Nation's Top Basketball Recruits, Coaches Come to Oglethorpe

Oglethorpe was host to some of the nation's most elite high school basketball talents early this month as the Amateur Athletic Union played top flight summer league games on Pinholster Court with many of the top college hoops coaches in the country looking on.

Among the elite talents on display was Rival Basketball's top ranked recruit in the class of 2012 Shabazz Muhammad of Las Vegas, Nevada. Muhammad, a 6-6 small forward with a dizzying array of talents, is being courted by college basketball's top programs like Duke, Kentucky and Kansas, to name a few. Other top players in attendance were Rival's No. 30 ranked player Tony Parker and No. 78 prospect Demetrius Henry. Parker, a local product from Lithonia, is considering such stalwarts as Connecticut, Florida and Ohio State for his college destination. Henry, a gifted 6-8 power forward from Florida, is deciding between the likes of Georgia Tech, Texas and Florida State.

Adding allure to the high-powered hoops games on Pinholster Court were the bevy of highly regarded coaches in attendance. Among those silently recruiting their future stars were Thad Matta (Ohio State), John Calipari (Kentucky), Rick Pitino (Louisville), Billy Donnovan (Florida), Brian Gregory (Georgia Tech) and Mark Fox (Georgia). Calipari, whose influence on the college game is demonstrated by his over 1.1 million Twitter followers, took to the social media platform to query about the origins of Oglethorpe's famed mascot, tweeting, "Does anyone know what the mascot is for Oglethorpe University and the story behind it?" Naturally, he received more than one accurate response.

This information was contributed by Oglethorpe University Athletic Department.