A year after fellow Canadian Tristan Thompson departed from Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s Prep for Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep, Myck Kabongo is going the same route.
Kabongo, a 6-foot-2 rising senior point guard who has committed to Texas, will transfer to Findlay for his senior season.
Findlay is the two-time National High School Invitational (NHSI) champion.
The program has gone 97-3 over the past three seasons.
Kabongo was the New Jersey Prep Player of the Year and is the No. 8 point guard in the Class of 2011, according to Rivals.
“I will be attending Findlay Prep next year for my senior year in Henderson, Nev., and playing for Coach [Michael] Peck,” Kabongo wrote in an email. “Me and my family think it’s best for me to go somewhere where I will be happy and a place that will get me the most prepared before I head to Austin, Texas next year for college.”
Peck said the school will bring in six “new bodies” next season and Kabongo is the first of those.
“Obviously, we’re excited about that,” Peck said. “He’s yet another great player in our program. We’re definitely looking forward to working with him his senior year to help continue to have the success that we have had and to help him achieve the goals that he wants to achieve. I’ve known him through friendly exchanges. He’s a super-nice kid, very polite, very hardworking, talented, humble. Everything that what we look for.”
Findlay is still in search of a high school after losing its affiliation with the Henderson International School.
“Our program will continue,” Peck told me last month. “How that’s going to look I don’t know.
“Obviously nothing is definitive at this point but it continues to be explored. We’re going to continue to get more details as each day goes forward. I’m confident we’re going to be around. How it’s going to look, I’m not sure.”
Kabongo cited the departure of head coach Dan Hurley, who left St. Benedict’s for Wagner College last month, and the fact that St. Benedict’s headmaster Father Edwin Leahy pulled the Gray Bees out of the NHSI because it conflicted with Good Friday as reasons for his departure.
“The decision for me leaving was not a difficult one to make,” Kabongo wrote. “After my coach Dan Hurley left it was hard to be at St. Benedict’s Prep. Coach Hurley was the main reason for me going to the school. His departure, and the fact I was never happy at the school made me transfer.”
New St. Benedict’s coach Roshown McLeod was immediately available for comment.
Findlay will lose both Thompson and senior guard Cory Joseph to Texas. A year ago, Hurley kicked the 6-8 Thompson off the St. Benedict’s team after a verbal altercation and he subsequently transferred to Findlay. Hurley and Thompson have since made up.
“Now at Findlay Prep I look forward to enjoying my senior season,” Kabongo wrote. “I’m overwrought about it ! I’ve gotten good feed back from my peers who have gone through the program such as Avery [Bradley], Cory , Trey and they’ve told me the place is domicile . I know going there I’m getting good coaching to polish my basketball skills from Coach Peck and also help maturing as a person. Most importantly attending Findlay I know that I will be surrounded by good people . People that want me to succeed on & off the court & help stir me towards the right path to reach my goals and dreams.”
