Wild 48 hours of roster changes for Trinity Christian, Northwood Temple
Trinity Christian School's basketball program received a double dose of good news Tuesday.
It's already been an up-and-down week for Northwood Temple Academy, which added Jack Britt center and Class of 2018 recruit Immanuel Bates on Tuesday night, according to coach Corey Baker.
Shooting guard Josh Nickelberry is leaving Northwood Temple to join Trinity Christian and its strong Class of 2019 group that includes 6-foot-7 wing Joey Baker, who picked up a scholarship offer from Wake Forest on Tuesday afternoon. Nickelberry's departure was finalized a day after Northwood Temple also added shooting guard Michael Hueitt Jr., a Fayetteville native who played two seasons at Village Christian before spending last season at High Point Christian.
Wake and Virginia Tech have extended scholarship offers to both Nickelberry and Baker, who are rising sophomores. With Baker, 6-6 wing Greg Gantt and point guard K.J. Marshall in significant roles as freshmen on a Trinity Christian team that lost an injured Dennis Smith Jr. to early college enrollment, the Crusaders won an improbable state title.
Now they add Nickelberry, a 6-4 guard who attended Trinity Christian in the sixth and seventh grades. He also has offers from Baylor, VCU, Penn State and Howard.
"We're excited that he's coming back to the Trinity family," Trinity Christian coach Heath Vandevender said. "He has a special bond with Joey, Greg and K.J. - those are all Division I kids (in the future). It's going to be a lot of hard work, but it's going to be a lot of fun."
At Northwood Temple, Hueitt will be reunited with a first-year head coach in Baker, who worked previously as an assistant at Village Christian.
Hueitt, who is 6-foot-3 and approximately 160 pounds, has received more than a dozen Division I scholarship offers. Playing for Team CP3 this summer on the highly competitive Nike EYBL circuit, he averaged 13.1 points in 22 games while going 71-for-149 (47.7 percent) from 3-point range.
Hueitt had a 29-point game with eight 3-pointers in late May and received an offer from Charlotte head coach Mark Price after scoring 23 points in one EYBL Finals at Peach Jam game last month.
"We all know he's obviously a great talent," Baker said. "He's probably one of the best shooters around, something people have seen for a long time, but he's an even better kid."
When Hueitt transferred last year from Village Christian to High Point Christian, he teamed with Kentucky recruit Edrice "Bam" Adebayo. A week after their team lost in an NCISAA state final to complete a 24-6 season, head coach Brandon Clifford resigned.
Hueitt cited Clifford's departure as the main reason for leaving the school.
"We do not transfer lightly at all," Hueitt posted in an announcement on his Twitter account. "We went to a program specifically for my skill development and the coaching of Coach Clifford. My focus now is choosing a college, college preparation and skill development."
Bates, who is 6-9 and 195 pounds, has offers from Virginia Tech and eight other Division I programs. He averaged 7.8 points and 7.0 rebounds while blocking 64 shots as a Jack Britt sophomore.
Bates and Hueitt join a Northwood Temple program that has also lost Class of 2018 point guard Dakari Johnson, who plans to play next season at Village Christian.
It's also worth noting that Class of 2017 wing Jatrious Smith, who transferred from Fayetteville's E.E. Smith to Pebblebrook High School in Georgia last year, has said he won't return to Pebblebrook. Northwood Temple is an option for the 6-4 Smith, who recently decommitted from Ole Miss.
- By Bret Strelow, Staff writer FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Trinity Christian School's basketball program received a double dose of good news Tuesday.
It's already been an up-and-down week for Northwood Temple Academy, which added Jack Britt center and Class of 2018 recruit Immanuel Bates on Tuesday night, according to coach Corey Baker.
Shooting guard Josh Nickelberry is leaving Northwood Temple to join Trinity Christian and its strong Class of 2019 group that includes 6-foot-7 wing Joey Baker, who picked up a scholarship offer from Wake Forest on Tuesday afternoon. Nickelberry's departure was finalized a day after Northwood Temple also added shooting guard Michael Hueitt Jr., a Fayetteville native who played two seasons at Village Christian before spending last season at High Point Christian.
Wake and Virginia Tech have extended scholarship offers to both Nickelberry and Baker, who are rising sophomores. With Baker, 6-6 wing Greg Gantt and point guard K.J. Marshall in significant roles as freshmen on a Trinity Christian team that lost an injured Dennis Smith Jr. to early college enrollment, the Crusaders won an improbable state title.
Now they add Nickelberry, a 6-4 guard who attended Trinity Christian in the sixth and seventh grades. He also has offers from Baylor, VCU, Penn State and Howard.
"We're excited that he's coming back to the Trinity family," Trinity Christian coach Heath Vandevender said. "He has a special bond with Joey, Greg and K.J. - those are all Division I kids (in the future). It's going to be a lot of hard work, but it's going to be a lot of fun."
At Northwood Temple, Hueitt will be reunited with a first-year head coach in Baker, who worked previously as an assistant at Village Christian.
Hueitt, who is 6-foot-3 and approximately 160 pounds, has received more than a dozen Division I scholarship offers. Playing for Team CP3 this summer on the highly competitive Nike EYBL circuit, he averaged 13.1 points in 22 games while going 71-for-149 (47.7 percent) from 3-point range.
Hueitt had a 29-point game with eight 3-pointers in late May and received an offer from Charlotte head coach Mark Price after scoring 23 points in one EYBL Finals at Peach Jam game last month.
"We all know he's obviously a great talent," Baker said. "He's probably one of the best shooters around, something people have seen for a long time, but he's an even better kid."
When Hueitt transferred last year from Village Christian to High Point Christian, he teamed with Kentucky recruit Edrice "Bam" Adebayo. A week after their team lost in an NCISAA state final to complete a 24-6 season, head coach Brandon Clifford resigned.
Hueitt cited Clifford's departure as the main reason for leaving the school.
"We do not transfer lightly at all," Hueitt posted in an announcement on his Twitter account. "We went to a program specifically for my skill development and the coaching of Coach Clifford. My focus now is choosing a college, college preparation and skill development."
Bates, who is 6-9 and 195 pounds, has offers from Virginia Tech and eight other Division I programs. He averaged 7.8 points and 7.0 rebounds while blocking 64 shots as a Jack Britt sophomore.
Bates and Hueitt join a Northwood Temple program that has also lost Class of 2018 point guard Dakari Johnson, who plans to play next season at Village Christian.
It's also worth noting that Class of 2017 wing Jatrious Smith, who transferred from Fayetteville's E.E. Smith to Pebblebrook High School in Georgia last year, has said he won't return to Pebblebrook. Northwood Temple is an option for the 6-4 Smith, who recently decommitted from Ole Miss.
