For the first time in the 25 seasons that The Roanoke Times has named a Mr. Basketball in Virginia, the selection is from a postgraduate program.

That's because 6-foot-10 Vernon Macklin was a senior on a Hargrave Military Academy team that includes mostly high school graduates.

Also, Macklin is a Virginian, another requirement for the Mr. Basketball designation.

There is no such criterion for players ranked among the top 15 in the state, which is why Oak Hill Academy point guard Tywon Lawson can be rated the No. 1 prospect in the state and Macklin can be No. 2.

Lawson, whose home is in Forestville, Md., is one of five players from Oak Hill ranked among the state's top 12 prospects. Four of Hargrave's underclassmen made the top 15, including Macklin's fellow Virginian, guard Stefan Welsh, who is going to Arkansas.

Macklin has signed with Georgetown, which hasn't landed a Virginia Mr. Basketball since Alonzo Mourning from Indian River in 1988.

On the girls' side, the University of Virginia went nine years without signing the best player in the state before 5-foot-11 Monica Wright committed to the Cavaliers last fall.

Wright, from Forest Park High School in Manassas, is a two-time Group AAA state player of the year and a second-team Parade All-American.

As opposed to the boys' list, the top nine girls on The Roanoke Times list all come from Virginia public schools, including Group AA player of the year Jessica Canady from Jamestown High School, who is headed to Old Dominion.

The Nos. 3 and 4 players on the list were Timesland products Nicci Moats and Emery Wallace, a pair of Group AA standouts who had season-ending knee operations in back-to-back seasons, Wallace in 2004-05 and Moats in 2005-06.

Wright was rated the No. 11 prospect in the country by the Blue Star Report. Moats, at No. 71, was the only other Virginian on that list.