RealDeal
01-16-2012, 04:14 PM
If an article ever get's written like this one about 2 Xavier 3 star recruits that the other coach never offered I'll shoot the writer and then myself. This is so dayton. So very dayton.
Future Flyers put on show for Xavier coach
By Tom Archdeacon, Staff Writer
Updated 1:46 AM Sunday, January 15, 2012
KETTERING — They both make their official visits to the University of Dayton next Saturday — the day the Flyers basketball team hosts archrival Xavier — but they wanted to make sure they first gave the Musketeers a real sneak peek.
Jalen Robinson and Devon Scott — the standout pair of 6-foot-8 seniors who helped lead Columbus Northland High School, Ohio’s top-ranked Division I team, to a 70-62 victory over ninth-ranked Garfield Heights in a Flyin’ to the Hoop showcase game Saturday night — have both signed national letters of intent to play for the Flyers next season.
Since UD was playing La Salle at the same time at UD Arena, no Flyers coaches were at Trent Arena. But Xavier coach Chris Mack was right there sitting in the front row with his heavily braced left leg (protecting the patella tendon he’d torn in practice a little over a week ago) stretched out on a chair in front of him.
He came into the gym on crutches, but it’s safe to say he left feeling a little more pain than he had at the start of the night.
For that he can thank Robinson and Scott, who admitted they were giving him a little show.
“I met him my freshman year,” said Scott, who wore a new red UD cap beneath his sweatshirt hood after the game. “I had to let him know I’m coming. I wanted to give him a little something to look at tonight.”
Robinson, a little more reserved than Scott both in his comments and his play, felt the same way: “I can’t wait to play against Xavier. I can’t wait to play in that game.”
The pair will be good additions to the Flyers, especially Scott, who brings a physicality and some moxie with his inside play.
Saturday night, he often was matched up against the La Salle-bound Jermaine Davis, who stood an inch taller and had him by a good 50 pounds. The Bulldogs big man finished with nine points and four rebounds.
Scott had 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists, a steal and a blocked shot. Robinson, plagued by foul trouble, finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.
“I feel I can overwork most players,” Scott said. “Mike Brown is a good basketball player for them (the guard finished with 28 points), and Jermaine is a big body, but hard work prevails, and I think I outworked them in the post, created my shots and looked for Jalen on the high-low.”
Sean Taylor, the Northland coach who played at Meadowdale, couldn’t say enough good things about the two big men he’s sending back to his hometown:
“I grew up here, so I know all about Dayton basketball. I can’t remember a time when they got such athletic big men. Devon and Jalen are true athletes. They can guard all over. They can finish inside. They’re going to do some special things over here.”
While Dayton is getting two promising players, the pair do have different games, personalities and even hairstyles.
Robinson, a smoother player who needs a little more time in the weight room, wears his hair in a small thatch of braids. Scott has a pointed beard and a close-shaved head with enough intricate designs cut in the back that they remind you of those mysterious crop circles that end up in wheat fields every year.
“I usually wear a Mohawk with designs in it,” Scott said with a laugh. “I just cut it off, but I figured there was no use to stop the trend of all those designs.”
On the court, the pair complement each other, and that is one of the reasons they both committed to UD after decommitting from Big East schools.
Robinson originally had given a verbal commitment to West Virginia, and Scott later did the same with Cincinnati.
Robinson said he changed his mind, and Scott said the Bearcats changed his for him.
“There were some issues with my grades, and they didn’t have faith in me,” Scott said. “At the end of the day, faith is what a relationship is built on. And they didn’t have it with me.
“But from day one, Archie Miller believed I could do it in the classroom, and you know what? I did do it. And a guy like that makes you believe you can do it on the court, too.”
Robinson jumped on board first with UD, then he began putting the hard sell on Scott:
“He was in my ear every day,” Scott said. “It was, ‘Think UD, think UD.’ My recruitment went pretty quick after that. The one thing I did do though was to make sure he was OK with me coming. Not everybody wants me to follow them. Maybe he wanted it to be his show.”
Robinson shook his head: “I said it was fine. ... We’re like brothers. I think we’ll be good together.”
Taylor agreed wholeheartedly:
“They’re gonna be scary in the A-10 for years to come. People will know about these two kids.”
Chris Mack, wincing a bit as he straightened himself back up onto his crutches after the game, already does.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2156 or tarchdeacon@DaytonDailyNews.com.
Future Flyers put on show for Xavier coach
By Tom Archdeacon, Staff Writer
Updated 1:46 AM Sunday, January 15, 2012
KETTERING — They both make their official visits to the University of Dayton next Saturday — the day the Flyers basketball team hosts archrival Xavier — but they wanted to make sure they first gave the Musketeers a real sneak peek.
Jalen Robinson and Devon Scott — the standout pair of 6-foot-8 seniors who helped lead Columbus Northland High School, Ohio’s top-ranked Division I team, to a 70-62 victory over ninth-ranked Garfield Heights in a Flyin’ to the Hoop showcase game Saturday night — have both signed national letters of intent to play for the Flyers next season.
Since UD was playing La Salle at the same time at UD Arena, no Flyers coaches were at Trent Arena. But Xavier coach Chris Mack was right there sitting in the front row with his heavily braced left leg (protecting the patella tendon he’d torn in practice a little over a week ago) stretched out on a chair in front of him.
He came into the gym on crutches, but it’s safe to say he left feeling a little more pain than he had at the start of the night.
For that he can thank Robinson and Scott, who admitted they were giving him a little show.
“I met him my freshman year,” said Scott, who wore a new red UD cap beneath his sweatshirt hood after the game. “I had to let him know I’m coming. I wanted to give him a little something to look at tonight.”
Robinson, a little more reserved than Scott both in his comments and his play, felt the same way: “I can’t wait to play against Xavier. I can’t wait to play in that game.”
The pair will be good additions to the Flyers, especially Scott, who brings a physicality and some moxie with his inside play.
Saturday night, he often was matched up against the La Salle-bound Jermaine Davis, who stood an inch taller and had him by a good 50 pounds. The Bulldogs big man finished with nine points and four rebounds.
Scott had 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists, a steal and a blocked shot. Robinson, plagued by foul trouble, finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.
“I feel I can overwork most players,” Scott said. “Mike Brown is a good basketball player for them (the guard finished with 28 points), and Jermaine is a big body, but hard work prevails, and I think I outworked them in the post, created my shots and looked for Jalen on the high-low.”
Sean Taylor, the Northland coach who played at Meadowdale, couldn’t say enough good things about the two big men he’s sending back to his hometown:
“I grew up here, so I know all about Dayton basketball. I can’t remember a time when they got such athletic big men. Devon and Jalen are true athletes. They can guard all over. They can finish inside. They’re going to do some special things over here.”
While Dayton is getting two promising players, the pair do have different games, personalities and even hairstyles.
Robinson, a smoother player who needs a little more time in the weight room, wears his hair in a small thatch of braids. Scott has a pointed beard and a close-shaved head with enough intricate designs cut in the back that they remind you of those mysterious crop circles that end up in wheat fields every year.
“I usually wear a Mohawk with designs in it,” Scott said with a laugh. “I just cut it off, but I figured there was no use to stop the trend of all those designs.”
On the court, the pair complement each other, and that is one of the reasons they both committed to UD after decommitting from Big East schools.
Robinson originally had given a verbal commitment to West Virginia, and Scott later did the same with Cincinnati.
Robinson said he changed his mind, and Scott said the Bearcats changed his for him.
“There were some issues with my grades, and they didn’t have faith in me,” Scott said. “At the end of the day, faith is what a relationship is built on. And they didn’t have it with me.
“But from day one, Archie Miller believed I could do it in the classroom, and you know what? I did do it. And a guy like that makes you believe you can do it on the court, too.”
Robinson jumped on board first with UD, then he began putting the hard sell on Scott:
“He was in my ear every day,” Scott said. “It was, ‘Think UD, think UD.’ My recruitment went pretty quick after that. The one thing I did do though was to make sure he was OK with me coming. Not everybody wants me to follow them. Maybe he wanted it to be his show.”
Robinson shook his head: “I said it was fine. ... We’re like brothers. I think we’ll be good together.”
Taylor agreed wholeheartedly:
“They’re gonna be scary in the A-10 for years to come. People will know about these two kids.”
Chris Mack, wincing a bit as he straightened himself back up onto his crutches after the game, already does.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2156 or tarchdeacon@DaytonDailyNews.com.