According to individuals close to Maryland head coach Gary Williams, the recruitment demonstrated that rule-bending is often necessary to secure highly touted players, which Williams said he was unwilling to do, even at the expense of recruiting. Although it violated no standing rule at the time, media observers and Connecticut staff considered it directly connected to the recruitment. The NCAA adopted a new scheduling rule after UConn paid $25,000 to schedule a game against the Beltway Ballers, an ad hoc AAU team that consisted of Gay's former teammates. Because of the heavy involvement of an AAU coach and a high school coach, there was the appearance of impropriety, although no NCAA recruiting violations were discovered. Gay had expressed a desire to attend Maryland and said that he grew up rooting for the team, but he ultimately chose UConn. Gay's college recruitment and decision to attend the University of Connecticut over the University of Maryland were controversial. Considered a five-star recruit by, Gay was listed as the No. He was the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year, a McDonald's All-American, and a Parade first-team All-American in his senior year after averaging 21.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game. He began playing basketball for Spalding as a junior in 2002–03, earning first-team All- Baltimore Catholic League honors as a junior and senior, and was also honored as the Baltimore Sun's co-player of the year as a senior. This prompted the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association to review its transfer rules.
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He began his junior year with Eastern Tech, but in September 2002, he transferred to Archbishop Spalding in Severn. Although Eastern Tech was a Blue Ribbon academic institution, Gay's parents were concerned about his college preparation. In his sophomore season at Eastern Tech, the Mavericks earned their first and only trip to College Park for the state semi-finals.
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Gay played his first two years of high school basketball at Baltimore County's Eastern Technical High School, a magnet school in Essex. At the age of 14, Gay began playing for the nationally known Cecil-Kirk AAU program under coach Anthony Lewis. When that didn’t happen, people began to question his desire and intensity and whether he has it in him to become great … He floats in and out of games, and tended to defer to teammates in clutch situations … Is it a lack of fire, or just a lack of maturity and confidence? Time will tell … Unselfish to a fault, like Vince Carter, he almost takes being the perfect teammate too far.Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Rae Gay and Rudy Gay Sr., former lead singer of the R&B group Ace Spectrum and band director for The Stylistics, Gay began playing competitive recreational basketball at the age of 12 in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. Weaknesses: Though he’s just 19 years of age, his sophomore year was supposed to be his to take over college basketball. Late to the game, so his lack of a great feel could improve over time, he wasn’t seriously coached until he was a junior in high school …
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Strengths: Elite run/jump athlete who finishes well above the rim … High flyer … Very versatile… Does everything well … Complete offensive arsenal… Can hit the mid range jumper… Excellent at slashing to the hoop… Accurate passer who is very unselfish… Does the majority of his damage in the post … Very tough to defend… Doesnt get pushed around down low … Runs the floor well … Tough on the boards… Works harder than everyone else on the court … Will most likely play on the wing at the next level … Extremely long (7-3 wingspan) and freakishly athletic … Has shows tremendous potential.