College Coaches Eyeing Plumlees

WINONA LAKE - To think of them as stock, Eric Vaughn said without question he'd invest in brothers Miles and Mason Plumlee.

In a way he already has, coaching the 6-foot-9 basketball players during the summer as they toured the country with Blessed IJN, an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team with a number of players from the Fort Wayne area.

As it is, the Plumlees come from good stock, a 6-7 father who played Division I basketball at Tennessee Tech - as well as for Athletes In Action - and a 6-1 mother who played for Purdue.

Now their stock is rising, and to pursue both educational and basketball opportunities, the Plumlees - Miles, 17 and Mason, 16 - are transferring from Warsaw Community High School to Christ School near Ashville, N.C.

"I'm excited (about transferring)," said Miles, who is reclassified and is now a member of the class of 2008 while he would have been a senior this year at WCHS. "It's a very uptempo game at Christ School. They try and beat the opposition up and down the court every possession. They were the state champs two years ago, and I think we can do that again this year."

A month ago, the Plumlees attended a six-day camp in Tennessee with their Christ School teammates, playing 30 games and posting a 29-1 record.

"This will really prepare us for the college game," said Mason, a member of the class of 2009. "Look at all the big-time players that went to a prep school, this is good preperation for college."

Vaughn, a former assistant coach with Continental Basketball Association teams the Fort Wayne Fury and Gary Steeleheads, said in a phone interview Tuesday morning the Plumlees are major Division I prospects and that college coaches call him and ask about them "all the time."

"Most of them (college coaches) like their upside," said Vaughn of the Plumlees' ability to mature and imrove. "They have tremendous upside. They're tall, long and very skilled, but the No. 1 thing the coaches talk about is their upside. You're talking about two kids that are 6-9 that can handle the ball and play on the perimeter or inside. If you were talking about investing in stock and you asked me if I'd invest in them, I would, without question."

Mason has already been offered a full-ride scholarship by newly-hired Indiana University coach Kelvin Sampson. A story on rivals.com, a reputable recruiting Web site, confirms this and also says that Purdue coach Matt Painter is very interested.

In a makeshift filing cabinet at the family's Winona Lake home, letters addressed to the Plumlees are organized by school. On a tabletop near the kitchen, opened mail sits in neatly stacked piles.

There's a hand-signed Christmas card from University of Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl that reads "hope you're a part of the family soon."

Indiana. Illinois. Penn State. Purdue. Wisconsin. Northwestern. Their father says they've received mail from all but two Big Ten schools.

Clemson, Stanford, Georgetown and West Virginia have all showed major interest in Miles, who also received letters from well-respected educational facilities like Yale, Harvard and Cornell.

Why are the Plumlees, who local basketball fans saw score just a few points a game and come off the bench at WCHS, getting so much attention?

One answer is that their talent was evident while playing AAU basketball.

A year ago, Fort Wayne Snider graduate Marques Johnson played for Vaughn and Blessed IJN. He's now on scholarship for the Tennessee Volunteers, playing teams like Kentucky and Alabama in the Southeastern Conference.

This year, the AAU program the Plumlees play for also features Fort Wayne North star Eshaunte Jones, who has his college choice narrowed to four schools, including Indiana and UCLA.

Plain and simple, playing AAU basketball is instrumental in getting players college scholarships, at least to Division I programs.

"Summer basketball can make you or break you," said Mason, who Vaughn said had three monster dunks in the second half of a tournament game this past weekend at Spiece Fieldhouse in Fort Wayne.

Having played college basketball himself, as well as coaching at the professional level, including last year when he was an assistant with the Steelheads alongside former Chicago Bull Cliff Levingston, Vaughn also pointed out the importance of AAU basketball for those hoping to play college basketball.

"It's the most important thing," said Vaughn. "It's very hard for a kid to get a scholarship on high school basketball alone. That's not to dismiss the importance of high school coaches or basketball, but college coaches don't come to games unless they see you in AAU."

The Plumlees have been seen by a number of college coaches this summer.

They've played in tournaments in Texas, West Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina and most recently the Reebok Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas.

In a game in Morgantown, W.V., Miles, who wears a size 18 shoe, hit five consecutive three-pointers and finished the game with 31 points and 13 rebounds. More phone calls came in and more coaches took notice.

In a game in Las Vegas last week, a game a member of the Wisconsin coaching staff saw, Miles scored 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.

Of the schools that have shown interest in him, Miles said he was most impressed with Illinois and Stanford.

Vaughn said that after another summer of AAU basketball the number of phone calls and interested coaches would grow. He also said that the Plumlees have garnered attention from mid-major Division I schools, but that when the coaches find out Miles has has two more years of high school and Mason three they stop contact because they don't figure a smaller school will be able to get them.

Miles was 5-10 as a freshman at WCHS and 6-4 as a sophomore. The last time he was measured he was 6-9.

The WCHS basketball program this past season listed both Plumlees at 6-7.

Because he was taller at a younger age and developed quicker, word got around about Mason when he was playing at Lakeview Middle School.

Interest in Miles is no longer taking a backseat, so to speak, to his younger brother.

"Miles is a little more skilled right now," said Vaughn. "Mason may make more spectacular plays, but I'm telling you, Miles can shoot the ball. Mason has a great feel for the game in the sense that he loves to pass the ball. He's a good passer."

Vaughn said over time he could see the Plumlees being 6-11 and that what they need to work on is getting stronger.

Mason, who wears a size 17 shoe, said the schools he's been impressed with are Indiana - because "they offered" - Tennessee and Purdue.

"I'm serious, the sky's the limit with Miles and Mason," said Vaughn. "They are major Division I prospects. They've both had tremendous dunks this summer on several people. What they need to do is get stronger and more athletic."

Playing at Christ School next year will only help the Plumlees, both of whom are straight A students.

Christ School is an all-male preperatory school with an enrollment of 200.

The school won the state championship two years ago and also returns a guard this year that is getting Divison I looks.

Christ School's schedule has 30-plus games and the team will play games in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

In addition to playing AAU basketball this summer, the Plumlees also attended invitation-only camps at IU and Iowa and were selected to participate at the Adidas Rising Stars camp, as well as Reebok's Camp Next.

The Plumlees will leave Warsaw Aug. 16 and school will start Aug. 19 at Christ School.

A younger brother, Marshall, is 6-6 and will be an eighth grader this month at Lakeview Middle School.