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Some more on Yocum another Student/Athlete....

 

Rivals - Set. 15th

 

Albany Coach Will Brown returns his top 6 leading scorers this coming season in an America East Conference that's very much up for grabs. However, Brown received some news that helps position the Great Danes for success beyond this season.

 

6-foot-8 230 lbs. center Mike Yocum from Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia, PA gave coach Brown the good news this week.

 

"I was very impressed during my unofficial visit to Albany three weeks ago," Yocum said. "But they had only seen me play in camp and weren't sure about my post moves. The coaches came down to watch me workout on the first day that they were allowed out, and offered me on the spot."

 

"I had official visits lined up for Holy Cross and Colgate, but I called coach Brown this week and told him that I'd like to be a part of the program. He said he'd love to have me."

 

Yocum averaged 10.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game for Episcopal Academy last season, helping them to a 25-3 record and the Inter-AC title.

 

"We had some studs," Yocum dead-panned, referring to his elite teammates 6-foot-4 North Carolina bound senior Wayne Ellington, and 6-foot-5 Duke recruit Gerald Henderson.

 

Yokum also had interest from Farleigh sienafaninson, New Hampshire, and many Ivy League programs.

"On my visit, everything was very well planned," said Yocum. "They had an itinerary waiting for me at the hotel when I arrived, and all of the coaches were with me the whole time. That showed me that they took it very seriously. It's a beautiful school and great academically."

 

Yocum has an equivalent 3.5 GPA and a 1210 score on the old SAT.

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More info on Mike Yocum and his HS Team

 

Post-Summer Statewide Team Rankings

Rk Team Overall District Last Wk Player to Watch

1 Episcopal Academy 0-0 Inter-Ac Ellington/Henderson

2 St. Neumann-Goretti 0-0 Catholic Rivera

3 Roman Catholic 0-0 Cathloic Brad Wannamaker

4 St. Joseph's Prep 0-0 Catholic Redding

5 Harrisburg 0-0 3-AAAA Dawson

6 Schenley 0-0 8-AAAA D. Blair

7 Prep Charter 0-0 12-AA Green

8 Abington Friends 0-0 Love

9 Plymouth-Whitemarsh 0-0 1-AAAA Moore

10 Chester 0-0 1-AAAA Govens

11 Germantown Academy 0-0 Inter-Ac Ott

12 Frankford 0-0 12-AAAA Leonard

13 Simon Gratz 0-0 12-AAAA Alvin

14 Lower Merion 0-0 1-AAAA Williamson

15 State College 0-0 6-AAAA Meister

16 Kennedy Catholic 0-0 10-A Jackson

17 Beaver Falls 0-0 7-AA Jeter

18 Erie Prep 0-0 10-AAAA Harris

19 Reading 0-0 3-AAAA Jackson

20 Johnstown 0-0 6-AAA Hoffman

 

Centers

 

Rk Player Name Height School Class College

1 Kraidon Woods 6-8 Pocono Mtn. East 2006 Nova

2 Jason Love 6-8 Abington Friends 2006

3 Eric Meister 6-7 State College 2006

4 DaJuan Blair 6-7 Schenley 2007

5 Richard Jackson 6-8 Neumann-Goretti 2007

6 Mike Yocum 6-8 Episcopal Academy 2006

7 Dutch Gaitley 6-9 Archbishop Carroll 2006

8 Arcenio Carter 6-10 Glenn Mills 2006

9 Devon White 6-7 Roman Catholic 2008

10 Austin Johnson 6-6 Neumann-Goretti 2008

 

Yocum is the 4th ranked center in the class of 2006 in Pennsylvania

 

Written by Ethan Frank

Wednesday, 14 September 2005

In what have been a busy couple of days in regards to commitments from players in the Philadelphia area, Mike Yocum is the latest to make a pledge. The 6-8 Center from Episcopal Academy verbally committed to Albany and was scheduled to make an official visit to the school. Yocum, currently ranked PA Prep Report’s #4 Center in the ’06 class, was a 1st-team all Inter-Ac selection last season as a junior and was also named to the honorable mention All-City team by the Philadelphia Daily News.

 

 

He will team up with North Carolina commit Wayne Ellington and Duke commit Gerald Henderson to form the three-headed monster that will look to lead Episcopal to its second straight Inter-Ac title and the mythical “best team in the state” distinction. Although his highly regarded teammates may overshadow him at times, Yocum quietly goes about his business and is the perfect inside complement to the perimeter-playing duo.

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PHILADELPHIA/EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA/SOUTH JERSEY REPORT

by Allen Rubin, Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor of the HOOP SCOOP

Published October 16, 2005

 

 

 

The Best Rebounders are 1) 7'0 Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ, 2) 6'9 Jr Markfieff Morris from Philadelphia (Prep Charter) PA, 3) 6'10 Jr Hamidu Rahman from Aston (American Christian) PA, 4) 6'9 Theo Davis from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, 5) 6'9 Jr Michael Eric from Paoli (Church Farm) PA, 6) 6'9 Jason Love from Jenkintown (Abington Friends) PA, 7) 6'8 Kraidon Woods from Swiftwater (Pocono Mountain East) PA, 8) 6'5 Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 9) 6'8 Mike Yocum from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 10) 6'9 Jr Levoy Allen from Fairless Hills (Pennsbury) PA, 11) 6'9 Andrew Jones from Jenkintown (Abington Friends) PA, 12) 6'10 Andrew Ott from Ft. Washington (Germantown (Academy) PA, 13) 6'9 Jr Rich Jackson from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA, 14) 6'11 Jr Todd O'Brien from New Holland (Garden Spot) PA, 15) 6'4 Rockeed McCarter from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, 16) 6'7 Andrew Keister from Galloway (Absegami) NJ, 17) 6'8 Dennis Horner from Absecon (Holy Spirit) NJ, 18) 6'8 Dan Geriot from Springfield (H.S.) PA, 19) 6'8 Kevin Hudgeons from Philadelphia (Ryan) PA, and 20) 6'7 Soph Jermaine Jackson from Reading (H.S.) PA. The Best Shot Blockers are 1) 6'8 Kraidon Woods from Swiftwater (Pocono Mountain East) PA, 2) 7'0 Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ, 3) 6'10 Jr Hamidu Rahman from Aston (American Christian) PA, 4) 6'9 Jr Michael Eric from Paoli (Church Farm) PA, 5) 6'9 Theo Davis from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, 6) 6'9 Andrew Jones from Jenkintown (Abington Friends) PA, 7) 6'9 Jr Levoy Allen from Fairless Hills (Pennsbury) PA, 8) 6'7 Soph Jermaine Jackson from Reading (H.S.) PA, 9) 6'9 Jr Markfieff Morris from Philadelphia (Prep Charter) PA, 10) 6'11 Jr Todd O'Brien from New Holland (Garden Spot) PA, 11) 6'10 Andrew Ott from Ft. Washington (Germantown (Academy) PA, 12) 6'10 Justin Fry from Elliottsburg (West Perry) PA, 13) 6'8 Mike Yocum from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 14) 6'9 Jason Love from Jenkintown (Abington Friends) PA, and 15) 6'8 Jr Donte Wooten from Philadelphia (Franklin Learning Center) PA. The Best Defenders are 1) 6'1 Jr Derrick Rivera from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA, 2) 6'6 Mike Ringgold from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, 3) 6'0 Tyrone Lewis from Levittown (Truman) PA, 4) 5'8 Frank Turner from Atlantic City (H.S.) NJ, 5) 6'2 Jr Brian Wannamaker from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, 6) 5'8 Ray Sims from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, 7) 6'5 Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 8) 6'5 Javis Williams from Willingboro (H.S.) NJ, 9) 6'2 Darrin Govens from Chester (H.S.) PA, 10) 6'4 Ken St. George from Philadelphia (Central) PA, 11) 6'1 Nate Edwards from Philadelphia (North Central) PA, 12) 6'2 Bryan Arthur from Wyncote (Cheltenham) PA, 13) 7'0 Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ, 14) 6'1 Matt McFadden from Medford (Shawnee) NJ, 15) 6'0 Malik Alvin from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA, 16) 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, and 17) 6'3 James Inge from Camden (Wilson) NJ.

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From Hoop Scoop....

 

Mike Yocum's team Episcopal Academy is playing in the "City of Palms Classic" in December.

 

This is a national tournament with 16 high powered teams from all over the country.

 

Hoop Scoop listed the names of the top talent that would be in attendance and it was nice to see that Mike's name was listed with about 35 others. Of course his teammates Ellington (UNC) and Henderson (Duke) were listed well ahead of him but just to be listed shows respect for his abilities.

Edited by Patch
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Reid Anderson's Lakewood team is also playing a national tournament at Myrtle Beach in December. Certainly both players will be facing some pretty good talent before they reach college.

It amazes me how big high school basketball has become. When I was in high school a road game meant a bus ride to the next town. Now these teams are traveling to another state to play teams from across the country. No small wonder some of them arrive at college playing at a high level.

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Reid Anderson's Lakewood team is also playing a national tournament at Myrtle Beach in December. Certainly both players will be facing some pretty good talent before they reach college.

It amazes me how big high school basketball has become. When I was in high school a road game meant a bus ride to the next town. Now these teams are traveling to another state to play teams from across the country. No small wonder some of them arrive at college playing at a high level.

10052[/snapback]

 

 

Two things:

 

1) That tourney, I am suspecting, for Reid is one of the best (Beach Ball Classic I think its called...something like that) and one of the oldest.

 

2) DP- I am with you on the travel thing. Let me add this: We had to take the CITY BUS (not school, not chartered) to our games. Pretty sad back then. We were reimbursed for the ride, however.

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Here's avery interesting read. It's rather long but it shows what type of person Michael Yocum is..... Bright and Intelligent I think ... make your own decision

 

Chapel Speaker

Mike Yocum (speaking in the church)

9/28/05

 

Did you ever hear something, have someone tell you something, or see something that will be in your mind for the

rest of your life? This happened to me about a year and a half ago. I had just been accepted to Episcopal and I was

debating whether or not I should go through with it or not. My parents left the decision entirely up to me and I was

having a difficult time deciding what I should do. I was very comfortable with my situation in Tamaqua. If I decided

to go, I would be meeting hundreds of new people, I would be involved with a much more difficult and demanding

academic curriculum, and I would be playing a much more competitive style of basketball. I was torn on what to do,

so I decided to seek advice from one of my best friends. I explained the situation to him and what he told me has

affected my life ever since. He said to me, “Yoc, as your telling me this, I am staring at a piece of mail that is hanging

on my wall from the University of Iowa. It says, if you want to discover new oceans, you must first have the courage

to lose the sight of land. I think that if you want to be successful, sometimes you have to leave what is comfortable if

you want to benefit in the long run.” I thought that this was such an interesting concept, and as I started to think about

what he said more and more, it became easier for me to eventually decide to make the move. That phrase and his

advice have been with me ever since. It opened my eyes, and helped me to realize a lot about risk taking and trying to

achieve success.

I often wonder what would have happened if I didn’t take my friends advice and didn’t risk coming to a completely

new environment. Since I came here last September, the only regret I have ever had was that I didn’t come sooner. In

this past year, I have been exposed to so many things that I would have never been exposed to. I have made some of

the best friends that I will ever make in my life. It is a very scary to think about “what if I didn’t take this risk?” I

would be missing out on so many great things, and I owe my friend a lot for his advice because it had such a positive

impact on me.

Most of the people in this world who have ever experienced success, more than likely didn’t stumble upon it. Those

people are the ones who are not satisfied with being content. Those people are the ones who are willing to leave what

is comfortable to try and achieve something for the greater good. People who are on the outside looking in at these

successful people consider them lucky. To me, luck is a funny thing. My father constantly tells me that luck is merely

being prepared to take advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself. So, with that being the case, I guess it is

safe to say that these people are indeed very lucky because they were willing to risk everything, leave their comfort

zone, and go after new things.

I would absolutely encourage everyone to take a risk and go after something they want, or they can benefit from,

whatever it may be. Taking risks is the only way we have to move forward in life. But we must remember, as we take

these risks, that we must stay resilient and focused on our end goal. The road to success is a bumpy one, but we can

not let the bumps make us want to turn around. The bumps are inevitable. Last year, one of Rev. Squire’s ethics lessons

from last year came from a book called Why do bad things happen to good people, by Rabbi Kushner. The main

quote from this book was that tragedy doesn’t have a ticket into your life; it has a box seat, meaning it’s always going

to be there. It’s not just going to show up every once in a while, it will always be there. We all should except this, and

focus our energies on the outcome of our risks.

Last Christmas, my mom decided to get me a book called, The Young Traveler’s Gift. Honestly, I wasn’t completely

stoked about getting a book for Christmas, it’s kind of like getting dress socks. But since I had a lot of free time on

Christmas day and the book isn’t entirely too big, I decided that I would make my mom happy and read the book. I

began to read the book and was pleasantly surprised about what I found inside. This book had an interesting concept.

Basically, the main character Michael is having a really rough time with life. He had just gotten arrested for alcohol

related charges after he totaled his car and to top it all off, he found out his dad has lung cancer. He begins to contemplate

why he is even living and drives (his dad’s car) off an embankment. This begins his journey. He goes on a journey

and meets seven different people, all who give him different advice on life. He meets people such as Presidents

Lincoln and Truman, Anne Frank, King Solomon, Christopher Columbus, and Colonel Chamberlain. Each of these

people give him different advice on life and a paper to read to himself once a day emphasizing the advice, but the last

place he goes was the most interesting. He wakes up and finds himself in a warehouse. This warehouse was filled with

many things, papers and other inventions. Random things like diplomas, marriage licenses, bike tires, food, and medicine.

These things were stacked so high that he couldn’t even see the ceiling. He couldn’t even comprehend where he

was and why he was there. Then, out of nowhere, appears the archangel Gabriel. Gabriel begins to walk with Michael

and tells him what the place is. He tells Michael that all of the things present in the warehouse were projects that were

started by people, but the people didn’t have the resilience to finish them, due to circumstances or discouragement.

This place really had a huge impact on our main character when Gabriel tells him that one of the numerous papers,

that is in the warehouse, contains the cure for lung cancer, while his dad is in the hospital dying from the disease.

Gabriel shows Michael a few more things and finally tells him it is time to go. Gabriel hands Michael a piece of paper

which emphasizes his advice. This is what the paper says. “I will persist without exception. Knowing that I have

already made changes in my life that will last forever, today I insert the final piece of the puzzle. I possess the greatest

power ever bestowed upon humankind, the power of choice. Today, I choose to persist without exception. No longer

will I be distracted, my focus blowing in the wind. I know the outcome I want. I will hold fast to my dreams. I will

stay the course. I do not quit. I will persist without exception. I will continue despite exhaustion. I know that most

people quit when exhaustion sets in. I am not “most people.” I am stronger that most people. Average people give in to

exhaustion. I do not. Average people compare themselves with other people. That is why they are average. I compare

myself to my potential. I am not average. I see exhaustion as a precursor to victory. I will persist without exception. I

will focus on results. To achieve the results I desire, it is not even necessary that I enjoy the process. It is only important

that I continue the process with my eyes on the outcome. An athlete does not enjoy the pain of training; an athlete

enjoys the results of having trained. I will persist without exception. I am a person of great faith. In Jeremiah, my creator

declares, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and

a future.” From this day forward, I will have faith in my future. I will believe in the future that I do not see. That is

faith. And the reward of this faith is to one day see the future that I believed in. I will continue despite exhaustion. I

will focus on results. I am a person of great faith. I will persist without exception.”

It is incredible to think what can be accomplished when people have resilience. Just imagine what the world would be

like if we weren’t discouraged by our mistakes and mishaps. Mistakes should not be feared because we all make them,

and they help us learn and prepare for “next time.” Someone once told me, Instead of fearing mistakes, we should fear

being average.

So no matter what you want to accomplish or what risks you are going to take, stay persistent and move forward with

confidence. I am looking out into this chapel and I see a lot of potential and numerous opportunities waiting to be

taken advantage of. The possibilities are endless. Whether your “new ocean” is becoming the greatest grunge band of

all time, the next person to cure a vicious disease, becoming the next 15-year NBA All-Star, or even becoming the

next President of the United States, stay confident with what your doing and put your life into the hands of God,

because it will help you to stay focused on your end result. So I encourage everyone to have the courage to lose the

sight of land. Good luck discovering your new oceans.

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