A new project...

While most of my projects have centered around contacting college athletes, I have occasionally ventured away from that to do slightly different things, and this is one of those times. With a few colleges beginning to crack down on allowing their athletes to sign autographs through the mail for various reasons, the thought occurred to me: why not catch them before they get to college?

So that's what I'm going to attempt to do. I've researched a couple of the top recruiting websites out there and came up with a list of what are supposed to be the top 22 high school hoops stars in the country. I then sought out their current school's website to track down a mailing address and am prepared to test my luck. Like with my college requests, I will send a pair of index cards along with a letter requesting their autograph and a self-addressed stamped envelope for them to hopefully return the autograph in, all of this care of their current high school.

I have no idea if this will find any success at all, which is why I'm starting with a relatively small number of requests. If it is indeed successful, I may look to expand in this area further in the future, both in terms of other sports and the number of letters I mail. The other down side to this, besides the uncertainty, is that sending out requests this early in a player's career means it's more likely that the player will not live up to his potential and/or projection. But then again, it's all just for fun anyway, right?

So with that in mind, here's the list of players who I will be contacting, along with their current high school and college choice. These requests will go in the mailbox on Saturday.

Michael Beasley (Notre Dame Prep School, Kansas State), Eric Gordon (North Central High School, Indiana), Derrick Rose (Simeon Career Academy, Memphis), Kyle Singler (South Medford High School, Duke), O.J. Mayo (Huntington High School, USC), Kevin Love (Lake Oswego High School, UCLA), DeAndre Jordan (Christian Life Center Academy, Texas A&M), Austin Freeman (DeMatha Catholic High School, Georgetown), Jerryd Bayless (St. Mary's Catholic High School, Arizona), Nick Calathes (Lake Howell High School, Florida), Kosta Koufos (Glen Oak High School, Ohio State), Donte Green (Towson Catholic High School, Syracuse), Patrick Patterson (Huntington High School, College TBA), J.J. Hickson (Wheeler High School, NC State), Anthony Randolph (Woodrow Wilson High School, LSU), Craig Brackins (Brewster Academy, Iowa State), James Harden (Artesia High School, Arizona State), Jamelle Horne (San Diego High School, Arizona), Mamadou Diarra (Stoneridge School, College TBA), Herb Pope (Aliquippa High School, New Mexico State), Lacedarius Dunn (Excelsior Christian School, Baylor), Blake Griffin (Oklahoma Christian School, Oklahoma)