Hoops Week: Chargers' Wheeler Extends Trend
As part of GamedayMagazine.com's "Hoops Week" feature, today we will catch up with Chantilly boys basketball star Ben Wheeler, who entered Tuesday night's Concorde District game against visiting Robinson averaging 17.7 points per game...
Ben Wheeler has fallen in line as the most recent all-region guard to sign on with a Division I school out of Jim Smith's Chantilly boys basketball program.
Averaging 17.7 points for the Chargers (8-7 overall, 4-3 Concorde District entering the week), Wheeler will join Dereck Franklin (Boston University/George Mason University), Kwame Ofori (Naval Academy), Chuckie Ivey (Coppin State University) and Chris Clarke (James Madison University) as Chantilly guards from the past decade to play at the highest level of college basketball.
Last October, Wheeler signed to play for head coach Fran O'Hanlon at Lafayette College, a member of the Patriot League, choosing the school over the University of Richmond, American University, Jacksonville University and Princeton University.
Under Smith, the school's coach since 1991, Chargers teams have built a reputation as having good guard play. And with the 6-foot-4, 165-pound Wheeler, the trend has continued. After averaging 17 points and four assists as a junior, Wheeler has been a force again this winter, on five occasions topping 20 points while keeping the Chargers - who are tied for third in the district with Tuesday's opponent, Robinson - in contention to grab one of the top seeds in the district tournament next month.
Also a standout student, Wheeler carries a 3.65 grade point average, which enabled him to qualify academically at Lafayette and gained the attention of Princeton and other Ivy League schools that recruited him.
The Chargers, coming off consecutive losing seasons, have games against district foes Oakton, Westfield and Centreville remaining on their regular season schedule.
