Two North Cross School seniors are the first in their families to attend an independent school and both are the first seniors in NCS history to receive full scholarships to attend Division I schools to play basketball. Anthony (AD) Banks will attend the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Toles Hartman will attend UNC Asheville.
Banks played two seasons at Patrick Henry High School before transferring to North Cross in 2007. He averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots last season as a junior for the Raiders. Banks received offers from the University of Akron, UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina, Appalachian State and South Carolina Upstate.
“This is definitely a dream come true. I know I couldn’t have done it if I hadn’t come to North Cross,” said Banks. “It was just too hard to stay focused on the books before I got here. Coach [Joe] Lambert has really helped me focus.”
At 6-foot-6 Hartman, who averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds per game for the Raiders, had a strong summer playing for three AAU teams, including the Charlottesville-based East Coast Fusion in tournaments in Morgantown, W.Va., Chantilly, Va. and Las Vegas. He also received an offer from Gardner-Webb University.
Hartman has played on the Raiders varsity basketball team since coming to the school in 2008 from Christiansburg High School. His father, Tom Hartman, was an offensive lineman at Virginia Tech and had a tryout as a free agent with the Washington Redskins in 1985 until a shoulder injury ended his career.
Hartman credits the teaching and athletic staff at NCS for his success. “If I wouldn’t have come here, it probably wouldn’t have happened,” said Hartman. “I couldn’t be more proud of them both. I knew they both could do it if they worked hard, and they have definitely worked hard. I have no doubt that North Cross has prepared them well for the collegiate level,” said Lambert. (from Northcross.org)