Highlights from the Inaugural Season

The inaugural seasson for the Findlay College Prep Pilots was a tremendous success on and off the court. While others were putting the finishing touches on their rosters and filling holes in 2006-07 schedule, Findlay was still just an idea in the works. Starting in July the roster started to take shape. Not your typical roster, a roster that would eventually include 9 internationals from 7 different countries and three Americans. As the team came together during early practices in September the eveolving schedule was sending a message of its own. Instead of scheduling traditional high school teams, calls went to the top of the list. Going straight to the heavyweight division, Findlay Prep scheduled 11 games with Scout.com's preseason top 8 post-grad prep schools. The group of 4 seniors, 6 juniors, and a sophomore, collected from around the world, would have to work harder and longer to prove Findlay belonged.

The character and personality of the team was made clear in game one. Against #7 Stoneridge Prep (signed 2 to USC, 2 to Oklahoma St., Iowa St., Auburn, Valpo, Pepperdine, Binghamton) the upstart Pilots began the game with only 6 active & healthy players. The six battled there way within one before 6 became 5 when Deividas Dulkys went down with an ankle injury. While the result was in the loss column, the 5 that fought until the end proved Findlay would not back down from anyone.

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Nedeljko Golubovic signs with Fresno St.
Rodney Haddix signs with Miami (OH.)
Rony Tchatchoua signs with New Hampshire

Wins versus prep schools: preseason #5 South Kent, preseason #7 Stoneridge, IMG (2), Maine Central Institute, Cornerstone Christian, God's Academy

Wins versus top high schools: Scripps Ranch (#1 in San Dieg0), Crawford High (#2 in San Diego), Centennial High, Durango, Valley, and Orange Lutheran

Debut at #11 on Maxpreps.com national ranking of high schools

Tchatchoua Leads Findlay Over Stoneridge

In a rematch of the first game of the season, Findlay showed how far the team has come in a 73-58 victory. After a back and forth first half, Rony Tchatchoua exploded for 18 points in the second half including 10 of 12 Findlay points during one stretch. He finished with a season-high 21 with 9 rebounds and 5 steals. Nedelko Golubovic came up with every key hustle play throughout the night and chipped in 13 points with 12 rebounds.

Findlay and Stoneridge play game two of their seasonal finale series on saturday, March 3rd.

Findlay Run 'n Guns to 103 points in San Antonio

Findlay returned on Sunday to complete their two game trip to Texas and ran away from God's Academy Prep to a 103-67 victory. Pacing the new runnin' Pilots were P Wee Ford and Rony Tchatchoua with 19 apiece. Rony took over the game early with 13 early in the first half. He had 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 assists while playing with a hip injury. Nedeljko Golubovic had 14 points, 12 rebounds while post partner Brice Massamba had 11 points and 6 rebounds. Deividas Dulkys scored 17 and pulled down 10 rebounds from his guard spot. Off the bench, Ogo Adegboye caught the eye of college scouts with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Ricky Criado had 7 points, 3 rebounds, "Yao" Lopez had 4 & 4, and Wouter Van Der Eng chipped in 2 & 2. Five players scored double figures and every Pilot that played scored in the game.

Findlay Takes on Texas

In San Antonio, Findlay got off the plane, hopped in a van, and then right into the gym. Overcoming a 12 hour travel day, FCP defeated Cornerstone Christian 68-63. P Wee Ford put in 24 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Nedeljko Golubovic dominated inside with 19 points 12 rebounds. The bench came up huge with Carlos Lopez leading the way with 6 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 assists. Ogo Adegboye sparked the team with his energy adding 4 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists in the win. Ricky Criado made two clutch free throws and an end-to-end left handed lay up to help put Cornerstone away.

Findlay splits with Maine Central Institute

Maine Central Institute came to town coming off a win over the #1 ranked team in the country. After a disappointing game one, Findlay Prep rebounded by turning up the defense and playing their physical brand of basketball. Pounding it inside, Brice Massamba had 22 and 10 and Rony Tchatchoua had 14 and 8.

Findlay Defeats Valley 85-65

Findlay shot 67% from the field for the game and hit 8 of 16 threes. Deividas Dulkys lead the team with 18 points on 6 threes. Hamid "P Wee" Ford scored 15 and Rony Tchatchoua had 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. Brice Massamba finished with 6 points 10 rebounds.

Findlay Wins Two vs. IMG Academy

Findlay continues to progress with a couple wins over IMG Academy including a 31 point breakout win on the 17th. Deividas Dulkys scored 18 and 20 respectively, with 7 for 14 from the three point arch over the game series. In game one, Ilija Djiorjevic had a career high 16 with Ned Golubovic contributing 16 points, 12 rebounds. In game two, Brice Massamba had 12 points 9 rebounds and Rony Tchatchoua chipped in 8 points, 10 rebounds. Findlay next plays Valley High on January 27th.

#11 in the Nation! Findlay enters the polls ahead of over 17,000 schools

Calpreps.com has ranked Findlay College Prep 11th in the country! This is despite only playing a fraction of the games of those ranked ahead of them which is a testament to the schedule we play. Over 17,000 schools across the country are kept tabs on and Findlay burst into their very first ranking at #11. The foundation is being laid to only move up from here.

Check out the poll here:

http://calpreps.com/cgi-bin/2006-2007-boysbasketball/ratingvw_live.pl?schools=National&group=all&sort=rating&margins=yes&show=1000&scores=show&submit=submit

"Wow, they play real hard." Findlay Prep enjoys success & fun in San Diego

Over the holiday break Findlay College Prep traveled to sunny San Diego to play in the Above the Rim Holiday Tournament. Findlay played San Diego's #1 ranked Scripps Ranch first and defeated them by 20 points. Next up was the cities #2 team Crawford High School which was another big victory for Findlay. FCP then wrapped up their pool championship with an 18 point win over Orange Lutheran.

Coach John King for Scripps Ranch had good things to say about Findlay Prep as he told the San Diego Union-Tribune, "Wow, they play hard." He also added, "This was a real eye-opener for us."

In addition to the successful tournament run, the team even found time to visit the San Diego Zoo!

The Weekly World Class Buffet Day

Each week the team enjoys the VIP treatment at the renowned Firelight Buffe at Sam's Town Resort. The Firelight Buffet features a wide variety of food located on several different display cooking areas, including open rotisseries, omelet stations and carving stations. Steak & shrimp night is always a team favorite.

Academic Success! Congrats Ned & Ilija on Great ACT test scores

Congrats to #33 Nedeljko Golubovic and #3 Ilija Djiorjevic who both have received qualifying test scores for the next level. The Serbians came over very limited in the English language but thanks to tremendous preparation as well as the time and effort of many (especially our English as a second language Professor Cosgrove), the young men have made a huge stride toward their ultimate goals. A big shout out to Nedeljko who posted an incredible score of 24 on the test!

#1 ranked Bridgton Academy comes to town

Undefeated and the #1 ranked prep school in the country Bridgton Academy is coming to town for a two game series on friday January 5 and saturday January 6.

Findlay College Prep is 6-5 currently having played 6 games against top 9 ranked prep schools thus far. The inaugural Findlay team has laid a great foundation on the court, in the classroom, and in the community.

Check out the Findlay College Prep Movie Trailer

http://web.mac.com/wwdms/iWeb/Site/movie%20trailers.html

check out the top right movie!

Findlay Prep Team Photo

Game Recaps 12/14, 12/15, 12/16

Thursday 12/14, we beat Durango HS 96-76 with Deividas Dulkys scoring 22; Nedeljko Golubovic had 16 pts and 16 rebs; Rodney Haddix had 19; Rony Tchatchoua had 18 and 7 rebs.

Friday we lost to Hargrave Military Academy 88-75. Hamid Ford had 16 and 5 assists. Haddix had 22. Tchatchoua had 15 and 6 rebs.

Saturday we lost to Hargrave again 107-89. Doulkys had 23, 6 rebs, 5 assts. He also hit on 5 of 6 threes. Golubovic had 23 on 7/8 shooting with 6 rebs. Haddix had 18 and 5 assists.

Thus far we have played 6 of our first 7 games versus Scout.com's preseason top 8. We have Centennial on Monday and three games in San Diego Wednesday, Thursday, and friday. After Christmas break, we have Bridgton coming in for 2 games January 5th and 6th.

The Findlay College Prep Difference

We take pride in being 1st class in everything we do at Findlay College Prep and we believe we have a lot to offer. The difference our kids experience here compared to other prep schools:

1. Great exposure - Las Vegas is the hoops capital of the world with AAU, the home of the Olympic team, the 2006 NBA All-Star Game and much more.

2. A big time schedule - we bring in the best teams from around the country to come to play us so that not only do our players get battle tested but they attract big time college coaches.

3. An experienced college staff - our coaches have spent a combined 30+ years in coaching.

4. Great living in a near million dollar home - the prep house is located across the street so the athletes can walk to school and practice. The home has two big screens, all new furniture, extra long beds, four bathrooms, a study room with custom desks, wireless internet, full cable TV, two refrigerators kept full, and three air conditioner/heating units to keep the rooms to the players' liking.

5. House parents that help our players - Miss Kati is a teacher in the Clark County school district who also tutors UNLV athletes and coaches middle school basketball. She has also taught at a gateway high school for international students. Coach Simon has been a graduate student instuctor at UNLV where he taught weight training and he routinely is available to work players out nightly outside of practice.

6. Top of the line renovated weight room - renovated in September of 2006, the new weight room has all new equipment brought in to aid in the development of our athletes.

7. Great facilities - we play in a gym perfect for our needs and the school recently installed 2 million dollars worth of field turf for training on. In addition, the pool should be open by June 1, 2007.

8. You get your own laptop with DVD/CD burner and high speed wireless internet.

9. More Nike gear than most colleges! Shoes, sandals, running shoes, socks, warm ups, hoodies, practice gear, loose dry fits, tight dry fits, tights, and even compression shorts. White, dark grey, and navy will fill your drawers and closets. We have three jerseys including custom Nike jerseys.

10. We train hard, we study hard, we play hard, and we eat hard. We want our athletes to have peak performance in everything they do and nutrition is big part of that. At the prep house meals are served everynight or brought in from local restauraunts. At least one night a week the team enjoys one of Vegas's famous resort buffets.

Findlay College Prep is on the map! FCP came away from Southern California with a victory against 4th ranked South Kent and played tough against top ten competition. We went 1-2 at the Stoneridge Holiday Prep Classic but we feel very good because we played without one of our best players (Deividas Doulkys, ’08, 6’4 scorer, Lithuania). We lost to #9 St. Thomas More by 15, beat #4 South Kent by 6, and lost to #5 Brewster in a tight one on Sunday.

Rodney Haddix made the All-Tournament team averaging over 18 points and 6 rebounds a game but his heart was much bigger than his numbers. A great example of how he played was in the Brewster game where he dove for a ball and his shoulder popped out and he rocked it back into socket and continued on. He held Brewster's Creighton-bound P’Allen Stinnett to 3 points while he lead us with 24 points.

Hamid Ford averaged neary 13 points and 3 steals per game for the tournament. Senior Rony Tchatchoua came off an ankle injury to post 11.3 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals per game. Nedeljko Golubovic posted 7 ppg, 7.3 rpg. Junior center Brice Massamba put in 8 ppg, played tough against great post competition, took three charges, and even brought the ball up the court and started the offense. Sophomore Carlos "Yao" Lopez really emerged in the tournament. Versus South Kent he came off the bench for 9 points 4 rebounds and 3 blocks then followed that up with 17 pts, 8 rebs, and 7 blocks vs. Brewster Academy. He shot 64% for the tournament. Wouter Van Der Eng, Ricky Criado, and Ilija Djordjevic contributed key minutes in the tournament.

Up next is Durango High School on December 14 then a two game set vs. Hargrave Military Academy the 15ht and 16th.

Findlay College Prep courtside For Kansas-Florida

Findlay College Prep was courtside for the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Invitational November 24 - 25, 2006 at the Orleans Arena. The game was a classic with Kansas defeating Florida 82-80 in overtime. Included among the basketball royalty sitting along the courtside and press row seats were Dick Vitale, Jerry West, and former Final Four MVP Ed O'Bannon.

November 21: FCP 69 Stoneridge 87

Finishing the game with only five players, the Pilots lost their opener 87-69. Despite being short handed, FCP was down only 1 point at the half but ran out of gas deep into the game. Hamid Ford played all 40 minutes scoring 17 and dishing 8 assists while creating a number of Stoneridge turnovers. Deividas Doulkys scored 17 before leaving with an ankle injury. Nedeljko Golubovic chipped in 9 points with 10 rebounds. Rony Tchatchoua scored 7 with 8 boards. Rodney Haddix added 11 points while Wouter Van Der Eng contributed 7 points, 5 boards coming off the bench.

Strength & Conditioning: "Most battles are won before they are fought" -- Sun Tzu

In the first two months of strength, conditioning, and nutrition we have watched young men change their bodies. Body fat percentages are down and weight is up. 16 year old Carlos Lopez has gained 20 pounds in 8 weeks while Wouter Van Der Eng, Ricky Criado, Ilija Djiordevic, and Nedeljko Golubovic have each added 10 pounds of muscle to their bodies. The work in weightroom in the preseason has amounted to a total of 80 pounds of muscle added for the ten athletes. The 50 thousand dollar upgrades to the weight room have certainly been taken advantage of