Will this crop of stars stay home? The Wichita Eagle
January 04, 2007
But I think I'm getting better. It was five years ago that Brandon Polk and Taj Gray were the City League's best players. Polk played for North; Gray for East. They had size, skills and charisma.
What they didn't have were good enough academic achievement to qualify for NCAA Division I. So while Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon intensely recruited both, he lost out because they didn't have the core requirements.
You probably know the rest of the story: Polk and Gray ended up playing two seasons for Steve Eck at Redlands (Okla.) Community College. Polk went on to become a standout player at Butler in Indianapolis and Gray was a Big 12 star at Oklahoma.
One of my pet peeves is capable City League basketball players who get away from Wichita State, for whatever reason. It's happened too often in the past.
Wednesday night, I watched a couple of players who might be able to help the Shockers. Best of all, they're both interested in WSU.
Southeast's Jordan Cyphers and East's Garrius Holloman, both juniors, were the best players on the Kansas Coliseum court during Southeast's entertaining 71-69 win.Cyphers, who is beyond his years as a shooter, had 15 first-half points and finished with 17.Holloman, who has his back-to-the-basket repertoire in good shape, had 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Are they the new Polk and Gray?
Well, there's a small problem in attempting to make that comparison. And it has to do with Cyphers and Holloman being a little small -- at least smaller than Polk and Gray.
Cyphers is 6-foot-3 and at his best on the perimeter, so he doesn't really have a size problem.The same can't be said for the 6-4 A1 2 Holloman, who is most comfortable in the low post. What he does to opponents down there in high school, though, he won't be able to do at the Division I level. And his coach, Ron Allen, knows it.
'Oh, if he grew a few inches it would be OK with me,' Allen said. 'But the thing I want to happen is that real soon we've got to turn him around and have him facing the basket a little more so it can help his college career out. He can do that a little bit, but I want to see more of that out of him.'
Holloman has a quick first step and is a great jumper. It's a shame he hasn't had that growth spurt that gets him to 6-7 or 6-8.
'I grew a couple of inches over the summer,' he said. 'But a couple of more would be nice.'
Holloman did most of his scoring Wednesday night within a few feet of the rim and was the key during an East comeback that saw the Aces go from being 10 points down early in the second half to taking a 65-64 lead with 3:45 to play.
'I think I can play on the perimeter,' Holloman said. 'It's a matter of working at it. Anything I put my mind to, I can do. That's my mindset.'
Cyphers made all three of his three-pointers in the first half, when he was unstoppable. He also scored a couple of times by taking the basketball hard to the basket. But he's not a finished product, by any means.
He is sometimes lax defensively and there are ballhandling issues. That said, is there a junior who doesn't have a few flaws?
'I need to work on handling the ball with my left hand and get a little stronger in the mental part of the game,' Cyphers said. 'But I think I'm getting better.'
Cyphers' biggest asset is his shooting. He has long range and good form and looks like he can develop into a big-time college scorer. We all know, though, that scoring in college isn't enough. You have to at least try to stop your opponent from scoring.
With Carl Taylor as his high school coach, Cyphers is coming along defensively. And with another season and a half to play, he'll get significantly better.'He can shoot the ball,' Taylor said.
Cyphers and Holloman weren't the only talented players on the floor Wednesday night. Southeast and East have an abundance of good players, which might help explain why they're the state's top two teams.
It will be interesting to see how 6-3 East sophomore Leon Flowers develops.
There are guys on both teams who could be good college players.
'It depends on if the kids get their grades and take care of their business,' Taylor said. 'There was a lot of talent out there tonight.'
Led by Cyphers and Holloman, who managed to stand above the rest, just as Polk and Gray did five years ago.
In that 2001-02 season, Gray's Aces beat Polk's Redskins in a classic semifinal game of the Class 6A tournament and went on to win the championship.
There's every reason to believe Cyphers and Holloman will ultimately develop that kind of individual rivalry. It's already started.
Both players, who play on the same summer team, said they are interested in WSU.
'I'm thinking about going there,' Cyphers said. 'I like the program and I'd like to stay home.'
Holloman said he has received some letters from WSU coach Mark Turgeon, but isn't sure how interested the Shockers are in him.
As for his interest in the Shockers, it's there.
'That would be a good school to go to,' Holloman said.
Now let's see what happens in the next several months.
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