Michigan signee Caleb Houstan Focused on National Title Run
Last season, Caleb Houstan constantly heard the rumblings about his Montverde (Fla.) Academy squad potentially being the greatest high school team ever to grace the hardwood.
The case?
The Eagles finished the 2019-20 season a perfect 25-0 against an elite national schedule yet still managed an average winning margin approaching 40 points per game. They were the top seed headed into the Geico High School Nationals tournament and the heavy favorite to breeze to another national title before the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“That was the first time I’d been on a team where we just dominated everyone,” said Houstan, who is ranked No. 12 overall in the SI99. “It’s different this year.”
Houstan is the only returning starter from last year’s traveling all-star team.
That said, the Eagles are still No. 1, sitting at 18-0 this season, but the competition has become stiffer due to the formation of the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (NIBC), a league which was began to combat the lack of competition due pandemic cancellations.
The Eagles are one of six national hoops powerhouses competing in the league which includes teams like Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) and IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), the reigning GEICO Nationals champion.
Bob Blanchard / Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
The teams compete against each other multiple times in different sessions, the first was in Virginia and currently the NIBC is being held at Montverde Academy.
Already, the Eagles had to grind out a win in overtime over Compass Prep (Ariz.).
“This is a whole new team and a whole new year and we’re winning in different ways,” said Houstan, a Michigan signee. “It’s better to me because all of our games are streamed, we’re playing on national TV a lot more and we’re playing against an elite team every time we step on the court.”
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That hasn’t affected the Eagles’ bottom line, they’ve already mowed down five of the top 10 teams in the FAB50 this season. The last time the Eagles won a national title was in 2018 when they finished 35-0 with seven wins over opponents ranked in the top 25.
“We’re still very, very confident, nothing’s changed about that,” Houstan said. “I love the close games and the competition better than blowing teams out. That just makes you grow as a team and as a player. Everyone on our team can play, so the coaches switch up the lineups to help us build chemistry with whoever is on the floor. We just play every game like it’s our last.”