[h1]Wayns to keep alive the Philadelphia point guard tradition[/h1]
Updated: October 22, 2008
Getty Images/Icon SMI/Kelly Kline
Maalik Wayns, the No. 22 player in the Class of 2009, has the talent to follow in the footsteps of fellow Philadelphia point guards Jameer Nelson (left) and Kyle Lowry (center).
[h3]Wayns Ready To Carry The Torch As Philadelphia's Next Great Point Guard[/h3]
By Dana O'Neil
ESPN.com
PHILADELPHIA -- Every day in the summer of 2005, Jameer Nelson drove onto the Villanova campus.
Suspicious basketball fans shuddered.
There are a few things you don't do in Philadelphia. You don't ask what a 'cheesesteak with' is, you don't root for the Cowboys and youdon't cross basketball loyalties.
Big 5 blood runs thick; Catholic League hoops even thicker.
If you go to Saint Joseph's you don't fraternize with Villanova and for the love of God, don't marry one another.
Graduate from Roman Catholic? You don't root for Cardinal Dougherty or Saint Joseph's Prep, league divisions be damned. It's principle.
Nelson on the Villanova campus? That was worse than a Hatfield pitching a tent among the McCoys.
But within the confines of the parochial and fiercely neighborhood-centric city there is a subculture that defies the rules and gets away with it.
Among Philly point guards there is almost a Biblical birth order that knows no allegiances: La Salle's Doug Overton (Dobbins Tech) begat Nelson(Chester) who begat Kyle Lowry (Cardinal Dougherty).
And now Lowry, Nelson's rival turned protégé in that summer of 2005, is passing the torch across more enemy lines.
Lowry, a Dougherty graduate, is shepherding Roman Catholic's
MaalikWayns.
"Once you get to this level, all that crossing school lines is old,'' said Lowry, entering his third season with the Memphis Grizzlies."It's not about Villanova or St. Joe's or Roman or Dougherty. It's like a fraternity. We all take pride in Philadelphia and want to make sureevery kid gets the help if they want it. You see that potential and you want to help people reach it.''
It is quite the lineage that Wayns is following, one that includes three NBA Draft picks, 4,432 points, 1,555 assists and 641 steals.
According to recruiting experts, Wayns, who will follow in Lowry's footsteps to Villanova, is more than equipped to carry the tradition.
Ranked third best at his position by ESPN Scouts Inc. (behind
JohnWall and
Abdul Gaddy) and the 22nd best player in the 2009 class,Wayns' stock has skyrocketed since he gave a verbal commitment to Jay Wright following his sophomore season.
His rise, in fact, has been so meteoric that the natural questions about honoring his verbal are surfacing, especially when Villanova already has astockpile of guards in Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes.
"I know there are rumors out there about me wavering but no chance,'' said Wayns, who averaged 24.6 points and 7.6 assists for Roman in hisjunior season. "Back in ninth and 10th grade, I wasn't nationally known but I wanted to pick the right school for me. That was Villanova and nothinghas changed.''
OK, well some things have changed.
Two years ago no one knew Wayns.
This year he sandwiched all-star performances during summer-league ball in Las Vegas and Philadelphia with a spot on the U.S. Under-18 roster. The youngestplayer selected, he earned rave reviews from the team's head coach, Davidson's Bob McKillop. "He gets it in the right hands at the right time andto the right spot," McKillop said. "His decision-making is impeccable.''
Jason O. Watson for ESPN.com
Wayns is the top player in Villanova's stellar 2009 recruiting class.
So he's got the talent of his predecessors. The question is, does he have the toughness?
Ask basketball people to define a Philly guard and you're sure to hear the same words time and again: tough, gritty, hard-nosed, scrappy. Nelson andLowry epitomized the city's pride and job.
Both undersized, they inserted tenacity for whatever height differential they lost. Nelson rode his pluck to national player of the year honors; Lowry to anearly college exit to the NBA.
"It comes from playing on the playgrounds,'' Wayns said. "You can't be soft. If you're soft, you're not playing.''
It's a trait that can't necessarily be taught but it can be honed. Lowry refined his that summer he spent with Nelson. Fiercely competitive with apit bull mentality wrapped in a Chihuahua's frame, Lowry's natural talent was at times undone by his impetuous behavior and stubbornness. WatchingNelson, then a pro, changed him.
In Wayns, Lowry sees none of his own bad traits. He's a good kid from a tough city.
That doesn't mean there's nothing to improve. Lowry, who's known Wayns for years, saw some things this summer when the two worked out and whenWayns played with Team Philly, his AAU team coached by Lowry's older brother, Lonnie.
"I thought I knew everything back then and I haven't really seen that with him; he's a good kid,'' Lowry said. "He's veryadvanced offensively. He's definitely a better shooter than I was, but the thing with me, when I scored 10 or 11 in a row, I wanted 13 and 14. I didn'tstop. He needs to learn that, to keep pushing.''
Alongside the inspirational players who have made it and guided him, there are plenty of Philadelphia cautionary tales to keep Wayns on the straight andnarrow as well. He walks the same high school halls that were once home to Eddie Griffin.
As a senior at Roman, Griffin was the high school national player of the year, a kid so gifted he drew comparisons to Philadelphia's greatest basketballexport, Wilt Chamberlain.
Six years later, after a disjointed college and NBA career, he was dead, killed when his car was hit by a train.
Wayns knows the story well. He knows, too, the pressures that will come this year. With top rankings come expectations and come opposing teams as keen onstopping him as beating Roman.
"I know I just need to stay focused,'' Wayns said. "It's about not letting the hype get to you and just playing yourgame.''
Wayns' game could take him even further this year. This is the first time Philadelphia Catholic League schools are eligible to compete in thePennsylvania state championships. Wayns already owns a Catholic League championship. He'd love to be part of the first Catholic League team to win a statecrown and not just for the spot in history.
For all of his individual accomplishments, Lowry never won a team title. His Dougherty team was twice undone by St. Joe's Prep in the title game.
"I got more championships than him already,'' Wayns laughed. "It would be great to get another one.''
Told of Wayns' trash talk, Lowry scoffed.
"He can't trash talk me at all,'' Lowry said. "He's not old enough to do that. Yeah, I don't have a championship. We ran intoa good team with a good coach but I bet even if we had lost that Catholic League title, we would have won a state title.''
Dana O'Neilcovers college basketball for ESPN.com and can be reached at [email protected].
....
Where are NY PG's now? Kemba, and...?
And Eddie Griffin...never really hit me died...he always seemed under the radar...so talented. 18, 11 and 4.5 blocks a game his one year incollege...and really never got much pub...just a strange, strange, short life and career.
last season. He'll be expected to step in immediately and alleviate some of the pressure on Levance Fields by helping to fill the void left by graduated sharp-shooter Ronald Ramon.
