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Very few places are producing high school players at the rate that Maryland and D.C. is right now. In the past few years they can claim prep legends Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley. Pennsylvania is also a hot bed for high school talent. The city of brotherly love is known for their gritty, tough guards. This year they have another one in Maalik Wayns. Wayns is a rising senior at Philadelphia’s Roman Catholic high school and has already committed to play for Jay Wright at Villanova. If the two states went head-to-head with today’s talent, who would come out on top? MORE >

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South of the Mason-Dixon line, the Class of ‘09 is stacked with talent. And it’s not just a bunch of solid players - we’re talking the best of the best. North Carolina boasts one of the top five players in the entire class with Word of God Academy’s John Wall, and Virginia’s DeShawn Painter is a bona fide bully in the post. Let’s stack ‘em up and see which state comes out on top

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(Photo: Derrick Favors)

The rivalry between these two southern states does not stop at the gridiron. With both states producing big time ball players just as fast as they are running backs, the rivalry has now reached the hardwood. This clash is one of the better match ups in the Border Wars series, enjoy: MORE >

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Border Wars Part Deux: NoCal .vs. SoCal:

(Photo of Jeremy Tyler)

NoCal and SoCal have always had heated rivalries when it comes to basketball, whether it be street ball, high school or the Lakers versus Kings match ups some years back. And to be quiet honest, there hasn’t been much of a rivalry lately as the Lakers have dominated the Kings and SoCal has dominated the high school ranks. Still let’s see how this year’s crops of NoCal all-stars fair against their SoCal counter parts. MORE >

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Border Wars: New York .vs. New Jersey

(Photo of Dexter Strickland)

Last summer we hit you guys with our “Border Wars” series, which pits state-versus-state or city-versus-city rivals against each other. With the Class of 2008 a distant memory, it’s time to update the rosters and see who is gonna step up to help their state claim bragging rights — at least until next summer.

The first match up is between New York and New Jersey. For years upon years these two states have been rivals: New Yorkers swear New Jersey is the red-headed stepchild of the tri-state area, while Jersey views NYC as a former Mecca that has lost its luster. This rivalry is always heated, and we must say, things are starting to look up for NJ.

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California’s five best high school players could probably down the best five players in any other state in the nation. They’ve got talent at every position on the floor, and a collectively high basketball IQ. So wouldn’t it be pretty unfair to stack them against the five best from Nevada? Not exactly. Of all of Cali’s neighboring states, Nevada’s best five would absolutely give them the toughest match-up.

California: PG - Jrue Holiday 6-3, 200 lbs. (Campbell Hall; North Hollywood, Calif.) - On national TV earlier this year, Holiday went off for 35. He then faced Cali’s top-rated prospect, DeMar DeRozan and hung 32 points on him. Calling him the next Baron Davis is a complement, but not unrealistic. SG - Malcolm Lee 6-4, 175 lbs. (J.W. North; Riverside, Calif.) - Apologies to Lee but he would be the weakest player on the floor - not in terms of skills, but in terms of muscles. But that doesn’t matter. Lee is the perfect complement on the All-Cali squad because he forces teams to respect the three-point line. SF - DeMar DeRozan 6-5, 195 lbs. (Compton; Compton, Calif.) - Mr. Unguardable. DeAndre Liggins is a fantastic athlete in Nevada, but he probably couldn’t hold DeRozan’s jersey if he cut to the basket. DeRozan would take this year’s field of NBA dunkers if he was allowed to enter. PF - Renardo Sidney 6-10, 230 lbs. (Fairfax; Los Angeles, Calif.) - Sidney might have 50 points if these two lineups went at it. He had 36 points and 19 boards in a huge game for Fairfax two weeks ago, proving why he’s the No-1 recruit in the Class of ‘09. “If there were any doubts about the basketball ability of 6-foot-10 junior center Renardo Sidney of Los Angeles Fairfax, they vanished Friday night during an extraordinary individual performance against Westchester in a game for first place in the Western League,” writes Eric Sondheimer. C - Jeff Withey 7-0, 225 lbs. (Horizon; San Diego, Calif.) - At least for the time being this San Diego product proved his superiority among San Diego big men when he teed off against super sophomore 6-11 Jeremy Tyler. Withey won the battle on paper, as he went off for 18 points, 12 boards and 7 blocks while Tyler had 12 points and 7 boards after being limited by foul trouble.

Bench: Jordan Hamilton, Travis Wear, David Wear, Reeves Nelson, Hollis Thompson, Brendan Lane

Nevada: PG - Deremy Geiger 5-10, 160 lbs. (Canyon Springs; North Las Vegas, Nev.) - The Utah State commit is probably the least well known prospect who of all ten players, but not for long. Geiger was charged with distributing the rock on a loaded Canyon Springs team, but two of those playmakers (Juron Criner and DeVonte Christopher), Geiger has gone berserk on offense. He’s torched the opposition for 38.5 points per game over his last four, including a 42-point game against El Dorado. SG - Deividas Dulkys 6-3, 190 lbs. (Findlay Prep; Henderson, Nev.) - Dulkys is a Lithuanian shooter who is one of the headliners in Florida State’s impressive class of commits. Dulkys has a sweet stroke from beyond the arc, and compensates for his lack of athleticism with a quick release. SF - DeAndre Liggins 6-6, 180 lbs. (Findlay Prep; Henderson, Nev.) - One of the most versatile players in the state, Dulkys’ teammate, can run the one, two or three seamlessly. He’s instinctively unselfish and has drawn comparisons to an alumnus of his future school, Kentucky. “He has more fun passing than he does shooting,” Hall said. “He reminds me a lot of (Rajon) Rondo, to tell you the truth. He can score, but he loves to pass.” PF - Olek Czyz 6-7, 235 lbs. (Reno; Reno, Nev.) Czyz got a bad name when Luke Babbitt zorro’d him for 34-4 when they went head-to-head, but Czyz is a special player. He led his squad to first place in the Sierra League on an 18-point night that included an absurd buzzer-beating dunk. “Duke-bound senior Olek Czyz got out in front of the play, caught the lob pass and launched from just inside the free-throw with a remarkable 360-degree slam dunk at the buzzer,” writes Joey Crandall. C - Luke Babbitt 6-8, 225 lbs. (Galena; Reno, Nev.) - Babbitt would probably tell you that he would be out of position at center. It’s true. He wouldn’t be able to defend a guy as physically talented as Withey. But Withey would have no idea how to stop him. In a recent game in Cali, Babbitt slaughtered Edison High (Stockton, Calif.) for a season-high 42 points and 23 boards.

Bench: Elijah Johnson

All we said was that it would be the best match-up… Nevada would still get cracked by the Cali Kings.