Bluegrassrivals

The top young high school basketball talent in the state of Kentucky is leaving the Bluegrass for a prep school in Florida.

Central High School sophomore D’Angelo Russell will enroll at Montverde, Fla., Academy on Tuesday, according to his father, Antonio Russell.

The 6-foot-4 Russell was considered the top college prospect in a Class of 2014 loaded with talent all across the state of Kentucky.

“He's happy about it,” the father said. “He's 15 and he understands what he has to do for his future. And for me this is more about his grades than basketball. My main thing is that he has to get good grades. He's been doing all right, but he slipped a bit and I think this will be the best place for him to grow and mature for the future.”

The elder Russell said a prep school had been talked about prior to this school year but it only became official when the family went to the Orlando area to check out the school.

Montverde has one of the top teams in the country this season and is coached by Kevin Boyle, who left Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick for there after last season. He coached Kentucky freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at St. Patrick and went 26-1 last season.

At Montverde, Russell will join former Lexington Sayre big man Dakari Johnson, considered one of the top five 2014 prospects in the country.

“He'll be able to play against great competition in practice and they play a national schedule,” Antonio Russell said. “But the main part for me was the academics. It's such a great academic situation that he could go there and forget about basketball and come back as the next Steve Jobs. It's a win-win situation for him.”

Russell started last season for Central and helped the Yellowjackets to a 15-10 record. He played for the Louisville Magic AAU team during the spring and summer and gained national attention by helping that team win several national events.

Russell has scholarship offers from Louisville, Indiana, Xavier and Purdue and has also been contacted by Ohio State and Kentucky. He’s ranked among the top 20 prospects nationally in the ’14 class.

“He's a special, special player and I wish him the best,” Central coach Doug Bibby said. “He has a chance to be the best player from around here in a while. He’s a good one.”




http://www.courier-journal.com/article/2...nav%7Chead

Not a bad choice IMO. Good Luck to him and hopefully we will see him in Blue one day!

Does he play football for Cental and if so does this in anyway hurt thier chances at winning the 3A state title??

Either way congrats to the kid on getting the oppurtunity to be a part of something like this in high school. Should be a great experience and learning tool traveling the country and playing against all the top talent.

Tough loss for Central, but for his overall development, this will be a great experience.

Good decision by his father. He will get a whole lot more exposure on the national level going to prep school and will ultimately help him in the long run playing against elite talent rather than walking over teams here in Kentucky. Hopefully he remembers were he came from and decides to come back to UK when its time for a college choice.

Altro Cat Wrote:Does he play football for Cental and if so does this in anyway hurt thier chances at winning the 3A state title??

no, he does not play football.

great opportunity for the young man, good luck

Yeah I spoke to a coach from lexington kentucky yesterday and he said that the Kids aau coach someone named Miles or Myles who was an ex college player has alot of people upset bc of the kids move to florida

Good luck to him and his new team! Great opportunity for the young man.

Strikeout King Wrote:The top young high school basketball talent in the state of Kentucky is leaving the Bluegrass for a prep school in Florida.

Central High School sophomore D’Angelo Russell will enroll at Montverde, Fla., Academy on Tuesday, according to his father, Antonio Russell.

The 6-foot-4 Russell was considered the top college prospect in a Class of 2014 loaded with talent all across the state of Kentucky.

“He's happy about it,” the father said. “He's 15 and he understands what he has to do for his future. And for me this is more about his grades than basketball. My main thing is that he has to get good grades. He's been doing all right, but he slipped a bit and I think this will be the best place for him to grow and mature for the future.”

The elder Russell said a prep school had been talked about prior to this school year but it only became official when the family went to the Orlando area to check out the school.

Montverde has one of the top teams in the country this season and is coached by Kevin Boyle, who left Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick for there after last season. He coached Kentucky freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at St. Patrick and went 26-1 last season.

At Montverde, Russell will join former Lexington Sayre big man Dakari Johnson, considered one of the top five 2014 prospects in the country.

“He'll be able to play against great competition in practice and they play a national schedule,” Antonio Russell said. “But the main part for me was the academics. It's such a great academic situation that he could go there and forget about basketball and come back as the next Steve Jobs. It's a win-win situation for him.”

Russell started last season for Central and helped the Yellowjackets to a 15-10 record. He played for the Louisville Magic AAU team during the spring and summer and gained national attention by helping that team win several national events.

Russell has scholarship offers from Louisville, Indiana, Xavier and Purdue and has also been contacted by Ohio State and Kentucky. He’s ranked among the top 20 prospects nationally in the ’14 class.

“He's a special, special player and I wish him the best,” Central coach Doug Bibby said. “He has a chance to be the best player from around here in a while. He’s a good one.”




http://www.courier-journal.com/article/2...nav%7Chead

Really? Dang we have turned into a society that is just all about perception. I think this is a great move for their son and wish he and his family nothing, but the best. But, call it like it is, please?

Just call it like it is. It's like hearing football recruits say they picked Florida over Central Florida or USF because of their "great academics." Or picking UK in basketball over Illinois or Georgia. No you didn't because if you did, you would have picked Harvard, Yale, MIT (yes, they have a basketball program) or even KY's own Centre College.

As a matter of fact, if academics was the main concerned, they would have enrolled their son into Louisville Collgiate. Talk about a first class academic institution. Go to one of their graduation ceremonies, and out of 50 kids, the very bottom of the barrel schools that their graduates will be attending are UofL and UK (and, there might only be 5). The rest are schools like Centre, Rose-Hulman, IVY League, Furman and other academically prestigious schools.