Some Movement on P'Allen and a Look Back on the Illinois Prep Schools

Is he or isn't he...that's what Creighton fans are wondering....
Is P'Allen Stinnett kicked off the team and fully gone or is he coming back next year. Nobody knows and nobody's talking but there is one interesting NEW development...

The roster page on the official Creighton web site suddenly has a brand new team picture, obviously taken quite recently, but it does NOT show P'Allen Stinnett, even though the roster still has his name listed.

Here is the brand new team roster page with picture:
http://www.gocreighton.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1000&KEY=&SPID=69&SPSID=89384&&DB_OEM_ID=1000&KEY

Note the absence of Stinnett in the picture...but here's what that same page looked like just a week ago in this cached view...
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:TQQynF-SRP4J:www.gocreighton.com/SportSelect.dbml%3FDB_OEM_ID%3D1000%26SPID%3D69%26SPSID%3D89384+%22Watonga,+Okla.+(Northern+Oklahoma+College-Enid)+(Watonga+HS)%22&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

But if you look at a couple of the players in the new picture, like Justin Carter (who had dreadlocks until half way through the season) and Casey Harriman, who only recently cut his shaggy hair...
then you realize this is a recently re-taken team photo just for the website, that does NOT include P'Allen.

Time will tell...but P'Allen is exemplary of a lot of the more talented kids...especially the prep schoolers.........somehow they seem more troubled, and more widely travelled.........


In that vein...I decided to look at all those kids who went through the prep schools that we had or have here in Illinois.
Here's a look at the three Illinois prep schools that are the only three I am aware of over at least the past 20 years who have delved into the realm of top level basketball. Each of these three schools HAND PICKED their roster of players from top caliber high schoolers, literally guaranteeing that almost everyone on their roster would be D-I caliber...

but so many turned out troubled, widely travelled, and ineligible for various reasons, and failing and flopping way, way beyond what would have been expected for the caliber of talent they had.

Is this a prep school thing? Do these prep schools force the kids to grow up and play college level opponents way too fast and drive the kids more as basketball commodities than as kids or as human beings.....with those who fail just being cast aside as if doesn't matter if only just a couple can actually succeed??

Two of the schools are now closed, only Brehm Prep is still operating. Boys to Men Academy operated from 2005 through 2007, and Decatur Christian operated only one year in 2006-2007...
Both of the schools' coaches claimed all their players would be successful at the D-I level, but I think in retrospect, that is now seen to be clearly false...
In fact the prep experience at both BTMA and DCS might actually be viewed as having truly harmed the careers of most of the players that passed through their doors.

We'll start first with Boys to Men - a so-called prep school in Chicago started up by Loren Jackson pretty much just for the purpose of getting his prodigy, Mac Koshwal, eligible and to the pros....
Mac was a kid Jackson saw as a true NBA'er and a certain star at the college level - but he had to get eligible because Koshwal was shamefully kicked out of high school in Chicago when it was found that he and Loren Jackson has lied about everything from the kid's age, to his grades, to his background and how he was essentially smuggled into the US on false passports from Sudan through Canada...and Koshwal had no parent to speak, but Jackson himself, the kids basketball coach, was his "guardian"...a fairly fishy scenario - right from the start.
BTW- Thijin Moses was also in the same boat, living in Jackson's home (reminiscent of the cheating scandal where Bobby Hill and his brother and many other St. Louis high school kids were given homes, free rent, food, and other luxuries just to play basketball for St. Louis Vashon - but that's another whole story as all those vashon kids flopped, too!!)
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=147032#post147032

Anyway....The kids who graduated in 2006 from BTMA are all but lost to memory, but at least four of them can still be tracked.

Xavier Crawford never did get academically qualified and went to Yuba. Crawford committed to Cal State Northridge..finally got to play a little last year..he was a deep sub even on a weak squad, produced insignificant numbers, then was gone before the season started last fall - kicked off the team and nobody has ever said why.
He clearly had zero D-I success.

Craig Brackins left BTMA in 2006 and went to another prep school...possibly the one thing that saved the guy from the same fate as all the other Boys to Men failures...
He is a top player, but got injured ion prep school - setting him back a bit, but ....now he's a junior at Iowa State..and is an NBA caliber player. BUT - he never showed that at BTMA and developed mostly after leaving Loren Jackson's mentoring.

Thijin Moses did poorly at at BTMA, but DePaul recruited him....but his freshman year showed he was overrated....NOW dismissed from DePaul he went to Texas A&M Corpus Christi - didn't make academically and finally finished up at Seward Co. CC juco - He went to D-II Southwest Baptist Univ. and played their first nine games, then was dismissed from the team for unspecified issues.
This was the coach's statement-
"..Four players were dismissed from the team Thursday due to academic and team rules violations. Thijin Moses, Tim Baines, JT Hatfield and Mayse Walker were removed from the roster. Guiot stated, "Here at SBU, you have take care of your classwork and meet the rules and expectations. We do things the right way and some didn't do that. We have kids that are buying in now. They played well together with team chemistry."
http://www.sbubearcats.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=325

Michael Glover played at BTMA in 2006, finished HS at American Christian and went to Seton Hall, but wasn't academically eligible and had to go find another prep school for 2006-2007, and is now set to be at Seton Hall this fall.
Later - he was deemed ineligible, sued the NCAA, lost and now will have to go to juco...
He has still never played a game of D-I basketball.


Then of the players who are listed as seniors or "post grad" students in 2007, here are the names:

The seniors..........
Anthony Edwards 6'4" Sr Guard Chatsworth, CA (never played D-I)

Djibril Coulibaly 6'9" Jr Forward Jamaica, NY ....finally in 2008 is at Manhattan..deep sub and in his first two years at Manhattan, has only averaged a couple minutes of play and 0.8 ppg.

Jamel Jackson 6'3" Sr Guard Brooklyn, NY
(ended up not qualifying and went to Technical Career Institute in NYC, a juco and headed Seton Hall...but was ineligible at Seton hall, booted out and now back at juco for one final year.
He then went back to SHU, and now, having played his junior year, averages 5 ppg as a deep sub.

Leon Freeman 6'3" Sr. Guard Belleville, MI (spent an extra year at prep school - Eldon Academy in MI)
(apparently few people know this, as both Rivals and scout still have him listed as 2007 recruit from BTMA)..was in juco but now all but disappeared...
He has never played D-I.

Kordero Anderson 6'2" Sr Guard Chicago, IL -- has never played college ball, but was Lincoln College for a while in 2007 and not there in 2008.

Nyal "Mac" Koshwal 6'9" Sr Forward Chicago, IL (went to DePaul)...now a junior, and putting up decent numbers in rebounding and scoring, but not enough to help his team win any games.
He might just finish his career at DePaul having played in the most losses of any player there ever...he is marginal at best to ever make the NBA. You simply can't play center at 6-7 (he is NOT 6-10!) in the NBA..

Raymond Sims (sometimes listed as "Simms") 5'9" Sr Guard Philadelphia, PA never qualifed, then went to Paris junior college and then to South Alabama.
He actually appeared in 10 games, as a sub, then was dismissed from the team.

Spencer Adams 6'6" Sr Forward Champaign, IL ..WAS AT Yakima Valley CC but not there in 2008..never played D-I.

Timothy Kiewel 6'9" Sr Forward/Center Parma, OH ..went to Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher, AZ., then he transferred to Eastern Utah juco) He has since left Eastern Utah...has never played D-I.

The post grad kids...........
Alvin Abreu 6'2" PG Guard Lynn, MA ....Abreu is at New Hampshire Univ...now a junior avg 13 ppg, but playing at the lowest level of D-I...

Clarence Holloway 7'1" PG Center Chicago, IL (was going to Louisville) -- but after 6 years of high school including one at Boys to Men, he is still unable to gain clearance from the NCAA Clearinghouse and was to sit out 2007-2008.....unfortunately he had to undergo surgery for a serious heart condition and this has sadly ended Holloway's career.

David Sanchez 6'9" PG Forward Toa Alta, PR ..was at Lon Morris juco but must be ineligible as he never played..and never made it to D-I.

Devin Miller 6'3" PG Guard Chicago, IL -- was at Kennedy-King juco, avg 15.4 ppg in 08-09, then verballed to Coastal Carolina..was briefly listed on their roster, then was gone, much like a whole lot of these BTMA kids, likely a casualty of bad academics. He has never played D-I ball.

Elijah Dildy 5'9" PG Guard Chicago, IL..now a soph at Kennedy-King juco in Chgo., avg. 1.6 ppg, 0.8 apg
...........here's more on Elijah Dildy...
http://websportschicago.com/id406.htm
Dildy finished his 1st year at Kennedy-King Junior College and averaged 1 point per game, 1 assist per game (he's a 5'3" PG!)..then he was gone, and has never played any more college ball.

Maurese Jackson 6'6" PG Forward Chicago, IL played at Monroe College (juco) in New York..avg 4 ppg in 08-09, then was gone and has not played anywhere since.

Then the kids that were listed as still being juniors.......
Jelani Poston 6'6" Jr Forward Chicago, IL (left BTMA and went to Cincinnati Harmony Prep) ..then finally went to UIC..
didn't play at first because of failure to clear the NCAA...(too many different high schools)
finally played a handful of games in 2008-2009, averaging 3 ppg, then was dismissed mid-season for academics like so many of these guys, and is gone this year...apparently dismissed.

Jeremiah "Miah" Kelly 6'0" Jr Guard Chicago, IL (American Christian Academy Prep School in Philly)
............Kelly verballed to DePaul....doing OK in the early going...finishing his sophomore season as a backup averaging 4.8 ppg, 2 apg.

Timothy Baines 6'6" Jr Forward Zion, IL went to Kaskaskia juco in Centralia..avg. 6.5 ppg there in 08-09
He also went to Texas A&M-CC and was dismissed at the same time Moses was.

Turhon Cora Jr 6'4" Jr Guard Chicago, IL had transferred to BTMA from Rich Central..then was at Oakton CC avg 12.7 ppg in 08-09 (DII juco)
Never played D-I ball.

Tyrone Justin Howard 6'3" Jr Guard Chicago, IL - no info - has never played D-I

Clay Johnson - never played college ball

Michael Tuitt was listed on the 2005-2006 BTMA roster ...he played little at BTMA, then transferred to American Christian School in Aston, Pa.
...he then got an offer from Morehead State but never qualified
.......presently at Monroe College (DI juco) avg 9 ppg in 08-09..finally made it to Hampton, and has played in a handful of games averaging 3 ppg.

Also...Angel Garcia was at BTMA for a week or so in the fall, but then went to East Chicago...was going to play at Memphis but was held out 2008-2009 because he was not cleared by NCAA, then this year he tore his knee up and still has not played.

Manual Cass was also there for a few days then went to prep school out east and was going to UTEP the next year. Cass was dismissed and was now at John A. Logan Junior College momentarily, then was going to walk on at Kent State, but dismissed there as well (academics.)
Finally he landed at Frank Phillips juco and despite all the years is now finishing his sophomore season at Phillips, but no word on if he is playing anywhere next year.

Marcus Relphorde also spent a few weeks there at BTMA, then went to another prep school and then to Saint Louis where he was run out by Majerus, transferred to Indian Hills juco and is now at Colorado
..possibly being the player who has been at the most schools ever in all of history...even more than Manual Cass...
...Going back to his high school days, he's actually been at 10 different schools!
I'm not talking just verballing to those schools, he's actually been at them and then transferred at each place!!!
He was reported to have started at Homewood-Flossmoor, but he transferred to a school in Kentucky,
then when he found out he was not going to be eligible, he came back to H-F, then considered transferring to some school in Chicago and
there was talk of Whitney-Young or Simeon, but instead he chose Hales Fransciscan at first, then moved on to Boys to Men.
But he was only there a couple weeks and realized he was deep in the rotation and transferred to American Christian in Philly.
Then on to Saint Louis, then to Indian Hills, and now Colorado...
......so that's at least 9...but oddly, there are reports that momentarily between stops in Chicago, he even was at one other Chicago school for a few days... So it may be 10 schools in the past 6-7 years
http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/relphordenov.html

Shawn Hilliard he didn't qualify, then went to Technical Career Institute in New York,
a 2- year junior college, and washeaded to Binghamton.
Apparently he never qualifed and was never on their roster...probably a fortunate thing given all the horrible scandals Binghamton has had. He has never played D-I.

Jesse Childs finished at Mesa Community College (juco) and went to Wisconsin-Green Bay...appeared on their roster, then was dismissed before ever playing due to "violation of team rules". (does this story sound familiar?)

Darion Anderson was set to go to NIU in 2006-2007, but he wasn't on the roster. He ended up playing at NIU and turned out ot be one of their better players, but was not much of a team player and frequently was in the coach's doghouse.
...playing fairly well. ...17 ppg in 3 games but 5 turnovers/

The rest of the 2005-2006 roster shows these guys.........Gerald January, Aaron Jackson who were seniors in 2006 and have not been heard from since.

So....out of these 35 different players who spent at least SOME time at Boys to Men, so very few ever qualified or played D-I, the few who did had to go elsewhere - either another prep school or juco to get eligible, and one or two at most have had even the tiniest impact at the D-I level.
Many - way, way too many had ongoing academic and behavioral problems that casued them to get kicked out repeatedly wherever they went!!
You decide, but I'd say the Boys to Men experiment severely HURT far more kids' careers than helped them...




Decatur Christian school actually had an even higher level roster - as they literally hand picked top European kids - many who had already played professionally and who were far older than ordinary high school kids.
Also these kids were individually sposored and lived with Decatur families..so they had at least a slightly better chance from the social end of things...

The roster per the website as of 6/14/07

Joel Johnson 5'10 155 13 G 11 - never played after high school

Ty Nurse 6'0 170 G 10
..................Ty Nurse had gone back to Canada and enrolled at Canada Basketball's National Elite Development Academy (Hamilton, Ont) for the 2007-08 academic year. .........He is now at Midland Junior College, but doesn't start, averaging 5 ppg, 2 apg.

Justin Snyder 5'7 150 G 12 - did not play after HS

John Taylor 5'8 155 G 12 - did not play after HS

Ivan Gombovic 6'6 195 G 12 -- went to Winchendon School (MA) -- but never played D-I.

Johan (or Johann) Mpondo 6'9 215 44 F 12 (Cameroon) -- was said to have signed with Rhode Island.
http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=67447&sport=2
but was never academically eligible,and transferred to prep school (Massanutten in Virginia)
Here is Johann Mpondo at Massanutten
http://www.militaryschool.com/athletics/pgroster.htm
then he went to New Orleans and gets a small amt. of playing time, averaging 3 ppg.

Beas Hamga 7'0 225 F/C 11 -- one of the worst overrates ever...this kid was deemed a 5-Star prospect by almost everyone and a probably one-and-done to the NBA!!
Numerous top D-I schools battled for his verbal and Steve Alford at Iowa landed Hamga, then lost him when he moved on to New Mexico....
But his troubles started with being ineligible for 2007-2008 season at UNLV..being described as a long term project.. troubled then booted there, bounced around quite a bit, then finally finishing at Weatherford juco...playing a few games between his numerous injuries. Nobody knows where he's going, but at 7-ft he probably will get some D-I chance...so let's see...

Austin Woods 5'10 180 F 11 - not playing

Ozren Bjerogovic, 6-6 12 -- appeared on the roster of Liberty University, then was booted after he was deemed ineligible due to professional play.

Duro Bjegovic, 6-8 12 -- bounced around then finally at Missouri State-West Plains (David Collins' juco) --.. transferred to Highland juco (name also spelled Djuro)..avg 9.5 ppg in 08-09
Then went to Sacramento State, and averaged 7 ppg at the lower level of D-I.

Lucca Staiger 6'5" G 12...ineligible for his freshman season at Iowa State (professionalism)..played fairly well as a sophomore, then bolted to go play pro ball his junior year...leaving his team, Iowa State to battle for LAST place in the Big 12 despite having TWO of these prep schoolers!!

Nikola Gacesa 6'10 240 F/C 12 -- is on the roster at Florida International...actually got to play 4 years there, then dismissed this year for unspecified reasons...career avg. 6 ppg.

Darrington Hobson 6'7" 180 F 12...at Eastern Utah Junior College..then New mexico -- this kid is a fine player, but now has only one season left.

Mario Stula -- deemed ineligible until the 8th game of his 2nd season at DePaul
He is at best only a minor contributor at DePaul even though they could use just about anyone who can play.

Jeliso Palacio 5'11 165 G 11
Brad Clark 5'10 180 G 12
Mike Behrens 6'6 225 G/F 12
Birama Konate 6'10 225 F 11
Chris Nandoe 6'11 235 F 11
Alioune Diallo 7'1 240 C 10 (Senegal)
......all these players -m never heard from again....none played D-I

"Birama Konate" was said to be playing for DCS - but apparently never did....according to their coach
http://www.africabasket.com/MLI/MLI.asp?NewsNo=20

(some of the links don't always work but can be dug out using google)

Then a few more names were on their website roster:
Michael Grady, Melvin Tate, Malcom Walker, Bronson Dotson, Demeatrio Wade,
Zac Conrad, Matt Flint, Zack Stortzum, John Reimer.
but nothing can be found on any of these..none have played D-I.

-- lastly....in this story that was published when Decatur Christian closed down, their coach said this:
"They will or have placed each senior in a D-I program"
(Boys to Men coach Jackson said something similar about his players)
and
"Beas Hamga and Ty Nurse are the only underclassmen in the program"
http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2007/05/05/sports/h_r_preps/boys_basketball/1023238.txt

This does not seem to be true...and isn't even close!
Many of their seniors did not and are NOT playing D-I ball anywhere.
The only guys who went straight to D-I are Stula (DePaul), Staiger (Iowa State), Hamga (UNLV) but all were deemed ineligible and had to sit out, and really none have had careers to brag about.
Hobson committed to New Mexico- but then didn't pass the clearinghouse and moved to a Utah juco.
he will likely be the only one who, after a circuitous route, might have a good D-I career.

The head coach at Decatur has moved on and is at a prep school, a small one, in Indiana...
Alan Huss is now coaching at Culver Military Acvademy, and they do reportedly have some D-I talent that they have recruited there!!
http://iowa.scout.com/a.z?s=8&p=2&c=944900&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http%3a%2f%2fiowa.scout.com%2f2%2f944900.html

Of course because they recruit their talent to their school, they cannot be members of IHSA....


The other Illinois prep school still currently running in Brehm Prep...
They also have a whole lot of international kids plus a couple transfers from Chicago schools.
The jury is still out as most of their players have not graduated...but I wouldn't hold my breath...as lots of issues are already troubling the kids...including serious injuries that have occurred as they play these high schoolers against a schedule of far bigger and stronger juco kids...
One injury to Siakam was a serious fracture of multiple facial bones...
The kids they have include James Siakam and Dre Henley who were sure D-I kids from the start, but time will tell if this prep school experience benefits them or hurts them like the other two schools hurt all their players.
One thing is known, that one D-I prospect, a kid named Earl Ruffin, has already graduated, but was not eligible (sound familiar already??) and went to juco at Northern Oklahoma College at Enid...
Ruffin is a freshman guard there averaging 3.5 ppg, 31% on 3-pt shoting, and 0.9 assists...
and he has also missed 8 games, so he is yet to show D-I Potential.

But we will still hear more about Brehm....they have a lot of talent....but it waits to be seen if any of the highly touted talented kids ever makes a dent at the next level.
Recall, out of those 65 different kids who names were at least linked to or who played at those other two jucos, really only ONE (maybe two if you count Hobson - tho the jury is still out) has been a star at the D-I level, Craig Brackins...
a couple others are having decent careers (Koshwal, etc..) but definitely NOT sure NBA caliber careers, and of the other 95% of those kids, a few made it to the lower echelons of D-I but most flopped and never had success anywhere, despite the lofty predictions.

I'd say the prep school "experiment" for the vast majority of these kids was an abysmal failure both athletically and academically.