The stamp South Medford's Kyle Singler and Lake Oswego's Kevin Love have put on Oregon basketball will grow a bit bigger this Sunday when Parade magazine unveils its 51st annual All-America high school boys basketball team.
Singler and Love each earned first-team recognition on the prestigious list, marking the first time in state history that Oregon boasts two players on the top team. Love, who became Oregon's career scoring leader this past season, has also been chosen as Parade's player of the year — a first for the state.
"It's a very special award," said Singler. "The Parade All-American team is prestigious and I'm very honored to be selected for it again."
"You always want to be considered among the best," added the 6-foot-9 Duke-bound standout, "and a lot of hard work goes into making that happen."
Both players recently capped a tremendous four-year run through the high school ranks that placed them among the all-time greats in Oregon history. They shared player-of-the-year honors as seniors, with Love also earning the nod as a sophomore and junior.
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Singler ranks sixth on the state's all-time scoring list with 2,207 points, and led his team to its first state title with a 58-54 win over Lake Oswego this past March to go with a runner-up finish and two other trophies (fourth in 2004, sixth in 2005). He averaged about 29 points, 11 rebounds and four assists for the Panthers as a senior.
Singler was a second-team Parade honoree last year and Love a first-teamer, so this year's selection puts them in rare company with McMinnville's Charlie Sitton (1979 and 1980) as the only Oregonians to qualify more than once for the all-star team.
The trio are joined by Roseburg's Jim Jarvis (1961) as this state's only first-team selections since Parade began honoring the nation's top players in 1957.
"Being selected second team last year showed there was room for improvement," said Singler, "so I'm glad I was able to work my way onto the first team."
Joining Singler and Love on Parade's first team are O.J. Mayo of West Virginia, Eric Gordon of Indiana, Derrick Rose of Illinois, Austin Freeman of Maryland, Donte Greene of Maryland, Nolan Smith of Virginia, Nick Calathes of Florida and Jerryd Bayless of Arizona.
The entire Parade team, which is selected by coaches, scouts, the media and recruiters, includes 40 athletes from 20 states, plus the District of Columbia. Texas has the most selections, with four.
Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail khenry@mailtribune.com

