Thad Mumauâs column runs over at Smartnewsnc.com, and heâs nice enough to let us reprint it on DBR. Thanks Thad!
Future Virginia wing player Sylven Landesberg is lighting it up during his senior season in high school. But, then, that is nothing new.
Landesberg is a 6-foot-6 small forward/wing guard from Flushing (N.Y.) Holy Cross and is ranked the No. 32 senior prospect in the nation by prepstars.com.
He is averaging close to 30 points and 12 rebounds per game this season and has passed Willie Dersch (a former UVa. player) on the Holy Cross career scoring list.
Landesberg did that with a 44-point outburst in a City of Palms Tournament win over Harvey (La.) Cox, which is led by No. 1 prospect Greg Monroe. The 6-10 Monroe, who has signed with Georgetown, had 16 points and 13 boards.
A smooth operator who can get to the basket for some devastating dunks and can also hit the three-pointer, Landesberg worked hard over the summer to polish his ball handling and mid-range game.
So, an already potent scorer is simply wielding more weapons this season. In Holy Crossâ victory over Brooklyn Boys and Girls, he threw in 29 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. He had 27 and 12 in another contest and 21 and 14 in still another.
Landesberg had a 41-point outing as a junior on the way to averaging 27 per game and leading the New York City Catholic High School Athletic Association in scoring. He also led the league in scoring with a sophomore average of 20.9.
He chose Virginia over St. Johnâs even after meeting with legendary former St. Johnâs coach Lou Carneseca, who was lobbying for his old team.
Top 25 juniors
Here are the top 25 players in the class of 2009, according to prepstars.com:
1. Renardo Sidney, 6-9 power forward, Los Angeles (Cal.) Fairfax
2. Derrick Favors, 6-9 center, Atlanta (Ga.) South
3. Lance Stephenson, 6-5 wing guard, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Lincoln
4. Xavier Henry, 6-6 wing guard, Oklahoma City (Okla.) Putnam City
5. DeMarcus Cousins, 6-10 center, Pinson (Ala.) Clay-Chalkville
6. Kenny Boynton, 6-2 wing guard, Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage
7. Jordan Hamilton, 6-6 small forward, Compton (Cal.) Dominguez
8. Dexter Strickland, 6-3 wing guard, Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick
9. DaShonte Riley, 6-10 center, Beverly Hills (Mich.) Detroit Country Day
10. Leslie McDonald, 6-4 wing guard, Memphis (Tenn.) Briarcrest
11. Alex Oriakhi, 6-9 center, Tilton (N.H.) School (CONNECTICUT)
12. Jamil Wilson, 6-7 small forward, Racine (Wisc.) Horlick
13. Hollis Thompson, 6-6 small forward, Los Angeles (Cal.) Loyola (GEORGETOWN)
14. Nolan Dennis, 6-4 wing guard, North Richland Hills (Texas) Richland
15. Dominic Cheek, 6-5 wing guard, Jersey City (N.J.) St. Anthony
16. Reeves Nelson, 6-6 power forward, Modesto (Cal.) Christian
17. Karron Johnson, 6-7 power forward, Durham Mount Zion
18. Erik Murphy, 6-9 power forward, Southborough (Mass.) St. Markâs
19. Elijah Johnson, 6-2 point guard, North Las Vegas (Nev.) Cheyenne
20. Travis Wear, 6-9 power forward, Santa Ana (Cal.) Mater Dei
21. David Wear, 6-9 power forward, Santa Ana (Cal.) Mater Dei
22. Wally Judge, 6-8 power forward, Jacksonville (Fla.) ACD (KANSAS STATE)
23. Durand Scott, 6-4 wing guard, Manhattan (N.Y.) Rice
24. Maalik Wayns, 6-0 point guard, Philadelphia (Pa.) Catholic (VILLANOVA)
25. Stephan Van Treese, 6-8 power forward, Indianapolis (Ind.) Lawrence North
Notes: Boynton scored 61 points in Heritageâs 88-71 win over Fort Myers (Fla.) Dunbar in the City of Palms Tournament. He hit 22 of 33 shots, including 11 of 18 three-point attempts.
Travis and David Wear are twins.