The Jump:

Sebastian Telfair and the High Stakes Business of High School Ball

February 16, 2005

Ian O'Connor

Sebastian Telfair hadn't dropped the ball after his Louisville trip; he spent the last 2 weeks of January breaking records and getting even. But Telfair did open that stretch by shooting far too much in an overtime loss at Grady, scoring 11 of his 34 in the extra session and pissing off his teammates in the process.

"This NBA thing is killing us," Nyan Boateng told me. "We understood on the (UCLA) trip that Sebastian had to play for the NBA scouts, but he's got to play team ball in these games in our backyard, when there's no scouts here. That's how we won the state championship last year after he fouled out -- by playing team ball."

The following day, Boateng had to be talked out of quitting the team by his football coach, Shawn O'Connor, who'd had this conversation with his wide receiver many times before. Boateng always seemed to get more love from the football coaches in his life. He said he received two calls on his cell from Greg Toal, coach of national powerhouse Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey , New Jersey , asking if he'd be interested in transferring to a school that would give him greater exposure. Those calls would be an obvious breach of high school rules on recruiting.

Toal denied making the calls. "We don't do business like that," he said. 'I never met the kid. I wouldn't even know what he looks like. Where is he, in the Bronx ? Brooklyn ? That would be a 5-hour commute. Somebody's having fun with this. It sounds like Fantasy Island ."

When told of Toal's remarks, Boateng said, "Really? He's bugging. I was with him at an awards dinner, and I know his son. He definitely called me twice. I guess he doesn't want to make a big deal out of it."

At Lincoln , Morton usually didn't want to make a big deal out of Boateng's desire to be a central part of Lincoln 's offense. But this time around, Morton was on Boateng's side. He said he ripped into Telfair for playing selfishly and focusing too much on the UCLA and Louisville games.

In the get-even games with Cardozo and Sheepshead Bay high schools, Telfair returned to his playmaking roots to lead Lincoln to victory. It was a temporary adjustment. Aided by Morton's willingness to run up the score on hapless opponents, Telfair set a Lincoln single-game record with 61 points against the High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology, and then broke Kenny Anderson's New York career scoring record of 2,621 points by dropping 49 on Grand Street Campus, this while Morton put on a full-court press with the Railsplitters holding a 51-point lead.

Telfair was rising on everybody's draft board. Two days before the Prime Time game, the Los Angeles Clippers' director of player personnel, Barry Hecker, and their New York-based scout, Evan Pickman, dropped by Lincoln 's practice to watch their potential point guard of the future.

Pickman was Telfair's biggest fan; Hecker was a skeptic who'd been won over at Pauley Pavilion. Telfair was aware of their presence. He acted like a playmaker possessed in the first half of practice, and when he fired a perfect one-handed bounce pass on the break to a streaking teammate, Hecker threw on his black parka and motioned to Pickman that it was time to go.

"He's seen enough," Pickman said through a smile.

The Clippers would see more in Trenton , where Telfair had put on some second-half show the year before against St. Anthony of Jersey City , ripping one of the nation's best teams, Jeff Hewitson recalled, "with a bone shooting out of his foot."

Rick Pitino sent his assistant, Reggie Theus, to monitor the Lincoln-Southwest Atlanta Christian game. Louisville had lost its Plan B at the point, Oak Hill's Rajon Rondo, to Kentucky , so the Cardinals were hanging on the thinnest hope that Telfair would crap out and crash-land in college. But Theus told me he wouldn't ask the Lincoln star if he was planning on entering the NBA draft.

"Why would I?" he said. "I don't want the kid to lie to me, and that's what he'd have to do."

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