Raleigh Word of God announced its tentative boys basketball schedule
for the 2008-2009 season and the Rams will hit the road. Point guard
John Wall is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the country by some
recruiting services and he has helped open some doors.

Staff photo by Ethan Hyman

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Favors and Wall watch the Wolfpack

GlaxoSmithKline sets pairings for the Dec. 26-30 boys basketball tournament in Raleigh.

John Wall, Raleigh Word of God's top-ranked basketball point, has decided on four of his official visits.

Ross says he is not going to Word of God

Baylor received a commitment from a basketball point guard this week, but not from the highly acclaimed John Wall of Raleigh Word of God.

A.J. Walton of Little Rock (Ark.) Hill announced for Baylor. He was Mr. Basketball in Arkansas as a junior.

"I thought for sure that Walton would go to Arkansas," said Bob Gibbons, the basketball recruiting analyst for All-Star Sports. "Baylor pulled a big surprise."

Gibbons had Walton ranked as his "sleeper of the summer" after watching him play this summer in Orlando, Fla.

"A.J. is an exceptional point guard," Gibbons said. "But he is a point. I am sure that Baylor envisions him playing along side John Wall, but both are point guards."

Baylor is on the list of favorites of Wall, who is the top-ranked player in the country by rivals.com. Baylor recently hired Wall's club team coach, Dwon Clifton, as the director of player development. 

It's not fair to pin the hopes of an entire basketball program on one player, but N.C. State could really use John Wall. SI.com rehashes the details of Wall's journey from unknown to the third-rated prospect in the Class of 2009.

Here's the Reader's Digest version: Wall, a 6-3 point guard, is a fifth-year senior at Word of God in Raleigh. He began his high school career at Garner and ended up at Broughton, where he was cut from the basketball team. Last summer, he skyrocketed up the recruiting boards with a strong summer camp performance.

Enter the Wolfpack, desperate for a point guard, not to mention elite talent, and who have already secured the rights to forward C.J. Leslie, Wall's Word of God teammate and the 13th-rated prospect in the Class of 2010.

Wall's college list, according to Scout.com, includes Kentucky, Memphis, Ohio State and the Wolfpack.