Oak Hill Academy is located in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. Not exactly a tourist destination, although they do have a nice golf course, which is where you can find head coach Steve Smith when he is not on the hardwood.

Oak Hill does not "re-classify" students so they can have an extra year of eligibility, nor do they have post-graduates. But each year Oak Hill gets many seniors looking for a place where there is nothing to do but boost their grade pioint avearge, complete their core, get a qualifying test score and improve their basketball skills by facing great competition in practice every day -- usually far greater than they could find on their high school team.

Oh, and Smith can teach the game. Jerry Stackhouse, Rod Strickland and Ron Mercer are just a few of the many famous players who have attended Oak Hill over the years. To give you an idea of the talent coming through, Oak Hill has only lost 18 games over the last 10 years, despite traveling everywhere and anywhere to play the top teams.

The take-on-all-comers attitude saw Oak Hill in California this past weekend to play in the Nike Extravaganza, where Oak Hill was upset by another traditional powerhouse, Mater Dei of Santa Ana, Calif. It was Oak Hills first loss of the season.

Although some would say that this edition of Oak Hill (25-1) is not as loaded as previous additions, it does have players like Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse), Chadd Moore (Cincinnati), and Justin Gray (Wake Forest).

"Anthony is having a great year. He's about as talented as anybody we have had here," Smith said. "He's averaging around 22 pointsg on just 13 or 14 shots a game, and he can really pass. Stackhouse was maybe the most talented, but was not as skilled."

The 6-10, 230-pound Sani Ibrahim is also out there in Oak Hill colors, making his presence felt at times. And it's the unsigned senior from Nigeria who is the player we are interested in talking about today.

Ibrahim first went to Winchendon Academy, a prep school powerhouse in Massachusetts, before arriving at Oak Hill for his senior season. At one time, Ibrahim was a consensus top-five player by the major scouting services. Being so agile and exceptionally skilled for a big man, who was just a junior, the hype started to drip off the tongues of recruiting fans everywhere.

According to Smith, Ibrahim was thinking about nothing but college until other people were talking about the NBA so much that it was natural for Ibrahim to start considering it as well. But after looking so promising as a junior and being ranked so high, with so much expected, Ibrahim's stock has dropped -- as far as national rankings go.

Smith has also had some big men at Oak Hill. Jules Camara, Kevin Lyde, and of course, DeSagana Diop, who just turned pro directly out of Oak Hill this past year. Compared to those players, Ibrahim has great touch with range to about the 3-point arc. He has good footwork and a more developed offensive game than his predecessors. Ibrahim is also a very good rebounder, and could be a consistent shot-blocking force if he got himself in good position to challenge people trying to attack the rim.

Ibrahim is very agile and is also a quick jumper who still has an excellent upside. But, according to Smith, Ibrahim needs to play at a higher level, and play harder more consistently. Something that is very perplexing to Smith, since Ibrahim can be so aggressive in practice.

"More NBA teams than college teams have been out to see Sani," Smith said.

Of course, in addition to his possible early departure, Ibrahim is not yet a full qualifier. The schools that seem to still be showing the most interest are West Virginia, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Indiana and Illinois. But, there is no guarantee that should Ibrahim come out early, that he would be a first-round draft choice with a guaranteed contract.

And now, with everybody "disappointed" in how Ibrahim has played this season, he is re-thinking everything. Anything is possible right now.

Should Ibrahim not qualify he could take a post-graduate year if he completes his core and finishes at Oak Hill with a 2.5 GPA. Or, he could declare for the draft. Junior college does not appear to be an option for him. And it is unlikely that he would want to be a prop and sit out and wait a year to play.

Monceaux on the mend
A little thing like surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament on the right knee can really derail the recruitment of a fine player such as 6-1 point guard Jeremy Monceaux (Parkway Christian/Birmingham, Ala.).

Two summers ago, Monceaux (pronounced "Mon-So") was showing off his flashy game at the adidas/ABCD invitational camp and was named to the camp's all star game for underclassmen. Despite that, after his surgery, it was the old saying, "out of sight, out of mind," as his recruiting changed dramatically.

And, despite statistics that read 26 ppoints per game, with 10 assists a game and five steals an outing (not to mention shooting 35 percent from behind the arc and 87 percent from the free throw line), Monceaux still needs a full summer of rehabilitation to be able to perform at the level he is used to, according to his coach Dave Monceaux, who yes, happens to also be his father.

Alabama-Birmingham, Jacksonville State and Alabama seem to be the most serious, with Alabama wanting him to redshirt as a freshman. Auburn, Wisconsin, and other schools have also been following his progress.

Sensley Update
We received a phone call the other day from New York. The caller said that 6-foot-9 Julian Sensley has left Iona and may be headed to Fresno State. (May be is the operative phrase here.)

Sensley, one of the nation's top talents coming out of St. Thomas More in Oakdale, Ct., originally signed with Cal but didn't qualify. He then became a part-time student at Diablo CC in California, while he was waiting on an appeal of an earlier appeal regarding his eligibility, and while he attempted to get a qualifying score.

When neither came through, Sensley bolted for Iona and the companionship of his friend from St. Thomas More, freshman point guard Solomon Brown.

Sensley actually enrolled at Iona and practiced with the team. According to people we spoke with, if he enrolls at another school he will now have to sit out the following year as well. That adds up to two years out of high school without playing in a collegiate game -- a long time for a game to be on the shelf. Have suitcase will travel. Unfortunately for Sensley, a good kid who has no history of trouble of any kind, he is now acquiring more baggage than he can handle.

David Benezra and Mark Mayemura cover the national college basketball recruiting scene at their Recruiting USA (www.recruitingusa.com) website. E-mail at: hoopsusa@mindspring.com or call (818) 783-2244 or (818) 783-2212 for subscription information.