Nation's Best Player, Brandon Knight, Upstaged by Oakland Park Teen

Flickr: K McNeil

​The hottest ticket in high school hoops this weekend was in Coral Springs, site of the Hawk Kreul Classic. The event's main attraction: Pine Crest School senior point guard Brandon Knight.

But in front of a national audience of hoops gurus, there was nothing Knight could do to elevate his status -- he's already the most sought-after high school senior in the nation, and will soon choose between Connecticut, Florida, Kansas and Kentucky.

No, but a player like Daniel Sapp had plenty to prove. The junior from Oakland Park is a star at Northeast High School and on Saturday night, he led his team to an improbable upset of Knight's Pine Crest squad, ranked 14th in the nation.


Behind Sapp's 20 points, the Northeast High Canes came back from a 7-point halftime deficit, defeating Pine Crest 55-51.

A scout for ESPN named Knight the tournament's best player, scoring 46 in two games. But Sapp earned recognition as the tournament's "Surprise Player."

That's an understatement. Sapp isn't listed on the database of either Rivals.com or Scout.com, the net's two most thorough high school scouting websites. But this weekend's performance should catapault him into prospect status. At the very least, Sapp will be able to go to college for free.