Montverde vs Oak Hill – The Battle of the Squads episode 2
By Jim James
High School: It is where most future prospects of the NBA make their name first. Just like colleges such as Duke, North Carolina, and Gonzaga, there are reputable High Schools as well – two of which are Montverde Academy and Oak Hill Academy. You may think that high school talent is spread out even more than colleges – and you would be right, but not as much as you would think. You’d be surprised by the 15-man rosters these High Schools can put up. Leaving you with that thought, we begin with Montverde Academy.
Montverde Academy
Montverde Academy is a private school for PK-12 in Orlando, on 17235 Seventh Street. It was founded in 1912 as Montgomery Industrial School, and Sports Programs were established in the 1920s, which is what make the school famous today. The team was nicknamed the Crackers.
In 2017 USA Today named Montverde academy the basketball academy of the decade. It currently houses 2024 draft prospect Skyy Clark to add to its list of players on this list in the future. You will notice that most of the players representing Montverde on this list are younger players, as the school only gaining fame over the last 10 or so years. Speaking of which, let’s see who dons the Purple and Gold of Montverde in this post.
Bench (In no particular order)
Scottie Barnes
Precious Achiuwa
Luc Mbah A Moute
Andrew Nembhard
Christ Koumadje
Moses Moody
Day’Ron Sharpe
Michael Frazier
Dakari Johnson
Filip Petrusev
Anthony Perez
Starting V
C: Joel Embiid
The Crown Jewel of Montverde Academy’s list of talents to have attended their school, you still probably wouldn’t see Joel Embiid’s name in lights on campus. That is because after only a year at the academy, he was transferred from lack of playing time. He was still relatively new to the game at that point, as the only other basketball experience Embiid had was in fellow Montverde player Luc Mbah A Moute’s basketball camp in Cameroon, where Embiid had been a standout.
PF Ben Simmons
Ben Simmons was the reasoning for this post, but as I covered him in yesterday’s post, I won’t talk too much about his Monverde career. Montverde’s second most talented recruit, this is where he started to get the comparisons to some of the best players of all time and national attention. 20 points per game and 69% shooting in his senior year, unprecedented numbers for a school even for Montverde.
SF Cade Cunningham
Except Cade Cunningham can break those numbers set by Simmons. 25 points per game in his Junior Year, while Simmons got 20 in his Senior year. He got 26 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds in a 76-51 win vs Montverde’s opponents here, Oak Hill. He teamed up in 2019-20 with Scottie Barnes and Day’Ron Sharpe to create one of the best High School teams of all time.
SG RJ Barrett
Barrett transferred to Montverde prior to his sophomore season, where he went off to a rough start, but he got to a nationwide status after the 2015-16 season, and got into the McDonalds all American game after his 3rd season with Montverde.
PG D’Angelo Russell
One of the older two players on this starting V, but still relatively young in NBA terms. He transferred to Montverde where he helped them win back to back Championships alongside Ben Simmons
Oak Hill Academy
Not much is known about this school besides its Basketball heritage, but we do know that it is a Christian 8-12 School, and it is boarding.
Bench
Rod Strickland
Ron Mercer
Calvin Duncan
Brandon Jennings
Sindarius Thornwell
DeSagana Diop
Cole Anthony
Harry Giles
Dwyane Bacon
Starting V
C: Josh Smith
An odd place to put Smith I know, but Oak Hill isn’t big on Big Men. Smith Attended from 2003-2004 and scored 22 points per game, getting Oak Hill a 38-0 record and getting himself rated as the #3 highest rated prospect in the draft.
PF: Kevin Durant
Durant never graduated from Oak Hill, transferring there in his sophomore year, moving to Montrose for his final year, he never reached his potential there, only maxing out at 6’2” there. He grew a staggering 5 inches for his year at Montrose and 2 for his year at the Texas Longhorns. Like Embiid, probably their best ever player but not graduating from that school.
SF: Carmelo Anthony
Anthony came to Oak Hill in his final year of High School, with more than Basketball on his mind. His grades dropped below a C average and he needed to improve in the classroom to make a move to Syracuse in college, his preferred destination. In the High School tournament, he became friends with Lebron James and equalled him in pretty much every stat. One of Oak Hill’s greatest ever players.
SG: Jerry Stackhouse
Like Anthony, Stackhouse came to Oak Hill in his final year, but not for a grade boost. Stackhouse burst out at the Academy, and got an undefeated record, and became the All-American MVP.
PG: Rajon Rondo
The last player I will talk about here before the evaluation and match up, Rajon Rondo broke Jeff McInnis’ record for most assists in a season and got 55 points in a single game in his 1 and only year at Oak Hill, getting him in the McDonald’s All American game.
I’m finished talking about the teams. Now it is time to compare. We will compare 6 topics and give them points standings. The High School with the most points wins.
Starting V 5 points
Oak Hill: J.Smith, K.Durant, C.Anthony, J.Stackhouse, R.Rondo
Montverde: J.Embiid, B.Simmons, C.Cunningham, R.Barrett, D.Russell
Oak Hill wins it here. The only individual matchup Montverde wins is Embiid over Josh Smith. Oak Hill gets the rest. The points go to Oak Hill.
Oak Hill 5
Montverde 0
Best Player 4 points
Oak Hill: Kevin Durant
Montverde: Joel Embiid
Oak Hill gets this one, too. Kevin Durant is a more experienced, talented, and well rounded player than Embiid is.
Oak Hill 9
Montverde 0
Bench 4 points
Oak Hill: Rod Strickland, Ron Mercer, Calvin Duncan, Brandon Jennings, Sindarius Thornwell, DeSagana Diop, Cole Anthony, Harry Giles, Dwyane Bacon
Montverde: Scottie Barnes, Precious Achiuwa, Luc Mbah A Moute, Anthony Nembhard, Christ Koumadje, Moses Moody, Day’Ron Sharpe, Michael Frazier, Dakari Johnson, Filip Petrusev, Anthony Perez
Oak Hill. All of their players have been in the NBA, while Montverde still has players to go yet.
Oak Hill 12
Montverde 0
Shooting 4 points
Montverde is on the board. With Kevin Durant being Oak Hill’s only real threat beyond the arc, Montverde has an array of sharpshooters, including Cade Cunningham, RJ Barrett, D’Angelo Russell, and Ben Simmons (just kidding).
Oak Hill 12
Montverde 4
Defense 4 points
Montverde’s comeback is looking ever-closer. While Oak Hill has only Josh Smith and Carmelo Anthony as good defenders, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Cade Cunningham can do well on the defensive end for Montverde.
Oak Hill 12
Montverde 8
Overall Skill 6 points
Can Montverde make the comeback?
3
2
1
No, they cannot, it is hard to deny that Oak Hill has more overall skill than Montverde. A team of 4-5 hall of farmers/future hall of famers to boast about, a deeper bench, and a team that would be pushing for a ring, however, Montverde might be a lottery team at best.
Oak Hill 18
Montverde 8
There you have it. Oak Hill Academy is a better squad than Montverde academy, in a 1200 word post by the comparison master of this site, Jim James. I’m Jim James, and I’ll see you soon.