[QUOTE]Mezie Uzochukwu (Northeast Guilford), [COLOR=Green][B]who plans to attend Charlotte[/B][/COLOR], scored a game-high 16 points en route to being named most valuable player.
Uzochukwu was 7-for-7 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds – the latter total matched by Boiling Springs Crest’s Dion Malachi. West Rowan’s Jamel Carpenter chipped in 13 for the winners.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]the Upstate coach saw them and five other '07 signees as the mortar in the foundation of a basketball program making the jump from Division II to the D-I Atlantic Sun Conference this season.
…
He could have gone to Charlotte to study engineering, but no scholarship offer was forthcoming.[/QUOTE]
Hmmm…either something happened between now and yesterday…or the Observer made a mistake…or…
I GOT IT!
There must be TWO people named Mezie Uzochukwu in the Charlotte area who play Div I basketball. It’s all a great big misunderstanding.
Uzochukwu (6-5, Wing/Guard, Greensboro, N.C.) was named the Triad 3A Conference Player of the Year and was an All-Area selection as a standout player on the Northeast Guilford High School squad. He averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game as a senior, earning the team's Most Outstanding Player and Best Defensive Player awards. He was named to the Triad 3A All-Tournament team and was an East-West All-Star Game selection. He finished his career with over 1,400 points and was also a standout in AAU basketball during the summers. In addition to his basketball ability, he has been a standout in the classroom. He earned the All-Academic Award from Northeast Guilford and is a member the Beta Club.
First half:
Wide open play - highlight quality dunks and moves mixed with missed dunks and sloppy passes. [b]West’s Mezie Uzochukwu (Northeast Guilford) very impressive - don’t think he missed a shot or turned the ball over at all - finishes well.[/b] East’s Jontae Sherrod (Tarboro) similar - scoring in bunches early. Brock Young (Broughton) very quick off the dribble with good vision. Game played very even - East heads to the locker room up 43 - 41.
Second half:
Sherrod continuing to shine - perfectly timed block, dribble penetration, no look passes. Overall scoring pace picking up a bit. Dee Bost (Concord TeamCard) and West distributing the ball well and getting points in transition off turnovers, maintaining a steady lead.
West wins 81 - 75. Uzochukwu indeed did not miss in the first half - and repeated his performance in the second half, winning MVP honors with 16 points on perfect shooting from the field and the line, adding 8 rebounds, and not turning the ball over. Bost played very well too - playing more of a pure point guard role than his normal scorer role.
Mezie…Northeast Guilford High…6-6, 210…forward…coached by Curtis Hunter…as senior, named All-Conference, Conference Player of the Year, All-Area…averaged 21 points, 11 rebounds…as junior, named All-Conference, All-County…averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds…as sophomore, named All-Conference, Little Four All-Tournament…averaged 13 points, 7 rebounds…member of Honor Roll, Beta Club, Active Peer Helper…plans to attend UNC Charlotte where he will major in engineering…his parents are his role models…favorite college athlete is Kevin Durant…favorite pro athlete is LeBron James…says “Being selected to play in the all-star game is truly a great honor that I will embrace. I expect to gain a sense of appreciation of hard work of others and myself.”
[QUOTE=run49er;248788]Interesting that his Scout profile doesn’t mention anything about USC Upstate (or any other school, for that matter!).[/QUOTE]
Not really. Scout.com doesn’t even have USC Upstate in their database yet (I guess they still consider them Div II). I tried a prospect search by school name.
Hey, it turns out that both Mezie Uzochukwus were very good students and future engineering majors. Man, I sure hope we got the good Mezie Uzochukwu and not the bad Mezie Uzochukwu.
[QUOTE]"I try to play defense hard. I take pride in that.”[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]“We tried all week to really emphasize defense,” said (Coach) Kent, “We picked really good kids and they obviously responded to it. A lot of people can be hard to coach and our guys were easy.”[/QUOTE]
[URL=http://www.thetimesnews.com/sports/west_4032___article.html/east_points.html]link[/URL]
[QUOTE]“Being the MVP is great, but I’m not really an individual guy,” said Uzochukwu, a South Carolina Upstate signee. “I just wanted to prove to anybody that doubted me that I could play on the next level.”[/QUOTE]
[URL=http://news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070717/NEWSREC0105/70717010][B]Uzochukwu-led West wins[/B][/URL], Greensboro News-Record
We have been trying to determine if it was a mistake. His coach, Curtis Hunter (former coach at NC A&T) won’t return calls. As was posted earlier, the bio handed out at the game says he planned to attend UNC Charlotte (which is the information Alex Bass used who covered the game for us). However, there was a press release dated May 2 that says Mezie signed a letter of intent with USC Upstate. It appears the info given to the East-West all-star game would come from the players, and since there is no engineering school at USC Upstate, it would not be likely the schools were confused. Short answer: Until someone talks, we don’t know.
Jim, the bios for the program were turned in soon after the player selections. Half of the East boys’ soccer team has undecided for their college choice. I hope Uzo will be challenged enough in Spartanburg, especially since both of his parents are college professors.
No doubt here as to where he was going in Monday’s News-Record… [URL=http://news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070716/NEWSREC0105/707160305/1021/GTCOM][B]Uzochukwu will try to lead the West to victory[/B][/URL].
So do he and his parents think playing basketball for Upstate will better prepare him for life than an engineering degree from UNCCharlotte? How fast standards drop.
[QUOTE=HP49er;248855]No doubt here as to where he was going in Monday’s News-Record… [URL=http://news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070716/NEWSREC0105/707160305/1021/GTCOM][B]Uzochukwu will try to lead the West to victory[/B][/URL].[/QUOTE]
And solidified by this from the USC Upstate athletics website…
