Vincent Hart
School and Year (1997-98) Gary West, IN - Senior
Height and Weight 6'9" 205lbs
Position Center/Power Forward
96-97 Ratings #7 (PS), #6 (HS)
97-98 Ratings #79 (HS 11/97) => #140 (HS 2/98)
#66 (BG), Top30 forward (BO)
#31 (JT)
Academically Eligible ---
Status Active
AAU team SYF Players (1998)
Spiece North 17 (1997)
Player Summary ·
Player News ·
Game Stats ·
Season Stats ·
Honors ·
IHSAA Schedule
Vincent Hart hails from Gary West Side, where he was teammates with
current Boiler forward Gary McQuay. He started to make a name for himself
around Gary after his junior high school team went undefeated over his time
with the team. Three of the players from that junior high team went on to
West Side to lead the Cougars to a Semistate visit when the players were
just sophomores in high school. Now Hart has been noticed nationally, and
ranked as high as 6th in his class by one service.
The first thing that struck me when I first saw Hart was how skinny
he was. He has a nice sized upper body, but long, thin legs and arms. A
good leaper and rebounder, he has spent most of his time in the post in high
school. His ball-handling is excellent for a bigger kid. He is a banger,
although some added weight would definitely benefit his post game. He
scores in the post using a host of spin moves and relies on his jumping
ability to elevate over his opponents. He also needs to work on his
perimeter game, as he now tries to do too much in the interior. This kid
should live up to his early acclaim as a great college forward (wing player
if he can get that shot out to 23').
9-15-98...Got an email today saying Hart has verballed to St. Louis.
After searching the papers and the net, I only found comment about it on
the Michigan recruiting site. More detail to come once I get confirmation.
7-1-98...Peegs from the IU Basketball Recruiting Site attended the
Indiana AAU State Tournament last weekend, and has this scouting report on
Vincent Hart.
7-1-98...Hart has been invited to attend the Nike Camp, to be held
next week in Indianapolis.
6-18-98...Vincent Hart was a no-show for the Junior All-Star
exhibition last night against the Indiana Senior All-Star team.
6-3-98...Vincent Hart is out, but Jason Gardner is in. Hart failed
to make the cut to 15 players for the 1998 Men's Junior National Team. Three
more players will be cut in one month. For the list, look under the Gardner
profile.
5-9-98...Hart will join fellow Purdue prospect Jason Gardner in
Colorado Springs on May 29th to compete for a spot on the 12-member Men's
Junior World Championship Team. Hart will compete against 30 other
candidates, 21 of which are forwards. Hart's best shot may be to try for
a center spot, due to the tryout only featuring two true center
candidates.
4-30-98...Hart will be playing in Mackey Arena this weekend
along with his AAU team "Spiece North". Spiece's early games are on FRI 6:00P
Court 2 (IAF), FRI 9:00P Court 10 (Co-Rec) and SAT 2:00P Court 3 (IAF). The
interesting matchup comes during the Saturday game, when Spiece takes
on No Excuses, a team featuring Jason Gardner, Brody Boyd, John Stewart,
Gavin Groninger, Krunti Hester and other top Indiana talent.
4-27-98...The Recruiting Beat website has ranked Hart as the junior
class' 18th best player. However, they list his school as "Roosevelt", so
you have to question how well they really know his game. Jason Gardner is
ranked #6, and as the best point prospect in the junior class.
4-16-98...Vincent Hart was named to the Times All-Region team for
the second consecutive year. Finishing the 97-98 season with identical
numbers compared to his 96-97 season, The Times sports staff had this to
say..."Coming in as one of the nation's best juniors, Hart didn't have the
season many thought he would. But if you want to find out how good he is,
ask EC Central. In the two two-point classics, Hart was the difference in
both Cougars wins. If he wants to live up to the big-time Division I hype,
he must have a much better senior season."
Andrean High's 6'9 center Len Matela (signed with Bowling Green),
said "He has post moves that your average post player doesn't. He has one
of the best drop steps I've ever seen. His size and strength is amazing.
And he's a very fundamental player. He's a very good shot blocker. You have
to use a head fake or he'll block it. I think he'll have a big, big year
next season. I don't think anyone in the area will be able to match up
with him."
4-8-98...Rumors floated around last summer about a possible future
package deal between three players that wished to play together in college...
Vincent Hart, Kenny Lowe and Austin Parkinson. In conversation with Gary
West head coach Ike Brown, the Hart and Lowe package is being pushed at the
moment. "It is something they are seriously considering," said Brown. Other
schools getting looks from Hart and Lowe are DePaul, Seton Hall and
Providence. Rumors have DePaul already offering both players.
3-3-98...Gary West enters the 1998 IHSAA tournament as the #6 team
according to end of the season Sagarin calculations. Westside (92.61) has a
first round match against the #7 team East Chicago (91.25) at East Chicago.
But with a Sagarin home court advantage figured in, East Chicago is favored
by 2 points. In the second game will be the winner of the Gary Roosevelt
(69.41) / Hammond (82.16) game. The East Chicago sectional rates as the
state's 12th toughest sectional, but pits two top 10 teams in the first
game.
West finished the regular season ranked #6 according to the Sagarin
rating system, which figures in opponent strength, schedule strength, and
margin of victory. West had the state's 89th toughest schedule, finishing
1-1 against top 25 teams and 2-1 against teams rated among the top 64.
Westside defeated East Chicago earlier this season, giving EC their only
loss. Westside's three losses to Illinois high school teams are not figured
into the Sagarin ratings.
Sagarin ratings are furnished by Jeff Sagarin at the Indiana High
School Basketball Ratings Page on his website. Refer to this site to
figure out how to approximate winners and margin of victory.
1-20-98...Hart led all scorers with 24 points in a 67-59 loss to
Chicago King at the Hoops in the Loop Classic on Monday. King came into the
game ranked 12th in Illinois. Hart's two freethrows at 1:42 remaining
ended a WestSide 8-0 late game run and cut the lead to 5. King extended the
lead again to 8 at the line for the win. Westside's three loses this season
have all been at the hands of Chicago teams (#1 Whitney Young (#2 in the
nation), #4 Farragut and #12 King). The 24 from Hart was impressive when you
consider King's frontline measures 6'10, 6'8 and 6'6.
 1-19-98...You could probably define a prima donna as a kid who
plays for himself instead of the team, and would likely pout and whine if he
was ever taken out of the starting rotation for any reason. If that is the
working definition, then Vincent Hart is not a prima donna. Westside coach
Ike Brown decided to give his backup 6'7 center Patrick Danley an opportunity
to start in Friday's game against Wirt to build his confidence. Instead of
criticizing Brown's move, Hart welcomed it. "I was happy for Patrick because
he was so happy," said Hart to the TimesOnline. "I wished him well. This is a
team. Everybody's going to have their night." Hart came off the bench and
scored 15 in the victory.
12-29-97...A look at the team from the TimesOnline.
12-15-97...According to the Northwest Times, Hart says a little
prayer before every game. "I'm afraid I'm going to mess up," said Hart. "That's
just me. I don't think I'm that good."
10-19-97...Hart made yet another appearance at Mackey Magic. He
lists Purdue slightly ahead of Kentucky at the top of his list, but adds
he is keeping his options open.
10-12-97...According to the Hammond Times of northwest Indiana,
Purdue may be the school to beat for two nationally ranked high school
juniors. Jason Gardner has Purdue high on his list, as does Vincent Hart,
who is quoted by the reporter of the paper as "leaning the Boilers' way."
Hart is a consensus top25 player in the class of 1999, with some lists
rating him in the top10. He has drawn comparisons to Glenn Robinson
but I more see him as a Grant Hill type, a better combination of guard
and forward than Robinson was.
9-26-97...The rumor of the summer related to Purdue focuses in on a
handful of Purdue prospects thinking of playing together. It is an
interesting combination. Hart has been flirting with the idea that he
might want to go to college with 6'2 Gary West teammate Kenneth Lowe. But
Lowe became good friends with another Purdue recruit over the summer,
Austin Parkinson. Now all three are entertaining the idea of playing
together in college. Hart became impressed with the guard tandem when
their Spiece squad defeated Hart's team this summer. With both Lowe and
Hart rising juniors and Austin a rising sophomore, it will be interesting
to see if this package deal works out.
Hart may have competition for a Purdue spot from 6'6 post player
Ricky Wright from East Chicago Central. Wright played on the Spiece team
this summer with Lowe and Parkinson, and performed well enough to lead
one former Boiler player to predict he will be unstoppable if he grows
a couple more inches.
7-15-97...It was the ABCD spectators that got to view the talents of
Vincent Hart, who decided to travel east instead of attending the Nike Camp
in Indy. Rated as the 3rd best underclassman power forward at the camp.
3-8-97...Gary West advanced to the Lafayette Semistate with a
68-61 regional finals win over Hammond. Expected to fold after the
graduation of Gary and Greg McQuay with a club consisting of six sophomores,
Gary West has made it farther than the previously "more talented" team
from a year ago. "I hate to say this, but the difference between this year
and last year is chemistry," coach Ike Brown said. "Greg and Gary didn't
have the mental toughness that these kids have." The Gary West team not
only jelled this year, but also had a special kind of motivation. "Nobody
expected much from us because we're so young," said Hart. "But we really
wanted to win this for Coach Brown. When he said he was thinking about
retiring, we sat down together as a team and talked about it. We did this
for him. He was our inspiration." Gary West will travel next weekend to
Mackey Arena to take on LaPorte.
12-21-96...In the Munster Times' preseason look at the boys all-stars
from the region for the upcoming year, the following is said about Hart...
"After the graduation of a standout Cougars class, the highly touted sophomore
should have a breakout year. Comparisons have been made to Glenn Robinson,
even back when Hart was in junior high. But if he stays within his game, this
season could be the start of something special."
10-15-96...Vincent Hart is ranked as the 7th best sophomore in
the nation by the fall issue of Recruiter's Handbook.
8-27-96 Vincent Hart, along with Rodney Smith (who has
already verbally committed to Purdue) were named to the all-tournament team
of the Adidas Columbus Shootout.
4-27-96...My first impression of Vincent Hart is that there is no
way this kid is 6'8". Sizing him up against defenders, from floor level
he was of equal height with players in the 6'5 to 6'6 range. Hart has
a long way to go talent wise, but if you consider he is is only a freshman
he looks surprisingly good. He is athletic and has good timing on his
shot blocking. He was getting a lot of counseling from the Gary team
coach, and listened and adapted to instruction well.
2-13-96...Hart attended the Boilermakers' game against Michigan on
2/10. He attends the same high school as Purdue recruit Gary McQuay.
Recruiting service Future Stars calls Hart "a freshman to keep an eye on
who has Division I written all over himself."
DATE FG FGA FT FTA 3PM 3PA RB AS ST PTS
----------------------------------------------------
* 05-02-98 2 2 0 6 Lost 49- Abbey AC 70
* 05-02-98 3 1 0 7 Won 65- LA Rockfish 63
* 05-02-98 5 2 0 12 Won 71- North Cincy 47
03-06-98 9 17 5 7 9 23 Lost 62- Hammond 72
03-04-98 24 Won 55- #3 E Chicago 53
01-19-98 9 6 11 24 Lost 59- Chicago King 67
01-16-98 7 8 1 3 15 Won 66- Wirt 47
12-27-97 4 3 4 11 Won 64- Wirt 38
12-26-97 7 3 4 17 Won 78- Mann 52
12-19-97 4 5 1 5 9 Won 78- Chicago Manley 69
12-16-97 8 17 Won 63- Mann 43
12-05-97 7 7 15 12 21 Won 88- Wallace 41
11-25-97 13 Lost 71- Chi Farragut 78
03-08-97 2 9 1 2 5 Won 68- Hammond 61
03-08-97 5 9 3 4 7 13 Won 57- Merrillville 56
02-27-97 7 2 5 0 16 Won 84- Roosevelt 74
02-07-97 4 8 4 8 0 6 12 Won 76- Lew Wallace 60
01-31-97 1 0 0 0 2 Lost 62- East Chicago 67
12-27-96 3 3 6 9 Won 60- Lew Wallace 57
04-27-96 6 1 13 Won 87- Tri County 83
04-26-96 8 2 18 Won 80- Indy Magic 61
Season thru PPG FG% FT% 3P% RPG APG SPG BPG RECORD RANK
----------------------------------------------------------------
97-98 season 12.5 .675 6.7 1.3 17-5 8th (IN)
96-97 season 12.7 7.4 17-6 10th (IN)
02-01-96 7.1 13-2 11th (IN)
01-06-96 9.2 3.6 5-1 14th (IN)
97-98 season Preseason All-State Second Team (Hoosier Basketball)
Street & Smith Preseason All-American High Honorable Mention
Underclassman All-State Team (IBCA)
All-Region First Team (The Times)
Indiana Junior All-Star Team Core selection
All-State Junior Third Team (Bloomington Herald)
AAU All-American First Team
96-97 season ABCD Camp invitation
All-Region First Team (The Times)
Date Day Time Opponent
---- --- ---- --------------------
11/15/97 FRI W @ Steel City Classic
11/25/97 TUE L @ Chicago Farragut
12/04/97 THR W Gary Wallace
12/05/97 FRI W @ Columbus Ohio Shootout
12/11/97 THR W Clarksville
12/16/97 TUE W Horace Mann
12/19/97 FRI W Providence
12/26/97 FRI W Horace Mann (Gary West Tournament)
12/27/97 SAT 3:30P W @ Chicago Marshall
12/27/97 SAT 8:00P W Gary Wirt (Gary West Tournament)
12/29/97 MON L @ #2 Chicago Whitney Young (Chicago Tournament)
01/13/98 TUE W @ Gary Roosevelt
01/16/98 FRI W Gary Wirt
01/19/98 MON L vs. King (Chicago Hoops in the Loop Tournament)
01/22/98 THR W @ Gary Mann
01/27/98 TUE W @ Hammond Morton
01/30/98 FRI W East Chicago Central
02/06/98 FRI W @ Gary Wallace
02/13/98 FRI L @ Andrean
03/04/98 WED 7:30P W Sectional vs #3 East Chicago (@ East Chicago)
03/06/98 FRI TBA L Sectional vs Hammond (@ East Chicago)
* Times subject to change *
* To confirm game time call Gary West HS *
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