Share
There has been a quiet revolution in North Carolina high school basketball.
This season, next season and maybe forever, the best high school players in the state aren't at public high schools.
It is becoming rare for standout players like Ish Smith of Central Cabarrus or Jamie Skeen of North Mecklenburg to finish their careers at their local N.C. public high school.
The more likely scenario is for the high school elite to begin their careers in public school and later transfer to a private school or to simply begin in private school.
According to the scout.com recruiting site, 20 of the top 30 players in the state are in private schools.
The trend is not as pronounced in girls' basketball yet, but one list of the top 10 has five private school players.
“I think this is a growing trend,” said Charlie Adams, executive director of the N.C. High School Athletic Association. “I've seen it in other states, and you'll probably see it here.”
Last season, Harding's Lakeem Jackson transferred to Arden's Christ School. Committed to South Carolina, Jackson is one of the top 10 N.C. recruits in the senior class.
This season, Ian Miller left South Mecklenburg to play at south Charlotte's United Faith Academy. Miller, committed to Florida State, is ranked in the top 60 nationally in the junior class.
In ESPN's national top 100 rankings, three N.C. players are ranked in the top 12. They are all private school players: No.6 John Wall of Raleigh's Word Of God; No.9 Mason Plumlee, Jackson's teammate at Christ School; and No.12 Ryan Kelly of Raleigh Ravenscroft.
The trend is fairly new to North Carolina, but has been the model in major cities for years.
The best players in New York City, for example, usually play for teams like All Hallows, Christ the King, Rice and Bishop Molloy.
Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha, Arlington (Va.) O'Connell, Gonzaga and St. John's annually have many of the best players in the Washington, D.C., area.
But this season, for the first time, the top six high school players in North Carolina according to recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons are all private-school players.
The group is led by Wall, who is ranked as the No.1 or No.2 prospect in the country by most recruiting services. Wall played two seasons at Garner before transferring to Broughton and on to Word of God in 2005-2008.
He emerged as one of the nation's best last season.
Joining Wall in Gibbons' list of top North Carolina players are the 6-foot-10 Kelly (a Duke recruit), the 6-11 Plumlee (Duke), the 6-5 Jackson, Charlotte Latin's 6-8 David Chadwick (Washington State) and Charlotte Christian's 6-6 Willis Hall (uncommitted). And Gibbons omitted players from boarding schools such as Lenoir Patterson School and Durham Mount Zion.
If those boarding schools are included, only one of the top 10 players in the state – 6-5 guard Garrius Adams of Middle Creek (Miami) – is at a N.C. High School Athletic Association program.
Gibbons said the rise of summer club teams is a factor in players switching from public to private schools. He believes summer coaches often have informal ties to private schools and encourage players to enroll.
Academic concerns and the promise of smaller classes with more personal attention also figure in, Gibbons said.
Private schools also often have the luxury of welcoming proven players. Junior C.J. Leslie already had committed to N.C. State before enrolling at Word of God.
Another advantage for private schools in North Carolina is that they have different eligibility rules.
NCHSAA players are eligible for eight semesters after they enter the ninth grade. The NCISAA does not have a four-year or eight-semester rule, but uses an age limit instead. The schools in the Charlotte Independent Schools conference – Charlotte Christian, Charlotte Latin, Country Day, Concord Cannon and Providence Day – do adhere to the eight-semester rule.
Wall, for example, would not be eligible at an NCHSAA school because he is in his fifth year of high school.
“I think you'll see more and more of the top players entering the private schools,” Gibbons said. “Some parent is going to see this story and think they need to get their son into a private school because that's where the best players are.”
And those players are going to bring more publicity for the private schools.
Don't be surprised if a game this season between Word of God and Ravenscroft ends up on national television.
