No One Stands Taller At Prep Than Emslie -- Panther Is First To Score 1,000

The big fellow they call "Ems" at Seattle Prep got something special after the first quarter of the Panthers' basketball victory over Garfield last Friday.

His early dunk may have looked like just another bucket by the tallest player in the Metro League, but it wasn't. It was special because it put him over the 1,000-point mark in his high-school career, a threshold no other Seattle Prep player is believed to have reached.

At the break between periods, David Emslie was presented with a painted basketball autographed by teammates and Coach Chris Miller.

The next day, the ball was in the living room of the family's home near Madison Park across from Bush School, where his father, Gary, is director of the middle school.

On the wall of the entry into the living room are pencil marks that have charted the height through the years of David and his guard-sized brother, Michael, 14. David, who was 6 feet 6 in eighth grade, now must duck to get through the entrance to the room. He is now 6-11 or 7 feet tall. His father says no one in the family is sure which height is accurate.

What is reassuring, though, is Miller's observation that his star player is "comfortable with his height" and "has the self-esteem to like it."

Coach and father also note that Emslie seems to genuinely love basketball, which is not something all super-tall high-school players do.

"He's as much a gym rat as any kid we have," Miller said.

The father said: "It's still like a game for him. It's still fun."

Proof from the athlete himself: Posters of basketball players serve as the wallpaper near the head of his bed.

Emslie is averaging 21 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots for Prep (9-2). He led the Panthers to a fifth-place finish at the Class AA tournament last season. It was the second-best finish in Panther history. The Times selected him as Metro AA player of the year.

Emslie is headed for Santa Clara next season after selecting the Broncos from among more than a dozen schools, including USC and Southern Methodist, that recruited him.

The recruiting process got intense in late summer after he returned from an all-star camp in Las Vegas. The family took a three-day vacation and returned to find more than 40 telephone messages from recruiters clogging the answering machine.

Eager to get the recruiting process completed, Emslie invited eight finalists into his home this fall for visits during a span of a week and a half.

"On the day of a home visit, the coach comes to your school and you don't go to any classes," he said. "They pull you out of class to hang out and they try to convince you that they are teenage and can hang out."

Emslie fell behind in school because of the recruiting, but he believes he made the right decision in selecting Santa Clara. He hit it off with Bronco Coach Dick Davey, who has a reputation for developing big men.

Davey has indicated that he plans to use Emslie right away next year.

Emslie said, "If everything goes right, my first college game will be at Kansas."

The Broncos are expected to use Emslie as a forward. He is skinny at about 200 pounds and doesn't match the profile of a "banger" type rebounder. While he isn't afraid to mix it up in the middle, he also has finesse to shoot three-point jump shots if needed.

Emslie has dozens of recruiting letters he never bothered to open.

David attended Bush School through eighth grade. Michael, who shows basketball promise, is an eighth-grader at Bush. One benefit of their father's job is access to the gym. Their mother, Mary, teaches at John Muir Elementary School in the Rainier Valley. Neither parent is unusually tall.

At Prep, Emslie has a 3.25 grade-point average. One of his best subjects is Spanish. An eight-week stint as an exchange student outside Mexico City before his sophomore year has paid classroom dividends. That also was his last summer without a full diet of basketball.

Basketball has given him recognition and friends from all over the city and state. After last Friday's games, Roosevelt center Kyle Kyiang dropped by to talk about the Roughriders' lopsided loss to O'Dea.

During the holidays, Emslie's college friends were home. His father joked, "These guys would eat everything in one house then move on to the next."

Next year, Emslie moves on to a higher level of basketball. With his scholarship locked up, he could be strutting, but instead he's doing all he can to get Prep back to state despite the season-ending injury to starting point guard Dylan Nachand.

As Miller put it, "David's never had a problem with his head size."

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State's basketball players to watch

The state's top high-school basketball players as determined through interviews with sportswriters and coaches throughout the state.

. Boys. . . Player Ht. Yr. High school College. . Ben Addink 6-5 Sr. White River . . Mark Arington 6-4 Jr. Edmonds-Woodway . .

# Luke Arthur 6-11 Sr. Central Kitsap. College: Signed with Montana St.. . Aaron Bellessa 6-2 Sr. Decatur . . Steve Berry 6-2 Sr. Selah . . Gabe Cagwin 5-9 Jr. North Mason . . Casey Calvary 6-7 Sr. Bellarmine. College: Signed with Gonzaga. . Tim Coleman 6-7 Sr. Eastside Catholic. College: Going to Harvard. . Nate Collord 5-11 So. Jackson . . Phil Cullen 7-0 Jr. Chelan . . Dan Dickau 6-2 Sr. Prairie. College: Signed with Washington. . David Emslie 6-11 Sr. Seattle Prep. College: Signed with Santa Clara. . Josh Frunz 6-3 Sr. Rainier . . John Galbreath 6-5 Sr. Ritzville . . A.J. Geisa 6-8 Sr. Kamiakin-Kennewick . . Zach Gourde 6-8 Jr. Prairie . . Jason Heide 6-10 Sr. Issaquah. College: Signed with Oregon State. . Michael Johnson 6-5 Sr. Ballard. College: Signed with Washington. . Teyo Johnson 6-4 Fr. Mariner . . Ryan Jones 6-3 Sr. Capital-Olympia . . Grant Leep 6-7 Jr. Mount Vernon . . Anthony Lewis 6-3 Jr. Franklin . . Sean Madsen 6-5 Sr. Auburn . . Al Minahan 6-3 Sr. Inglemoor . . Diron Mobley 6-0 Sr. Mercer Island . . Curt Pentecost 6-5 Sr. Zillah . . Marco Quinto 6-6 Jr. Interlake . . Jason Robbins 6-6 Sr. Franklin. College: Signed with Portland. . John Salausa 6-4 Sr. Eisenhower-Yakima . . James Spotted Horse 6-1 Sr. East Valley-Yakima . . Mel Stubblefield 6-0 Sr. Davis-Yakima . . Trevor Tillman 6-11 Sr. Mountlake Terrace. College: Signed with Boise State. . Tyson Whitfield 6-4 Sr. Eisenhower-Yakima . . Derek Van Weerdhuizen 6-6 Sr. LaCenter . . Dustin Van Weerdhuizen 6-7 Jr. LaCenter . . Tim Van Wieringen 6-7 Sr. Lake Washington. College: Signed with E. Washington. . Douglas Wrenn 6-6 Jr. O'Dea . . .

# suspended for season by Central Kitsap High..

. . Girls. . . Player Ht. Yr. High school College. . Briana Abrahamsen 5-8 Sr. Mtn. View-Vancouver . . Becki Ashbaugh 5-6 Jr. Bothell . . Lauren Ashbaugh 6-2 Sr. Redmond. College: Signed with California. . Jen Babin 5-9 Sr. Bothell . . Jennifer Bennett 6-1 Sr. Mead . College: Signed with Arizona State. . Lawonia Brantley 5-6 Sr. Cleveland . . Katie Davis 6-1 Jr. Manson . . Cori Enghusen 6-7 Jr. Inglemoor . . LaShaunda Fowler 5-7 Sr. Foster . . Megan Franza 5-11 Sr. Cascade-Leavenworth. College: Signed with Washington. . Meghan Geddes 5-10 Sr. Lake Washington . . Anna Getz 5-8 Jr. Cheney . . Heidi Hatcher 6-0 Sr. Tumwater. College: Signed with Loyola Marymount. . Brooke Ingalls 6-0 Sr. Eastlake. College: Signed with Nevada-Las Vegas. . Brianne Jolley 6-1 Jr. Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls . . Amie Karkainen 6-0 Sr. Interlake . . Jennae Krell 5-11 Jr. Bothell . . Jennifer Kutz 6-1 Sr. Juanita. College: Signed with Weber State. . Tricia Lamb 5-11 Sr. St. John-Endicott. College: Signed with WSU. . Sheila Lambert 5-7 Jr. Sealth . . Crystal Lee 5-10 Sr. Central Valley-Spokane. College: Signed with Hawaii. . Mindy McElliott 6-0 Sr. Wishkah Valley . . Shennae McNairy 5-7 Sr. Lake Washington . . Holly Millard 6-0 Sr. Blanchet . . Nadia Morgan 6-1 Jr. Blanchet . . LeAnn Sheets 6-2 Sr. Tumwater. College: Signed with Washington. . Kim Sorenson 5-8 Sr. Eastlake. College: Signed with Santa Clara. . Anna Sturing 6-3 Sr. Lake Washington . College: Signed with Northern Arizona. . Nesha Thomas 5-10 Sr. Federal Way. College: Signed with Pepperdine. . Syesha Thomas 5-5 Sr. Interlake. College: Signed with Oregon State. . Melanie Tipps 6-1 Sr. Sumner. College: Signed with Gonzaga. . Holly Turner 5-10 Sr. Mead. College: Signed with Gonzaga. . Angela Wolvert 5-7 Sr. Mtn. View-Vancouver. College: Signed with Oregon.