Y’all knew I was gone link up with my mans again right?? kingjames #EpicSelfie http://t.co/1LHdNJ3wp1

— Juwan Staten (@JuwanStaten3) July 10, 2014

Click the link in the tweet. That’s Juwan Staten and the newest addition to the Cleveland Cavaliers roster. It’s tremendous and there’s a great story behind it, one that begins five years earlier.

People tend to forget this, likely because he started at mid-major Dayton, transferred to WVU and sat out a season and then really wasn’t all that during his first season with the Mountaineers, but Staten was a very, very good high school player.

He was a star at Dayton’s Thurgood Marshall High and led the team to the state title game as a junior. TMHS lost to St. Vincent-St. Mary, which was where LeBron James played his high school ball and why James was in the stands for that particular game.

Staten scored 28 points in the loss and earned the audience above with James after the game.

“He just told me that I was a great player and that I should keep my head up,” the 5-11 Staten said after scoring 28 points by making 11 of 21 field goal attempts — some coming on acrobatic drives to the basket — and handing out four assists and getting two rebounds while never leaving the floor. “He said he knows how it feels because he lost a state championship as a junior. It’s gotta make me hungrier to come back and get it next year.”

Staten instead played his senior season at Virginia’s prestigious Oak Hill Academy and was invited to a bunch of camps and showcases, including the 2010 LeBron James Skills Academy.

Staten was the only player at the academy this year who was also invited in 2010. With everything swirling around LeBron and his Decision in Las Vegas last week, people were understandably cautious about getting close.

But Staten is bold, yet savvy. He knows his way around a defense and he picked his spot wonderfully.

“I saw him and he was getting his ankles taped getting ready to go out and play with the high school kids,” Staten told me Tuesday. “I went over to him and shook his hand and started talking to him and told him I had my picture taken with him back in high school. I asked him basically if he remembered me.

“He said, ‘Of course I remember you. I’ve been watching you play.’ I have a friend on the Heat — me and Norris Cole grew up together. He said, ‘I know all about you. I know you and Norris are cool. I’ve been watching you and I’ll continue to watch you. Just keep your head up and keep working hard. I’m proud you’re here again. I’ll be looking for you.’ “

That story comes out of Staten’s mouth at the speed he races toward the basket. When he finishes, he sighs.

“That’s the best player on the planet, man.”