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In March, 2008 The Bishop McGuinness Irish won their third consecutive class 4A title. The venue was Jim Norick State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City,OK. The Irsih came into the game a heavy favorite and did not disappoint. Out of the gate the Irish pressured and Intimidated the outgunned, eighth ranked Southeast Spartan’s. Irish guard, Gabe Ikard even sank a three at the buzzer of the first half, securing a 38-26 lead. The second half was more of the same, led by Daniel Orton’s (above center) defensive presence. Because of the shots altered or rejected by the monster, the Spartans failed to sustain any offensive consistency. Orton was the second leading scorer on his team, posting 14 points, 11 rebounds and most notably 7 blocks. Orton did however foul out of the game late in the fourth quarter, but his aggressive tactics paid off with a 80-63 win for the Irish.

Orton has seen first hand what the recruiting process is like. His older brother Terrence Crawford was recruited by Coach Sutton at Oklahoma St. and by other divison 1 programs throughout the mid-west. Crawford finally decided to play at Oklahoma State.

The Kentucky fan base would be thrilled if Mr Orton wound up a Wildcat. Orton is a wide body standing 6′9, 270 pounds . He is agile enough and has a very mean streak to his game. Orton is extremely tenacious when motivated,but has been tabbed as lazy or uninterested at times. I think that his teams record should be more of a testament to Orton’s game. After all, Bishop Mcguiness has won 3 consecutive class 4A titles in the state of Oklahoma. In Orton’s recent interview with Matt Jone’s, Orton updated his level of interest in the Wildcat’s:

Orton says he has “strong” interest in UK. He’s good friends with John Wall he says, and just kinda laughed about the rumor he and Wall will go to a school together. Says he loves Gillispie and Lexington is a beautiful town.

He also lists a bunch of other schools and wants to narrow down to 5 schools by Spring.
Orton says UK “should” get one of his 5 official visits.

SI.com ranked the Irish #11 in the 07-08 ,Top 25 athletic programs, Louisville’s St Xavier was also on the list at #25 - RANKINGS

#11-Bishop McGuinness (Oklahoma City) Enrollment: 662With the right mix of luck and talent the Irish have claimed eight titles. Behind star junior Daniel Orton(6-foot-10), the Irish won their third consecutive class 4A state title. The football team beat Glenpool for its second straight title.

#25- St. Xavier (Louisville) Enrollment: 1,431St. X marked the spot atop the awards podium in both soccer and swimming and diving. On the football field, the all-boys school lost to intra-city rival Trinity in the 6A title game.

If you would like to see some footage of Orton in action, then check out the videos in the recruiting central player to the right