This year’s best high school student in the nation was Josh McRoberts, the number one high school player in the class of 2005, who was also selected for the first teams of both the Associated Press and USA Today, and was rated by the media as a surefire lottery pick if he were to skip college and enter the draft.
But during an interview with the Associated Press upon receiving the award, McRoberts expressed that he wasn’t satisfied with just being in the lottery area; he wanted a higher ranking and announced that he had accepted an invitation from Duke University to play under Coach K.
This player, Zhang Yang, remembered, would go on to play alongside Kobe and Wade. Through two years of hard work in college, he successfully moved from a projected high school lottery pick to being picked in the second round.
Zhang Yang was still a couple of months shy of turning 17 and making it into the All-American team... maybe not quite the first team, but he could still be considered, right? Zhang Yang and DeRozan discussed the record for the youngest again.
James was mentioned again by the two, LeBron James was only 15 years old and three months when he was not only selected for both Ohio’s high school basketball and football first teams but also made the national first team and was "advanced placed" as the fifth best high school student in the nation... When it comes to the youngest record, there’s no bypassing LeBron James.
On April 5th, Zhang Yang, DeRozan, Tatum, and Thomas watched the NCAA March Madness Final Four live.
North Carolina defeated the University of Illinois 75 to 70, with Deron Williams falling short in the final game and Shawn May taking home the Final Four MOP.
Watching the frenzied celebration of the North Carolina quartet, DeRozan said, "Deron Williams had a chance to score the winning basket in the final moments, but he didn’t have the nerve to run down the clock, rushed his shot, missed, and then got hit with a counterattack."
Zhang Yang responded, "He didn’t seem as confident against Raymond Felton, had he been up against Chris Paul, I think he would have made that shot."
Zhang Yang: "Cough, cough, college games are really exciting, the tactics and teamwork are something you don’t get in high school games, just the pace is a bit slow, we’ll have to be prepared when we go to college."
Thomas, who was beside them, added, "Don’t worry about that, college coaches value it even more... Jack, you seem like you have something to say to me."
Zhang Yang nodded and went straight to the point, "I’m ready to skip 12th grade and go straight to college... Carmelo, you’re in charge of leading the varsity team next season."
Leave it to him? He’s not even the second-strongest on the team...
Before Tatum could express his confusion, DeRozan said, "Coach, I have something to discuss with you too; next season, I’d like to take the 11th and 12th-grade players who didn’t make the varsity team to compete in the Moore League... Carmelo, good luck, the varsity team is counting on you."
He clearly wants to be the boss, but not !
No one cared about Tatum, who suddenly found himself the default leader of the team.
Thomas asked them why they made these choices, as he had sensed something recently and was mentally prepared.
Zhang Yang: "Like so..."
DeRozan: "Like such..."
Thomas sighed after hearing them out, "Ah, I didn’t expect that having too many talented players could also be troublesome... No, it’s not that having too many talented players is the problem, it’s that the two of you are just too talented."
Zhang Yang: "You can blame John and Del; their ability to train newcomers is too good. Over the past two years, every prospect they chose for our school has performed, and they even uncovered potential stars like Keith (James) and Alfred (Aboya)."
The other three: "..."
What brand of blame is this? In recent years, local talents choosing to stay in Compton have been flocking to the coaching team of Johnson, Burke, and Thomas!
Champions already secured, Thomas, who was mentally prepared, said, "Jack, if you want to go to a bigger stage, then go ahead, decide which college you want, I’ll write you a recommendation letter. I still have some connections with college coaches. DeMar, if you want to lead the team in the Moore League, I support you; I’ll help you put together a suitable team, and take Alfred with you."
DeRozan: "Take Alfred? He’s definitely good enough to play in the varsity team next season, right?"
Thomas: "He might be ready to play in a varsity team in another half a year, but the varsity has James, whose style and skills surpass Alfred, and James will surely get more playing time. Alfred won’t get many chances on the varsity team, but going to the Moore League with you, he’ll have more opportunities to show his skills, and you’ll have a teammate with enough talent to help... You don’t want to go there and lose face by losing, right?"
DeRozan thought about it and nodded in agreement. Right, he was there to train, not to get beaten up.
Thomas continued, "It’s not just Jack who needs to be ready to adjust to the slower pace of the game; DeMar, you too need to be ready. The rules in the Moore League are different from CIF, closer to college. The games are two halves of 20 minutes each, there are only seven players per team, and not just high school students compete—it also includes individuals aged 16 to 20 who play, usually two games back-to-back on weekends. You need to be physically prepared..."
With the NCAA season now over, and his decision conveyed to Thomas, the next day, Zhang Yang started the process of applying for colleges and planning for early graduation.
He planned to keep things low-key. He still had two months until he turned 17, and he wasn’t sure how well he’d perform in college, so to avoid humiliation, he decided it was best to keep it low key... until he was stronger and could show off.