Issac Humphries Is The Latest Star To Migrate To Prep School

DUBAI, U.A.E– High school basketball in the United States has taken a page out of the NBA and is becoming global.

The great migration of elite players for Canadians, Africans, Australians and the Caribbean island nations is changing the dynamics of youth basketball in this country and making prep schools stronger than most traditional American high schools.

The latest star to receive a student visa is Issac Humphries, a 7-0, 250-pound 16-year old junior center from Sydney, Australia, who just set a U17 World Championship tournament scoring record with 41-points on 16 of 23 shooting with 19 rebounds during a pool game against Canada at the Hamden Sports Complex here. Then, he followed that up by punctuating a 21 point performance with two huge breakaway dunks off steals in overtime as Australia rallied from a 22-point deficit to beat Spain, 80-74, in the semi-finals Humphries has decided to make the journey from the Land down Under to attend the La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind. where he should become one of the top 10 players in the class of 2016.

He will be the third Australia five star front court prospect– with 6-9 senior forward Ben Simmons from Montverde, Fla. Academy and 7-0 junior Thon Maker, who was born in South Sudan but grew up in Australia before enrolling at the Carlisle, Va. School– to make this journey to the states to prepare themselves for high level college programs and eventually the NBA.

Simmons are arguably the best prospect in the class of 2015 while Maker is ranked No. 1 in the class of 2016.

Humphries is the latest impact player to surface at The La Lumiere School, which emerged as a basketball powerhouse under Allan Huss and has been a top 10 nationally ranked schools for the last four seasons– appearing in games on ESPN each year. He is already receiving interest from KU, Arizona, Duke, Florida, New Mexico, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt.

Humphries is from Sydney, Australia, where he played for Australian U17 coach Mark Watkins in youth group programs since he was 12 years old. “”He really groomed me as a player,’ Humphries said. “Pretty much everything you see is because of him, I always find myself doing things I don’t know I could do. I just do a thing and i’m like What the heck. I have no idea how did that and it just happened.”

Watkins has enjoyed watching Humphries grow up in the international circuit. “He’s only a baby (born Jan. 5, 1998). He’ll be a bottom age player (1998-born) at the Worlds, one of three we will have on the team,” Watkins said. “In saying that, he doesn’t play like that. He’s matured a lot in the last six months.”

Humphries has a strong body, is good around the rim with both hands, rebounds well and is a very good passer. He was considered such a prodigy, he was invited to the senior Boomers camp as a 15-year old and got to work with national team assistant coach and legendary Australian center Luc Longley, who played in the NBA. Humphries, who spent last year on scholarship at the Australian Basketball Centre for Excellence, has improved his strength and conditioning as well as his stroke from mid-range. But his strength is in the low post. where he has an unstoppable spin move to the basket.

Humphries isn’t the only young elite prospect being developed in Australia. Deng Gak, an Australian of Sudanese heritage, is close to seven feet tall as is Harry Froling, another 1998-born player.

Humphries came to the attention of La Lumiere when then-assistant coach Brad Johnstin visited Australia in April to coach at an AUSA Hoops Scouting & Development camp in Sydney and scout the U18 Australian Junior Championships. Humphries dominated the tournament by averaging 17.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 3.4 blocks, 2.8 steals while shooting 67 percent from the floor.

Johnstin, who just became head coach after Huss left this summer to take an assistant’s coaching job at New Mexico.

Humphries wasn’t even sure what state La Lumiere was in when he was asked about school. “Illinois, no Indiana,” he said. “I was already looking at the idea. I was contacted by other prep schools and this seemed like a good fit for me with the academics and basketball. I hopefully see myself playing professionally in America one day, so getting used to that athletic game being played in the states is really important to me because we really don’t have that in Australia. It’s more structured and slower.”

Humphries is the classic example of a prospect who was a good athlete, then had a growth spurt at 12. “I moved to Hamilton, Ont. just outside Toronto for six months and then I got huge,” he said. “I went from 5-10 to 6-3. That’s why i started playing basketball because I was tall and I just kept growing.”

Just like Australian basketball, which made headlines in the NBA draft this year when 17-year old guard Dante Exxum, who graduated high school over there last November, was the fifth pick in the draft.

Exuum created qujite a splash two years earlier at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, then made the all tournament team at the U19 Worlds in Prague in the summer of 2013, where he was seen by every NBA franchise before his senior year in high school.

“We have solid programs down there,” Humphries said. “The Basketball Centre for Excellence in Sydney, where Dante was, provides strong training. Dante’s success have provided huge motivation for me. I know ?Dante and he’s a realy nice guy and to see someone that you know do that well is awesome and it makes you think you can do that one day, also.”

Three internationals– Wiggins, center Joel Embiid and Exxum– were all selected in the top 5 of this year’s NBa draft. At least one international player has been selected in the top 10 in 12 of the past 14 drafts and Wiggins, Anthony Bennett (Canada) in 2013, Andrea Bargnani (Italy) in 2006, Andrew Bogut (Australia) in 2005 and Yao Ming (China) in 2002 were all taken with the No. 1 overall pick.

Wiggins polished his game in the states and and Embiid, a 6-11 late bloomer who played for Kevin Boyle at Montverde, Fla. Academy, learned the game against the highest level of competition before signing to play with Wiggins at Kansas and becoming the No. 3 pick.

The future is now for the rest of the world

Senior prospects Gill-Ceasar, Ben Simmons, Maker, 6-9 Cheick Diallo from Mali and Our Savior New American in Centereach, N.Y., 6-9 Udoka Azubuike of Nigeria and Potter’s House Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Fla., 6-10 Skal Labissiere of Haiti and Evangelical Christian in Cordova, Tenn., 6-9 Moustapha Diagne of Senegal and Pope John XXIII of Sprata, N.J., 7-3 Jean March Christ Koumadje from Senegal and Montverde and and juniors like Humphries and 6-11 Adbulhakim Ado from Nigeria and Hamilton Heights, Tenn. Academy should fill up the NBA draft boards in the future.