Basketball will take people on a long strange trip. Just ask Bobby Maze. Growing up on the rough streets of Washington D.C., the 6-foot-2, 180-pound combo guard left the nation's capitol this summer to spend time with some close friends in Denver. Now because of that relationship, he's playing at the Patterson School in the North Carolina hills. He's hoping his next stop is at a high-major school.

Maze left D.C. this summer at the request of a close friend DerMarr Johnson of the NBA's Denver Nuggets. Maze packed up and moved to the Rocky Mountains, spending the summer months with Johnson, Kenyon Martin and the rest of the squad.

Moving away from the rough streets to life of a NBA player certainly has it's contrast, he said. Maze said he enjoyed the life of a sports star out West but knew it wasn't all great dinners and a nice nightlife.

"I worked out with them the whole summer and it was good to see how they work and how much time they spend in the gym. It's day and night," Maze said. "People just see the guys on TV but they don't know all of the stuff that they go through. Everything thinks all they do is eat out at the nice expensive restaurants and sign autographs but they work hard on staying in shape and getting better everyday."

For Maze, the opportunity helped elevate his game to where it is now. Playing defense everyday against one of the fastest players in the NBA has to help.

"I kind of looked it at like a joke," Maze said from Charlotte, where he was on hand to see Johnson, Martin and the rest of the Denver Nuggets take on the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday.

"I mean, when you check a guy like Earl Boykins who goes 90 miles an hour the next time I got on the floor with guys my age it wasn't even the same. You can't defend a guy like him."

Ironically, teams are having a hard time defending a guy like Maze. He's the high school equivalent of Boykins in terms of speed at the prep level. Defenders have a tough time keeping the jet quick guard in front of them.

The summer also helped Maze land on his feet at the prep school level. Johnson and former Charlotte star Rodney White helped convince Patterson head coach Chris Chaney, who they both played for at Newport High School in the D.C. area, to take Maze on his team this season. Maze said it was the best thing that could have happened for him.

"The biggest thing for me was finally separating myself from where I was living and finding the best situation," Maze said. "Where I was, there was a high murder rate and things were pretty crazy so being able to find a place where I'm just working on basketball and academics has been the best thing for me."

Despite playing alongside Kevin Durant and Tywon Lawson on the AAU circuit with the D.C. Blue Devils, Maze is still a bit of a unknown nationally. He has helped change that this season at Patterson (21-1).

"A lot of people still don't know too much about me," Maze said. "So I was talking to my mom about (my recruitment) and she told me to be patient, play my role and the best school for me would come along. Word is starting to get out."

It sure is. Maze said he's holding offers from Auburn, UMass, Tulane, UAB, USC and Virginia Tech and interest from Boston College, Clemson, Florida, Georgetown, Villanova and Wake Forest.

"Before I had a couple of mid-majors and I thought about looking at a couple of JUCOs.

Maze is working on improving his ACT score and during the holiday break he said he didn't have any plans to make any trips but there are a couple of places he'd like to see.

"No visits right now but I haven't talked to too many schools about that but Virginia Tech, Tulane and Auburn are probably the three that I know I'll visit," Maze said.

There are a trio of schools Maze said he hopes gets involved this season - Miami, Virginia and Nebraska.

The schools are still coming, he said and he's in no rush to make a decision. Patience is of the essence. Basketball has taken him all over the country. He's hoping it continues to do so at the next level.