When describing his game, Chase said “I am trying to get offensive rebounds, put-backs, dunks, wide open jump shots and I am just trying to be a team player and get my guys open looks so we can have a good season.”

At the end of the summer, he decided that he would called Florida his new home beginning next fall, “They offered me right after the last live period in July. They are great people, I love going down there and when I went on my official visit, I felt like that was my second home and I was so comfortable with the coaches and the players, it was just a perfect relationship and I loved it.” The Gators envision Chase to be a “stretch 3 or 4, they want me to get the ball out and go and if I get an offensive rebound, I can go straight into transition. They have shown me lots of videos where they throw lobs which they think I can succeed in.”

Huntington Prep will look to Chase to be an important leader this season, “We train so hard everyday and just get after 3-4 hours a day including lifting, shooting and running. Tons of work each and everyday.”

2017 Chase Johnson talks game and why he chose Florida

Wiggins is the top-rated high school prospect in the Class of 2013 and signed with the Kansas Jayhawks.

The Canadian graduated Friday night from Huntington St. Joe.

To the people and community of Huntington:
I just wanted to thank Huntington for your support for me and my Huntington Prep teammates and coaches these past two years. Without the community, none of what has been accomplished would have been attainable. I hope that when you hear or read my name, you are proud to say I played my high school days here in Huntington. Because I am proud to say I played here.

I like to represent my hometown of Thornhill, Ontario, and my country of Canada in a positive light and I will do the same for Huntington and for my team and coaches of Huntington Prep. It has been such a positive experience and I would advise any player to come to Huntington Prep.

One of the best things about my experience here is St. Joseph Central Catholic H.S. where we all attend. There are a lot of good people in that building from the principal to the teachers to the janitor; I will never forget all the positive influences they have been in my development as a young man. My peers at St. Joe have also been supportive of me and have always treated me as one of their own. I am not different, just a kid, and at St. Joe I could be. Thank you.

I also want to let the area know that Huntington Prep has brought so much here. I will be gone, but (head coach) Rob Fulford and his staff will always bring in great players and great individual community members. They will always bring national attention that Huntington wouldn’t have if Huntington Prep didn’t exist. In these days and times positive attention to an area isn’t guaranteed so when you have it, embrace it. Support Huntington Prep because they bring such a positive outlook on Huntington, WV.

I would like to personally thank Coach Rob, Coach Arkell Bruce, Coach Dave Meddings, Coach Ryan Arrowood and Coach Baker Neal for everything. Words cannot explain how grateful I am to, in my opinion, the best coaching staff in America. They bring players like me and my teammates to this area to give this area something special. They are great coaches and are great community members who teach us to be great players and great community members as well. I appreciate them for bringing me to the area and to Huntington Prep. It’s been a great ride. Our strength and conditioning coach, Chris Lane, is one of the best in the nation. I want him to know how much I appreciate his program.

I also want to thank all the host families and board members of Huntington Prep. They are some of the nicest people I have ever met and they have truly shown me a ton of love and support. I have been very fortunate to get to know them all. My host family (Scott, Lesley, Luke and Clayton Thomas) has been my second family over the past two years and I will love them forever. Thank you for opening up your doors so I could be part of your home. I also would like to thank all the support from Dain and Norrie Price as well as Mrs. Alicia Anderson. They work so hard for my teammates and I. Also Stephanie Arrowood and Candace Meddings for all the work they do unpaid for us. Thank you all.

I have made some lifelong friends from here such as the Johnson family. Scott, Holli, Mychelle, Mariah, Maki and my best friend Mychal will always have a place in my heart.

I am from Canada and I am going to Kansas to play college basketball. I will hopefully be drafted to a city that I enjoy. But I will always have a place for Huntington in my heart and memories. I will not forget all the sacrifices they made for me and my teammates. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sincerely,

Andrew Wiggins

Huntington Prep

Instead of cashing in his talents in the NBA and the millions of dollars that could come with it, Thomas chose to stay in college ball.

13WHAM’s Toby Motyka has the story.

Thomas’s coach at Huntington Prep, Arkell Bruce, confirmed the commitment on Tuesday morning. The 6-foot-7, 185-pound Thomas is a consensus four-star prospect and chose Maryland over Louisville, among a host of other schools.

“He’s fluid with his movements. He’d probably be a track star, the way he runs. He has the ability to be a lock-down defender. His upside is tremendous,” Bruce said.

Thomas, who joins St. John’s College High School point guard Anthony Cowan and New York forward Kevin Huerter in Maryland’s incoming recruiting class, is expected to make an immediate impact once he arrives in College Park next summer. Primarily recruited by Maryland assistant Dustin Clark, Thomas will provide depth as the Terrapins prepare to move forward without graduating seniors Jake Layman and Rasheed Sulaimon.

Considered an ultra-athletic forward and a highly regarded scorer, Thomas was Mr. Basketball in Tennessee last season, averaging 14 points per game and shooting 41 percent while playing at Briarcrest Christian. Bruce said on Tuesday that he expects Thomas to add weight to his frame and grow as a defender in the coming months at Maryland, which offered the prospect in late October.

“Once he’s being coached at that level consistently … he could be a hell of a player moving forward,” Bruce said. “He definitely fits the mold of a basketball player. He looks the part.”

Huntington Prep has become one of the top high school basketball programs in the nation since its founding in 2009. It has produced several Division I men’s basketball players, most notably Andrew Wiggins, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft after spending one college season at Kansas.

His all-time favorite player is Allen Iverson.
He once hit 24 out of the 28 shots he took in a high school game.
He lost in a high school dunk contest, so he won’t compete in one now.
He and Chris Webber are the only two No. 1 draft picks since the ABA-NBA merger to be traded before playing a game.
Having fellow Canadians on the squad was a main reason he chose Huntington Prep.
He talks s**t for his teammates, not himself.
His favorite “superhero” is Goku.
He disappeared in his last game with Kansas.
His brother played college ball only two hours away at Wichita State.
He loves Call of Duty.
Kansas wasn’t originally on his short list.
LeBron’s ironic pre-NBA advice to Wiggins: “Don’t try to prove anything to no one.”
His parents are athletically gifted.
He’s met a bunch of your favorite rappers.
His cat is named after the Pokémon Lugia.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Judging from the capacity crowd at Blake Arena on the campus of Springfield College, it was very clear which game was the highlight of Sunday’s slate at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.

The standing-room only crowd piled in to see Andrew Wiggins, the top-ranked recruit in the class of 2013, and Huntington Prep (W.Va.) take on No. 7 Noah Vonleh and New Hampton School (N.H.).

The game’s must-see attraction didn’t disappoint as the 6-foot-8 undecided Wiggins scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to key a 56-47 Huntington Prep victory.
Andrew Wiggins tallied 19 points and 10 rebounds Sunday at the Spalding Hoophall Classic to propel Huntington Prep past New Hampton.
Andrew Wiggins tallied 19 points and 10
rebounds Sunday at the Spalding
Hoophall Classic to propel Huntington
Prep past New Hampton.

“He makes you pay in every situation,” said New Hampton head coach Peter Hutchins. “I was impressed with how he went after the glass.”

Vonleh, who was matched up with Wiggins early on, was slowed by foul trouble and spent much of the first half on the bench. He picked up his third foul with just four seconds remaining in the second quarter.

“We were disappointed,” Huntington Prep head coach Rob Fulford said. “I feel bad for (Vonleh) to be in foul trouble on such a big stage. We wanted to face their best.”

His absence took its toll on New Hampton, which struggled to stay within striking distance of Huntington Prep – ranked No. 6 in this week’s Academy Top 10 rankings. But midway through the fourth quarter, the Huskies found themselves down by just two points following a pair of Vonleh buckets.

Xavier Rathan-Mayes answered with less than two minutes to go with a big 3-pointer that extended the Huntington Prep lead, which was never relinquished. Rathan-Mayes, a Florida State signee, scored 12 points despite injuring his leg in the second half.

Travis Jorgenson, a Boston College target, picked up much of the slack for New Hampton, leading the team with 13 points, four rebounds and four steals. Tory Miller, who’s received offers from Arkansas, Creighton, Minnesota, Missouri State, Nebraska and Wichita State, added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Future Indiana Hoosier Noah Vonleh was slowed by foul trouble Sunday against Huntington Prep.
Future Indiana Hoosier Noah Vonleh was slowed by foul trouble Sunday against Huntington Prep.

St. Benedict’s Prep (Newark, N.J.) 63,
Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) 51

Syracuse signee Tyler Ennis, ranked No. 33 in the MaxPreps Class of 2013 Top 100, scored 16 points and recorded four steals to lead St. Benedict’s, which improved to 17-0.

“You have to give Montrose Christian credit,” St. Benedict’s head coach Mark Taylor said. “We had a chance to blow things up but they hung in there and battled. They’re a disciplined team and have to be the best non-ranked team in the country.”

St. Benedict’s – No. 3 in MaxPreps.com’s Academy Top 10 rankings – held the lead throughout and got it to 17 at one point but the resilient Mustangs simply wouldn’t go away. The Gray Bees’ led by nine after one quarter but couldn’t put Montrose Christian away until late in the fourth quarter.

“We knew that it was our goal to get the tempo going,” Taylor said. “To win, we needed the game to be pushed and when it mattered, we were able to do that.”

Baylor-bound Ishmail Wainright, a versatile 6-6 senior, helped keep Montrose Christian in contention throughout. He had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“He’s tough,” Ennis said of Wainright. “He’s such a good defender and one of their main pieces.”

Montrose Christian’s Mark Williams, a 6-8 senior forward with interest from Dayton, Kent State, Robert Morris and Western Illinois, scored a game-high 19 points while grabbing 10 rebounds.

For St. Benedict’s, Michael Young No. 90 in 2013, a Pittsburgh signee, scored 16 points while Jonathan Williams and Denzell Taylor contributed 10 and 11 points, respectively. Taylor will play next year at Old Dominion. Highly-ranked sophomore guard Isaiah Briscoe added eight points and four rebounds.

Tilton School (N.H.) 71,
Vermont Academy (Saxtons River, Vt.) 67

When Tilton came to the Hoophall Classic last year, it was very clear which player was the most talented. Nerlens Noel, now starring at Kentucky, was the marquee player in one of the event’s most anticipated games.

This year, it was also very clear which player everyone came to see when Tilton took the floor. Wayne Selden, a Kansas signee, showed off his athletic and versatile repertoire in the Rams’ 71-67 win over Vermont Academy to kick off action on Day 4 at the 2013 Hoophall Classic.

Selden, the focal point of the Tilton offense — and the Vermont Academy defense — scored 24 points and seven rebounds, along with a pair of extra efforts as he went catapulting over a table on press row trying to save a ball from going out of bounds minutes before falling and banging his head on a photographer’s chair. It’s that effort, joined with talent, size and athleticism that makes Selden a complete player.

Selden gained much momentum in the recruiting process last year as a junior, playing alongside Noel on a very talented Tilton team. The two were also teammates on the AAU circuit, playing for the Boston Amateur Basketball Club, winning the top-level Elite Youth Basketball League in 2011.

Chester Victor was also impressive for Tilton. The 6-1 sharpshooter buried four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 26 points. He was 11-of-19 from the field. Terance Mann, a rising target of Boston College, Providence and Iowa, added 11 points, six rebounds and four steals.

Vermont Academy was powered by Richard Williams, who poured in a team-high 19 points. Florida International signee Daquein McNeil had 16 points, six rebounds and 3 assists while Marcel White added 12 points and five boards.

Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.) 88,
South Kent School (Conn.) 55

Syracuse commit Chris McCullough scored a game-high 21 points and added five rebounds as Brewster cruised by South Kent. The 6-9 junior threw down numerous dunks that wowed the Springfield College crowd and propelled the Bobcats early on in the easy victory.

The forward was an efficient 8-of-12 from the field and added three steals on the defensive end.

Kevin Zabo, a target of a number of top schools, including Georgetown, Iowa, Villanova and West Virginia, contributed 16 points and five rebounds in the Brewster win. Former Huntington Prep star Elijah Macon, who received interest and offers from Cincinnati, Iowa, and USC before opting to prep another year, added 12 points and four boards. Macon had previously committed to play at West Virginia and is planning on keeping his commitment after this year at Brewster.

Xavier signee Kamall Richards led South Kent with a team-high 14 points and eight boards. Reggie Agbeko, who has offers from Siena, Robert Morris and St. Peters, was a monster on the glass, pulling down 16 rebounds, including seven on the offensive boards.