By Mike DeCourcy - SportingNews.com July 9, 2003 INDIANAPOLIS -- This story almost seems too convenient, too perfectly scripted. Rudy Gay and Carmelo Anthony come from the same area of Baltimore. They are friends. Each benefits from an extraordinary growth spurt. Each becomes a prime Syracuse recruiting target. Each arrives quietly in the summer before his senior year of high school, with a general acknowledgement of his promise as a basketball player, but without any hyperventilating from the opinion-making talent scouts. We know how Anthony's story turned out. Is this where the parallels end? So that's the pitch. But the thing is, once Gay starts to play at the Nike All-America Camp, the contrivances no longer matter. What matters is, he is really good. He is much better than most of the recruiting analysts have allowed themselves to believe. And while that ties directly to Anthony's experience in the summer of 2001, Gay is more concerned with trying to establish himself than duplicating his buddy's experience. "I just want to dominate, show people I can be one of the top people in the class," Gay said. "All I can do is work hard. I want to succeed, and I'm going to do whatever is necessary to do it. If it's putting up 500 shots, working on my handle by myself, lifting weights . . ." Gay stood only 5-11 in the summer before his freshman year of high school but quickly grew to 6-4. Last July at the Nike Camp, he was 6-6. The two inches he added since have been a blessing on the basketball court, "But it's hard having to buy new clothes all the time." Syracuse appears to be the leading school in Gay's recruitment, given the occasional nudging delivered by Anthony when the two have played ball together. But Connecticut, Maryland, Indiana, Villanova, Georgetown and NC State are still in the hunt. College coaches weren't allowed in to Monday evening's Nike scrimmages. The open evaluation period started Tuesday. My, what a show they missed from Gay. He stands 6-8 and a very lean 204 pounds and will be a senior at Archbishop Spaulding High in Baltimore County. He is an uncommon breed of basketball prospect: a true small forward. We rarely see players now with the combination of dribbling, shooting and passing skills that work on the perimeter and the toughness to rebound and defend along the baseline. That's one reason Anthony excelled in the 2003 NCAA Tournament. Most colleges have abandoned the small forward position and gone with taller guards in that spot in order to keep three long-distance shooting threats on the floor. Thus nearly every player who defended Anthony was three or four inches shorter. Kansas didn't control him in the championship game until it finally employed 6-10 All-American center Nick Collison to handle the job. Gay showed at the Nike camp he also could be that sort of player. Although he lacks Anthony's pure power, he is a more electric athlete. Gay is a capable ballhandler and shooter, though, and plays with the same rare unselfishness. "They say our games are alike -- I don't know," Gay said. "Probably the closest thing is the mid-range game." The Nike camp has more big bodies than in recent seasons, but stretching the roster to 180 players means guys like Gay too often are forced to perform out of position. Gay was basically his team's center in Monday's scrimmage, although he did not allow that to restrict him on offense. He started his dazzling display by sticking an effortless 3-pointer from near the top of the key. That was followed by a smart decision during a 2-on-1 break, when he drew a defender and fed a teammate for a layup rather than forcing the shot himself. He used his long arms and quick jumping to pull down two impressive offensive rebounds in traffic. From the foul line, he flipped a quick pass through the center of the key that got teammate Matt Shaw a layup. Oh, there was more. He nailed an 8-foot baseline jumper from behind the corner of the backboard, just like Tim Duncan in the NBA Finals. He made a defensive mistake when trying to guard powerful center prospect Ra'Sean Dickey -- a 250-pounder -- by slipping too high as the ball was entered into the post. Dickey had a clear path as he turned toward the baseline. What should have been an easy score, though, was swatted into the metal bleachers as Gay recovered and blocked the shot with an amazing burst of athleticism. If there are more than 10 players in the class of 2004 who could put on a show like this, these seniors should get their own expansion franchise in the ACC. In other words, Gay is dramatically underrated. Should he continue to perform with this sort of hunger and energy, he will close the summer as one of the most coveted recruits in college basketball. He brings one more quality that NCAA teams should desire: his roots. The past two tournament most outstanding players -- Anthony and Maryland's Juan Dixon -- came from his area. Said Gay: "I guess I've got to hurry up and go to college, right?" The coaches who scout him surely will agree. Updated on Wednesday, Jul 9, 2003 1:24 pm EDT By Mike DeCourcy - SportingNews.com INDIANAPOLIS -- This story almost seems too convenient, too perfectly scripted. Rudy Gay and Carmelo Anthony come from the same area of Baltimore. They are friends. Each benefits from an extraordinary growth spurt. Each becomes a prime Syracuse recruiting target. Each arrives quietly in the summer before his senior year of high school, with a general acknowledgement of his promise as a basketball player, but without any hyperventilating from the opinion-making talent scouts. We know how Anthony's story turned out. Is this where the parallels end? ADVERTISEMENT So that's the pitch. But the thing is, once Gay starts to play at the Nike All-America Camp, the contrivances no longer matter. What matters is, he is really good. He is much better than most of the recruiting analysts have allowed themselves to believe. And while that ties directly to Anthony's experience in the summer of 2001, Gay is more concerned with trying to establish himself than duplicating his buddy's experience. "I just want to dominate, show people I can be one of the top people in the class," Gay said. "All I can do is work hard. I want to succeed, and I'm going to do whatever is necessary to do it. If it's putting up 500 shots, working on my handle by myself, lifting weights . . ." Gay stood only 5-11 in the summer before his freshman year of high school but quickly grew to 6-4. Last July at the Nike Camp, he was 6-6. The two inches he added since have been a blessing on the basketball court, "But it's hard having to buy new clothes all the time." Syracuse appears to be the leading school in Gay's recruitment, given the occasional nudging delivered by Anthony when the two have played ball together. But Connecticut, Maryland, Indiana, Villanova, Georgetown and NC State are still in the hunt. College coaches weren't allowed in to Monday evening's Nike scrimmages. The open evaluation period started Tuesday. My, what a show they missed from Gay. He stands 6-8 and a very lean 204 pounds and will be a senior at Archbishop Spaulding High in Baltimore County. He is an uncommon breed of basketball prospect: a true small forward. We rarely see players now with the combination of dribbling, shooting and passing skills that work on the perimeter and the toughness to rebound and defend along the baseline. That's one reason Anthony excelled in the 2003 NCAA Tournament. Most colleges have abandoned the small forward position and gone with taller guards in that spot in order to keep three long-distance shooting threats on the floor. Thus nearly every player who defended Anthony was three or four inches shorter. Kansas didn't control him in the championship game until it finally employed 6-10 All-American center Nick Collison to handle the job. Gay showed at the Nike camp he also could be that sort of player. Although he lacks Anthony's pure power, he is a more electric athlete. Gay is a capable ballhandler and shooter, though, and plays with the same rare unselfishness. "They say our games are alike -- I don't know," Gay said. "Probably the closest thing is the mid-range game." The Nike camp has more big bodies than in recent seasons, but stretching the roster to 180 players means guys like Gay too often are forced to perform out of position. Gay was basically his team's center in Monday's scrimmage, although he did not allow that to restrict him on offense. He started his dazzling display by sticking an effortless 3-pointer from near the top of the key. That was followed by a smart decision during a 2-on-1 break, when he drew a defender and fed a teammate for a layup rather than forcing the shot himself. He used his long arms and quick jumping to pull down two impressive offensive rebounds in traffic. From the foul line, he flipped a quick pass through the center of the key that got teammate Matt Shaw a layup. Oh, there was more. He nailed an 8-foot baseline jumper from behind the corner of the backboard, just like Tim Duncan in the NBA Finals. He made a defensive mistake when trying to guard powerful center prospect Ra'Sean Dickey -- a 250-pounder -- by slipping too high as the ball was entered into the post. Dickey had a clear path as he turned toward the baseline. What should have been an easy score, though, was swatted into the metal bleachers as Gay recovered and blocked the shot with an amazing burst of athleticism. If there are more than 10 players in the class of 2004 who could put on a show like this, these seniors should get their own expansion franchise in the ACC. In other words, Gay is dramatically underrated. Should he continue to perform with this sort of hunger and energy, he will close the summer as one of the most coveted recruits in college basketball. He brings one more quality that NCAA teams should desire: his roots. The past two tournament most outstanding players -- Anthony and Maryland's Juan Dixon -- came from his area. Said Gay: "I guess I've got to hurry up and go to college, right?" The coaches who scout him surely will agree. Senior writer Mike DeCourcy covers college basketball for Sporting News. Email him at decourcy@sportingnews.com. Updated on Wednesday, Jul 9, 2003 1:24 pm EDT Em