Published Jan 26, 2013
Saint Louis rivals have plenty of talent
Eric Bossi
Rivals.com Basketball Recruiting Analyst
In St. Louis, Christian Brothers College and Chaminade College Prep have long been rivals. The two programs have also combined to produce the three best high school players from the city in the past 20 years.
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Chaminade has produced NBA All-Star David Lee and rookie Brad Beal while CBC's most famous alum is Larry Hughes.
On Friday night, each school had their next round of stars on display as assistants from Illinois and Michigan State were among those on hand to see a well-played, exciting 75-68 win for Chaminade on its home court in a game that featured at least five Division I prospects.
Wearing green "McBride" uniforms to honor a school that closed and transitioned to Chaminade, the Red Devils boast freshmen Jayson Tatum and Will Gladson as future Division I players.
A 6-foot-6 point guard, Tatum racked up 25 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in a charged environment and tough game. The freshman has been designated as the next big thing out of Saint Louis and he certainly looked like a future five-star player on Friday.
Obviously, his size is most noticeable. Not only is he a legitimate 6-foot-6, but his skill and ability to run the show are also legit.
He changes speeds, uses fakes, handles with either hand and is a dangerous shooter from deep. More importantly, he makes game-winning plays and is unafraid of the big moment.
Illinois, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan State and Saint Louis have all been on him early and he's already been to the campuses of Kansas and Missouri.
The big-ticket player on the CBC side is 6-foot-7 small forward Jordan Barnett. The junior has been putting together a strong season and showed considerable improvement on Friday night.
He didn't shoot the ball great after swishing a few deep jumpers early, but he was all over the floor while contributing 19 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocked shots.
Barnett sits at No. 101 overall in the 2014 Rivals150. His ranking is going to go up during the next update and after watching him again, he's been elevated to four-star status because of his size, length, athleticism and most of all his improved ball-handling and shooting stroke.
Barnett has been to Missouri and will likely take a visit to Florida next week while Harvard, Michigan State and North Carolina are among those that have also been in to see him this winter.
According to Barnett, UNC's Roy Williams is expected back to watch him within the next few weeks after an assistant saw him last week.
Also impressive for CBC was junior combo guard Patrick McCaw.
At 6-foot-5, McCaw runs the show for CBC but it was his sweet jump-shooting that stood out on Friday night. McCaw made all six 3-pointers he took and finished with a team-high 22 points.
He will need to get a little stronger and continue to improve his lateral quickness, but McCaw is an emerging three-star prospect and already has offers from Illinois State and Bradley.
The other two Div. I prospects on the floor were the previously mentioned Gladson and CBC's junior combo forward Raymond Doby.
At 6-foot-7, Gladson is a fleet-footed, fluid and athletic freshman power forward who looks to have some skill to his game.
Doby is a 6-foot-7 athlete who can run the floor, finishes in transition and has to unlock his nasty side and be an animal on the glass to maximize his potential.
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