By: Dane Mizutani

Troy Vaughn compares his son, local five-star recruit Rashad Vaughn, to an orange.

He wants to squeeze as much juice out of him as possible, and at the moment, Vaughn doesn’t feel his son is being squeezed hard enough.

That’s the major reason Rashad Vaughn won’t return to Robbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope, Minn., next year. 

A few reports surfaced June 17 that said Rashad Vaughn — the No. 6 recruit in the nation for 2014 according to Rivals.com — will forego his senior season at Robbinsdale Cooper and instead enroll at a prep school next year.

Troy Vaughn confirmed those reports with the Minnesota Daily on June 19.   

“We’ve got a big cup to fill with him,” Vaughn said. “We love it here, but we’re in Minnesota and after a game Rashad ends up with a nice dunk … and that guy wants a picture with him. I’m like, ‘OK, is he really getting squeezed right now?’”

Rashad Vaughn’s longtime mentor Pete Kaffey agreed that he needs more consistent competition.

Kaffey serves as an assistant coach at Robbinsdale Cooper, but he’s known Rashad Vaughn since the stud shooting guard was a little kid. Kaffey said their relationship goes deeper than basketball, so it was easy for him to support Vaughn’s decision to pursue a prep school.

“I care about him a lot as a person because he’s a good kid … and I’ve got to give him the best advice,” Kaffey said. “He’s got to play with and against the best to get better, and we don’t always have that consistency here.”

Troy Vaughn said his son’s decision process has extended over the last year. He said the decision was hard to accept at first and his son was more excited about it than him initially.

“I was more selfish on my part at first because I know he’s going to be going to college soon … and he’s a big part of our family structure here,” the elder Vaughn said. “But when we looked at it, we realized that he needed to be in the right environment to succeed.”

Troy Vaughn said his son’s list of possible prep schools has been narrowed to four. That list features touted programs such as Huntington Prep (W.Va.) and Findlay Prep (Nev.).

Troy Vaughn has spoken highly of Huntington Prep, a program Vaughn has communicated with since the start of his decision process.

“In our eyes we have a great relationship with Rashad,” said Huntington Prep head coach Rob Fulford. “We have developed a relationship longer than a lot of other schools.

“I’ve never lost a kid that I’ve wanted,” Fulford added. “If we want them here at Huntington, we usually get them.”

Fulford said Vaughn has the raw ability to be a special player at the next level, but he said his work ethic will put him over the top.

“That’s one of the first things he asked me when he got here: ‘How late can I stay in the gym?’” Fulford said.

Fulford seemed confident in his relationship with Rashad Vaughn, but Troy Vaughn said the decision is still a ways out. He said he wants Rashad to focus on his summer commitments now.

Troy Vaughn said his son’s decision to leave Minnesota does not rule the Gophers as his college choice. He said he loves the direction in which new head coach Richard Pitino and his staff are taking the program.

“[Prep school] gives him a year to improve stuff away from home,” Troy Vaughn said of his son. “This could be a good place for him when the smoke clears.

“That would be a dream for me that I could watch him in my own backyard.”

Kaffey also disregarded the notion that Vaughn’s decision to enroll in a prep school eliminates the Gophers from contention.

“He’s going to evolve into something special,” Kaffey said of Vaughn. “That’s why he wants to make this move. He wants to be the best.”