The final ballots are in and the closing to Jahlil Okafor’s spectacular season tightens the Mr. Basketball USA race. Cliff Alexander, Stanley Johnson and Emmanuel Mudiay are the three candidates to appear on every ballot.
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No. 1 Montverde Takes Dick’s
Student Sports FAB 50 No. 1 Montverde Academy makes its statement for a second consecutive top-ranking and mythical national title with a 71-62 victory over No. 6 Oak Hill Academy in the Dick’s Nationals title game at Madison Square Garden. The top spot in next week’s Student Sports FAB 50 comes down to the Eagles or Mater Dei of California, which did not compete in the tournament.
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Dick’s Nationals Semifinal Analysis
Oak Hill Academy and Montverde Academy advance to the Dick’s Nationals championship game on Saturday at Madison Square Madison (12 pm ET, ESPN) with come-from-behind semifinal victories. Huntington Prep gave defending champ Montverde Academy all it could handle and Findlay Prep couldn’t overcome Oak Hill’s length and depth with seven players.
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Dick’s Nationals Preview: Montverde Academy
We take an in-depth look at all eight teams competing at the 2014 Dick’s Nationals in New York and continue our series with defending event and national champion Montverde Academy. The Eagles are currently No. 1 in the Student Sports FAB 50 and favored to win a second consecutive title at the event.
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Updated Southeast Region Top 20 Rankings
We go 20 deep from five separate regions of the nation. During the season, we rank 100 teams and nobody across the country ranks as many teams as StudentSportsBasketball.com. No. 1 teams are Oak Hill Academy (East), Montverde Academy (Southeast), Chicago Whitney Young (Midwest), Galena North Shore (Southwest) and Rainier Beach (West).
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POY Tracker: Closing The Gap?
Mr. Basketball USA front-runner Cliff Alexander’s high school career at Curie (Chicago) is over, but the race for national player of the year is far from done. We explain the factors that can close the gap between Alexander and the other top candidates and how it can be done.
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New Southeast Region Top 20 Rankings
We go 20 deep from five separate regions of the nation. During the season, we rank 100 teams and nobody across the country ranks as many teams as StudentSportsBasketball.com. No. 1 teams are Oak Hill Academy (East), Montverde Academy (Southeast), Chicago Whitney Young (Midwest), Galena North Shore (Southwest) and Rainier Beach (West).
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POY Tracker: What It Takes
With Cliff Alexander leading the 2014 Mr. Basketball USA race by a record-tying number, we decided this week was a good time to explain what it takes to be a credible national player of the year candidate. Individual talent and team success are major factors, but less obvious forces come into play.
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No 1 vs No 3: Montverde Academy Impressive
The nation’s top-ranked team in the Student Sports FAB 50, Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), exercised some demons with a victory over No. 3 White Station (Memphis) in the title game of the Pass Pro Shops TOC. For Montverde Academy, the win was gratifying but there is still some unfinished business on this road trip.
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POY Tracker: Seniors Stand Strong
The top players in the class of 2014 take center stage in the national player of the year race as the underclass players lose traction. Emmanuel Mudiay and Cliff Alexander remain the front-runners, but Jahlil Okafor and Stanley Johnson garner the most first-place votes.
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