Yesterday we wrote about the transfer of Lawrence Carrier to a prep school from Redlands, and our friend who sent us the story also alluded to another article in yesterday's San Bernardino County Sun written by Paul Oberjuerge, who is the Sports Editor for the paper. The column was entitled "In This Corner", and it was his regular column, but it didn't make the Sun's internet edition, just the print copy.  Yesterday Oberjuerge used a portion of his column to try to debunk the "myth" that prep school is the most likely route to success, and that those players who have stayed at their local area high school haven't been as successful as those who have. Here's the portion of the column we're referring to: 

BEST HAVE STAYED IN THE WEST

Prepping.... for what?

Before Redlands basketball prodigy Lawrence Carrier gets on a plane to a Connecticut prep school, he and his family may want to reflect on the recent history of players who left for the East Coast.

Manjue Sampson, Etdrick Bohannon and Keith Bean were prominent underclassmen who left county high schools to go to Easter prep schools. Maybe they got great educations.

Maybe not. But none exactly tore it up as players in college.

Now, consider the five guys from the county who have played in the NBA in the past decade: Byron Russell, Corey Benjamin, Sean Rooks, Ray Owes and Evrik Gray.

What do those five have in common? Every one stayed and graduated from a local public school.

Carrier is a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward with enormous potential. He would do well to reflect on the successes (and failures) of his predecessors before making a rash move.

Mike Southworth, former Fontana basketball coach now at Aquinas, estimates 30 basketball players have gone from the Inland Empire to prep schools in the past decade. Most, not all, were never heard from again.

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