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I wanted to post this, because Bamba's former team was mentioned in a different thread, and because about this time last year there was a great deal of debate over what kind of player we had signed, because his high school stats werent too impressive, at least in terms of point production. I made the point frequently that you cant judge a player from Oak Hill the way you would an ordinary high school recruit, because the environments are drastically different. We've all seen Bamba by now, and most seem to recognize the raw potential in this player. Now here is a look at his former high school teammates, and perhaps you will see why he wasnt asked to score too often when he was at Oak Hill:

First, the other 4 starters besides Bamba from last season:
Jamont Gordon, 6'4" wing player, currently leads Mississippi State in almost every statistical category, including scoring (13.4 ppg), rebounding (6.4 rpg), assists (4 apg) and steals (1.2 spg) as well as minutes played (33 mpg). He could be the SEC Freshman of the Year.

Eric Devendorf 6'3" shooting guard. Played in all 19 games, starting 14 for 20th ranked Syracuse. Averaging 11 points per game, including 21 in this weekends loss to 6th ranked Villanova.

Kevin Durant, 6'9" forward. Ranked as the #2 recruit in the country this year by Rivals, he's signed with Univ. of Texas. He may only be a Longhorn for a year or two, most are already projecting him as an NBA lottery pick.

Tywon Lawson, 5'11' point guard, ranked the 13th recruit overall in the nation this year, he has signed a Letter of Intent with North Carolina.

Three players that didnt start for Oak Hill last year also got college scholarships:

KC Rivers, a 6'6" forward has played in all 19 games with 2 starts, for Clemson. Rivers is averaging 7.3 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game.

Alex Smith, a 6'6" forward has played in 17 games with 3 starts, for William and Mary. He is averaging 3 points and 2 rebounds per game.

David Palmer, a 6'8" forward has appeared in 13 games, averagin 3.2 points and 2.3 rebounds, for Seton Hall.

Thats the team he came from, and perhaps now you can see why he wasnt the first option on offense, or the second or even third option. Oak Hill was, is and always will be loaded with future NBA players (Carmelo Anthony, Josh Smith). If you go back to Bamba's junior year, the starting five included Rajon Rondo (Kentucky), Dayshawn Wright (Syracuse), Brian Johnson (Louisville), and Josh Smith (Atlanta Hawks). Oak Hill is basically a semi-pro team, for kids under 18, they're a basketball machine. The drawback to playing in that kind of environment is that Bamba's offensive game didnt develop as much as it might have elsewhere, because the team never needed it from him. But, playing with and against these type of players every day at a young age has given him great instincts for the game, particularly on defense. The offense is something our coaches will have to develop in him, over time.

Good stuff, X.
I was wondering if the practices he had at Oak Hill might be the reason he looks so good on defense, but clearly didn't have all the names and numbers you found to verify.

That must have been such exciting practices...and it trained him so much, especially defensively because he was practicing in high school everyday versus players who are better than most of the guys in the CUSA.

I talked to Eric Castro at the Rice game and he was blown away by Bamba's improvement, especially defensively. This really suprised me but Castro says he is much more aggresive now on defense than when he first got here. Apparently in scrimmages and pick up games he was rather timid about going after blocks. This coming from a guy that played against him and is one of all of our favorite alumni hoopsters. It is certainly hard to imagine that Bamba now. Gotta love that in addition to his 4 or 5 blocks a game he alters countless other shots. That doesn't show up in a stat line but it sure does have a big impact on the game.

What is Eric Castro up to? I remember he wrote that journal on SMUMustangs.com each week.

Wow. Posted only so that I have the last post on every forum.

Interesting thread. Wow2.

Castro is actually an assistant highschool coach back in his home of Oklahoma. He is doing that for this hoops season then plans to return to Dallas to find a job in finance. One of my all time favorite Mustangs. You would be hard pressed to find a guy who ever played harder or was better team player than Castro.

I always liked Castro as well. He had all the great skills and determination and worked really hard. He made some of the best post moves SMU has had in a long time. The only problem, he needed to be about 3 inches taller. So many big men against him were able to recover and get a piece of his shot because of the height advantage.

Wish we could retain him to help pass some of his wisdom on to Bamba and Morris.

I've been meaning to update this for awhile, and considering tonights events, I thought this might be the time. So, here it is, an update on how Bamba's former teammates (restricted to only his senior year) are doing now in college.

Kevin Durant- Currently averaging 24.4 points and 11 rebounds for #22 Texas, but he has scored over 30 points in 5 of his last 8 games, and his scoring average is rising steadily. Tonight he had 37 points and 23 rebounds in UT's win over Texas Tech. He is the first player in Big 12 history to have 30+ and 20+ in the same game. He also has 13 double-doubles on the year, which is also a Big 12 record. Durant will be the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, and probably the National Freshman of the Year. He's a legitimate candidate for National Player of the Year, and will be a lottery pick in the NBA draft.

Tywan Lawson- Starting at point guard for #3 North Carolina, averaging 9.4 points, 5.2 assists and 2 steals per game. Had 13 points and 3 assists in just 20 minutes of play tonight as UNC routed Miami 105-64.

Jamont Gordon- SEC freshman of the year last season, once again leading Miss State in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals. 20 points and 6 boards in MSU's loss to Ole Miss.

Eric Devendorf- Averaging 14 points and 4 assists for Syracuse, but was held scoreless in the Orangemen's loss to #21 Notre Dame this week.

KC Rivers- leading scorer for 19th ranked Clemson at 14 points a game, was held to just 6 tonight in upset loss to Virginia.

Alex Smih- played in 21 games, starting twice for William and Mary. Averaging 6 points and 3 rebounds per game.

David Palmer- sitting out this season after transferring to Iowa from Seton Hall.

That was the team at Oak Hill Bamba's senior year. Starting 5 were Durant, Gordon, Bamba, Lawson, and Devendorf. Rivers, Palmer, and Smith came off the bench. To go back to his junior year would take too long, and include players like Rajon Rondo, and Josh Smith (Atlanta Hawks), so I'm not going to bother. But I thought some folks might enjoy reading this.

Durant is sick; I've enjoyed watching him on TV this year. It's like an NBA all star had the chance to come play college ball for one year...

Bumping this thread one last time because I'm watching KC Rivers light up North Carolina, he's almost singlehandedly keeping Clemson in the game.

Rivers remains the leading scorer on a very balanced Clemson team, and also averages 6.3 rebounds per game. He had 10 points last night in Clemsons upset of #7 Duke, and is currently lighting up North Carolina for 25 points, 15 in the first half. If Rivers entered the NBA draft this year he could possibly be a 2nd round draft pick, but he would be better served by staying in school. He's the type of player who might test the waters, declare for the draft, but not hire an agent, so he can go to the pre-draft camps and get evaluated, but then return to school.

Kevin Durant. Won every award there was to win in his freshman year at Texas. Entered the NBA draft after one year in college and was the 2nd player taken. Currently averaging 19.5 ppg for Seattle (leads team) and is a lock for NBA rookie of the year. Two Oak Hill alums who were seniors Bamba's junior year, Josh Smith (Atlanta) and Rajon Rondo (Celtics) are having strong years in the NBA as well, but I'm not going to look up their exact stats.

Eric Devendorf was 2nd team All-Big East last year at Syracuse, and was averaging 17 points per game when a knee injury ended his season. He had a decent shot at playing in the NBA eventually, but that was before the injury, now it will depend on how his rehab goes.

Jamont Gordon, first team All-SEC, and leads Miss State in points (17) and assists (4.3) and also grabs 6.3 rebounds per game. He is expected to leave school a year early and enter the NBA draft. When Clemson played Miss State, Rivers scored 17 and had 7 rebounds, but Gordon had 23 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists in a game Clemson won 84-82.

Tywon Lawson, starting point guard for #1 North Carolina, 12.4 points and 5.4 assists per game. 12 points and 8 assists in todays win over Clemson (Rivers finished with 28 points). Lawsons height will hurt his draft positioning, but he is considered one of the top point guards in the country, and barring injury he is a lock to play professionally within the next 2 years.

Alex Smith, injured early in the year at William and Mary. Played in 4 games, starting 1, but will apply for a hardship waiver this year.

David Palmer is riding the bench at Iowa. Played in just 14 games this year, and averaged less than 1 point per game. Best performance was 7 points and 1 rebound against Wake Forest.

That's all, just wanted to update this, because a few of these guys may not be playing in college anymore after this season.