Remember when you were a kid and loved to play basketball just for fun. I’m sure some of you might even have been able to play on your high school team or even some college. For most of us though, it was just playing with a bunch of guys from the neighborhood and the only thing at stake was bragging rights until the next game was played. It used to be that way for Jamar Butler and Matt Lefeld. It isn’t anymore.

Basketball stopped just being a game to play with your buddies when each of these young men were discovered. This is not to say that they don’t love playing the game, because they do. It is just that there is more to playing the game than just stepping out on the court. Now when they play basketball, they not only have to worry about the score, but also that there may be someone in the stands that might help change their future. You see, both of these young men are coveted by big time college basketball programs. A six-figure education and a potential pro career may hang in the balance.

People have been watching Jamar Butler for years. When he played eighth grade basketball, you couldn’t get in the gym. When Lima Shawnee played Lima South and Denzel Lyles in a big game, WLIO Channel 5 was there to tape the game to be played back later so that everyone could see just how good this kid was. Jamar averaged 20+ points for a team that scored around 50 per game. This was not because he loved to shoot, because Butler can make a pass with the best of them. He just did what needed to be done to win. Later that year, he led his 14-Under AAU Team to the 2000 National Championship.

It did not stop when he got to high school. As a freshman, he started every game at point guard. He averaged 19 points and 6 assists per game for a senior laden team. After his freshman year, he was invited to attend the Adidas Top 100 Tournament in New Jersey and played well against mostly older players. As his celebrity increases, the big time coaches are coming out of the woodwork. Oliver Purnell, Jim O’Brien, Gene Keady, Tom Izzo, Bob Huggins and Thad Matta have all expressed interest. It is no longer just playing with his buddies.

You couldn’t help but notice Matt Lefeld. When he was in the seventh grade he stood 6′ 6″ tall. When he turned 13 he passed 200 pounds. Make no mistake, Matt is big. Unlike many 17 year olds that have grown faster that one might expect, he is not a string bean. Matt currently stands 6′ 11″ and weighs 250 pounds. Like most big kids, however, Matt needed time to adjust to this type of growth and it was only toward the end of his sophomore year that he began to be noticed. Matt, who averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds last year has been contacted by Xavier, Dayton, Notre Dame, Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio State among others.

The boys get their athletic ability honestly as their parents were also gifted. Jamar’s dad, Melt played basketball. Matt’s dad, Al (6′ 7″) played football and basketball and his mother, Linda (6′ 1″) played volleyball and basketball.

It wasn’t until recently that they both decided to concentrate on basketball. Jamar played football and baseball in addition to basketball until last year. Matt played baseball until eighth grade and played on his football team through last year. It had to be interesting for those Division V football players to line up opposite a 6′ 10″ offensive lineman on Friday nights.

In many ways, these two young men are very different, yet have the same goals and desires. Jamar is very quiet while Matt lies on the other end of the spectrum and can hold a conversation with just about anyone. Matt is from the small community of Coldwater while Jamar is from Lima which is 10 times as big. Jamar is as quick as a cat. Matt is 6′ 11″ and 250 pounds. Jamar is silky smooth and Matt is power on power. However, they both place being a contributing part of the team at the top of their wishes. When asked if there was one school record to hold what would it be, Jamar was very telling in his answer, “I want to own the career assist record. It is really important to me to get everyone involved. At the end of a game, I would rather get an assist on the winning basket than make the shot myself.” Although he doesn’t give himself a grade only on how much he scores or rebounds, Matt feels that he owes it to his team to contribute,” If we go into halftime and I haven’t scored many points or gotten many rebounds, I feel like I have let the team down. I feel like I need to put points up to help the team.”

An education is also very high on both of their agendas. Matt is currently third in his class at Coldwater High School and hasn’t given up on the thought of being valedictorian. Although Jamar, a hard worker in the classroom, hasn’t yet reached that level of success, he spent the summer with two tutors to get ahead for this year, knowing the time commitment that basketball would take. When given a hypothetical situation that placed him as a potential NBA draft pick out of high school, Jamar was quick to point out his belief about a college education, “Even if I had a chance to go directly to the NBA, I wouldn’t do it. I really believe that getting a college education is important. I enjoy learning, studying. It matters to me if a school pushes its players to graduate.” Coming from a small town, Matt wants to keep that feel in a collegiate atmosphere, “I want to go to a school where the faculty will work with me and actually care about me as a person, not just a number. If I ever lost the ability to play basketball, I would do my best to be number one in my class in school.”

The need to improve their games stand at the top of their list of things to do over the next few years. Despite the fact that he only turned the ball over two times a game as a freshman, Jamar made it clear that this was the part of the game that he wanted to concentrate on, “I would really like to improve my ball handling, especially the ability to move to my right. I enjoy my time on the practice floor more than any other time because it helps me improve my game.” For someone his age, Matt has a good feel for where he is with his game and where it needs to go, “The way that I see it, jumping is my biggest weakness. I played against a lot of guys this summer that could really get up and just throw it down. I can do it in practice, but when it comes to game time, I’m not as aggressive. I also need to improve my footwork and work on my outside shot. I’d really like to have an effective turn-around jumper.”

When listening to a typical Major League General Manager, they often talk about the importance of developing talent in the minor leagues. They do not stress winning over development, but realize that winning is an attitude and having a history of winning is desirable. If we can compare that to the desire for both of these kids to win, their future coaches will love what they have to say. Jamar made it very clear what his ultimate high school goal was, ” I want to win our league the next three years. I want to win a state championship.” Matt, too, has a state championship on his mind, “I want to take our team farther than we have ever gone before. We have a number of guys in my class that are pretty good and I see us doing well both years. Our town has never won the state in basketball and I’d love to go down there and give it my best shot.”

They are both fairly new to the recruiting game and as a result find it exciting. Matt wasn’t really discovered until his sophomore year, but when the gate opened it soon became a flood, “It is really exciting when my coach tells me that a certain coach called to see how I was doing. We had an open gym up here earlier this year and there were four college coaches in the crowd.” Jamar related, “It’s fun to talk to all of the players and get to know the coaches. There really isn’t anything that I don’t like about it.” As a result, they look forward to the next year or two as they are treated like a million dollars as dozens of coaches try to win their favors. But Matt is also realistic about the future, “I want to make sure a coach isn’t just telling me what I want to hear. I’ve heard that the phone calls can get bad if you haven’t made your decision before your senior year.”

Not yet able to make official visits, Matt has been to Ohio State and Dayton, while Jamar has been to Purdue, UD and UC on unofficial visits. Going to Ohio State can have its rewards as Matt observed, “We got to see Ohio State play Akron. We stood by the end zone and looked around in awe. You can just hear the roar of the crowd begin. It just blew us away, it was unreal.” But going to a smaller venue can also be entertaining, “I saw Dayton play Xavier and it was just unreal, the house just seemed like it exploded.”

Neither seems to be in any hurry to make a decision on which college to attend. When we spoke, they both had early favorites, Jamar with Cincinnati and Matt with OSU, but neither is ready to sign on the dotted line. A lot of things can happen in two or three years and understanding what each school has to offer, both academically and athletically is at the top of their lists. Playing time is always an issue and both list that very highly in their decision making process. It is very likely that both sets of parents will have a major impact on the school selected, as both kids seem to value what their parents have to add to the process.

It is hard to imagine what it is like to be 16 years old and be on the wish list of some of the biggest names in college basketball. They see these guys on national TV on a weekly basis. Soon these same coaches will be coming to these kids’ houses to tell them how great they are. It would be easy to suffer from a swollen head, but these two young men seem to have their heads screwed on right. Whoever does win the Butler and Lefeld sweepstakes will be happy men because they are going to get quite a bit more than a couple of good basketball players.