BISMARCK  Brandon McCorkle was a natural for basketball. "I was always one of the taller ones for my age," McCorkle said. By eighth grade, that advantage was diminishing. "In junior high, everyone was catching up to my height, and I had to find another way to score," McCorkle said. That was the start of something big for McCorkle, who is now a 6-foot-8 senior at Bismarck-Henning. He worked on his individual skills and that commitment paid off when he scored 16 points in his varsity debut as a freshman in November 1999. B-H coach Mike Chandler didn''t wait long to increase McCorkle''s role. He was a starter for Game 2. "As a freshman, he was still one of our better players," Chandler said, "and I knew by his senior year, he''d probably be a dominant player." McCorkle will be remembered long after he graduates. He already holds the school career records for rebounding (597) and blocked shots (194) and could become B-H''s No. 1 all-time scorer before Christmas. He needs 39 points to pass the mark of 1,161 set by current B-H middle school principal Earl Lindsey 35 years ago. "Records are made to be broken, and I hope he does it," Lindsey said. "He is a true example of a kid who has worked on his game and become a better player each year. Us old coaches want a kid to improve every year." McCorkle already owns scoring records for freshmen (173) and sophomores (364) and broke Lindsey''s career standard for field goals (416) in Tuesday''s game against Schlarman. Unless he misses 147 consecutive shots, he also is assured of breaking the career mark for field goal accuracy, currently 50 percent by Brian Nesbitt (1981-83). Chandler said McCorkle has few weaknesses. "He has a soft touch around the basket, he''s deadly from 15 to 17 feet, he''s a good passer, a good rebounder and he understands the game and does a lot of the little things," Chandler said. "He has a quick first step for a kid his size. There''s no one around here I know of who can stop him. "He''s the most complete player I''ve coached and probably the best player I''ve coached." Despite his success, McCorkle said his junior year was the first time he thought, "I could play beyond high school." He has heard from such midmajor Division I schools as Butler, Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, Lehigh and Western Illinois as well as more than three dozen Division II and Division III universities. McCorkle, in his third year as a team captain, resisted the urge to give an early oral commitment, instead preferring to evaluate his options after the season is over. "He handles the ball well, and I have confidence in him being a third guard," Chandler said. "For the next level, he needs to get quicker and stronger." McCorkle''s confidence received a boost last summer, when he was the only Illinois athlete on the 12-member Indianapolis-based Indiana Aces AAU team. He was a full-time starter for a team that played in Kentucky and West Virginia as well as Indiana. "Against better competition, I usually play better," he said, "but I played better than what I thought I would. It was a lot different competition than Class A (Illinois) high school basketball." Most of McCorkle''s recruiting contacts were made during the summer. College coaches like his combination of size, skills, mobility and test scores. McCorkle carries a 3.4 grade-point average and will be eligible to play as a freshman. Plus, there''s an attribute that coaches won''t necessarily see by watching him play. "He''s the nicest kid you''ll ever meet," Chandler said.