Babbitt shows why he is the best recruit in Nevada history
Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007 @ 2:35 am
Last Tuesday featured one of Nevada’s most anticipated prep basketball games in recent memory.
In a matchup between the last two Nevada 4A champions, fans packed Reno High’s gym to watch an experienced, athletic Huskies squad take on defending champ Galena High.
The Galena fans sitting around me seemed pretty excited when the Grizzlies held on for a 73-69 win.
I didn’t care. At all.
I actually had to Google the score because I couldn’t remember.
In my mind the score read “Nevada 34, Duke 4.”
I haven’t cared about high school sports since spending my sophomore year as a subpar varsity golfer for the mighty Wells Leopards, so I wasn’t there to watch Reno or Galena.
I showed up to watch Galena’s Luke Babbitt, aka the future of Wolf Pack basketball, go heads up with Reno forward and Blue Devils commit Olek Czyz.
Babbitt, a 6-foot-8 power forward, is easily the highest profile recruit in Wolf Pack history. He’s a likely McDonald’s All-American and ESPN’s No. 16 prospect for 2008. After originally committing to Ohio State, Babbitt chose over the summer to stay close to home and play in the house that Fazekas built.
He could be for Nevada what Chuck Norris is for Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign.
Czyz, on the other hand, is an über-athletic power forward with ridiculous leaping ability who ranks as the state’s second best non-prep school prospect.
He pulled a David Padgett, a Reno High grad who played at Kansas before transferring to Louisville, and went the high-major road without giving the Wolf Pack much of a sniff.
The Wolf Pack may never approach Duke’s basketball legacy, but Babbitt dominated the battle of the super prospects.
Czyz couldn’t beat him to the rim, and instead settled for shooting 3-pointers. Czyz shot 1 of 14 for the game and finished with four points. He made his first field goal in the fourth quarter with the Huskies trailing by 20.
Babbitt didn’t have a great shooting night either, but he still scored 34 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
More importantly, Babbitt showed he’s going to be as good as the hype surrounding him.
Babbitt handles the ball very well, he’s a great passer and his hands are reminiscent of Fazekas.
The knock on Babbitt has been that he’s not a great athlete, but he was able to completely contain Czyz.
The Huskies made the game close with a late run, but Babbitt’s one-on-one battle was over in the first quarter.
Babbitt was humble about the personal matchup after the game, preferring instead to talk about the Grizzlies’ team effort while pulling in a younger teammate to share the credit.
Grizzlies coach Tom Mauer’s words were equally humble, but the smile on his face said much more.
Babbitt showed decisively why he’s the best prospect in Nevada, even though he chose not to go the high-major route.
That will have many Wolf Pack fans smiling for years to come.
Garrett Hylton is the senior editor. He can be reached at ghylton@nevadasagebrush.com
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February 8th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
I have met and known Luke (Babbitt)when I went back (December 20, 2007) working out at the hard-core Stadium gym. The dude is cool and friendly and I told him that he’ll surpass Nick (Fazekas) and other NCAA standouts. I call him the “Great Nevada Hope” and like Nostradamus I gave him some prediction glitch as, “You’ll be the Best of the Best in NBA and there is no way that you are going to NDL (NBA Developmental League). Aloha Mai Kakou!!!