Ratner filling it up

After leading Las Vegas, Nev., in scoring last year as a sophomore, Heiden Ratner is at it again as a junior averaging 25 points per game for his 16-4 Silverado High School team. Still under the recruiting radar, Ratner, a 5-foot-11, 160-pound point guard, presently has the attention of a Conference USA school.

"The school that I am talking to the most is Tulsa," said Ratner. "I'm also getting recruited by Western Illinois, New Mexico State, Santa Barbara and Loyola Marymount.

"Tulsa is the favorite right now, though. Conference USA is a good conference. The coaches have said that the fans are great, and the town is becoming more of a basketball town. They also have a new arena, and they like to push the ball up the court."

Ratner, who also is averaging 5.3 assists and 4 rebounds to go along with his 25 points per game average, ran with the Las Vegas Prospects 16-under and 17-under teams last summer. He is not certain whom he will play with this summer, but he realizes how he plays will have a huge impact on his recruitment.

"I want to play at a high level, but right now I would rather play at the mid-major level if that meant more playing time," he said. "I also want to go somewhere that has a strong fan base.

"I think a lot of schools aren't recruiting me because they haven't seen me in the summer. There just wasn't much playing time for me on the 17-under team behind Marcus Lawerence. They might hear about me scoring points in high school, but they need to see me play this summer."