Patterson, Oak Hill meet in ‘Battle of Blue Ridge'

These aren't your ordinary ballers.

The Patterson School and Oak Hill Academy, two of the most talented basketball schools in the country, will scrimmage in the second annual “Battle of the Blue Ridge” Tuesday at Mulberry Recreation Center.

Both schools are chock-full of Division I-caliber prospects.

“I think in this game we will be looking at probably 25 or more future major college players,” college basketball recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons said. “It's a preview to see the future stars of the game, and many of them are right here in Lenoir.”

The meeting between the two schools is a clash between the tradition of Oak Hill and the relatively infancy of Patterson as a top-tier prep school.

It's a matchup Patterson head coach Chris Chaney and his squad look forward to, and one they hope to use to gauge just how good the team is.

“We're hopefully the best prep team in the country and they're the best high school team in the country,” Chaney said. “We have a lot of respect for their program. I think it's a great thing for both teams. I think it can show us where we are and what we need to do.”

While Chaney expects his team to win games this year, it's still very early in the season and tough for him to gauge exactly what type of squad he has.

“I think it's always difficult when every year we basically get a new team,” Chaney said. “The guys are responding to what we're telling them to do. The good thing about our team is how unselfish we are. The team you see now, if you wait (two months), it's probably going to be two different teams. We're still a work in progress.”

Patterson Prep is still a relatively new power, but its 19-man squad ranks as one of the best in the country. Patterson returns four starters and several contributors from last year's 34-3 team.

“I've been up to watch Patterson practice four times since they started having open gym for college coaches in early September, and they have more overall depth and talent this year than last year,” Gibbons said. “(Patterson) goes 19 players deep. All the major ACC schools have been there, and (so have) schools like Louisville, Kentucky, Tennessee, Auburn, Charlotte and many, many others.”

Patterson's returning starters include 6-5 Dominique Sutton, 6-6 Tirrell Baines, 6-5 Jeremy Hazel and 6-1 Chris Poelnitz.

Sutton is currently being recruited by N.C. State, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech. Baines committed to College of Charleston, but Auburn has shown heavy interest lately. Hazel will attend Seton Hall.

Despite the returning experience, Gibbons doesn't think Patterson's best prospect is in the starting lineup.

“Sophomore forward Karron Johnson could arguably be the best prospect in class of 2009,” Gibbons said. “To me, he's their best all-around prospect.”

The best player on the court may be Nolan Smith. The 6-3 guard is Oak Hill's only returning starter and has committed to Duke.

“He's probably the most highly-rated player in the game,” Gibbons said. “I think he'll be a tremendous player in the ACC.”

Alex Legion, a 6-5 forward, will contribute heavily to Oak Hill this year. Legion will play at Michigan next season.

Brandon Jennings, a 6-2 point guard, will also make some noise this year. Gibbons said he thinks Jennings is the best underclassman point guard in the nation.

“He's a Raymond Felton type exciting player,” Gibbons said. “He's wide-open on schools, and Carolina, N.C. State and Wake are all checking him out.”

Tickets for the scrimmage are $5 for general admission and $10 for VIP tickets. They are pre-sold at Parkway Bank (Lenoir and Hudson branches), American Trade & Loan and All-Star Sports.

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