16 years ago.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores

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The tidal wave known as the Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.) boys basketball team has slowly grown since the start of the season and with potentially two games to go, is about to crest. It started when the Huskies opened the season No. 11 in the preseason FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com, caught the nation's attention when they captured the City of Palms Tournament championship and eventually elevated to No. 1 in the national rankings, and reached a fevered pitch when BIL live-streamed their 71-67 victory over Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.) in late January.

Since then, it has been turn-away, standing room only crowds to catch the nation's No. 1 ranked high school team as it chases a perfect 35-0 season and a mythical national title. The only thing standing in the way of perfection for Chino Hills is a SoCal Open regional final rematch with Bishop Montgomery (currently ranked No. 20 in the FAB 50) and a CIF Open Division state final victory on March 26 against a likely FAB 50 ranked foe from Northern California.

With the team success Chino Hills has enjoyed so far, it's no surprise its best player, 6-foot-6 UCLA-bound senior point guard Lonzo Ball, has seen his individual status among his peers and personal accolades also rise. Ball has already earned Gatorade State Player of the Year, Naismith and McDonald's Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year Accolades, so it's should come with little surprise Ball moved up a spot to take over as the leading national player of the year candidate in the 2015-16 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker powered by www.ebooksnet.com.

Ball tallied 87 points on nine ballots, two more than 6-foot-8 small forward Josh Jackson of Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.), who still is the lone candidate among 19 to appear on every single ballot. Jackson, who has missed seven of Prolific Prep's games, is averaging 26.9 ppg, 13.1 rpg, 6.3 apg, 3.5 steals and 3.9 blocks. Ball, through 30 games, is averaging 24.4 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 12.9 apg, 4.5 blocks and 4.1 steals with 17 double doubles and 14 triple-doubles. That production, combined with the Huskies's success, helped Ball garner seven first place votes and one second place vote.

Jackson tallied one first place vote, as did Duke-bound forward Jayson Tatum of Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) and junior DeAndre Ayton of Hillcrest Academy (Phoenix, Ariz.). Ayton actually surpassed Tatum in total points from the previous tracker (up to 67 points from 66 while Tatum fell from 68 to 63).

"If his team wins the next two games, then Chino Hills will go down as one of the most dominant state champions ever from the region and state," said panel member Frank Burlison of BurlisonOnBasketball.com. "Ball is the best high school player in the country and, in reality, I'm not sure it's close based on both ends of the floor production and team performance."

Ball started out No. 6 in the preseason voting on four ballots with 30 points, worked his way up to No. 3 in the second voting go-around in early January (67 points on eight ballots), and to No. 2 behind Jackson on the third go-around (79 points on nine ballots).

It's been an amazing season for Chino Hills so far, but after the CIF state championships, Ball will participate in the McDonald's All-American Game, where Jackson, Tatum and others can still make one last impression on the Mr. Basketball USA Tracker panel. For Mr. Basketball USA honors, the whole season is accounted for, as it's not an award basically decided upon before the beginning of state tournaments around the country.

That makes Ball's ascension, and the race, that much more interesting. There are some panelists who don't write think the race is over yet. Will the triple double maestro hold off all challengers until the entire high school season is complete?

"Lonzo Ball has really helped himself this winter and he's the go-to guy on the undefeated, best team in the country, but that's a bit ridiculous (his point total)," said panel member Clark Francis of the Hoop Scoop. "Physically, athletically, and skill-wise, Josh Jackson is most ready to make the jump to a higher level right now."

Editor's Note: Click on the "+" sign next to each player's number to view how many first, second, third or fourth place votes he got and his overall point total.

Rank	Prev.	Name	High School	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
1	2	Lonzo Ball (9)	Chino Hills (CA)	7	1	1	0	87
2	1	Josh Jackson (10)	Prolific Prep (CA)	1	5	3	0	85
3	4	DeAndre Ayton (9)	Hillcrest Academy (AZ)	1	2	1	3	67
4	3	Jayson Tatum (8)	Chaminade (MO)	1	1	2	2	63
5	5	De'Aaron Fox (9)	Cy Lakes (TX)	0	0	2	0	53
6	8	Miles Bridges (4)	Huntington Prep (WV)	0	0	0	0	22
7	9T	Mustapha Heron (3)	Sacred Heart (CT)	0	0	0	1	18
8T	6T	Markelle Fultz (3)	DeMatha (MD)	0	0	0	1	15
8T	6T	T.J. Leaf (3)	Foothills Christian (CA)	0	0	0	1	15
10	11	Bam Adebayo (2)	High Point (NC)	0	0	0	1	12
11	NR	Shamorie Ponds (2)	Jefferson (NY)	0	0	0	1	11
12	NR	Alterique Gilbert (1)	Miller Grove (GA)	0	0	1	0	8
13	12	Malik Monk (1)	Bentonville (AR)	0	0	0	1	7
14	14	Mohamed Bamba (1)	Westtown School (PA)	0	0	0	0	6
15	17T	Ethan Thompson (1)	Bishop Montgomery (CA)	0	0	0	0	5
16T	NR	Marques Bolden (1)	DeSoto (TX)	0	0	0	0	4
16T	NR	Frank Jackson (1)	Lone Peak (UT)	0	0	0	0	4
16T	15T	Braxton Key (1)	Oak Hill (VA)	0	0	0	0	4
16T	NR	Davy Singleton (1)	Bishop Montgomery (CA)	0	0	0	0	4

About Mr. Basketball USA Tracker Panel
www.ebooksnet.com's panel of 10 experts, which includes six McDonald’s All-American selection committee members, casts its vote for the top national player of the year candidates. Each panelist lists his top seven candidates regardless of class. The votes are then tabulated on a 10-point scoring system with a first-place vote equaling 10 points, a second-place vote earning nine points and down to four points for a seventh-place vote. The number in parenthesis refers to the numbers of ballots on which a player appeared and previous rankings refers to position in the previous tracker.

The post POY Tracker: Lonzo Ball is New Front-Runner! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Team success has traditionally been a big factor over the years in the national player of the year process. There is little doubt leading a team to a high FAB 50 ranking or to a state title can propel a talented prospect into a legitimate candidate. Playing for a nationally-ranked team and performing well helped the candidacy of eventual Mr. Basketball USA winners such as Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) in 2011, Rasheed Wallace of Simon Gratz (Philadelphia, Pa.) in 1993 and Reggie Williams of Dunbar (Baltimore, Md.) in 1983.

Lonzo Ball of Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.) started out No. 6 in the preseason voting and his team started No. 11 in the FAB 50. He worked his way up to No. 3 in the second voting go-around in early January as his ascended to the No. 1 spot in the FAB 50. As Chino Hills continues to win games as it eyes its first CIF Southern Section and CIF state title in the Ball era, the 10-man Mr. Basketball USA Tracker has taken notice.

Ball moved up another spot in in the latest 2015-16 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker powered by www.ebooksnet.com voting, and now only trails 6-foot-8 small forward Josh Jackson of Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) as the nation's leading national player of the year candidate. Jackson, who is still uncommitted for college, actually gained in overall points, as he went up from 89 points to 92 points. He remains the only candidate to appear on all ten ballots.

Jackson is truly an elite talent, as he is averaging 27.8 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 6.2 apg, 3.3 spg and 3.3 bpg against a national schedule. Prolific Prep was 16-5 when the balloting went out and that was the exact won-loss record for the team at FAB 50 No. 21 Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.), which of course is led by Duke-bound Jayson Tatum. As Ball's Chino Hills team runs its record to 21-0 heading into its January 30 showdown with FAB 50 No. 7 Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.) that will be streamed live by BIL, it appears that some the points that Tatum and other candidates such as Washington-bound Markelle Fultz of FAB 50 No. 6 DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) and Kentucky-bound Malik Monk of Bentonville (Bentonville, Ark.) previously collected have shifted over to the UCLA-bound point guard.

Tatum once again appeared on eight ballots, but his point total dropped from 70 to 68 points, including two first place votes. Fultz dropped from 37 points to 20, although he remained in sixth place, while Monk went from appearing on five ballots down to two and dropped 19 points down to 12 overall.

Ball, who enters the Bishop Montgomery showdown averaging triple-double numbers of 25.5 ppg, 11.5 rpg, and 10.9 apg, appeared on one extra ballot (from 8 to 9) and his point total went from 67 to 79. While Ball's three first place votes remained the same, he gained one second place vote (1 to 2) and added two additional third place votes (1 to 3). If his team keeps winning, he's likely to gain even more traction among the panel.

"Lonzo is finally showing he can carry a team when needed and if he leads his team to a CIF championship, he may get my top vote," said McDonald’s voter and The Basketball Channel Vice President of Basketball Operations Van Coleman.

"No player on this list has done as much for his team," added McDonald's voter Frank Burlison of BurlisonOnBasketball.com.

Will the voting continue to swing in Ball's direction if Chino Hills continues to win? Or will Jackson and Tatum swing the momentum back their way when all three compete in the same environment in the major national high school all-star games at the end of the season? If Ball leads his team to the mythical FAB 50 national title, how much will the post-season all-star circuit factor in to the voting process?

We'll eventually find out, but for now, if you can't make it to Cerritos College (Calif.) on January 30 for the Chino Hills-Bishop Montgomery game, make sure to watch the BIL Livestream beginning at 5 pm PST.

Editor's Note: Click on the "+" sign next to each player's number to view how many first, second, third or fourth place votes he got and his overall point total.

Rank	Prev.	Name	High School	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
1	1	Josh Jackson (10)	Prolific Prep (CA)	4	4	2	0	92
2	3	Lonzo Ball (9)	Chino Hills (CA)	3	2	3	1	79
3	2	Jayson Tatum (8)	Chaminade (MO)	2	3	1	1	68
4	4	DeAndre Ayton (9)	Hillcrest Academy (AZ)	1	1	3	1	66
5	5	De'Aaron Fox (8)	Cy Lakes (TX)	0	0	0	1	47
6T	6	Markelle Fultz (6)	DeMatha (MD)	0	0	0	0	20
6T	16T	T.J. Leaf (4)	Foothills Christian (CA)	0	0	0	1	20
8	9	Miles Briges (5)	Huntington Prep (WV)	0	0	0	1	15
9T	12T	Carsen Edwards (2)	Atascocita (TX)	0	0	0	0	12
9T	10T	Mustapha Heron (2)	Sacred Heart (CT)	0	0	0	0	12
11	8	Bam Adebayo (2)	High Point (NC)	0	0	0	0	11
12	7	Malik Monk (2)	Bentonville (AR)	0	0	0	0	10
13	12T	Rawle Alkins (1)	Word of God (NC)	0	0	1	0	8
14	NR	Mohamed Bamba (1)	Westtown School (PA)	0	0	0	0	6
15T	NR	Braxton Key (1)	Oak Hill (VA)	0	0	0	0	5
15T	10T	Charles Bassey (1)	St. John's (TX)	0	0	0	0	5
17T	16T	Wendell Carter (1)	Pace Academy (GA)	0	0	0	0	4
17T	19T	Ethan Thompson	Bishop Montgomery (CA)	0	0	0	0	4

About Mr. Basketball USA Tracker Panel
www.ebooksnet.com's panel of 10 experts, which includes six McDonald’s All-American selection committee members, casts its vote for the top national player of the year candidates. Each panelist lists his top seven candidates regardless of class. The votes are then tabulated on a 10-point scoring system with a first-place vote equaling 10 points, a second-place vote earning nine points and down to four points for a seventh-place vote. The number in parenthesis refers to the numbers of ballots on which a player appeared and previous rankings refers to position in last season's final tracker.

The post POY Tracker: Lonzo Ball Closing in on Josh Jackson! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

The post POY Contender Jayson Tatum Combines Highlight Reel Dunks and Flashy Passing! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

It's hard to deny the individual talents of 6-foot-8 small forward Josh Jackson of Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.). Despite playing for a program that didn't participate in Holiday events where the 10-man Mr. Basketball USA Tracker panel congregated at such as the City of Palms Classic or Tarkanian Classic, and even though Prolific Prep won't compete for a state title, Jackson still is the leading vote-getter in the latest 2015-16 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker powered by www.ebooksnet.com.

Through 17 games, Jackson is averaging 28.5 points, 12.7 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 3.4 steals, and 3.1 blocks per game against a national schedule. Jackson, who is reportedly considering Michigan State, Arizona, Maryland, Kansas and UNLV and will sign in the spring, was the only candidate among 20 to appear on all 10 ballots. Jackson collected 89 points and four first-place votes, the most of any candidate but down four from his total of eight in the preseason.

Two talented seniors who play for more traditional high school programs have made in-roads as serious challengers to Jackson for this prestigious award. Jayson Tatum, who plays for parochial program Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.), and Lonzo Ball, who has led public school Chino Hills (Calif.) to the No. 1 spot in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings, accounted for a combined five first place votes and are both within 22 overall points of Jackson after he led the voting by 35 points in the preseason.

Tatum, a 6-foot-8 wing headed to Duke University, has turned in monster individual games against a national schedule and moved up from third place to second place behind Jackson with 70 overall points. Tatum went for 27 points versus FAB 50 No. 3 Oak Hill Academy, had 40 points in a home victory over Mr. Basketball USA candidate Malik Monk and Bentonville (Ark.) and recently had a career-high 46 points in a win over Miles Bridges and his talented Huntington Prep team at the Cancer Research Classic. Tatum, who appeared on eight ballots, is currently averaging 30.3 ppg.

"Jayson Tatum has done a nice job opening this season with impressive personal performances and big teams wins for a school that doesn't normally play this type of national schedule," said panel member and NBC Sports national college basketball and recruiting analyst Scott Phillips. "His 3-pointer looks much improved since the summer and fall and he's now scoring efficiently from all three levels on the floor in many games."

Tatum garnered two first place votes, one less than Ball, who also appeared on eight ballots and garnered 67 points. Ball, a 6-foot-6 point guard known for serpentine full-court passes and court awareness rarely seen at the high school level, currently has Chino Hills 13-0 and atop the FAB 50. His production in the context of winning is clearly reflected in the ballots of the 10-man Mr. Basketball USA Tracker panel. The MVP of three Holiday events, Ball went from appearing on four ballots and collecting 30 points to appearing on an additional four and finishing with 67 points.

Ball's 33 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 7 blocks and 4 steals in the MaxPreps Holiday Classic championship game win over Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) are not exaggerated (his assist total is more conservative than liberal) and the type of numbers he's put up on a consistent basis so far this season. Chino Hills defeated teams from eight different states during December.

"Lonzo Ball is the fastest rising senior and if he continues to dominate as he did at COP & MaxPreps Holiday Classic he may become the leading challenger to Tatum by February," said McDonald’s voter and The Basketball Channel Vice President of Basketball Operations Van Coleman.

"Lonzo Ball has been a force early this high school season and his Chino Hills team has the undefeated record to help prove it," Phillips added. "Although Ball's personal numbers might be a tad inflated with Chino Hills' up-tempo style of play, there is no taking away from the kinds of competition that Ball has outplayed and defeated."

The only other candidate to garner a first place vote was 7-foot junior DeAndre Ayton, last year's National Sophomore of the Year at Balboa City School (San Diego, Calif.) who is now at Hillcrest Academy (Phoenix, Ariz.). Jackson was awarded the same honor two seasons ago at Consortium College Prep School in Detroit.

Stay logged in to www.ebooksnet.com to track the progress of the nation's top individual players and the nation’s Top teams.

Editor's Note: Click on the "+" sign next to each player's number to view how many first, second, third or fourth place votes he got and his overall point total.

Rank	Prev.	Name	High School	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
1	1	Josh Jackson (10)	Prolific Prep (CA)	4	5	0	0	89
2	3	Jayson Tatum (8)	Chaminade (MO)	2	2	4	0	70
3	6	Lonzo Ball (8)	Chino Hills (CA)	3	1	1	2	67
4	5	DeAndre Ayton (7)	Hillcrest Academy (AZ)	1	1	0	3	51
5	2	De'Aaron Fox (6)	Cy Lakes (TX)	0	0	3	1	42
6	14	Markelle Fultz (6)	DeMatha (MD)	0	0	1	2	37
7	4	Malik Monk (5)	Bentonville (AR)	0	1	0	1	29
8	13	Bam Adebayo (3)	High Point (NC)	0	1	0	0	21
9	8	Miles Briges (3)	Huntington Prep (WV)	0	0	0	0	14
10T	NR	Charles Bassey (2)	St. John's (TX)	0	0	0	0	10
10T	11T	Mustapha Heron (2)	Sacred Heart (CT)	0	0	0	0	10
12T	NR	Carsen Edwards (2)	Atascocita (TX)	0	0	0	0	8
12T	7	Rawle Alkins (1)	Word of God (NC)	0	0	1	0	8
14	NR	Ty-Shon Alexander (1)	Oak Hill (VA)	0	0	0	1	7
15	NR	Seventh Woods (1)	Hammond (SC)	0	0	0	0	6
16T	NR	Li'Angelo Ball (1)	Chino Hills (CA)	0	0	0	0	5
16T	11T	Wendell Carter (1)	Pace Academy (GA)	0	0	0	0	5
16T	NR	T.J. Leaf (1)	Foothills Christian (CA)	0	0	0	0	4
19T	NR	M.J. Walker (1)	Jonesboro (GA)	0	0	0	0	4
19T	18	Ethan Thompson (1)	Bishop Montgomery (CA)	0	0	0	0	4

About Mr. Basketball USA Tracker Panel
www.ebooksnet.com's panel of 10 experts, which includes six McDonald’s All-American selection committee members, casts its vote for the top national player of the year candidates. Each panelist lists his top seven candidates regardless of class. The votes are then tabulated on a 10-point scoring system with a first-place vote equaling 10 points, a second-place vote earning nine points and down to four points for a seventh-place vote. The number in parenthesis refers to the numbers of ballots on which a player appeared and previous rankings refers to position in last season's final tracker.

The post POY Tracker: Jayson Tatum, Lonzo Ball Close Gap on Josh Jackson! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

The post Jayson Tatum Drops 36 & 5 in City of Palms Debut! Raw Highlights! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

By Ronnie Flores

Just as the ink was drying on last week's FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com, newly-crowned No. 1 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) was preparing to take its home floor versus Huntington Prep (Huntington, W. Va.) in the biggest game of the young season so far.

Had the Eagles lost, it would have opened up the floodgates in terms of deserving teams for the nation's No. 1 ranking. The Fightin' Irish gave Montverde Academy all it could handle before falling, 63-59, in a game televised on ESPN2.

Six-foot-6 freshman R.J. Barrett had his national coming out party and helped Montverde Academy retain its No. 1 FAB 50 ranking by nailing four consecutive free throws in the final 16 seconds after Huntington Prep had a chance to tie the game on its possession before Barrett was intentionally sent to the line for first time. The Canadian transplant's first two made the score 61-57 in favor of Montverde Academy before Huntington Prep standout forward Miles Bridges made two of his own with 7.8 seconds remaining. Barett, whom Montverde Academy coach Kevin Boyle was recently quoted as saying is already the program's second or third best player at worst, then sealed the win in the closing seconds. He finished with 18 points and four rebounds.

Had Huntington Prep pulled out the game, the No. 1 rating might have been up for grabs because No. 2 Roman Catholic needed overtime to capture the championship of the Gonzaga D.C. Classic on Sunday at American University. Host Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) gave the Cahillites all it could handle and tied the game on a tip-in basket by Prentiss Hubb with approximately 20 seconds remaining in regulation.

Roman Catholic was just a bit too strong on the boards and pulled away for a 77-72 victory. Lamar Stevens, headed for Penn State, led the Cahillites with 32 points. In the semifinals, the Cahillites defeated Good Counsel (Onley, Md.), 72-60, and easily knocked off Calvin Coolidge (Washington, D.C.), 90-41, in the opening round, as senior guard Nazeer Bostick, like Stevens headed for Penn State, netted 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field.

Because of the quality of its opponent and its big games coming up, we decided to keep Roman No. 2. As for Gonzaga, it actually moved up four sports in this week's FAB 50 to No. 30.

In another big game over the weekend, the highest-ranked team with one loss, No. 12 Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.), downed previous No. 16 Bentonville (Bentonville, Ark.), 76-57, in an electric game played at Chaminade's home gym. The game was a battle between two serious Mr. Basketball USA candidates: Duke-bound Jayson Tatum and Kentucky-bound Malik Monk.

After Bentonville won at home last year, Tatum got revenge of sports with a spectacular 40-point, 17-rebound performance that locals will be talking about for years to come. On Friday night, Monk broke his own school scoring record by netting 53 points and finished with 36 points versus Chaminade, including seven 3-pointers.

Chaminade's victory drops Bentonville six spots in this week's FAB 50 to No. 22 and also hurts Mustang (Mustang, Okla.), which lost to Bentonville to open its season. The defending Oklahoma Class 5A state champs drop four spots in the FAB 50 to No. 29 despite not losing last week.

There are five newcomers this week, including No. 47 Lone Peak (Highland, Utah), which won the Freetaxusa.com Shootout in Orem, Utah with a 73-71 win over bubble club Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.). Duke-bound Frank Jackson netted 38 points in the victory, while UConn-bound Alterique Gilbert went for 37 points in a losing effort that had the whole gym buzzing. Lone Peak also defeated Fremont (Los Angeles, Calif.) 90-55 and bubble club Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) 68-65 earlier in the tournament.

Looking Ahead

Montverde Academy and Chaminade will be among the nine FAB 50-ranked teams participating in the The City of Palms Tournament in Ft. Myers, Fla., Dec. 18-23.

The first round matchups are: The First Academy (Orlando, Fla.) vs. No. 44 High Point Christian (High Point, N.C.); Lehigh Senior (Fla.)-Father Tolton (Mo.) winner vs. No. 16 Westerville South (Westerville, Ohio); Spain Park (Hoover, Ala.) vs. No. 1 Montverde Academy; No. 9 Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.) vs. Thomas Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.); No. 39 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) vs. Wesleyan Christian Academy (High Point, N.C.); No. 12 Chaminade vs. Bartow (Bartow, Fla.), No. 38 West Linn (West Linn, Ore.) vs. No. 15 Norland (Miami, Fla.); No. 14 The Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.), bye.

The way the bracket is set, Montverde Academy could meet No. 9 Chino Hills in the second round.

Because that tournament overlaps two weeks and because the major post-Christmas tournaments will begin on a Saturday, our next FAB 50 installment will be the first Monday of calendar year 2016.

Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
Powered by www.ebooksnet.com

(Second poll of the 2015-16 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, December 13; Last week's ranking in parentheses; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included)

No.	Prev.	High School (City)	Record
1	1	Montverde Academy (Monterde, Fla.)	7-0
2	2	Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.)	4-0
3	3	Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.)	13-1
4	4	Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.)	10-0
5	5	DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.)	6-0
6	6	Garfield (Seattle, Wash.)	3-0
7	7	La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.)	9-0
8	8	Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.)	2-0
9	9	Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.)	5-0
10	10	Atascocita (Humble, Texas)	15-0
11	11	Greenforest Christian Academy (Decatur, Ga.)	9-0
12	12	Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.)	5-1
13	13	St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.)	0-0
14	14	Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.)	0-0
15	18	Norland (Miami, Fla.)	7-0
16	17	Westerville South (Westerville, Ohio)	4-0
17	22	Cardozo (Bayside, N.Y.)	6-0
18	24	St. John's (Washington, D.C.)	5-0
19	20	Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)	6-0
20	23	Rainier Beach (Seattle, Wash.)	4-0
21	21	Sacred Heart (Waterbury, Conn.)	0-0
22	16	Bentonville (Bentonville, Ark.)	6-1
23	26	Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.)	0-0
24	28	Stevens Point (Stevens Point, Wis.)	4-0
25	27	St. Benedict's (Newark, N.J.)	5-0
26	29	Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.)	6-0
27	39	Memphis East (Memphis, Tenn.)	7-0
28	32	Althoff Catholic (Belleville, Ill.)	6-1
29	25	Mustang (Mustang, Okla.)	2-1
30	34	Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.)	5-1
31	42	University of Detroit Jesuit (Detroit, Mich.)	3-0
32	35	Moreau Catholic (Hayward, Calif.)	3-0
33	36	Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.)	4-1
34	31	Westlake (Atlanta, Ga.)	7-2
35	NR	Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.)	7-0
36	15	Apple Valley (Apple Valley, Minn.)	6-1
37	44	Providence Day (Charlotte, N.C.)	9-2
38	40	West Linn (West Linn, Ore.)	1-0
39	46	Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.)	5-1
40	45	Morgan Park (Chicago, Ill.)	3-1
41	48	Westtown School (West Chester, Pa.)	8-0
42	43	Lima Senior (Lima, Ohio)	1-0
43	33	Simeon (Chicago, Ill.)	2-1
44	47	High Point Christian (High Point, N.C.)	6-1
45	NR	Starkville (Starkville, Miss.)	9-1
46	49	Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.)	13-1
47	NR	Lone Peak (Highland, Utah)	5-0
48	50	Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.)	4-1
49	NR	North Central (Indianapolis, Ind.)	5-0
50	NR	Father Tolton (Columbia, Mo.)	4-0

Dropped Out: Previous No. 19 Oldsmar Christian (Oldsmar, Fla.), No. 30 Westfield (Chantilly, Va.), No. 37 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.); No. 38 Advanced Prep International (Dallas, Texas), No. 41 Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.).

Bubble Teams: Advanced Prep International (Dallas, Texas) 8-4; American Fork (American Fork, Utah) 4-0; Beecher (Flint, Mich.) 3-1; Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 4-1; Bowling Green (Bowling Green, Ky.) 5-0; Cape Henry Collegiate (Virginia Beach, Va.) 3-0; Centennial (Corona, Calif.) 4-1; Centennial (Las Vegas, Nev.) 6-1; Columbus (Columbus, Miss.) 7-2; Corona Del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.) 3-1; Davis (Houston, Texas) 13-0; De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 3-0; DeSoto (DeSoto, Texas) 11-1; East English Village Prep (Detroit, Mich.) 1-1; Edmond North (Edmond, Okla.) 5-0; Evelyn Mack (Charlotte, N.C.) 11-2; Fenwick (Fenwick, Ill.) 7-0; Folsom (Folsom, Calif.) 5-0; Garfield Heights (Garfield Heights, Ohio) 4-0; Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 10-2; Hammond (Columbia, S.C.) 6-0; Iona Prep (New Rochelle, N.Y.) 4-1; Iowa City West (Iowa City, Iowa) 3-1; J.O. Johnson (Huntsville, Ala.) 8-2; Lancaster (Lancaster, Texas) 8-2; Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 4-1; Meridian (Meridian, Miss.) 10-1; Merrillville (Merrillville, Ind.) 4-0; Mesa (Mesa, Ariz.) 8-0; Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.) 7-2; Mt. Vernon (Mt. Vernon, N.Y.) 1-0; National Christian Academy (Ft. Washington, Md.) 4-0; Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) 6-1; Norman North (Norman, Okla.) 4-1; North Crowley (Fort Worth, Texas) 10-1; Oldsmar Christian (Oldsmar, Fla.) 6-2; Omaha South (Omaha, Neb.) 4-0; Overland (Aurora, Colo.) 3-0; Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) 4-2; Queens High School of Teaching (Queens, N.Y.) 5-1; Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 5-0; Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, La.) 8-0; St. Raymond's (Bronx, N.Y.) 4-1; St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio) 1-1; Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) 5-2; Thomas Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 7-1; Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) 9-1; Wesleyan Christian Academy (High Point, N.C.) 8-1; Westfield (Chantilly, Va.) 1-2; West Oaks Academy (Orlando, Fla.) 6-1; Wise (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 1-1.

Note: The FAB 50 powered by www.ebooksnet.com is a continuation of the National Sports News Service ratings that began in 1952. These were the first national high school rankings and the late Art Johlfs of Minnesota compiled them. They were compiled for many years by the late Barry Sollenberger of Phoenix, who merged them into the FAB 50 16 years ago.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores

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By Ronnie Flores

With Duke-bound Harry Giles injured right out of the gate for preseason FAB No. 1 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), it figured to be a tough grind to retain its ranking and remain unbeaten against a loaded schedule.

On November 14, the Warriors were caught flat against 22ft Academy (Greenville, S.C.) and lost 70-67 at the Phenom Hoops National Showcase. Now, we are cognizant that program carries post-graduates and every so often Oak Hill Academy and other national academy-type programs take on teams with players who've exhausted their regular high school eligibility. It comes with the territory for many of the teams in serious contention for the nation's No. 1 ranking, and such games are still good barometers because of the common opponent factor among ranked teams.

We didn't over penalize Steve Smith's club for that loss because of the unique situation, as other results have shown the Warriors still have a fine team without Giles. Oak Hill Academy proved that with a 69-62 win over Giles' future Duke teammate and Mr. Basketball USA candidate Jayson Tatum and his team at Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) at the recent Marshall County Hoopest in Kentucky. Senior Braxton Key led Oak Hill with 18 points while junior Lindell Wigginton added 17. The Warriors, who closed the Chaminade game on a 13-2 run, also defeated Thon-Maker and Athletes Institute (Orangeville, Ontario, Canada) at the Marshall County Hoopfest and own a victory over No. 44 Providence Day (Charlotte, N.C.).

Oak Hill drops two spots to No. 3 while Chaminade drops five spots to No. 12. Oak Hill has plenty more tests on its national schedule as does Chaminade, which takes on Mr. Basketball USA candidate Malik Monk and No. 24 Bentonville (Bentonville, Ark.) on December 12 before heading to the loaded City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, Fla. Dec. 18-23.

Bentonville moved up eight spots after defeating defending Oklahoma Class 5A state champ Mustang (Mustang, Okla.) on November 28, 84-79. Monk netted 46 points and the game was iced when Tyler Robinson hit two free throws with seven seconds remaining. Mustang drops two spots as the last team in the Top 25 of the FAB 50.

With Oak Hill losing, the new No. 1 is three-time defending FAB 50 champion Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.). This young Eagles team is off to a 6-0 start, but has a major test looming on Monday versus Huntington St. Joseph Prep (Huntington, W. Va.). Montverde Academy takes on the Fightin' Irish (a program not eligible for the FAB 50) at home in a game televised by ESPN2 before it too heads to the City of Palms Classic.

Montverde Academy has handed No. 31 Westlake (Atlanta, Ga.) and No. 46 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) its only losses so far in what is proving to be an excellent season with regards to the depth of quality teams in Georgia. Greenforest Christian Academy (Decatur, Ga.) is off to a 7-0 start and moves up to No. 11 after impressive wins over bubble club Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) 77-48 and Pace Academy (Atlanta, Ga.) 56-44. Greenforest Christian Academy is now one spot ahead of Chaminade, which needed overtime to knock off Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.), which just missed the FAB 50, at the Chicago Elite Classic.

The top newcomer is Moreau Catholic (Hayward, Calif.), which opened its season with a 60-59 win over preseason No. 13 Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth, Calif.) at the NorCal Tip-Off Classic in Newark, Calif. on November 28. The Mariners won the contest on a last-second lay-up by San Jose St.-bound Terrell Brown. NorCal's top raked team moves into the FAB 50 at No. 35, one spot ahead of the Sierra Canyon club it beat and was No. 1 in the nation in one poll.

California's most impressive club so far has been No. 9 Chino Hills, which has scored over 100 points three times, including a 108-86 win over new No. 50 Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.) in The Battle Zone championship game last Saturday evening. Foothills Christian breaks in as the final FAB 50 team after knocking off previous No. 43 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) earlier in the tournament, 69-61, after trialing by seven points in the final period.

Chino Hills will join Bentonville, Moreau Catholic and No. 37 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) at the Maxpreps Holiday Classic in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Dec. 26-30.

Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
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(First poll of the 2015-16 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, December 6; Preseason ranking in parentheses; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included)

No.	Prev.	High School (City)	Record
1	2	Montverde Academy (Monterde, Fla.)	6-0
2	3	Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.)	1-0
3	1	Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.)	9-1
4	4	Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.)	8-0
5	5	DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.)	2-0
6	6	Garfield (Seattle, Wash.)	1-0
7	10	La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.)	8-0
8	9	Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.)	1-0
9	11	Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.)	5-0
10	15	Atascocita (Humble, Texas)	13-0
11	18	Greenforest Christian Academy (Decatur, Ga.)	7-0
12	7	Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.)	2-1
13	14	St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.)	0-0
14	16	Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.)	0-0
15	17	Apple Valley (Apple Valley, Minn.)	4-0
16	24	Bentonville (Bentonville, Ark.)	4-0
17	20	Westerville South (Westerville, Ohio)	2-0
18	33	Norland (Miami, Fla.)	5-0
19	12	Oldsmar Christian (Oldsmar, Fla.)	4-1
20	19	Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)	1-0
21	21	Sacred Heart (Waterbury, Conn.)	0-0
22	30	Cardozo (Bayside, N.Y.)	3-0
23	26	Rainier Beach (Seattle, Wash.)	1-0
24	36	St. John's (Washington, D.C.)	3-0
25	23	Mustang (Mustang, Okla.)	1-1
26	29	Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.)	0-0
27	35	St. Benedict's (Newark, N.J.)	3-0
28	42	Stevens Point (Stevens Point, Wis.)	3-0
29	40	Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.)	4-0
30	45	Westfield (Chantility, Va.)	0-0
31	31	Westlake (Atlanta, Ga.)	5-1
32	32	Althoff Catholic (Belleville, Ill.)	5-1
33	38	Simeon (Chicago, Ill.)	1-0
34	47	Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.)	2-0
35	NR	Moreau Catholic (Hayward, Calif.)	1-0
36	13	Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.)	0-1
37	39	Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.)	2-0
38	8	Advanced Prep International (Dallas, Texas)	7-2
39	NR	Memphis East (Memphis, Tenn.)	6-0
40	44	West Linn (West Linn, Ore.)	0-0
41	NR	Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.)	2-0
42	NR	University of Detroit Jesuit (Detroit, Mich.)	0-0
43	48	Lima Senior (Lima, Ohio)	0-0
44	NR	Providence Country Day (Charlotte, N.C.)	7-2
45	NR	Morgan Park (Chicago, Ill.)	2-0
46	46	Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.)	4-1
47	25	High Point Christian (High Point, N.C.)	4-1
48	50	Westtown School (West Chester, Pa.)	1-0
49	49	Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.)	10-1
50	NR	Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.)	4-1

Dropped Out: Previous No. 22 Thomas Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.), No. 27 Jonesboro (Jonesboro, Ga.), No. 28 Norman North (Norman, Okla.), No. 34 Southport (Indianapolis, Ind.), No. 37 Word of God Academy (Raleigh, N.C.), No. 41 Starkville (Starkville, Miss.), No. 43 Centennial (Corona, Calif.).

Bubble Teams: American Fork (American Fork, Utah) 2-0; Barstow (Kansas City, Mo.) 1-0; Bartow (Bartow, Fla.) 3-0; Blair Academy (Blairstown, N.J.) 0-0; Cape Henry Collegiate (Virginia Beach, Va.) 1-0; Centennial (Corona, Calif.) 4-1; Centennial (Las Vegas, Nev.) 4-1; Columbus (Columbus, Miss.) 6-1; De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 0-0; DeSoto (DeSoto, Texas) 10-1; East English Village Prep (Detroit, Mich.) 0-0; Edmond North (Edmond, Okla.) 1-0; Evelyn Mack (Charlotte, N.C.) 8-1; Father Tolton (Columbia, Mo.) 3-0; Fenwick (Fenwick, Ill.) 6-0; Folsom (Folsom, Calif.) 2-0; Garfield Heights (Garfield Heights, Ohio) 3-0; Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 7-1; Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) 5-0; Iona Prep (New Rochelle, N.Y.) 3-0; Iowa City West (Iowa City, Iowa) 1-1; J.O. Johnson (Huntsville, Ala.) 6-2; Lone Peak (Highland, Utah) 2-0; Meridian (Meridian, Miss.) 8-1; Merrillville (Merrillville, Ind.) 3-0; Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.) 4-1; Mt. Vernon (Mt. Vernon, N.Y.) 1-0; New Albany (New Albany, Ind.) 2-0; Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) 4-1; Norman North (Norman, Okla.) 3-1; North Central (Indianapolis, Ind.) 3-0; North Crowley (Fort Worth, Texas) 9-1; Overland (Aurora, Colo.) 1-0; Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) 2-0; Queens High School of Teaching (Queens, N.Y.) 4-0; Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 4-0; Southport (Indianapolis, Ind.) 2-1; Starkville (Starkville, Miss.) 7-1; St. Raymond's (Bronx, N.Y.) 1-0; Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) 5-2; Thomas Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 4-1; Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) 6-0; Wesleyan Christian Academy (High Point, N.C.) 6-1; Wise (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 1-0.

Note: The FAB 50 powered by www.ebooksnet.com is a continuation of the National Sports News Service ratings that began in 1952. These were the first national high school rankings and the late Art Johlfs of Minnesota compiled them. They were compiled for many years by the late Barry Sollenberger of Phoenix, who merged them into the FAB 50 16 years ago.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores

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There are plenty of factors that go into an individual award such as national player of the year: Playing for a winning team, where the team is located and whom it plays, and things such as eye-popping statistics are important -- especially when the nation's best players don't have an opportunity to play on same court too often.

When many of the best do get together under one roof to compete, however, the dynamics change. Then it's about whose skill level is the most advanced, who has the most confidence in his skill level and who has the proper mentality to rise to the occasion.

At the 2015 USA Basketball Junior National Team Minicamp in Colorado Springs, Col. in October, 6-foot-8 shooting guard/small forward Josh Jackson of Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) stood out among his peers. He was the most explosive wing-type with the ball skills to match. Jackson shot it well, displayed uncanny passing ability and a great feel for when to attack, pull back or direct teammates to an open spot. He had confidence in his arsenal and most importantly, the more intense the competition got, the more focused and better he played.

The Detroit native also displayed leadership abilities and was not afraid to jump a teammate for a missed opportunity or being out of position. It was a classic case of the cream rising to the top and a pecking order clearly being established.

Jackson's individual skill level is reflected in the preseason 2015-16 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker powered by www.ebooksnet.com.

The tracker's voting results left no doubt as to whom the early favorite to capture Mr. Basketball USA honors for the 2015-16 season is. All 10 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker panel members had the Prolific Prep senior on their preseason ballot. Jackson was the only candidate to appear on every ballot. His 98 points are tied for second most in the nine-year history of the Mr. Basketball USA voting process (preseason, in-season or final tracker included). Detroit Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings, the only consensus national player of the year Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) has ever produced, tallied 98 points in the February 8, 2008 tracker.

Last season, current LSU freshman Ben Simmons of FAB 50 national champion Montverde Academy (Fla.) was a unanimous top vote-getter (earning 100 points) in every tracker published. He was the run-away Mr. Basketball USA honoree and is living up to his advanced high school billing so far in Baton Rouge.

Will Jackson approach that kind of dominance over his peers this season?

"He's the most NBA-ready player in the country," hoopscooponline.com Publisher and McDonald's All-American voter Clark Francis said of Jackson. "The No. 1 (Harry Giles) and No. 3 player (Thon Maker) in the 2016 class aren't eligible, and DeAndre Ayton had a 50-50 summer, so I think he's disproportionately lower than his talent level at this point. If you're a good player, and will be seen on the national circuit this season, it's there for the taking."

Ironically, Harry Giles was in attendance at the USA Basketball Junior National Team Minicamp with Jackson, but did not play. One has to assume last year's National Junior of the Year would have pushed Jackson throughout the season had he not torn his ACL in Oak Hill Academy's first game of the season. Maker doesn't play for an American program and Dennis Smith Jr., arguably the nation's top point guard coming into the 2015-16 season, won't play this season because of an ACL tear and will leave for N.C. State at the semester break. Those missing players have changed the dynamics of the national player of the year race.

Point guard De'Aaron Fox of Cypress Lakes (Katy, Texas), who recently announced for Kentucky, finished second to the uncommitted Jackson with 63 points while appearing on nine ballots. He garnered one first place vote, with the tenth one going to Duke-bound Jayson Tatum of FAB 50 No. 7 Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.). Tatum finished in third place with 60 points. He appeared on eight ballots and garnered three second-place votes. Ayton, last year's National Sophomore of the Year, appeared on half of the ballots, but two voters had him No. 2 behind Jackson.

"It's a bit of a strange year, with the major injuries and the players in flux, in school and out," said McDonald's voter and The Basketball Channel Vice President of Basketball Operations Van Coleman. "When we see who's playing well during the season, it will start to level out. Because it's the preseason voting, I strongly factored in what I saw through the July viewing period, but it's also a case of 'What have you done for more lately?' I think that's what you see with some of these candidates."

To begin the 2015-16 season, 18 players received recognition by the Mr. Basketball USA 10-man panel. Last year, there were 19 national player of the year candidates to begin the season.

Stay logged in to www.ebooksnet.com to track the progress of the nation's top individual players and the nation’s Top teams.

Editor's Note: Click on the "+" sign next to each player's number to view how many first, second, third or fourth place votes he got and his overall point total.

Rank	Prev.	Name	High School	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
1	NR	Josh Jackson (10)	Prolific Prep (CA)	8	2	0	0	98
2	NR	De'Aaron Fox (9)	Cy Lakes (TX)	1	1	1	2	63
3	15T	Jayson Tatum (8)	Chaminade (MO)	1	3	1	1	60
4	NR	Malik Monk (7)	Bentonville (AR)	0	0	3	2	49
5	5T	DeAndre Ayton (4)	Hillcrest Academy (AZ)	0	2	1	0	37
6	11T	Lonzo Ball (4)	Chino Hills (CA)	0	0	2	2	30
7	NR	Rawle Alkins (4)	Word of God (NC)	0	1	0	1	29
8	NR	Miles Bridges (4)	Huntington Prep (WV)	0	0	0	1	24
9T	NR	Trevon Duval (3)	API (TX)	0	0	1	0	16
9T	NR	Terrance Ferguson (3)	API (TX)	0	0	0	0	16
11T	NR	Wendell Carter (3)	Pace Academy (GA)	0	0	0	0	13
11T	NR	Mustapha Heron (2)	Sacred Heart (CT)	0	0	0	1	13
13	NR	Bam Adebayo (2)	High Point (NC)	0	0	0	0	12
14	NR	Markelle Fultz (2)	DeMatha (MD)	0	0	0	0	11
15T	NR	Mohamed Bamba (1)	Westtown (PA)	0	0	0	0	5
15T	NR	Frank Jackson (1)	Lone Peak (UT)	0	0	0	0	5
15T	NR	P.J. Washington (1)	Findlay Prep (NV)	0	0	0	0	5
18	NR	Ethan Thompson (1)	Bishop Montgomery (CA)	0	0	0	0	4

About Mr. Basketball USA Tracker Panel
www.ebooksnet.com's panel of 10 experts, which includes six McDonald’s All-American selection committee members, casts its vote for the top national player of the year candidates. Each panelist lists his top seven candidates regardless of class. The votes are then tabulated on a 10-point scoring system with a first-place vote equaling 10 points, a second-place vote earning nine points and down to four points for a seventh-place vote. The number in parenthesis refers to the numbers of ballots on which a player appeared and previous rankings refers to position in last season's final tracker.

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Known for his size/length, athleticism and basketball IQ, Tatum recently narrowed his college list to four: Duke, Kentucky, UNC, and SLU.
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