JAMEER NELSON, KYLE LOWRY...MAALIK WAYNS?

by Matt Whitfield



Watching Maalik Wayns play is not like watching any ordinary high school basketball player. For all of 17 years old Wayns already has the size, toughness, and on on-court awareness to be a star point guard in college. Wayns is committed to Villanova and, according to Rivals.com, is the fourth best point guard and 25th best player overall in the class of 2009. High School recruiting guru Bob Gibbons said he believes Wayans can be as good as New Orleans Hornets PG Chris Paul and right now compares him to North Carolina’s outstanding PG Ty Lawson.

Wayns currently attends Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia. The same school made famous by one-time Parade High School Basketball Player of the year Eddie Griffin. Griffin was a supremely talented, yet troubled, basketball player who sadly had his life and career cut short when he was killed in a car-train accident. When asked about playing in the Eddie Griffin Classic in honor of the former Roman Catholic Alum Wayns said,” I’m honored; he’s probably the greatest player ever to come out of Roman Catholic. I’ll do anything to honor my school [or] honor my city.” Wayns did indeed. Besides putting on a stellar performance in helping lead Team Philadelphia to the sweep, he showed his respect to Griffin by being the only hoopster to play in the event three years straight.

Besides being a top prospect, many recruiting analysts, as well a current and former NBA players, see Wayns as the next great PG to grace Philadelphia. As a top prep product Wayns had other offers to stay in Philadelphia with Temple, St. Joseph’s, and LaSalle. According to Wayns, who always planned on playing basketball in Philadelphia, he chose Villanova because of, “the family atmosphere of the program and the guard orientated program [which] was a right style of a fit for my type of game.”

Only time will tell if Maalik Wayns can follow the footsteps of Kyle Lowry or Jammer Nelson. For now, despite his basketball prowess, Wayns is still just another high school senior who enjoys watching Baron Davis and hanging out with his friends in his spare time. Next year is another story as Wayns will be vying for playing time at Villanova, a team that will be loaded again in the backcourt with Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, and Corey Stokes. Will Wayns play? No one knows for sure, but no one just gets crowned for nothing.

One ting is for certain, Bet On Villanova staying amongst the top of the Big East with backcourt talent like that year in and year out.

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ARMWOOD PRIMED FOR MONTROSE & VILLANOVA

By Ron Bailey

November 12, 2008 – Baltimore, aka Charm City, has long supplied talented basketball players to the Big East, with the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Donte Greene and Michael Lloyd (Syracuse); David Wingate, Reggie Williams, Kevin Braswell along with DaJuan Summers (Georgetown); plus Bootsy Thornton (St. John’s) and Kevin Norris (Miami when the school was in the conference) immediately coming to mind. The port city has been good to America’s premier hoops conference.

In 2009 another B’More baller enters the league, none other than 6-foot-8 forward Isaiah Armwood. A prototypical run and jump frontcourt man, Armwood, who weighs a svelte 185 pounds, is probably one of the best players in his class of filling fast break lanes and finishing, routinely putting it down on opponent’s heads.


That’s an ability he his displayed for years, and a skill that will make him one of the most exciting players to hit the Big East when he enrolls at Villanova next year. For the record, the Wildcats bested other league schools Louisville and Syracuse, along with the Atlantic Coast Conference’s University of Maryland for his services.

To his credit, Isaiah is not content with simply relying on his high flying antics, as he recognizes what he needs to improve upon: strength, ball handling, and perimeter shooting. Those factors will certainly increase his college basketball odds of contributing early for the Wildcats.

“We do a lot of things in terms of working on our skills” at Montrose Christian School (MD), where Isaiah stars, revealed the Charm City product. “I’ve been doing ball handling and shooting drills, plus lifting weights. My handling and my shooting have improved.”

“I think he’s going to have an excellent season this year,” said Montrose’s coach, Stu Vetter, of his expectation for Armwood’s final campaign. “We’re going to play him inside and outside”: This includes having Isaiah face up from three point land and at times giving several dribbles before pulling up, as well as operating on his beloved baseline. Expect Armwood, who has recovered from a springtime knee injury to continue rebounding and blocking shots. Of course running the floor is a foundation of his game.

Going forward playing inside and out will be good for Isaiah and Villanova, a place he deemed “a great fit for me”, one allowing him to “play both forward positions.” Based upon his continued work, Armwood also believes “I have a good chance at starting my freshman year.”

Could Armwood be the next Baltimore standout to do damage in the Big East? If he continues to improve upon his weak points frankly yes. It’s all up to him, and based upon this preseason, Isaiah is pointed in that direction.


Ron Bailey is the Publisher of i95ballerz.com and frequent contributor to the NBE Basketball Report.

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BIG EAST TOP TWO-GUARDS 2008-2009: 10) COREY FISHER

November 11, 2008

Like Chris Wright on the listing of the Big East's Top 2008-2009 Point Guards, there is a pretty good bet that Corey Fisher moves up this list significantly for next season.

Fisher is a 6-foot-1 guard that plays in Jay Wright's guard friendly system at Villanova. Coming out of New York City and powerful St. Patrick's of New Jersey, Fisher was a highly acclaimed recruit that had high expectations as a freshman. With Scottie Reynolds the primary backcourt threat, it seemed like Fisher never really found a comfort zone sharing responsibilities with Reynolds. As the season wore on, Reynolds began to take over more of the primary ballhandling duties and that is likely to consider this season.

With Reynolds being the primary ballhandler, look for Fisher to find a more consistent role this season. Although not a two-guard, Fisher is not a prototype point guard either, however, he can be a talented scorer and with a year under his belt, look for that experience to help him feed more off the talents of Reynolds and find himself in position to capitalize more often, even while not having the ball in his hands as often.

As a freshman, Fisher averaged nine points a game and struggled from the field, shooting just 35% overall and 33% from beyond the arc. His assist to turnover ratio of 1.35:1 also could use some work.

Villanova has some high expectations this season and Fisher is definitely a key to making those expectations become reality. Villanova has always enhanced their NCAA Basketball Odds with strong guard play, a step forward for Fisher as a sophomore will continue that trend for Jay Wright's club.

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BIG EAST TOP POINT GUARDS 2008-2009: 4) SCOTTIE REYNOLDS

November 5, 2008


The offensive point guard that plays in a multi-guard set is always the hardest to classify. Villanova junior Scottie Reynolds falls into that category like a glove. The 6-foot-2 guard from Herndon (VA) is the main cog in the Villanova system, a very guard-friendly system that coach Jay Wright has become quite popular with among recruits. There is no doubt that Wright lets his guards play, encouraging them to take their opponent off the dribble and attack the defense. Scottie Reynolds is well suited for this offensive philosophy.

As a freshman, Reynolds took the Big East by storm, averaging over 18 points a game in conference play, which included a 40-point outburst at UConn. Reynolds also led the club with four assists a game as the Wildcats made the NCAA Tournament.

Last season, it seemed as though Reynolds progress as a player was a bit stagnate through the season. With freshman Corey Fisher in the backcourt with him, it seemed like neither could get a proper feel for which one was the point guard or the scoring lead guard, however, as the season wore on, Reynolds emerged as the primary ball-handler and seemed to settle more into the role of point guard. He was still offensive minded, but in the system Jay Wright uses, that is what is called upon for his lead guard.

Reynolds saved some of his best basketball for the NCAA Tournament, leading the Wildcats into the Sweet 16 while scoring 46 points and hitting 8 of 12 three's in rounds one and two.

Still, what Reynolds needs to improve upon is his assist to turnover ration, which was 1:1 last season and being under control more consistently. However, as far as scoring from the lead guard position, Reynolds remains among the best in, not only the Big East, but the country. With a top guard leading a guard-favorable attack, Villanova will remain a constant in the March Madness betting pools as guards rule in college hoops. The NBE Basketball Report staff thinks highly enough of Reynolds' game to place him as the #4 point guard in the Big East for the 2008-2009 season.

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