Dwight Howard 6-foot-10, 225 pounds. 18.5 PPG
Southwest Atlanta Christian, Atlanta, Ga.
What They're Saying: "Dwight just made up his mind. He said to himself that he wanted to be the best player in America. -- Wallace Prather, Howard's AAU coach, to espn.com.
Howard, a consensus top five recruit and the nation's No. 1 prospect according to theinsiders.com, is currently interested in nine schools, although he is flirting with the idea of leaving straight for the NBA. Duke and North Carolina are the only two of the nine to have not yet offered a scholarship. Although there has been no indication from Duke, it seems that Howard's enchantment with NBA riches has deterred the Blue Devils from spending a considerable amount of time trying to lure the 6-foot-10 star to Durham.
Howard's talent is undeniable, showing great promise on both ends of the floor. He already has an excellent post-game in addition to surprising touch on the outside for a player his size. Currently labeled as some-what skinny, Howard's already athletic frame seems capable of adding the necessary pounds it takes to be a dominant player in this day and age. Youthprepstar.com reports that Howard has a 3.5 GPA.
"I want to get my education," Howard says. "I also want to improve as a basketball player." "I don't have a leader," Howard told the Sporting News. "I do want to take visits before I make a decision."
Florida Air Academy, Melbourne, Fla.
What They're Saying: "I think that for somebody's who's never been through the [college basketball recruiting] process and doesn't know anything about it, he's done a great job and is keeping an open mind. He's kind of approached it with the mentality that he's just going to look at every single aspect of every single program and make a decision based on that." - Tom Topping, Nike Team Florida AAU coach from theinsiders.com
The native of Siberia made a name for himself this summer for his Nike Team Florida AAU team at the Boo Williams even in Virginia and the Kingwood Classic in Texas. Kaun, whose nickname is "Sasha," strengths are his size, post moves and ability to finish around the basket. In addition to Duke, four schools-Florida, Michigan State, Michigan, and Kansas-are all in the hunt to land the big man. Kaun recently took Florida State and Georgetown off the list of possible schools he will attend. According to his A.A.U. coach Tom Topping, Kaun has unofficially visited Florida.
Kaun is an excellent student, and the academic quality of a school will play a bigger part in his college decision than it will for many of his less cerebral peers. Kaun has only been playing basketball for three years, and is already ranked the No. 5 center in the high school class of 2004 by theinsiders.com. Unlike many centers in high school, Kaun is expected to play the five position at the collegiate level as well. Kaun has been nursing a foot injury throughout much of the summer, but is expected to fully recover.
"I want to visit the school first [before committing] so I know more about it. I have to visit the school first before I can say something," Kaun told theinsiders.com.
Central High, Peoria, Ill.
What They're Saying: "The flair he plays the position with is unique. His size at the point and his passing skills are rare in a prospect. He's flashy and efficient all rolled into one." -Dave Telep, TheInsiders.com
It's easy to tell from his long, thin face and stretching, spidery arms that Livingston is big. But when he turned the corner in one fell stride with ten seconds left in his state championship game this March, rose up over a crowd near the basket and hit a game-winning lay-up, it was clear that this super prospect was also big-time. And after unofficially coming out on top of a head-to-head match-up with the nation's other top point guard, Sebastian Telfair, at the ABCD camp in New Jersey earlier this month-not so much with flash as grace, not so much stats but skills-Livingston solidified his position as the primary target on Duke's radar screen for the Class of 2004.
He is a winner, literally; after leading Peoria to the Illinois Class AA crown, his AAU team won its biggest championship match later in the spring. And in that respect, he would make the perfect successor to Chris Duhon as Mike Krzyzewski's new floor general: a heady playmaker, one who actually wants to attend college, despite being ranked as high as No. 2 on several national recruiting boards.
The Blue Devils will have to fend off North Carolina, Illinois, where two of his AAU teammates have committed, and another point guard heaven, Arizona, for Livingston's services. But all indications thus far point to a reprise of this past year, when the Illini and Wildcats focused on two phenoms, Charlie Villanueva and Ndudi Ebi, respectively, who were more focused on the NBA than a big-time NCAA program, only to let them slip away and leave Krzyzewski with the No. 2 recruit in the nation in Luol Deng. And with Duke's history of doing things back-to-back, the November early signing period could be big-time for the Blue Devils.
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