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Scouting Report
Overview
Conley played in the shadows of more-heralded High School and college teammate Greg Oden, but many professional scouts felt that Conley, not Oden, had the best season for the Buckeyes in 2006-07. The Big Ten Conference leader in assists and steals, Conley comes from a family rich in sports tradition.
His father, Michael Conley, Sr., was a 1992 Olympic gold medalist in the triple-jump (57-10.25) and a silver medalist in 1984. Conley Sr. earned nine NCAA individual titles at Arkansas (class of 1985) and his brother, Steven Conley, was an All-Southeastern Conference defensive end at Arkansas and was selected in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, playing for that team from 1996-98 before finishing the 1998 campaign with the Indianapolis Colts.
Conley, Sr., who was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2004, coached both Greg Oden and his son during the summers since the pair was in the sixth grade. Both Conley Sr. and Mike Jr. own High School basketball state championships. Conley Sr. helped Chicago Luther South to the 1980 Illinois Class A Championship. Mike Jr. played for Jack Keefer at Lawrence North from 2003-06.
Conley Jr. earned Associated Press first-team All-State honors as a senior at Lawrence North High School after making the second-team as a junior. He finished second to Greg Oden in the voting for Indiana's 2006 Mr. Basketball award and ranked 15th on the Sports Illustrated Top 100 prospects list.
Conley Jr. made 178 of 324 field goals (54.9 percent) and 45 of 115 3-point attempts (39.1 percent), as he averaged 16.5 points and four assists a game in his final High School campaign. The Wildcats put together a record of 103-7 in four seasons (2003-06), which included a 29-0 mark in 2006. With the victory in '06, Lawrence North won its 45th-consecutive, which tied Indianapolis Crispus Attucks' streak spanning the 1954-55 and 1955-56 seasons.
The Wildcats joined Franklin (1920-22) and Marion (1985-87) as the only teams to win three-consecutive Indiana state championships. Their 2005-06 squad also became the 10th team in Indiana history to finish undefeated (29-0). Lawrence North's average margin of victory in the 29 wins was more than 21 points a game.
In three state tournament games, Conley averaged 11.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and four assists in 28.7 minutes per game. He made 56 percent of his shots from the field (14 of 25) and scored 21 points in the 2006 title game victory vs. Muncie Central.
He garnered Parade All-American honors and was a member of the 2006 McDonald's All-America squad (East), when Conley was the game's top rebounder with 10 boards but the East fell to the West 112-94 in San Diego. Conley, who had 123 assists as a senior, handed out a game-high 13 assists to go with seven points and eight rebounds in the West's 118-102 victory at the Roundball Classic April 9, 2006 at the United Center in Chicago.
One of 10 McDonald's All-Americans to ever letter on the Ohio State basketball team, Conley was an All-American honorable mention, All-Big Ten Conference first-team and All-District choice in 2006-07. He led the league in assists and steals and ranked seventh in the nation with 87 steals. In 39 games, he connected on 160 of 309 field goals (51.8 percent) and made 21 of 69 3-point shots (30.4 percent). He averaged 11.3 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while dolling out 6.1 assists.
His regular-season assist average of 6.56 per game helped him become the first OSU player to lead the league in that category since Kelvin Ransey won the title (6.3 assists per game) in 1980. He was also the first freshman to rank first since Illinois' Deron Williams dished out 4.8 assists per game in 2003.
Conley tallied a conference-best 2.06 steals per game, becoming the first freshman to lead in that category since Illinois' Dee Brown claimed the 2003 title with 1.88 thefts per contest. He became the second consecutive OSU player to win the steals title after Je'Kel Foster registered a conference-best 2.13 thefts in 2005-06.
Conley was selected to the Big Ten All-Tournament squad and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA South Regional, becoming just the fourth Buckeye in Schoolannals to earn the honor along with Jerry Lucas (1963), Dave Sorenson (1968) and Scoonie Penn (1999).
Scouting Report
Positives: Has a lean, angular frame with developed calf and thigh muscles, long reach and room for additional bulk without it affecting his overall quickness...Clutch player who is a fearless shooter with great efficiency from mid-range and also displays good 3-point acumen...Has a great work ethic and attitude, bringing energy to the court and leadership to the locker room...Shows the balance and foot speed to run the court and can easily get by opposing guards and into the paint...Has very good ball-handling skills and excels in one-on-one matchups...Does a good job of breaking down defenders and shows solid decision-making ability for a player of his age...Knows how to use his crossover dribble to create room and is a top-notch passer with good court vision...In control with the ball in his hands, showing the crafty moves to slip through tight areas and feed and dish the ball off to his teammates...Protects the ball well and has a good assist-to-turnover ratio (3.6-to-1)...Possesses a very effective crossover move along the baseline and goes strong to the basket...Also shows quick spin moves...Has good rebounding skills for a player of his size and shows the ability to lock in and can be very disruptive when asked to defend fullcourt...Has very quick hands to fire the ball out coming off the dribble and is a good floor general who does a nice job of setting up his teammates for easy shots, thanks to his decision-making ability...Has good hands and timing to deflect passes, showing the court presence to position himself when his man doesn't have the ball to disrupt the flow of the game...Even though he appears to lack ideal bulk, he has the upper-body strength to overpower guards at both ends of the court...Shows good ball security and it is rare to see him turn the ball over...Gets most of his steals because of his rare anticipation skills and generally takes good angles when playing defense...Shows good quickness can create even against the double-team...When his shot is off, he will set up his teammates rather than take poor shots...What he does best is find open men and take advantage of holes in the defense to create shots for himself and others...Has the lateral quickness to get to the boundaries quickly and uses his long reach to strip the ball from his opponent (see NCAA Final vs. Taurean Green of Florida)...Times steals well and has the burst to take the turnover the other way for a breakaway layup...Does a good job of weaving through traffic to take the ball from one end of the court to the other.
Negatives: Is improving, but still has just adequate 3-point range and can get in a bad rhythm when his jump shot isn't falling...Sometimes gets too pass-conscious and fails to take the easy shot...Needs to work on his free-throw shooting and has a bit of an unorthodox release, hitting 69.4 percent of his foul shots last season...Coming off the dribble, his jumper is lacking...Good defender, but needs to develop more offensive moves...Range could improve and he will have to play more without the ball.
Compares To: CHRIS PAUL, New Orleans. Conley is the elite point guard in this class. He plays much bigger than his size indicates and, while he might need a few years to develop the skills for leading an offense, he is pretty close to reaching that maturity level. He is a great defender and tenacious player, but needs to work on his outside jump shot and be more selective from 3-point range. He is too unselfish and needs to take more shots, but like Paul, look for his overall game to continue to improve. This is a future All-NBA caliber player.
High School
Attended Lawrence North (Indianapolis, Ind.) High School, playing basketball for head coach Jack Keefer...Earned Associated Press first-team All-State honors as a senior and was a second-team choice as a junior...Finished second to Greg Oden in the voting for Indiana's 2006 Mr. Basketball award and ranked 15th on the Sports Illustrated Top 100 prospects list...Helped the team become only the third Schoolin Indiana prep annals to win three consecutive state titles, joining Franklin (1920-22) and Marion (1985-87) High...His 2005-06 squad also became the 10th team in Indiana history to finish undefeated (29-0), as the squad's average margin of victory in the 29 wins was more than 21 points a game...Lawrence North put together a record of 103-7 in four seasons (2003-06) and when it won its 45th-consecutive game in 2005-06, it tied Indianapolis Crispus Attucks' streak spanning the 1954-55 and 1955-56 seasons...Connected on 178 of 324 field goals (54.9 percent) and 45 of 115 3-point attempts (39.1 percent), as he averaged 16.5 points and four assists per game (123 total) in his final High School campaign...In three state tournament games, he averaged 11.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 28.7 minutes per game...Made 56 percent of his shots from the field (14 of 25) and scored 21 points in the 2006 title game victory vs. Muncie Central, as he garnered Parade All-American honors that year...A member of the 2006 McDonald's All-America squad (East), Conley was the game's high rebounder with 10 boards but the East fell to the West 112-94 in San Diego...Handed out a game-high 13 assists to go with seven points and eight rebounds in the West's 118-102 victory at the Roundball Classic April 9, 2006 at the United Center in Chicago.
Personal
Criminal Law major who hopes to become an attorney once his playing days are over...Son of Rene and Mike Conley, Sr...Father was a 1992 Olympic gold medalist in the triple-jump (57-10.25) and a silver medalist in 1984. Mike Sr. earned nine NCAA individual titles at Arkansas (class of 1985)...Mike Jr.'s uncle, Steven Conley, was an All-Southeastern Conference defensive end at Arkansas and was selected in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, playing for that team from 1996-98 before finishing the 1998 campaign with the Indianapolis Colts...Conley Sr., who was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2004, coached both Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. during the summers since the pair was in the sixth grade and will represent the pair as their player agent...Both Conley Sr. and Jr. own High School basketball state championships. Conley Sr. helped Chicago Luther South to the 1980 Illinois Class A Championship. Mike Jr. played for Jack Keefer at Lawrence North from 2003-06, as that Schoolwon three titles...Born 10/11/87...Resides in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Copyright (C) 2007 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
Stats
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Player Statistics
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| Season | GP | Min | FGM | FGA | FTM | FTA | 3FG | 3FGA | Pts | Off | Def | Tot | Ast | TO | Stl | Blk | PF |
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2006-07 | 39 | 1231 | 160 | 309 | 100 | 144 | 21 | 69 | 441 | 27 | 107 | 134 | 238 | 86 | 87 | 10 | 60
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| Total | 39 | 1231 | 160 | 309 | 100 | 144 | 21 | 69 | 441 | 27 | 107 | 134 | 238 | 86 | 87 | 10 | 60 |
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Player Statistics
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| Season | Min | Pts | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | Blk | FG% | FT% | 3FG% |
| 2006-07 | 31.6 | 11.3 | 3.4 | 6.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.518 | 0.694 | 0.304 |
| Total | 31.6 | 11.3 | 3.4 | 6.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.518 | 0.694 | 0.304 |
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