This weekend's 20-school tourney features most of the top prep schools in the nation and includes many highly recruited players.

01:00 AM EST on Friday, November 18, 2005

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

BARRINGTON -- One of David Stern's biggest goals coming out of last summer's labor negotiations with the NBA's Players Association was to keep scouts out of high school gyms.

While the league's new player-entry rule will slow the preps-to-pros pipeline that's dominated recent NBA drafts, it's not ending. Example A comes this weekend at St. Andrew's School.

The NBA's new rule stipulates that players must be out of high school for one year and be at least 19 years old in order to be drafted. That eliminates most high school superstars, such as consensus top prospect Greg Oden of Indianapolis. The 6-foot-11 center will attend Ohio State and play at least one season in the Big Ten before looking at the pros.

But Davon Jefferson has no such plans. Jefferson graduated from Lynwood (Calif.) High last spring but didn't qualify academically to play at a major college. Instead, he chose to enroll at the Patterson School in Lenoir, N.C. When he leaves in the spring, Jefferson intends to put his name into the draft, even though colleges such as Kansas, Oklahoma State and Southern California are dangling scholarships in his eyes.

Jefferson and his Patterson teammates are one of the prime attractions in this weekend's National Prep Tip-Off Tournament at St. Andrew's. The 20-school tourney features most of the premier prep schools in the country and is loaded with highly recruited players. Besides Jefferson, the cream of the crop includes Derrick Caracter (headed to Louisville) and Paul Harris (Syracuse), both of whom play for Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass. Those two will match up against Jefferson and his talented Patterson team on Saturday night.

University of Rhode Island fans can catch a glimpse of four of Jim Baron's fall signees. They include Terence Grier and Marquis Jones of St. Thomas More, Laurinburg Institute's Delroy James, and Keith Cothran of the Winchendon School.

"I don't think the NBA really thought about what could happen at the prep-school level," said Patterson coach Chris Chaney. "We've had NBA scouts at our games already. Davon could be the guy who sets a new trend of prep school to the draft. Until the first person does it, nobody knows what to expect."

Jeff Goodman, the promoter of the Tip-Off, says he's heard from a dozen NBA teams that will send scouts to see Jefferson play.

"Davon's a guy who's established himself on the NBA's radar, maybe the only guy who can jump from the preps to the pros this year," Goodman said.

Chaney says pro scouts rave about the 6-7 forward's skills. "He does things you can't teach. He's a small forward who's very physical and aggressive. Some scouts have compared him physically to Dominique Wilkins," he said.

Chaney coached the last four years at Laurinburg Prep, but moved across the state to Patterson in August. He instantly attracted a slew of quality players who he says pay anywhere from $1,000 to $15,000 to join one of two teams at the school. "Nobody goes for free, and we have about 30 kids here."

Patterson has more than 10 Division I prospects, and on one day in September Chaney says Bill Self (Kansas), Lute Olson (Arizona), Kelvin Sampson (Oklahoma) and coaches from 10 other colleges were in his gym watching practice.

Patterson plays a 48-game schedule, including two trips to Rhode Island (it will be back in February for the National Prep School Invitational at Keaney Gym) and games in the Bahamas, New York and Springfield, Mass. Chaney drove the team to Barrington yesterday, but the group will fly here in February to avoid winter's harsh weather.

"Facility-wise, we're as good as any prep school in the country," Chaney said. "Our dorms are great, and we'll give kids the chance to qualify academically, and they'll become better basketball players and learn to play with other good players."

The premier prep-school league in the country is the New England Private Schools Athletic Conference (NEPSAC). Several NEPSAC powers, such as St. Thomas More, Notre Dame Prep, Winchendon and Worcester Academy, will be tested this weekend by schools from other parts of the country. St. Andrew's, which is led by junior guard Rakim Sanders, will play twice this weekend. Mike Hart's team faces Maine Central Institute tonight and Laurinburg Prep on Sunday.

2005 National Prep Tip-Off Showcase

Today

1 p.m. -- St. Thomas More (Conn.) vs. Fork Union (Va.)

2:45 -- Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) vs. Hargrave (Va.)

4:20 -- Bridgton Academy (Maine) vs. Patterson School (N.C.)

6:00 -- Winchendon (Mass.) vs. Our Savior New Amer. (N.Y.)

7:45 -- St. Andrew's vs. Maine Central Inst.

Tomorrow

9:30 -- Our Savior New Amer. (N.Y.) vs. Boys to Men (Ill.)

11:15 -- Worcester Acad. (Mass.) vs. Hargrave (Va.)

12:50 -- Bridgton Acad. (Maine) vs. Massanutten (Va.)

2:30 -- South Kent (Conn.) vs. Fork Union (Va.)

4:15 -- St. Thomas More (Conn.) vs. Laurinburg (N.C.)

5:50 -- Brewster Acad. (N.H.) vs. Lutheran Christian (Pa.)

7:30 -- Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) vs. Patterson School (N.C.)

9:15 -- New Hampton (N.H.) vs. Champlain St. Lambert (Canada)

Sunday

9:30 -- Brewster Acad. (N.H.) vs. Massanutten (Va.)

11:10 -- New Hampton (N.H.) vs. Patterson (N.C.)

12:50 -- South Kent (Conn.) vs. Boys to Men (Ill.)

2:30 -- Worcester Acad. (Mass.) vs. Champlain St. Lambert (Can.)

4:15 -- St. Andrew's vs. Laurinburg Institute (N.C.)

5:50 -- Winchendon (Mass.) vs. Lutheran Christian (Pa.)

All Games at St. Andrew's School, Barrington. Admission is $10 per day.