We’re unveiling the most extensive and only prep school poll of its kind and we’re beginning the daily countdown with a new school in the Midwest that checks in at No. 30.
New Creations Christian (Richmond, Ind.) may have lost its top player when Devon Deans decided to go to JUCO route last month, but coach Travis McAvene, in his second season at the helm, still has enough talent to compete in the prep school ranks.
It starts with former Julian High (Ill.) forward Ed Finner, a cousin of Duke point guard Sean Dockery who has started to get some low-major D-1 interest.
``He’s an undersized four-man,” McAvene said. “He’s athletic and gets after it defensively. He has no fear.”
The 6-5, 200-pound Finner, who is drawing interest from Southern Utah, Florida A&M and Hampton, will likely be the go-to guy, but he’ll have some help from senior wing Daniel Balwigaire, an Anaheim native who has gotten looks from Western Carolina, CS-Sacramento, Albany and UC-Riverside.
Dayton, Ohio native Justin Haney, a 6-7 small forward, will likely be joined by 6-1 junior guard Tyrae Davis in the starting lineup. Davis, like 6-1 senior guard Matt Harrington and 6-2 sophomore wing Lamar Lundy III, hails from down the street in Richmond, Ind.
The rest of the squad is comprised of 6-2 senior guard Chris Fox (Houston, Texas) and 5-10 junior floor leader Zach Cult (Indianapolis, Ind.) – a pair of D-3 players.
``We’ll be extremely athletic and quick,” McAvene said of this year’s group, which will see where it stacks up at next month’s War on the Shore (Del.). “We’ll be able to run on people. We can play with just about anyone offensively, but the challenge will be for our guys up front to rebound because we have a lack of size.”
``I think we have three legitimate D-1 players that are seniors and a pair of underclassmen that have a good shot to play Division 1 basketball,” added McAvene.