Graves and Wallace - HeelsBlog's recruiting trip
by
jtw3
on Thu 03 Mar 2005 05:05 PM EST
Here you go: Read. Recap. React.
As I teased before, Ben and I went to Greenville's Minges Coliseum last
night for the NCHSAA 3-A Eastern Regional playoffs. We were there
primarily to check out two North Carolina basketball recruits. In
addition, we ended up seeing two terrific, tightly-contested games.
One of the recruits, junior William Graves, has verbally committed.
The other, sophomore Eric Wallace, is high on a lot of schools' lists.
Both are listed as small forwards.
The first game was Wallace's R.B. Glenn Bobcats vs. the Jacksonville
Cardinals. Eric Wallace leads his team in points and rebounds, and is
third in assists. From the opening tip, it was apparent who the best
player on the court was. Wallace forced Jacksonville to run their
offense away from him. In other words, they were aware of where he was
on the floor at all times. He made some key blocks that lead to
points. Those would be precious in the closing minutes of the game.
Early in the first quarter, Wallace grabbed a defensive rebound and
took the ball coast-to-coast himself for an explosive dunk, beating
Jacksonville and his own teammates down the floor. It was, in a
hyphenated word, jaw-dropping.
I thought Eric Wallace played good defense too, but, on both ends of
the floor, he primarily stayed at the perimeter. The tallest kid on
his team, at 6-7, yet Wallace seemed unwilling to go inside unless he
was driving. That may not be his decision. For one thing, he's the
lanky type and will probably be more of a wing than an interior player in college. His coach probably recognizes that - and they're 25-5 - so it's working. Just something I noticed. You forget how young these players are. Wallace would do well to work on his upper body strength in the next two years of high school.
The other question I have about Wallace is his decision-making.
Instead of bringing the ball up himself (unless he's alone on the
break), he ought to find his point guard instead of trying to make too
many things happen at once. He also made some poor passes early in the
game last night, and finished with 7 turnovers. I think that will
improve with maturity. Again, he's in 10th grade.
Wallace has a teammate, Zalinor Banks, who is his team's other leader on the
floor. Banks was the one primarily making plays in the second half.
It has been said before that Eric Wallace isn't involved enough in his
team's offense. I have to agree to that. And I don't think it's his
fault. At times, Wallace would set up on the perimeter, call for the
ball, and often not get it.
I don't think I saw enough of him operating in the half-court offense.
Glenn's coach may not want his team's offense to revolve around
Wallace, and I understand that. But could he be going too far in the
other direction? Like I said, they're 25-5, and something's working.
He may not want to frustrate his other players. But on the other hand,
he's got a superstar in the making. Wallace played all but 18 seconds
in the game.
Wallace’s final stat line: 20 points on 5–9 from the field, 0–1 from 3, 10–12 FT. 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, and 1 foul in 31 minutes. Just one foul. Nice.
I look forward to seeing Eric Wallace mature as a player in the next
two years in high school, and will definitely keep an eye on his
recruitment.
Wallace will play William Graves and Kevin Swinton's
Dudley team, which swept them in the regular season, but Glenn
surprised them in the conference tournament. They're familiar.
William Graves has a good body for a high school player. The junior is
listed at 6-6, 240, and plays with Wake Forest commit senior Kevin Swinton in a solid Dudley frontcourt.
Before the Dudley game against South Johnston started, Graves was nailing 3 after 3 in warmups. I thought I might see him hit those in the game. He took some early and never got the idea that they just weren't falling, apparently. I can see that he has the ability to hit from deep, however.
Graves too played offensively on the perimeter, except when Swinton got into foul trouble and sat a little. Last night, most of his scoring came from tip-ins and free throws. He's got a promising mid-range jumper, and did some good intuitive things with the basketball.
Rebounding by Graves was tremendous. Swinton took most of the attention on the glass, so that freed up for Graves to put two hands on
the ball. On the offensive end, he had at least three tips or dunk
follows.
Graves' best asset might be his body and the ability to move with it.
Sure, he probably should tighten it up over the next year or so, but
you can tell he's muscular and bulky in a good way. He can impose his
will with his body, something that will help him inside - and will free
him up to shoot from the perimeter as well.
He brought the ball up the court a few times when he couldn't get it to
the point guard, and he's competent at that. Graves also knows where
he needs to be on the floor.
Also– Graves was 4–4 in the clutch when South Johnston made their rally. He hit big shots from the stripe in front of a hostile crowd. South Johnston had a whole lot more support than Dudley did, and their ‘Gang Green’ student section is to be admired by other schools.
It will be interesting to see how Graves handles being his team's #1
option, with Swinton gone to Wake Forest next year. i think he'll do a
good job. Dudley's coach has a dynasty there, and the team is loaded
with talent. It was that talent that enabled them to hang on against a
scrappy South Johnston team.
By the way, keep your eyes out for South Johnston sophomore Cole Dewey.
Scrappy kid who can nail the three and also plays hard-nosed defense
on the ball. Dewey forced at least two closely-guarded calls,
something that never happens.
Swinton impressed me tremendously in the first half. They couldn't
stop him. At 6-7, he's got an ACC-type body already. Strong enough to
bring it hard inside. Had some fantastic dunks and imposed his will
over other would-be rebounders. Hey Will, can you bring your friend?
Wake is getting a player that will be solid in the ACC. Mark my words.
If they pair him with another solid post player, they will be tough up
front.
Graves' totals: 20 pts on 7–15 fg, 0–5 from 3, 6–6 fts, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 32 minutes.
Swinton's: 24 pts on 10–16 fg, 0–2 from 3, 4–6 fts, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, 2 blocks and 2 steals and 4 fouls in 27 minutes.
So there you have it. I hope I'm not being overly critical. Sometimes
you get caught up and don't realize it's just high school. But I saw
some quality players last night, and I didn't name all of them. It
will be great to see the matchup between these rivals on Saturday. On
the surface, it looks like Dudley is more talented, but I thought they
were far and away better than South Johnston, too, before the Trojans
made a furious rally to come up just short.
Here's hoping I saw not one but two future Tar Heels Wednesday night.
We had a chance to talk to both of them briefly. After the second
game, outside of the media room, I caught up with Graves.
"I think you'll look good in Carolina blue," I said. A genuine
ear-to-ear grin came across his face as he responded, "Yeah. Me too."
Ben flagged down Eric Wallace, who was making the rounds during the
second game in a Glenn sweatshirt and buttoned warmup pants. Ben had
noticed something else about him.
"Hey Eric," Ben said, "What color are those shorts underneath your
warmups?"
Eric got a sly smile on his face, put his palms up to the sky, and
answered, "Carolina."
Coincidence? Who knows?
– Turner
