Some of the best college basketball programs are Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky. Others may think the best teams are the ones with a lot of history such as Indiana, Syracuse, or possibly UCLA (University of California Los Angeles). One important way to keep a good team for many years is to recruit good players at positions you need. Although all college coaches know this, they commonly ask the question, “Where do the best of the best come from?” Sometimes they wonder if they’re from the west coast in California? Maybe Indiana, which people often call the “Hoosiers”. What about North Carolina, which is home to eighteen Division 1 colleges? Where do the most talented really come from? Where do the best go to college? Which schools produce the most NBA players?

     Ncaa.com has a graph showing the states with the most players on top 25 teams. California has the most with 37, and Indiana, Texas, and Illinois are the only other ones that have at least twenty, but North Carolina is just barely behind with nineteen. Only fourteen states have at least ten, and there are only forty states that actually have players on top 25 teams, which means ten states don’t have any at all.

     Some sports networks rank teams based on their recruiting classes. Others think that is impossible to rank every player in the US based on their high school performances because there is different competition in each state. I believe that theory is correct. According to espn.com, last year Duke had the best recruiting class out of 347 teams, but when the season was over, they finished 18th in the rankings. Villanova was the national champion this year, and they finished 24th overall in recruiting coming into this season. When Connecticut won the Championship a few years ago, they weren’t even in the top forty coming into that season.

     Rpiratings.com says that Kentucky University has the most current NBA players with twenty-one. There are 111 colleges with current players in the NBA, but eighty-eight of them have less than five. Although there are players with great success in college, they might struggle so much that they don’t last for more than two years in the pros.

     I think some of these questions have been answered now. Where do the most talented really come from? It seems like the majority come from California, Indiana, Texas, Illinois, and North Carolina. Where do the best go to college? Duke and Kentucky have the most consistent recruiting classes each year. What schools produce the most NBA players? Bigger schools such as Kansas and North Carolina. Although many can predict who will be the next best player, no one is for sure.

Dear Diary,

     Life has been pretty rough lately. I thought I could make it on my own after my mom died and her boyfriend left, but that was not the case. The bills had already been paid for the next two months, and I was getting pretty good at stealing things. It was just basic stuff such as a loaf of bread from Mr. Karlini’s grocery store, but when Coach Rankin said that I needed new basketball shoes, I had to do something. I told him I had my eye on some new blue and white shoes. I took six buses and two hours to get to the Foot Locker all the way in Percy. The people were so nice there, especially De’Ron, one of the employees, who was helping me get the right colors and sizes. When I found the pair I liked, I lied and told him I needed a half size up. He went into the back of the store to find them, and I calmly walked out of the store, noticing that there was no security scanners. I was a few steps out of the store, and then I decided to run as fast as I could away from the store. “Where do you think you’re going, son?” a man’s voice said as I felt a large hand clamp down on my shoulder. After reading his shirt, I realized he was the manager of the Foot Locker. “I was just looking for my mom,” I said very quietly. “She was supposed to meet me here.” He didn’t buy it, and he walked me back to the store.

     After they found out that I was a twelve year-old boy living on my own, they took me to the Child Protection Services. The social worker, Ms. Moretti, was very relaxed when she was talking to me, even when I was yelling. She could hear my stomach growling, so she got me a large pizza. Once the pizza was gone, she told me to wait outside the office so she could find some foster parents that are willing to take me in. I’ve never liked the idea of foster parents. Living with people I’ve never met before actually kind of scares me. “It only took one phone call to find foster parents for you.” Ms. Moretti said.

     And that’s how I ended up here. I have to live at Tom and Carol Lawton’s giant house on the other side of Moreland. Since I didn’t live on the east side of Moreland anymore, I had to go to a different school. That meant new clothes, new teachers, new friends, and worst of all, a new team. That made me furious. The Lawtons stayed calm when ever I would make rude comments towards them. She showed me around the house, and it looked very nice, but I just stayed quiet. When she showed me my new room, I was shocked. It was bigger than my whole living room back at the junky apartment! “Please get out of here and leave me alone!” I shouted, trying to sound angry. The bed was so comfortable, and it was the best sleep I had ever had. I’m trying to adjust to a new environment, but it’s difficult. Maybe change won’t be as bad as think it will be, or maybe it will be worse.

 

     Until Next Time,
     Jayson Barnes

I wish people could see

The girl on the inside,

But no

They look at the outside

I really do know things

Like math, science, and reading,

But they will never know

When they look at the outside

I may not look intelligent

But actually, I am,

And they will never know

When they look at the outside

I am a fun person

I like to have a good time,

But they will never know

When they look at the outside

I feel like a ghost

But the truth is

I’m here,

But they will never know

When they look at the outside

I just want to fit in

And be with the cool kids,

But they will never know

When they look at the outside

I want to have lots of friends

And have everyone like me,

I think you’d like me

If you just give me a chance,

But they will never know

When they look at the outside

I wish people could see

The girl on the inside,

But no

They look at the outside

     While studying the Holocaust, I learned that you should not give up on your dreams just because someone says you are not good enough to do it. Adolf Hitler grew up in Austria and loved art, and he attended art school when he was eighteen years old. A Jewish person there told him he had no art ability and he should drop out. Instead of not giving up and striving to be the best he could be, he started World War Two and killed about six million Jews. You must do what you want to do no matter what everyone else thinks.

     Another lesson I learned while studying the Holocaust is to not treat other people badly because they are not like you. Hitler tried to eliminate Jews, Gypsies, disabled people, Poles, and many more religions and races. He wanted everyone to be blonde-haired and blue-eyed. It is very important to treat others with kindness no matter what they look like or what they believe.

Dear Diary,

 

     I have been terrified for the past few days, but when I found out what the soldiers were doing to the Jews, I was more terrified than ever before. My best friend and her family are Jewish, which makes me worry for them and their future. I was suspicious when Ellen was staying the night with us instead of being with her family for Jewish New Year’s, but I couldn’t figure out why. That night, when Kirsti was being put to bed, it was just me, Ellen, and Papa, and I decided to ask, “What’s happening? Something’s wrong. What is it?”. Then he proceeded to tell me how the Nazis took the lists of all the Jews addresses and names from the synagogue, which did have the Rosens information on it. Now I felt that I had the knowledge of everything that was happening.

     He says they’re taking them away for “Relocation”. Although I don’t know what that really means, “We only know that it is wrong, and it is dangerous, and we must help. I was more frightened when Ellen started tearing up, and then began to cry. Then another thought popped into my head, “Where are Ellen’s parents? We must help them, too!” Papa explained that if we kept the whole family, it would be very obvious that we are trying to hide the Rosens, but we could disguise Ellen as my sister. I don’t know what the soldiers have against Jews, but I do know that they are trying to do something awful to them. It’s scary to think of all the horrid things they could do to them if they ever do get them, but I try hard not to think about all of it. It does start to make more sense why all the soldiers have been here for the last three years, but I don’t know why they have been here so long.

     Many people are risking their lives to protect the Jews, and I say I would, but honestly, I don’t know if I really would, because I’m just an ordinary ten year-old girl in Denmark. Hopefully I will gain courage and not be scared of the soldiers anymore.

 

Until Next Time,

Annemarie

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