Finn Is Turning Heads

Newburgh (Ind.) point guard Dedrick Finn has been turning some heads as of late.

The 5-foot-11 Finn averaged 20.5 points, five rebounds and six assists while leading Coach Steve Brunes’ Castle High School squad to a 19-4 record last season. He shot nearly 43 percent from the 3-point arc and 50 percent overall. He’s also a member of the Warrick County AAU team that has enjoyed a strong start to the 2001 summer season.

Finn is one of the state’s top rising seniors, along with the likes of Bloomington’s Sean May, Gary’s Chris Hunter and Evansville’s Matt Kiefer to name just a few. Finn has drawn favorable comparisons to another standout point guard from Indiana, according to Brunes.

"The person most people compare him to is (current Arizona Wildcat guard) Jason Gardner," said Brunes. "I think he’s a better offensive player than Jason was.

"I was at Brownsburg when Jason was at North Central for his first three years, and we didn’t play North Central, but I scouted them when they played against Pike and Ben Davis. I would say Jason is probably a little bit quicker than Dedrick, but I think they are very comparable in a lot of areas. I think Dedrick is a better scorer."

In addition to the comparisons that have been made to Gardner, Brunes also said Finn’s the best player he’s coached. And that says a lot, considering Brunes has been a head coach for 27 years in Indiana and coached two other Indiana All-Stars, one of which was his own son, Craig.

"The biggest compliment I can give Dedrick is (my son) Craig was Indianapolis Metro Player of the year, an Indiana All-Star, third in the balloting for Indiana Mr. Basketball, and I’ve openly said Dedrick is a much better player than Craig was," Brunes said. "And when you’re talking about your own son when you say that…

"To me, he’s the best guard in the state. The kid can do so many things. And he’s so versatile as far as defensively and all those kind of things. I think if you’d talk to anyone down here, or anyone who’s seen him would say the same thing."

Scoring has been an area that Finn has steadily improved during his prep career. Although he started at Castle as a freshman, he was more polished on the defensive end and with his ball-handling, but Brunes said the offensive area has been one that he’s seen a great deal of improvement.

"If you tell Dedrick to work on something, he goes out and works on it and shows steady improvement," Brunes said.

Defensively, though, Finn has always been a force. In fact, Brunes said Finn’s play on the defensive end is the area of his game that stands out above any other.

"I think he’s a tremendous defender," Brunes said. "I’ve had two other Indiana All-Stars, and they were great offensive players, one was a very good passer, and was a good defender. But coming out of high school, I think most kids really need work to play at the college level defensively. I think Dedrick is one of those rare kids that will come out and be a tremendous defender as a freshman."

Where Finn will end up is still up in the air. Brunes said he believes Xavier and Coach Thad Motta is the leader. Motta was recruiting Finn when he was the coach at Butler, and when he took the job at Xavier he called Brunes to let him know that he was still very interested in Finn. Brunes also said Michigan State and Michigan have been showing some interest, as have a host of mid-majors.

"I think the sky is the limit for Dedrick," Brunes said. " I think he can make an impact with the right program. And I think there are several right programs. With better people, his passing is going to become more evident. That’s going to make him a more dangerous scorer because he’ll have people inside who can score with more regularity."

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