Dave Telep's Carolina Challenge

WALKER IMPRESSIVE AGAINST THE BEST
By Langston Wertz, Jr.
The Charlotte Observer
March 25, 2007

Playing against and alongside the top 80 returning high school players in North Carolina Saturday, Wilmington New Hanover 7-foot junior Ty Walker did little to dispel the notion he's the //state's top player.

At Cary Academy, Walker was the star of the first Carolina Challenge, put together by national recruiting analyst Dave Telep of scout.com

Walker swallowed rebounds and had at least a dozen blocks in two scrimmages against top players such as Starmount 6-9 junior Victor Davila and 7-1 junior Catalin Baciu of Fletcher's Veritas Christian.

"He's a more defensive-minded Brad Daugherty," Mike Talbott, recruiting coordinator for Star Hoopers of Tomorrow, said of Walker. "He's gained a lot of confidence and is an excellent shot blocker. He's a possible McDonald's All-American next year."

Walker runs the floor well and even showed 3-point range, hitting long-range shots with relative ease.

"That's not lucky," Walker said of his long-distance shooting. "That's in the repertoire. Two years ago, my AAU team let me shoot 3s. I'm used to it."

Walker said he has received scholarship offers from Wake Forest, Clemson and Virginia. He grew up a North Carolina fan and said the Tar Heels are recruiting him. Walker dispelled a popular notion North Carolina might want to redshirt him.

"No, they haven't told me that," he said. "If that's the case, I don't think I'll end up going there. I want to come in and play my freshman year."

Walker said his dream has been to play in the ACC.

"When I was real young, I only watched Carolina," he said. "Now I have a chance to maybe go there. It would be a very hard decision if they offer me."

Kings Mountain Hope Christian junior J.T. Thompson was another of the most impressive players Saturday.

Thompson, who has committed to Virginia Tech, said he's using the camp to gauge his strengths - and weaknesses.

"There are a lot of really good players out there," he said. "This seems fun."

Thompson, a 6-foot-6 forward who played at Marshville Forest Hills last season, said he repeated his junior year at Hope Christian this year to work on his ball-handling and shooting skills, anticipating to play small forward in college.

"Some of the players here are ranked really high," Thompson said, "and I can see what I need to do to get on their level. I'll be going home and working hard. That's for sure."

Starmount's Davila is generally considered top three in next year's N.C. class, following Baciu and Walker. He said he does not have a short list of schools.

"I haven't really had a chance to think about schools," said Davila, a forward who has received extensive attention from ACC schools. "I don't have a top five. I'm wide open right now."

J.T. Terrell, a 6-foot-4 freshman from Burlington Cummings, is the son of former Charlotte 49ers James "Trigger" Terrell; Dexter Randolph, a 6-4 junior at Raleigh Broughton, is the brother of former Duke player Shavlik Randolph; and Denzel Robinson, a 6-3 freshman from Chapel Hill, is the son of North Carolina assistant Steve Robinson.

Besides the scrimmages, campers got drills instruction from former N.C. State point guard Chris Corchiani and a frank i talk from Telep, who pointed out:

Nine of 87 players signed by ACC schools the past two years came from North Carolina. "Does everyone here still like their odds of playing there now?" Telep asked

That from 2000-04, he had studied scout.com's top 100 players. Of those 500, 135 had academic issues.

"If you're labeled an academic problem," he said, "your chances of making it in college are a coin flip."

High school players who go through multiple transfers statistically have a harder time succeeding in college. "You have to fight through adversity," Telep said.