by Alex Schwartz

Last year there were a few teams at the top for much of the season in high school basketball, and  Findlay College Prep (NV), Oak Hill Academy (VA), and St. Patrick's (NJ) were three of the main ones. This year it appeared as though those might be the teams to beat yet again, the first three especially. Findlay Prep won the "national championship" last year, and seemed to be the odds-on favorite to repeat after reloading this summer. Oak Hill and St. Pat's were also considered legitimate contenders, but now the landscape has changed and there just might be a new favorite.
Findlay Prep certainly lost some big-time talent from last year's squad, including McDonald's All-American Avery Bradley (Texas), Carlos Lopez (UNLV), DJ Richardson (Illinois), Victor Rudd (Arizona State), and Issiah Grayson (Virgina Commonwealth). The Silver State school added some major transfers that more than replaced the departed ballers, as Winston Sheppard '12, Jabari Brown '11, Nick Johnson '11, and Enes Kanter '10 all decided to leave home and play for Michael Peck. Add returning players Tristan Thompson '10 (Texas), Cory Joseph '10, and Godwin Okonji '10 to that quartet and the roster appeared to be unmatchable.
St. Patrick's also lost a McDonald's All-American in Dexter Strickland (North Carolina) as well as two other starters, Paris Bennett (George Mason) and Dean Kowalski (Columbia). The Celtics did return arguably their top two players in Michael Gilchrist '11 and Kyrie Irving '10 as well as Western Kentucky-bound Derrick Gordon '11, Chase Plummer '10, Josh Daniell '10, and Kevin Boyle, Jr. '10. Toss in some players who ran with the Celtics' high-powered JV team last year such as Jarrel Lane '11 and Dennis Green '12 and the team looked promising to say the least.
Oak Hill Academy matched the other two by also losing a McDonald's All-American in Keith "Tiny" Gallon (Oklahoma) as well as Glenn Bryant (Arkansas), Lamont "MoMo" Jones (Arizona), Austin Alecxih (UNC-Asheville), and Chasen Campbell. Bryon Allen '10 also transferred to St. Thomas More (CT), yet as always, Steve Smith reloaded, adding Juwan Staten '10 (Dayton) and Roscoe Smith '10. Doron Lamb '10, Pe'Shon Howard '10, and Baye Moussa Kieta '10 (Syracuse) were the key returnees for the Warriors, who are always in title contention.
If you had asked me last week to rank the top three teams in the nation, I would have said Findlay Prep, then St. Patrick's, then Oak Hill Academy. Now, that is no longer the case. Rather than playing at Findlay, Enes Kanter, a major unknown to many who has been called a top 10 player and future McD's AA by others, has transferred to Mountain State Academy (WV) according to Scout and Jeff Goodman. That is a major blow to the defending champs, as Kanter might have been the team's best player. That alone still may Findlay Prep at number one, maybe, but when one considers that St. Patrick's landed not one, but two impact transfers this week, the loss of Kanter is huge. The sons of former North Carolina State star and NBA player Chris Washburn, Julian Washburn '10 and Chris Washburn '11, have enrolled at the NJ school after being at Duncanville (TX) last year, according to a source close to the situation. Julian, ranked #101 in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125, and Chris are both 6'7 giving the Celtics some very much needed size. The squad, which is led by arguably the best high school coach in America in Kevin Boyle,  now is not only bigger, but more talented, and also extremely deep.
So now, in light of the transfers that have gone down this week, who is the favorite to win the 2009-2010 "national championship" in high school basketball? It just might be the St. Patrick's Celtics.

Note- photo on the left is of Enes Kanter and photo on the right is of Julian Washburn; both are from http://scouthoops.scout.com/