SEAN KILPATRICK: 'PREP' ARING FOR NEXT LEVEL

by Zach Smart

White Plains is where throwback jerseys are in and Abercrombie and Fitch is out. It’s where the hard-scrabble Ferris Ave. courts play host to one of the toughest summer street leagues (outside of NYC) summer after summer after summer.


Bible-truth, White Plains has established one of the top rivalries in New York with cross-town perennial power Mount Vernon. The school breeds Division-I talent like Angelina Jolie breeds kids.


At the forefront the past two years has been Sean Kilpatrick, Spencer Mayfield’s primary scoring engine who helped the team garner some national visibility during the 2006-2007 campaign. They played a schedule that was about as serious as death and divorce that season, nearly upsetting California powerhouse Mater Dei at Pace University in Pleasantville, N.Y.


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The following year, Kilpatrick teamed up with Rashad James—the self-proclaimed “best dunker in New York State.”


The duo helped a team which had its talented 2007 roster thoroughly cleansed, rip off a 15-7 record the following year, when Kilpatrick emerged as one of the state’s most lethal scorers.

Kilpatrick, whose ability to score in clusters lifted him out of the abyss and no longer made him a second-class citizen to some of the big guns of NYC, got plenty of Big East looks.

Amongst the suitors sold on the kid with an efficient arsenal of 20-footers, mano y mano moves, and good life from the perimeter were St. John’s, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, Providence, and Cincinnati.

He would end up choosing Cincinnati, where he committed to on October 12 and recently penned his letter of intent.

Kilpatrick, streaky at times, spent much of this season righting the academic ship (academic issues kept him from making the jump from WPHS to a Division-I hardwood home) and getting acclimated to a new environment in the woodworks of Fitchburg, Mass.

“I’m proud to say I’m part of the Notre Dame family,” said Kilpatrick, whose team split a pair of contests Friday and Saturday at the National Prep Schowcase at Bryant College last week.

“Honestly, they treat me like family over here. Going to prep school, getting prepared for college and whatever else is out there, it’s not a bad idea.”

Kilpatrick hung 26 points and corralled seven rebounds in a nailbiting, 93-92 overtime loss to Brewster Academy at the NHTI Prep Showcase.

He was off his game during Day One of the National Prep Showcase Invitational, scoring just 10 points on 5-for-18 shooting (0-9 from three-point territory), as Notre Dame was thoroughly walloped, 81-56, by a De’Andre Kane (Pitt, Uconn) and Hunter McClintock (Air Force, Kentucky, BC, Indiana, Oklahoma)-fueled Patterson backcourt tandem.

Kilpatrick and Notre Dame re-wrote the script the following day, blitzing Massanutten Military Academy to the tune of 77-52. Killpatrick worked opponents off the dribble with ease, barreling to the basket for 15 points.

After a night when it seemed they couldn’t shoot a ball into the Mississippi River if they were standing on a rowboat, the trio of Kilpatrick, Mohammed Lee (St. John’s, Pittsburgh, and Louisville have all expressed interest in the New York-bred baller) and Kenny Stewart (Rider, Elon) shot the rock at a scintillating 19-for-26 clip.

Kilpatrick has been a scorer his whole life. Playing alongside a talent-bleeding supporting cast at Prep, however, has allowed him to improve other facets of his game—rebounding, dishing, and defense.

“I’m basically going into there (Cincinnati) with the mentality that I have to score,” said Kilpatrick, who exploded for a career-high 44 points in a signature 82-79 victory over Brooklyn’s Canarsie HS last season.

Deonta Vaughn, who came into his own late last season, is one of the most prolific scorers in Bearcat history. He’ll be a senior at the same time that Kilpatrick, perhaps the highest-profile scorer the school has recruited since Vaughn, is entering.

Pressure?

“Not at all,” said Kilpatrick. “I’m going to do whatever it is my coach (Mick Cronin) asks of me. I know my scoring is really the main threat, but I would like to help out in any way that I can, in any way they need me to contribute.”

Sacrificing me for we and putting individual accolades aside for the betterment of the team, an attitude that will help any player better the college basketball odds of their team.

Now that’s something coach Mayfield has preached at White Plains for quite some time now.

BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW GAME #10: CINCINNATI

November 14, 2008

Froday night football returns in the Big East as Cincinnati looks to stay in the mix for the Big East conference title when they travel to meet Louisville.

Last week the Bearcats held on for a wild win in West Virginia, 26-23 after blowing a 20-7 lead in the closing moments. Cincinnati prevailed, handing the Mountaineers their first conference loss, and put themselves in position to control their own desitny. However, they will have to do it on the road as the travel to meet Louisville tonight and have a showdown next week in Pittsburgh, the team that beat Louisville 41-7 last week in Pittsburgh.

Tony Pike looks to have takent over the QB position for the Bearcats giving them stability behind center. With a tough defense and a grind it out attack, the Bearcats are well suited and disciplined to win on the road.

The bottom fell out for the Cardinals last weekend and if they do not get off to a good start tonight against the Bearcats, the season could get away from them. Louisville is 5-4 overall, but just 1-3 in the conference and is coming off consecutive losses to Syracuse and Pitt. A return to home under the lights could light a fire under them, but their season is on the brink. We like the Bearcats, who are listed as 4 1/2 point road favorites in the latest NCAA Football Odds, to push them over that brink and collect another win.

Prediction:

Cincinnati 23
Louisville 13

BIG EAST TOP TWO-GUARDS 2008-2009: CINCINNATI

November 11, 2008


When trying to build a program, the most important factor in increasing your NCAA Basketball Odds of winning is finding a dominant guard to control the game. At Cincinnati, Mick Cronin and the Bearcats have learned to rely on Deonta Vaughn to carry the burden offensively, at times it may seem like they rely on him too much, but Vaughn has proven to be up to the challenge.

As a sophomore, the 6-foot-1, 195 pound Vaughn averaged over 17 points a game. Helped by Jamual Warren's presence as the full-time point guard, Vaughn was able to move off the ball and do what he does best, score points.

Vaughn is vesatile enough to flip-flop between guard positions, but his ability to score points and the relatively lack of ability of the rest of the Bearcats to do so has pushed him to a scoring guard roll. Vaughn still averaged a team-best 4.2 turnovers, as well as a team-high 3.2 turnovers a contest as the ball ends up in his hands often for him to score or create for the team. Sometimes, it does lead to him forcing the issue offensively and causing turnovers.

Last year Vaughn hit a solid 44% of his 408 shots attempted (that volume of shots will get anyone termed a 'shooting' guard) and 40% if his 244 attempts from beyond the arc. In the 18-game Big East schedule, Vaughn eclipsed 20 points on seven occassions with a high coming against UConn with 34. Vaughn also pored in 30 in an impressive outburst against Pittsburgh in the Big East Tournament.

This year the Bearcats looks to add help to Vaughn's cause with an improved frontcourt that will be both bigger and deeper this year. However, the question that has developed at point guard because of Cashmere Wright's knee injury might add more duties to Vaughn's plate. Will this impact his scoring opportunities? We shall see...

BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW: GAME #9 CINCINNATI

November 7, 2008


Don't look now, but West Virginia has taken their normal position atop the Big East standings with a 3-0 conference record as we head down the home stretch. After a rough start to the Bill Stewart era, the Mountaineers have won five in a row, but what is more important, they have begin to rev up their offense of late, scoring a 34-17 win over Auburn back on October 23rd and following that up with a 35-13 win at UConn last week.

The key? Pat White returning to health and being in sync with coach Stewart's offense. White threw for 175 yards and three touchdowns against Auburn and he ran for 109 and scored twice on the ground against UConn. With White back as a dual threat, it opens the lanes for Noel Devine, and he shredded Auburn for over 200 yards in that win that seemed to re-energize WVU.

Quietly, Cincinnati remains in the Big East title race and their 24-10 win over South Florida last week re-inforced that notion. With four quarterbacks shuffling in and out of the line-up because of injuries, it looks like Tony Pike has grabbed ahold of the position and his efficient outing against USF (20-28-282-2-1) is a great building block. Facing the Mountaineers in Morgantown on a Saturday night will be a whole new set of challenges, though, for the senior QB that was not even listed in the three-deep depth chart not long ago.

The latest Latest NCAA College Football Odds list the Mountaineers as 7-point favorites. With a team that seems to be coming together, especially offensively, at home in a tough place to play, I think they take care of that number and make another statement that the Big East title needs to be taken from WVU first.

Prediction:

West Virginia 33
Cincinnati 19