	March 14, 2009 It's 6:07 A.M. (see photo at RIGHT) and it's dark and cold outside! I'm starting my car so that I can drive to Richmond, Virginia, the state capitol of Virginia. I'm going to see the final day of the Virginia High School League state basketball championships! I'll be going to see the following 3 players, but others I'll name later in this article will get my attention: 6-8 junior Class of 2010 Josh Hairston of Spotsylvania Courtland High; 6-1 freshman Class of 2012 Trey Edmunds of Ringgold Dan River High; and 6-11 junior Class of 2010 Josh Henderson of Roanoke Cave Spring. At left, you'll see the gas pump where I stopped at Zions Crossroads, which is 20 miles east of Charlottesville. Why did I take a photo of that? There? Well, I stop there every time I go to the eastern part of Virginia. So, why not? Ha! I saw 6 state championship games, in this order: however I only scout boy's basketball and football prospects usually, and don't really pay attention to games themselves. But, this was an exception, because these were state finals, after all. 3 of the games were girls state championship games, and 3 were boy's state championship games. Here are the games, scores, and the classifications for the last days. Freedom (58) vs. R.E. Lee Staunton (33) (girls...Group AA, Division 3) Cave Spring (39) vs. Brunswick High (33) (boys...Group AA, Division 3) George Mason (53) vs. Floyd Co. (46) (girls...Group A, Division 2) Radford (77)) vs. Dan River (66) (boys...Group A, Division 2) Loudoun Co. (63) vs. Turner Ashby (47) (girls...Group AA, Division 4) Courtland (93) vs. Salem (69) (boys...Group AA, Division 4) If it seems like there's no rhyme or reason as to why these classifications were picked to have their state championships played on the last day of the season, you're right! The Virginia High School League didn't want too many fans trying to watch the biggest schools AND the smallest schools play on the final day, because there weren't enough tickets available last year. So why not hold the games in a bigger basketball arena then?! Anyway, a suprise in the R.E. Lee vs. Freedom girls game was 6-3 junior Kelsey Buchanan , Class of 2010. Kelsey Buchanan appears in the photo at right: she's wearing jersey number 13, and is seated on the bench. I don't have any interest in girl's basketball recruiting, but I was there that day, saw 3 girl's games, and you couldn't miss her. She's a dominating girl's high school player! Seeing as how Virginia and Virginia Tech aren't likely to get 2011 superstar Elizabeth Williams of Virginia Beach, VA Kempsville High, Kelsey Buchanan would be a nice recruit! The Cave Spring game was outstanding. Probably one of the best games, high school or college, that I've seen in years! To make a long story short, the game went back and forth over and over and over. Finally, Cave Spring pulled it out. Brunswick had a very thin team, and it's players lack muscle and height. Brunswick County has a high unemployment, high poverty, low-income rate. But they have great coaching, and one player who is a scoring threat with a pure jump shot. But they couldn't stop 6-11 Josh Henderson (he's wearing jersey number 40 in the photo that's below right) from drawing fouls in the low post late in the game. Back to Josh Henderson : if you remember, I saw Josh Henderson play earlier in the year on December 9, 2008 at home against Glenvar. Josh Henderson looked great, but I couldn't figure out why his coach played him in the high post, away from the basket, where his height wouldn't be a factor. So the same questions might remain in the eyes of recruiters: can Josh Henderson play in the low post near the basket at the Atlantic Coast Conference or a similar college level? The Dan River game was one that I only wanted to scout one player in: 6-1 freshman Tre Edmunds . Tre Edmunds appears in the two photos that are above left and below left, wearing numer 33 in the white jerseys. He didn't do much of anything really in this game. However, that doesn't matter. For their team this year, older players take all of the shots. I also saw him play football this year, if you remember, this October 24, 2008 . Tre Edmunds probably has more potential in football, but these days, athletes prefer basketball, so only time will tell. I've heard good things about him in basketball, so I'm going to keep track of him! Tre Edmunds has a lot of physical strength and strong legs. He rarely shot, and only scored 4 points. That's about it! Not much else to say! But I'll scout Tre Edmunds again in basketball. After all, Tre Edmunds is a point guard and they did make it to a state championship game. Finally, in the last boy's game of the day, Josh Hairston was playing. What can I say? Josh Hairston is committed to Duke. He has the perfect body for basketball. He's not musclebound, so he easily moves around the court, inside and out. Josh Hairston reminds me of many players who have played for Duke: he looks like Grant Hill, but is really more of an inside player.

    March 14, 2009
    It's 6:07 A.M. (see photo at RIGHT) and it's dark and cold outside! I'm starting my car so that I can drive to Richmond, Virginia, the state capitol of Virginia. I'm going to see the final day of the Virginia High School League state basketball championships! I'll be going to see the following 3 players, but others I'll name later in this article will get my attention: 6-8 junior Class of 2010 Josh Hairston of Spotsylvania Courtland High; 6-1 freshman Class of 2012 Trey Edmunds of Ringgold Dan River High; and 6-11 junior Class of 2010 Josh Henderson of Roanoke Cave Spring. At left, you'll see the gas pump where I stopped at Zions Crossroads, which is 20 miles east of Charlottesville. Why did I take a photo of that? There? Well, I stop there every time I go to the eastern part of Virginia. So, why not? Ha!

        I saw 6 state championship games, in this order: however I only scout boy's basketball and football prospects usually, and don't really pay attention to games themselves. But, this was an exception, because these were state finals, after all. 3 of the games were girls state championship games, and 3 were boy's state championship games. Here are the games, scores, and the classifications for the last days.

Freedom (58) vs. R.E. Lee Staunton (33) (girls...Group AA, Division 3)
Cave Spring (39) vs. Brunswick High (33) (boys...Group AA, Division 3)
George Mason (53) vs. Floyd Co. (46) (girls...Group A, Division 2)
Radford (77)) vs. Dan River (66) (boys...Group A, Division 2)
Loudoun Co. (63) vs. Turner Ashby (47) (girls...Group AA, Division 4)
Courtland (93) vs. Salem (69) (boys...Group AA, Division 4)

    If it seems like there's no rhyme or reason as to why these classifications were picked to have their state championships played on the last day of the season, you're right! The Virginia High School League didn't want too many fans trying to watch the biggest schools AND the smallest schools play on the final day, because there weren't enough tickets available last year. So why not hold the games in a bigger basketball arena then?! Anyway, a suprise in the R.E. Lee vs. Freedom girls game was 6-3 junior Kelsey Buchanan , Class of 2010. Kelsey Buchanan appears in the photo at right: she's wearing jersey number 13, and is seated on the bench. I don't have any interest in girl's basketball recruiting, but I was there that day, saw 3 girl's games, and you couldn't miss her. She's a dominating girl's high school player! Seeing as how Virginia and Virginia Tech aren't likely to get 2011 superstar Elizabeth Williams of Virginia Beach, VA Kempsville High, Kelsey Buchanan would be a nice recruit!

    The Cave Spring game was outstanding. Probably one of the best games, high school or college, that I've seen in years! To make a long story short, the game went back and forth over and over and over. Finally, Cave Spring pulled it out. Brunswick had a very thin team, and it's players lack muscle and height. Brunswick County has a high unemployment, high poverty, low-income rate. But they have great coaching, and one player who is a scoring threat with a pure jump shot. But they couldn't stop 6-11 Josh Henderson (he's wearing jersey number 40 in the photo that's below right) from drawing fouls in the low post late in the game. Back to Josh Henderson : if you remember, I saw Josh Henderson play earlier in the year on December 9, 2008 at home against Glenvar. Josh Henderson looked great, but I couldn't figure out why his coach played him in the high post, away from the basket, where his height wouldn't be a factor. So the same questions might remain in the eyes of recruiters: can Josh Henderson play in the low post near the basket at the Atlantic Coast Conference or a similar college level?

    The Dan River game was one that I only wanted to scout one player in: 6-1 freshman Tre Edmunds . Tre Edmunds appears in the two photos that are above left and below left, wearing numer 33 in the white jerseys. He didn't do much of anything really in this game. However, that doesn't matter. For their team this year, older players take all of the shots. I also saw him play football this year, if you remember, this October 24, 2008 . Tre Edmunds probably has more potential in football, but these days, athletes prefer basketball, so only time will tell. I've heard good things about him in basketball, so I'm going to keep track of him!

    Tre Edmunds has a lot of physical strength and strong legs. He rarely shot, and only scored 4 points. That's about it! Not much else to say! But I'll scout Tre Edmunds again in basketball. After all, Tre Edmunds is a point guard and they did make it to a state championship game.

    Finally, in the last boy's game of the day, Josh Hairston was playing. What can I say? Josh Hairston is committed to Duke. He has the perfect body for basketball. He's not musclebound, so he easily moves around the court, inside and out. Josh Hairston reminds me of many players who have played for Duke: he looks like Grant Hill, but is really more of an inside player.

	March 5, 2009 I went to Benedictine High School in Richmond, Virginia on Thursday night. I decided to see a possible University of Virginia football prospect play high school basketball. He's a quarterback in the 11th grade who is in the Class of 2010, and his name is Jake McGee. He's wearing green jersey number 24 in these photos. His school, the Collegiate School of Richmond, Virginia, was playing "on the road," at nearby Benedictine High, also of Richmond, Virginia, in the "Virginia Independent School's" state basketball tournament. Here is information on him as a footbaall prospect. At this point in the season, there are are few high school basketball games left: only post-season games are left, so one way to find prospects to scout is to scout football recruits who are playing high school basketball! On my day off from work, I left Charlottesville and drove to Richmond. It's always a very easy drive: the highway (Route 64 East) from Charlottesville, Virginia to Richmond, Virginia is perfectly straight! When you go each week to see a college football or basketball prospect play, the high school football and basketball seasons in Virginia go by very quickly. It seems just yesterday that high school football season in Virginia was just beginning. And now, basketball season is almost over! There are quite a few state championships in Virginia at the public and private school levels, so it can be hard for casual fans to follow. There are seven (!) boy's public high school state basketball champions in the state of Virginia, and three boy's private high school state basketball state champions. All private high schools in Virginia, including The Collegiate School and Benedictine High School, compete for state championships in the Virginia Association of Independent Schools, which has three levels, and these two schools are in Division 1, which is comprised of the private schools with the largest athletic departments. Jake McGee didn't have a good night shooting the ball in this game. He missed 11 of his first 12 shots! However, he is the only good offensive weapon his team has, and when he touched the ball, the defense collapsed around him. He scored his first basket at the 5:21 mark of the first quarter. Benedictine led 16-8 at the end of the first period. Jake McGee shoots left-handed. I think that subconsciously, coaches prefer players who are right-handed, because they look more co-ordinated. Why? Maybe it's just because most athletes are right-handed. The second quarter was not a rout by any means: the Collegiate School hung in there. They were down only 32-24 at the half. Jake McGee had eight rebounds in the first half, but amazingly, just two points. He was averaging over 20 points-per-game. The "Roanoke Times And World News Lists" Jake McGee number 25 among it's players to watch (the list of the "juniors" is far down the page if you click on this link. This is a slow-loading link.) in the Class of 2010 in the state of Virginia for next year. At the end of the third quarter, things had gotten out of hand for the Collegiate School: they were behind 41-25 at the 4:44 mark, and then trailed 53-33 after three. Jake McGee picked up his fourth personal foul at the 4:04 mark of the final period. He came out with his team trailing 65-44. Benedictine won, 67-45. Jake McGee finished with 15 points. He is a stong-looking athlete with good upper-body strength. You can look and tell that he's still young-looking, so he's going to continue to get taller, and that he's probably going to improve as an athlete. An interesting sidenote to all of this is that Collegiate had a lightly-recruited high school superstar named Russell Wilson two years ago, who the University of Virginia decided not to recruit. Schools felt that he was too short to play quarterback at the Division 1-A level, although he ran and passed for 55 touchdowns as a senior! So, after redshirting his first year at North Carolina State University last year, he was sensational this year for the Wolfpack, making first-team All-ACC as a quarterback! Schools don't want to make the same mistake again with a Collegiate quarterback, so they're keeping a close eye on Jake McGee!

    March 5, 2009
    I went to Benedictine High School in Richmond, Virginia on Thursday night. I decided to see a possible University of Virginia football prospect play high school basketball. He's a quarterback in the 11th grade who is in the Class of 2010, and his name is Jake McGee. He's wearing green jersey number 24 in these photos. His school, the Collegiate School of Richmond, Virginia, was playing "on the road," at nearby Benedictine High, also of Richmond, Virginia, in the "Virginia Independent School's" state basketball tournament. Here is information on him as a footbaall prospect. At this point in the season, there are are few high school basketball games left: only post-season games are left, so one way to find prospects to scout is to scout football recruits who are playing high school basketball!

    On my day off from work, I left Charlottesville and drove to Richmond. It's always a very easy drive: the highway (Route 64 East) from Charlottesville, Virginia to Richmond, Virginia is perfectly straight! When you go each week to see a college football or basketball prospect play, the high school football and basketball seasons in Virginia go by very quickly. It seems just yesterday that high school football season in Virginia was just beginning. And now, basketball season is almost over! There are quite a few state championships in Virginia at the public and private school levels, so it can be hard for casual fans to follow. There are seven (!) boy's public high school state basketball champions in the state of Virginia, and three boy's private high school state basketball state champions. All private high schools in Virginia, including The Collegiate School and Benedictine High School, compete for state championships in the Virginia Association of Independent Schools, which has three levels, and these two schools are in Division 1, which is comprised of the private schools with the largest athletic departments. Jake McGee didn't have a good night shooting the ball in this game. He missed 11 of his first 12 shots! However, he is the only good offensive weapon his team has, and when he touched the ball, the defense collapsed around him.

    He scored his first basket at the 5:21 mark of the first quarter. Benedictine led 16-8 at the end of the first period. Jake McGee shoots left-handed. I think that subconsciously, coaches prefer players who are right-handed, because they look more co-ordinated. Why? Maybe it's just because most athletes are right-handed. The second quarter was not a rout by any means: the Collegiate School hung in there. They were down only 32-24 at the half. Jake McGee had eight rebounds in the first half, but amazingly, just two points. He was averaging over 20 points-per-game. The "Roanoke Times And World News Lists" Jake McGee number 25 among it's players to watch (the list of the "juniors" is far down the page if you click on this link. This is a slow-loading link.) in the Class of 2010 in the state of Virginia for next year. At the end of the third quarter, things had gotten out of hand for the Collegiate School: they were behind 41-25 at the 4:44 mark, and then trailed 53-33 after three. Jake McGee picked up his fourth personal foul at the 4:04 mark of the final period. He came out with his team trailing 65-44. Benedictine won, 67-45. Jake McGee finished with 15 points. He is a stong-looking athlete with good upper-body strength. You can look and tell that he's still young-looking, so he's going to continue to get taller, and that he's probably going to improve as an athlete.

    An interesting sidenote to all of this is that Collegiate had a lightly-recruited high school superstar named Russell Wilson two years ago, who the University of Virginia decided not to recruit. Schools felt that he was too short to play quarterback at the Division 1-A level, although he ran and passed for 55 touchdowns as a senior! So, after redshirting his first year at North Carolina State University last year, he was sensational this year for the Wolfpack, making first-team All-ACC as a quarterback! Schools don't want to make the same mistake again with a Collegiate quarterback, so they're keeping a close eye on Jake McGee!