William "HaHa" Lee Becomes The Lead Dog
William Lee celebrates at state championship
William "HaHa' Lee has to be one of the happiest kids in the state of Alabama right now. He captured a 4A AHSAA state title with his Dallas County Hornets and was also named the MVP posting season averages of 22.2 points, 12.7 rebounds, 9.2 blocks, 3.9 assists and 3.4 steals a game. The title game was a resemblance of his season stat line with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 7 blocked shots. Lee also holds the national record of 26 blocked shots in one game. If that wasn't enough, how bout being named Alabama's Gatorade Player of the Year, 4A State Player of the Year and the most prestigious of them all, Alabama's 2014 Mr. Basketball award which is probably the most coveted individual award state-to-state. So it was only right to rate the UAB signee as the number 1 player in the state of Alabama for the class of 2014.
Lee's stellar season and high school career was of course a great feat but another important achievement was not done by one player but a collection of them. The state of Alabama had 22 players sign division-I scholarships for the class of 2014 and 22 of them are in our final top 25 player rankings for the class. We're not sure if this is a record or not but we can't recall 22 players signing division-I in one high school class ever in the state. Labarrius Hill originally signed with Jacksonville St but didn't qualify and will now attend Itawamba CC in Mississippi.
Alabama signee Justin Coleman was the former #1 but didn't drop far, as he is in the second spot after being named the 5A State Player of the Year. Coleman put up big numbers early on in the season but started to draw double teams every night out as his Wenonah team just wasn't what it quite was in the past. Coleman's season ended early to Nathaniel "Giddy" Potts and his Athens Golden Eagles in the first round of regional play. Potts, a Middle Tennessee signee, made a big jump in the rankings after a stellar senior season leading his Golden Eagles to a regional final.
Along with Potts, Gerald Smith was a virtual unknown in the recruiting world but he proved the nay sayers wrong by showing the state he could definitely play on the perimeter and wasn't an undersized post that he was always forced to play. The super-athletic wing showed he had range during the live period last July but schools still failed to take notice as he may have been over shadowed by UAB signee Jarvis Calhoun, Navy signee Mitchell Baldwin and Jacksonville St signee Labarrius Hill. He was given another chance during his senior season as coaches would ask for film during the fall but the out dated camera his high school had at the time made it hard for coaches to identify Smith. Who needs a camera when you can come watch the kid with your own eyes as Samford did and got the job done as they may have signed one of the biggest sleepers in the state.
Lee's stellar season and high school career was of course a great feat but another important achievement was not done by one player but a collection of them. The state of Alabama had 22 players sign division-I scholarships for the class of 2014 and 22 of them are in our final top 25 player rankings for the class. We're not sure if this is a record or not but we can't recall 22 players signing division-I in one high school class ever in the state. Labarrius Hill originally signed with Jacksonville St but didn't qualify and will now attend Itawamba CC in Mississippi.
Alabama signee Justin Coleman was the former #1 but didn't drop far, as he is in the second spot after being named the 5A State Player of the Year. Coleman put up big numbers early on in the season but started to draw double teams every night out as his Wenonah team just wasn't what it quite was in the past. Coleman's season ended early to Nathaniel "Giddy" Potts and his Athens Golden Eagles in the first round of regional play. Potts, a Middle Tennessee signee, made a big jump in the rankings after a stellar senior season leading his Golden Eagles to a regional final.
Along with Potts, Gerald Smith was a virtual unknown in the recruiting world but he proved the nay sayers wrong by showing the state he could definitely play on the perimeter and wasn't an undersized post that he was always forced to play. The super-athletic wing showed he had range during the live period last July but schools still failed to take notice as he may have been over shadowed by UAB signee Jarvis Calhoun, Navy signee Mitchell Baldwin and Jacksonville St signee Labarrius Hill. He was given another chance during his senior season as coaches would ask for film during the fall but the out dated camera his high school had at the time made it hard for coaches to identify Smith. Who needs a camera when you can come watch the kid with your own eyes as Samford did and got the job done as they may have signed one of the biggest sleepers in the state.
Divine Myles was a steal for Stetson
A couple kids changed their minds on decisions but for two it was because of coaching changes. Isaac Haas made a decision to attend Wake Forest after an unofficial visit but later changed his mind to attend Purdue as the 7-foot-1 center may be one of the largest players to come through the state of Alabama.
Antonio "TJ" Lang Jr and Rasheed Worrell were both released from the NLI and made changes as soon as the coaching staffs were fired at the respective schools they signed with. For Lang Jr, he signed during the early period with Virginia Tech but decided to take his talents to Auburn recently. Worrell was an Appalachian St signee but is now on campus at Bowling Green as he was one of the most coveted mid major bigs available after his release from Appalachian State.
Auburn signee Antonio Lang Jr, Southern Miss signee Kevin Holland, Alabama St signee Steve Rogers and Troy signee Wesley Person are all legacy kids as their fathers either played professionally or collegiate basketball. Lang's father competed at Duke and later on in the NBA and is now a professional coach for the Mitsubishi Dolphins in Japan. Holland's father was a former assistant coach at Alabama under Mark Gottfried and is now an assistant at Western Michigan. Steve Rogers father is an assistant at Alabama State where the younger Rogers will take his talents. Wesley Person is the son of former Auburn great and former NBA player Wesley Person and the nephew of Auburn great and former pro Chuck Person. As you see it was tough for Wesley to sign with Troy as Auburn was his legacy.
The most under appreciated signee of them all is probably Stetson signee Divine Myles who was definitely a steal for the Hatters. Myles has always been over looked due to his size but the guard has grown to 5'11 175 lbs and is strong as they come. During the North-South All Star game last year, spectators said Justin Coleman got the best of Myles and that's the reason Auburn backed off from him and they were his favorites. That only fueled his fire for his senior campaign. He may have fell short to state champions Mountain Brook again by three points two years in a row but his play in the state championship game proved to be the best any player in the state has achieved against the Spartans. A feat Justin Coleman couldn't even achieve as Myles broke the full court pressure by himself and scored at will. You could hear spectators throughout the state utter "He's better than Stetson" but if you ask Myles about his decision he will simply say 'You have to love who loves you."
Antonio "TJ" Lang Jr and Rasheed Worrell were both released from the NLI and made changes as soon as the coaching staffs were fired at the respective schools they signed with. For Lang Jr, he signed during the early period with Virginia Tech but decided to take his talents to Auburn recently. Worrell was an Appalachian St signee but is now on campus at Bowling Green as he was one of the most coveted mid major bigs available after his release from Appalachian State.
Auburn signee Antonio Lang Jr, Southern Miss signee Kevin Holland, Alabama St signee Steve Rogers and Troy signee Wesley Person are all legacy kids as their fathers either played professionally or collegiate basketball. Lang's father competed at Duke and later on in the NBA and is now a professional coach for the Mitsubishi Dolphins in Japan. Holland's father was a former assistant coach at Alabama under Mark Gottfried and is now an assistant at Western Michigan. Steve Rogers father is an assistant at Alabama State where the younger Rogers will take his talents. Wesley Person is the son of former Auburn great and former NBA player Wesley Person and the nephew of Auburn great and former pro Chuck Person. As you see it was tough for Wesley to sign with Troy as Auburn was his legacy.
The most under appreciated signee of them all is probably Stetson signee Divine Myles who was definitely a steal for the Hatters. Myles has always been over looked due to his size but the guard has grown to 5'11 175 lbs and is strong as they come. During the North-South All Star game last year, spectators said Justin Coleman got the best of Myles and that's the reason Auburn backed off from him and they were his favorites. That only fueled his fire for his senior campaign. He may have fell short to state champions Mountain Brook again by three points two years in a row but his play in the state championship game proved to be the best any player in the state has achieved against the Spartans. A feat Justin Coleman couldn't even achieve as Myles broke the full court pressure by himself and scored at will. You could hear spectators throughout the state utter "He's better than Stetson" but if you ask Myles about his decision he will simply say 'You have to love who loves you."