HOT RECRUITING INFORMATION FOR JULY 2005

Sunday, July 31, 2005

For Division I college coaches, who have to be off the road by midnight tonight, and most of our competition, today marks the end of the summer.  However, with the 14-Under AAU National Championship set to begin tomorrow in Orlando, FL and Joe Keller's two adidas Junior Phenom Camps in San Diego, CA are just around the corner, the summer is far from over for us.  Speaking of Keller, whose Team California team won the 2004 13-Under AAU National Championship a year ago, his team once again features 6'4 Frosh Demetrius Walker from Fontana, CA, 6'7 Frosh Aaron Moore from Riverside, CA, 5'9 Frosh G.J. Vilarino from Dallas, TX, 6'3 Frosh Roberto Nelson from Santa Barbara, CA, and 6'2 Frosh Rome Draper from Fontana, CA and, as a result, are favored to win the 14-Under AAU Nationals.  However, there also are a number of other outstanding players and teams that we'll be watching and Patrick Stanwood of the HOOP SCOOP provides us with a great preview of who to watch.  The Atlanta Celtics always have excellent talent and this year is no exception as the Atlanta Celtic Black features 6'7 Frosh Derrick Favors from Atlanta, GA, 5'7 Frosh Shafu Lisbon from Atlanta, GA, and 6'11 Frosh Jamarcus Sykes from Atlanta, GA and the Atlanta Celtics Gold have 6'6 Frosh Michael Calhoun from Atlanta, GA.  The Memphis War Eagles, which were the 2004 13-Under AAU National runner-ups, will be led by 6'4 Frosh Lesley McDonald from Memphis, TN, 6'2 Frosh Greg Wooten from Memphis, TN, 6'0 Frosh Gentry Hines from Memphis, TN, 6'6 Frosh Franklin Hall from Memphis, TN, and 5'9 Soph Everick Morris from Memphis, TN.  Texas Select, which upset Team California earlier this year, is led by 5'8 Frosh Roger Franklin from Duncanville, TX and 6'4 Frosh Shawn Williams from Duncanville, TX.  The Houston Hoops are led by 5'8 Frosh Tommy Griffin from Houston, TX 6'5 Frosh Marquis Tolliver from Houston, TX, and 5'9 Frosh Jamal Fenton from Houston, TX.  The T.G. Hoopster have 6'1 Frosh DeSean Miles from Dallas, TX and 6'2 Labrian Smith from Dallas, TX.  The best three players on the Houston Jaguars are 6'4 Frosh Erik Williams from Houston, TX, 6'3 Frosh Dexter Pratt from Navasota, TX, and 5'9 Frosh Curtis McGregor from Houston, TX.  Team Maryland features 5'10 Frosh Chad Wilson from Upper Marlboro, MD, 6'4 Frosh Javorn Farrell from Woodbridge, VA, and 5'6 Frosh Anthony Starks from Accokeek, MD.  Team Melo from Maryland has 6'4 Frosh Leshon Edwards from Baltimore, MD, who was the #1-ranked player in camp last summer at the adidas Junior Phenom Camp.  The Cleveland Basketball Club has 5'5 Frosh Carl Jones from Orange, OH, 6'6 Frosh Mario Edwards from Cleveland, OH, and 6'2 Frosh Sir Christian from Cleveland, OH.  Three you'll want to watch on the New York Gauchos are 6'4 Frosh Durand Scott from New York (Rice) NY, 5'10 Frosh Tariek Johnson from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, and 6'5 Frosh Kevin Parrom from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY.  The Rising Stars J.G. Gold of Illinois have 6'1 Frosh Marcus Jordan from Deerfield, IL, who has a great understanding of the game, excellent skills, and is more mature than his age.  But, just like his older brother (Jeffrey Jordan), gets more notoriety and attention than he deserves, because he's Michael Jordan's kid.  Ferrari, which formerly was known as Chicago And1, has 6'4 Frosh Jordan Walker from Chicago, IL, 6'3 Frosh Brandon Owens from Chicago (Simeon) IL, and 5'6 8th Grader Ahmad Starks from Chicago, IL.  The player who makes Team New Jersey Elite go is 6'2 Frosh Dexter Strickland from Rahway (H.S.) NJ.  The Oakland Soldiers have 6'4 Frosh Kevin Green from Oakland, CA, 6'6 Frosh Jerry Brown from Oakland, CA, and 5'8 Frosh Shaheed Young from Oakland, CA.  The North Carolina Gators are led by 5'10 Frosh Calvin Harris from Kernersville, NC.  The ARC Vikings will be strong inside with 6'4 Frosh Tyler Lamb from Los Angeles, CA and 6'3 Frosh Jordan Barrett from La Tuna Canyon, CA.  Stanwood did not mention the Richmond, VA-based Squires Foundation, but we know that our good friend Tony Squire has two of the best rising freshmen in the nation in 6'6 Frosh Karon Johnson from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC and 6'7 Frosh Jarius King from Charlottesville (The Miller School) VA and the last time we talked to him he thought he had a good enough supporting cast to win the 14-Under AAU National Championship.  And what Johnson accomplished late last season while playing at Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC should be enough to rank him right up there among the very elite players in the Class of 2009, along with 6'9 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Piney Wood (H.S.) MS, 6'4 Frosh Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'4 Frosh Leshon Edwards from Baltimore, MD, 6'1 Frosh Kenny Boynton from Coconut Creek (North Broward Prep) FL, and 6'3 Frosh Demetrius Walker from Fontana (H.S.) CA.  Speaking of Walker, this is put-up or shut-up for the player who has been ranked #1 in the class since he was in 6th Grade and was featured in Sports Illustrated last winter.  Remember, Walker was only average earlier this summer at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp and a lot of people think he's been over hyped.  We also will be interested to see if Sidney, Stephenson, and Boynton, all of whom already have excelled while playing against players at the 17-Under age level, will drop back down in class and show up at the 14-Under AAU Nationals.  So stay tuned!

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Although the Best of the Summer Tournament was cancelled due to the tragic depth day before yesterday of 6'7 Jr Miguel Respress from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, both all of the college coaches and myself have had plenty of good teams to watch the last several days at the Reebok Summer Classic West Tournament at Artesia High School in Lakewood, CA.  Cincinnati head coach Bobby Huggins was here to watch 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH and 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH; North Carolina head coach Roy Williams and assistant coach Steve Robinson were here to watch 6'9 Durrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'9 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'9 Bryan Davis from Grand Prairie (H.S.) TX, and 6'9 Deon Thompson from Torrance (H.S.) CA; UCLA head coach Ben Howland and assistant coaches Kerry Keating and Ernie Zeigler were here to see 6'10 Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA and 6'9 Deon Thompson from Torrance (H.S.) CA; Indiana head coach Mike Davis and assistant coach Kerry Rupp were here to see 6'9 Durrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, and 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH; Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun and assistant coach Tom Moore were here to see 6'10 Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'1 Will Walker from Bolingbrook (H.S.) IL, 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, and 6'9 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ; Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar was here to see 6'7 Jr Alex Tyus from Cincinnati (Harmony Christian) OH, 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, and 6'3 Patrick Christopher from Compton (Dominquez) CA; Rutgers head coach Gary Waters and assistant coach Jim Carr were here to see 6'9 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ; Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith and assistant coach Scott Rigot were here to see 6'9 Deon Thompson from Torrance (H.S.) CA, 6'3 Patrick Christopher from Compton (Dominquez) CA, 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH and 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH; Baylor head coach Scott Drew was here to see 6'9 Durrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX; Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon and assistant coach Barry Rohrssen were here to see 6'9 Mike Davis from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA; Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser was here to see 6'9 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'10 Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'9 Deon Thompson from Torrance (H.S.) CA, and 6'5 Devan Bawinkel from Winnebago (H.S.) IL; Arizona State head coach Rob Evans and assistant coach Dan O'Dowd were here to see 6'9 Deon Thompson from Torrance (H.S.) CA, 6'3 Seketoure Henry from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'5 Soph Malik Story from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, and 6'5 Jr Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA; SMU head coach Jimmy Tubbs was here to see 6'9 Durrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX; and there were numerous assistant coaches here to watch their prime recruiting targets.  In other words, it's baby-sitting time, as these are the dog-days of July and there aren't a lot of new things that are going to happen.  However, while most of the players and coaches are tired and worn out after a long month of being on the road, 6'9 Durrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX is going in the other direction, as he was easily the best player in the tournament.  Not only did he score 30 points in the semi-finals against the Southern California All-Stars, but we've never seen him play so hard.  Maybe that had to do with the fact that he's more comfortable in a setting where he's going to get the ball a lot.  Maybe it had to do with the fact that he heard that people like us had dropped him after a lackasidasical effort at the Reebok ABCD Camp.  Or maybe he just wanted to end the summer on a winning note, as his team advanced into the final four, along with the New York Panthers, I Can All Stars, and D-1 Greyhounds, last night.  We also believe that North Carolina is the team to beat for Arthur, although Indiana, which is making an extremely strong push right now, Texas, Oklahoma, SMU, and Baylor also are still high on his list.  Also playing extremely well was 6'9 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, who is playing at the end of the summer just as hard as he did at the beginning of the summer.  Combine that with the fact that Thomas is a great athlete, an excellent student, and super kid and it's easy to see why he's one of our favorite players.  We also continue to be impressed with 6'8 Davon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Jr Alex Tyus from Cincinnati (Harmony Christian) OH and 6'7 Rashard Austin from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA and we were glad to get another look at 6'10 Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, whose list now includes UCLA, Washington, Connecticut, Arizona, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and North Carolina, because we missed seeing him play in Las Vegas, NV.  But we're still not sure whether we like Stepheson or 6'9 Deon Thompson from Torrance (H.S.) CA, who might be the fastest rising player on the West Coast right now, better.  And this may turn out to be a choice that some of the schools recruiting them eventually have to make, as they both have similar lists and are two of the best inside players still available.  We also are intrigued by the fact that 6'10 Jr Anthony Randolph from North Little Rock (H.S.) AR was playing for the L.A. Paladins in this tournament.  The rumor is that Randolph's family will move out to California and he will enroll at Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA this fall.  However, as things stand now, it appears that Randolph will return home and his family will make the final decision about moving to the West Coast during the next month.  But, if this does happen, it looks like Randolph, who is an incredible shot blocker and terrific rebounder inside, but also is skilled enough to create his own shot and do things out on the perimeter, will be following in the footsteps of 6'7 Dorell Wright, who also played for the LA. Paladins and at Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA.  A different source tells us that 6'7 Chase Budinger from Carlsbad (La Costa Canyon) CA has decided to attend the University of Arizona, but the official announcement won't be forthcoming until August 15th, which is the date he has selected to hold a press conference to announce his decision.  And, while we can't name the source who told us this, we can assure you that you'd think we were right on the money, if we could.  And this makes even more sense when also finds out that Arizona is no longer interested in 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, who plays the same position and is a year younger than Budinger.  The Budinger commitment also should get some other dominos falling, because we'd be surprised if Arizona gets both Budinger and 6'9 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ and it appears that the Wildcats do not plan to take 6'7 Quincy Pondexter from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, if they get either Budinger or Thomas.  So we think Thomas will end up at Villanova, unless he makes up his mind before 6'10 Brandon Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN.  Remember, the only two players Duke is actively recruiting are Thomas and Wright, but neither player appears to be in a big hurry to make up his mind.  We also believe that Connecticut and Washington are the leaders for Pondexter, unless the Wildcats surprise everybody and pull the trigger.  We also found it interesting that 6'9 Mike Davis from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA is being recruited by a lot of schools, but he says it's really only between Pittsburgh and St. John's.  The early list for 6'5 Soph Malik Story includes USC, Arizona, UCLA, and Arizona State and 6'5 Jr Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA includes Syracuse, USC, Arizona, Arizona State, and Washington.  Editor's Note:  The unheralded I-Can All-Stars made things interesting for the D-1 Greyhounds, as they were tied at 55-55 with less than three minutes remaining in the championship game at the  Reebok Summer Classic West Tournament.  However, that's when 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH took the game, as he scored eight straight points.  And making story even more sensational is the fact that Mayo took a charge in the first half and, in the process, suffered a head injury that will require stitches.  But being the great competitor that he is, Mayo not only returned, but he finished with 23 points and was our choice for tournament MVP honors.  The rest of the scoring for D-1 Greyhounds was very balanced, as 6'0 Deonte Vaughn from Cincinnati (Harmony Christian) OH finished with nine points and 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'8 Jr Alex Tyus from Cincinnati (Harmony Christian) OH, and 6'8 JeJuan Brown from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH all finished with eight points apiece.  The I-Can AllStars were led by 6'5 Jonathan Malloy from Compton (Centennial) OH, who finished with 19 poins and helped set the tone early with a pair of 3-pointers; 6'1 Ahmaad Cook from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, who finished with 12 points and made his teammates better, 6'7 Arturas Ladauskas from Hollywood (H.S.) CA, who scored eight points, did the dirty work inside, and is a candidate for our 5th Year list; 6'1 Adrian Hurtado from Fresno (Clovis East) CA, who had six points and proved to be a tough hardnosed competitor and tough to stop when he goes the hole; 6'5 Ray Magee from Placentia (Valencia) CA, who finished with six points and is effective out on the wing; and 6'5 Juan Paul Olukemi from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, who had five points and has a nice inside/outside game.  We also got the latest list of schools for 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, who is clearly the best 10th Grader in the nation, and it appears that Arizona is the strong favorite over Connecticut, Syracuse, Louisville, Kentucky, and UCLA.  We also thought it was interesting to see Jennings' eyes light up when asked about the possibility of being part of a backcourt at Arizona that will include himself and 6'3 Jr Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ.  If you will recall, Arizona also is believed to be the strong favorite for Bayless and, as a result, it's easy to see why Wildcats head coach Lute Olson doesn't have plans to retire any time soon. 

Friday, July 29, 2005

We finally caught up with Patrick Stanwood, who is helping us cover the 2005 AAU Super Showcase, 17-Under AAU Nationals, 14-Under AAU Nationals, and adidas Junior Phenom Camp, and he tells us that the SYF Players, which finished second in both the Kingwood Classic and the NIKE Peach Jam earlier this year, have one their first first ever championship in a major national tournament.  And this is a great story, because players in the Northwest part of Indiana never get the respect, notoriety, and attention that they deserve.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that the SYF Players had to overcome a 42-point scoring effort by 6'5 Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, who scored from beyond the arc, hit more than his share of mid-range jumpers, and was able to attack the basket pretty much at will, as they beat the Illinois Warriors, 87-78, in the championship game.  The SYF Players were led by 6'4 E'Twuan Moore from East Chicago (Central) IL and 6'3 Tyrone Appleton from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME with 24 points apiece and 6'7 Jr Robbie Hummel from Valparaiso (H.S.) IN and 6'8 Jr Scott Martin from Valparaiso (H.S.) IN, who combined for 18 points.  We also talked with our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson last night and he catches us up on a number of things that have slipped through the cracks, including the verbal commitment by 6'9 Kevin Coble from Scottsdale (Christian) AZ to Northwestern, the verbal commitment by 6'7 Herbert Terry from Indianapolis (Southport) IN to Mississippi, the verbal commitment by 6'1 Keon Lawrence from Newark (Weoquahic) NJ to Missouri, and the verbal commitment by 6'1 Jr Al Nolan from Minneapolis (Patrick Henry) MN to Minnesota.  We also have not yet mentioned the fact that 6'5 Lorenzo Wade, who decided to transfer this spring from Louisville, will not be enrolling at the University of Washington this fall.  Instead, it appears that Wade will be going to San Diego State, where he should be able to step in a year from now be one of the best players on the team.  It also appears that South Alabama has landed a pair of transfers who should be important pierces to the puzzle for John Pelphrey a year from now.  We're talking about Kenny Hooks, who is transferring from Oregon State to South Alabama, and Deon Merritt, who is transferring from Richmond to South Alabama.  We also reported several days ago that 6'2 Jr Darrin Govens from Chester (H.S.) PA has changed his mind about going to St. Joseph's.  It appears that Govens may have told Sam Rines, who does not allow players that are not in his program who are verbally committed to play on his team in national tournaments, that he was open so that he could go on the trip and play on the Sam Rines team in Las Vegas, NV.  However, our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin talked with Govens earlier today and we're getting it straight from the horse's mouth that he has no intention of reneging on his verbal commitment to St. Joseph's.  Instead, the big story right now involves 6'7 Jr Miguel Respress from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, who died yesterday of an apparent heart attack at the Best of the Summer Tournament at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA.  Several people who were there when it happened tell us that Respress, who had just gotten through playing in his game, collapsed as he was walking off the court.  Respress, who is the younger brother of former Syracuse player Damone Brown, was a big time athlete and somewhat of a sleeper nationally, as he was just starting to blossom into a big time player.  Obviously the death of Respress has shocked everybody in the basketball world and, as a result, the rest of the Best of the Summer Tournament has been cancelled. 

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Unlike most of our competitors, it is the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP to rank 5th Year players separately.  So anybody entering his 9th semester or more of high school qualifies for our Ranking of the Top 5th Year Players for the Class of 2006 and, due to the very fluid nature of many of the players, this will be an on-going and continuously changing list.  Currently this list includes 83 names and each player is listed either at the school that he attended last year or at the school where he is expected to enroll this fall.  We also have included 6'3 Danny Williams from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA on the list, despite the fact that he had a serious car accident in June, because he is expected to fully recover and eventually will play basketball again.  We also think it is important to point out that 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY and 6'8 Davon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA both are good enough to go to prep school for one year and then by-pass college and go straight to "The League."  In other words, we're talking about two of the top 10 players in the nation regardless of class and position.  Williams, 6'3 Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY, 6'8 Taj Gibson from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'6 Rob Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'6 Tyler Smith from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'10 Michael Washington from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, 6'6 Gilbert Brown from South Kent (Prep) CT are all good enough to be ranked in the 11-40 range nationally; 6'7 Antonio Pena from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 5'11 Eugene Harvey from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'6 Darrington Hobson from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, 6'7 Kiwan Smith from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, and 6'6 Will Harris from Berkshire (School) NJ are all good enough to be ranked in the 41-70 range nationally; 6'10 Jonathan Uchendu from Pulaski (Robinson) AR, 6'6 Samari Spears from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'2 Seketoure Henry from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'8 Gary Flowers from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, 6'8 Rashad Austin from Etiwanda (H.S.) CA, and 6'4 Lazar Hayward from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA are all good enough to be ranked in the 71-100 range nationally, if they were still high school seniors.   We also think it is interesting to note that 13 of the 83 names on our list have already verbally committed, as 6'3 Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY still plans to go to Syracuse, 6'10 Michael Washington from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX is going to Arkansas, 6'6 Gilbert Brown from South Kent (Prep) CT is going to Pittsburgh, 6'7 Antonio Pena from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT is going to Villanova, 6'10 Jonathan Uchendu from Laurinburg (Institute) NC is going to Purdue, 6'6 Will Harris from Berkshire (School) NH, is going to Connecticut, 6'8 Gary Flowers from Dallas (Lincoln) TX is going to Texas A&M, 6'8 Q'aarron Calhoun from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT is going to St. John's, 5'11 Deonta Vaughn from Cincinnati (Harmony Christian) OH still plans to go to Indiana, 5'11 Vic Morris from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA is going to Hofstra, 6'11 Greg Washington from Winchendon (School) MA is going to Hofstra, 6'5 David Potter from Bradenton (IMG) FL is going to Clemson, 6'3 Keaton Grant from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA is going to Missouri, and 6'0 Salvardor Patricio from Lake Suzy (Florida Prep) FL is going to Hofstra.  Obviously a lot of the players we have ranked haven't decided where they will enroll in prep school this fall, but, as things stand now, only one school - South Kent (Prep) CT with 6'6 Rob Thomas and 6'6 Gilbert Brown - has more than player ranked among the top 20 players on our list.  And it appears that Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH has the most players(eight) overall on our list, as 6'6 Will Harris, 6'10 Cem Dimc, 6'7 Brian Grimes, 6'8 Mike Freeman, 6'2 Dodie Dunson, 6'4 Nikko Scott, 6'7 Matt Pilgrim, and 6'0 Jordan Regan are all planning on playing for Jason Smith next season.  Next with six and five players each on our list are Laurinburg (Institute) NC with 6'7 Kiwan Smith, 6'0 Jon Han, 6'9 Travis George, 6'3 Bobby Maze, 6'0 Angel Santiago, and 6'11 Issian Diallo and Durham (Mt. Zion) NC with 6'3 Devon McLendon, 6'5 Dinero Thomas, 6'7 A.J. Wilson, 6'9 Xavier Crawford, and 6'11 Franklin Jones.   Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA has only three 5th Year Players who make the list in 6'6 Tyler Smith, 6'3 Keaton Grant, and 6'11 Jonathan Mandledove, but that doesn't mean head coach Kevin Keats won't have a stockpile of talent, as 6'10 Vernon Macklin, 6'2 Stefan Welsh, and 6'10 Marreesee Speights also are planning on attending this basketball factory this fall.  It also appears that we also need to clarify why 6'6 Darrington Hobson from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX is on the list, because I've already gotten several emails telling me that he's just a junior.  Well, before leaving Las Vegas, NV yesterday, I stopped by the National Youth Basketball Championship at UNLV specifically to see Hobson play and Jim Hicks of RCS Sports and the Cheat Sheet informed me that Hobson repeated his freshman year and was also reclassified as a junior a year ago when he first arrived at Houston (Gulf Shores) TX a year ago.  So assuming that Hicks is right on the money (he usually is), that makes Hobson a 5th Year Player right now, according to the criteria that we use to put somebody on this list.  Speaking of Hobson, it appears that he will be heading to Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, if Houston (Gulf Shores) TX closes.  However, while this appears likely to happen, it hasn't happened yet. 

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

During the last week we've been focused exclusively on covering the three big tournaments (Reebok Big Time Tournament, adidas Super 64, and the Main Event) in Las Vegas, NV and, as a result, are behind on recruiting and some of the other things are happening in the basketball world.  And right at the top of our list of things that we need to address is the fact that 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL has finally officially decided on a school and the winner for his services is Oklahoma State.  Not only is he the perfect replacement for 6'8 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, who decided to by-pass college and entered his name into the NBA Draft this spring, at the wing forward spot, but Brumbaugh's addition makes the Cowboys recruiting class, which already is ranked #1 in our Final Ranking of the Top 285 Recruiting Classes For the Class of 2005 and already includes 6'8 Torre Johnson from Garden City (JC) KS, 6'0 Jamaal Brown from Southern Idaho (JC) ID, 6'0 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, 6'8 Mario Boggan from Chipola (JC) TX, 6'5 Terrel Harris from Garland (South Garland) TX, 6'6 Roderick Fleming from De Soto (H.S.) TX, and 6'11 Kenneth Cooper from Monroe (Richwood) LA, even that more impressive.  As a matter of fact, if Brumbaugh's commitment hadn't come in too late to count with Oklahoma State's recruiting class, we'd be talking about the best recruiting in recent years and one of the best recruiting classes since we started keeping track back in 1984.  Also sometime within the lat week Mississippi State picked up a pair of verbal commitments from 6'9 Jarvis Varnardo from Brownsville (Haywood County) TN and 6'4 Ben Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO.  Neither Varnardo, who is a long lanky athletic shot blocker, nor Hansbrough, who is a tough hardnosed white kid that can shoot the lights out, is a highly ranked player (Varnardo is ranked #644 nationally in the senior class and Hansbrough was not included among the players in our most recent Ranking of the Top 800 Players in the Class of 2006).  However, Bulldogs head coach Rick Stansbury and his staff are pretty sharp, so we suspect that both Varnardo and Hansbrough, who also is the younger brother of North Carolina recruit 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO will end up being excellent role players.  We also have confirmed that William & Mary has beaten schools like Davidson, James Madison, and UNC-Wilmington for the services of 6'10 Stephen Hess from Gastonia (Day School) NC.  And this is a great addition for the Tribe, because Hess is a post player with good moves around the basket, excellent passing skills, the willingness to compete, and the ability to step outside and keep you honest with his jump shot.  So, with 6'7 Danny Sumner from Fairfax (Paul VI) VA also already in the fold, the William & Mary coaching staff can now focus exclusively on landing another point guard and the best available player as part of the class that will come in behind last year's excellent recruiting class that included 6'1 Calvin Baker from Newport News (Woodside) VA, 6'6 Alex Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'9 Peter Stein from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, and 6'8 Chris Darnell from Stafford (North Stafford) VA.  It also appears that 6'8 Luke Harangody from Gary (Andrean) IN has picked Notre Dame over Purdue and this is a great catch the Irish, because Harangody is like a white Sean May in that he's a physical specimen with great skills and surprising mobility for somebody his size.  Harangody also is ranked nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, which means he's ideally suited to step in and complement 6'11 Luke Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, 6'6 Ryan Ayers from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, 6'2 Kyle McAlarney from State Island (Moore Catholic) NY, and 6'7 Zach Hillesland from Toledo (St. John's) OH, all of whom signed with Irish last fall.  And, just like the four just mentioned players, Harangody gets the most out of his ability and, as a result, should thrive in Mike Brey's system.  The University of Mississippi has an extremely early verbal commitment from 6'8 Soph Jeremy Robertson from Oxford (H.S.) MS and the University of Connecticut has an extremely late addition in 6'1 Robert Garrison from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, who was one of the best outside shooters in the nationally, but really is just insurance for the Huskies in case they need additional help in the backcourt next year.  Remember, the Huskies can sign as many as seven players in this year's recruiting class, so with 6'9 Curtis Kelly from New York (Rice) NY and 6'6 Will Harris from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH as the only two players already in the fold, they could afford to sign a good role player.  Washington, California, Texas, Kentucky, and USC are all being mentioned for 6'3 Patrick Christopher from Compton (Dominquez) CA.  If you will recall, Christopher originally verbally committed to California, but recently reopened his recruiting.  And Christopher, who transferred from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA to Compton (Dominguez) CA this spring, isn't the only new player that Russell Otis will have to go along with 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, who is clearly the best player nationally in his class, this winter.  We're talking about 6'7 Frosh Aaron Moore, who is one of the top five ranked freshmen in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, and this is confirmed by Otis himself.  It also appears that 6'2 Jr Darrin Govens from Chester (H.S.) PA has changed his mind about going to St. Joseph's.  So he too is back on the board.  UCLA, Gonzaga, Utah, San Diego State, Virginia, Wake Forest, Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, and Boston College make up the list for the dramatically improved 6'9 Deon Thompson from Torrance (H.S.) CA.  Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, LSU, Texas, Texas Tech, and Kentucky are all involved with 6'10 Perry Stevenson from Lafayette (Northside) LA, but he also told us that he'd be interested in both North Carolina and Duke, if either school decided to make the call.  Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Kentucky are the early favorites for 6'3 Jr Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, who continues to establish himself as one of the very elite players in the Class of 2007.  The list for 6'7 Kasey Cunningham from Albuquerque (Cibola) TX includes Texas A&M, USC, UTEP, New Mexico, Florida, Utah, Gonzaga, Iowa, and Old Dominion.  Connecticut appears to be the favorite for 6'1 Will Walker from Bolingbrook (H.S.) IL, but Marquette, DePaul, Dayton, N.C. State, and Seton Hall are also high on his list.  DePaul, Michigan State, Tennessee, and Georgetown are the leaders for 6'5 Jr Devan Bawinkel from Winnebago (H.S.) IL, but he also mentioned West Virginia, Utah, and Northern Illinois.  Among those showing the most interest in 6'4 Jermaine Beal from De Soto (H.S.) TX are Baylor, Texas, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Illinois, and USC.  We've heard the rumors the the Bruins are out of the picture for 6'7 Chase Budinger from Carlsbad (La Costa Canyon) CA, but this is bad information, because it still is too close to call among UCLA, Arizona, and USC.  We also believe that 6'9 Travis George from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA is a near lock for Memphis, but whether the Tigers actually pull the trigger may be dependant upon who else they can get at his position.  Remember, Memphis also is one of the favorites for 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'8 Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Mitchell) TN, and 6'8 Pierre Niles from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN.  Virginia, USC, UCLA, UNLV, Texas, Texas A&M, Arizona, Arizona State, and Wyoming are all showing a lot of interest in 6'6 Jr Darrington Hobson from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, who now is one of the fastest rising juniors nationally after the way he played in the Main Event. 

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

It was too close to call throughout most of  first half of the championship game at the adidas Super 64, but early in the second half 6'11 Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA and 6'11 Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA took the game over, as EBO-EA Sports went on a 32-15 run against Philly MJC to repeat as champions in the 17-Under Division.  If you will recall, EBO-EA Sports beat the Atlanta Celtics, 66-57, in the title game a year ago and this time around they left little doubt about who the best team was, as they coasted to a 83-62 victory against Philly MJC and ensured themselves a spot in the big game at 5:00 PM that will match the champions of the adidas Super 64 and the Main Event.   6'3 Travon Willis from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, who scored 19 of his team's 28 points in the first half, was the leading scorer for EBO-EA Sports with 32 points.  Robin and Brook Lopez combined for 32 points (24 of which came in the second half) in the championship game and 6'5 Derrick Jasper from Paso Robles (H.S.) CA, who scored only one point in the championship game, but was the glue that held this team together, was named the tournament MVP.  The leading scorer for Philly MJC was 6'0 Ronald Moore from Plymouth Meeting (Plymouth Whitemarsh) PA with 17 points and five 3-pointers.  Also combining for 43 points were 6'1 Tyrone Lewis from Levittown (Truman) PA, 6'9 Dan Geniot from Springfield (H.S.) PA, and 6'4 Reggie Redding from Philadelphia (St. Joseph's Prep) PA.  The DC Blue Devils looked tired after having to play five games yesterday and they did not have an answer for inside for 6'11 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA, who looked surprisingly fresh, as he ran the court, posted up, blocked shots, and controlled the boards en route to tournament MVP honors, in the championship game of the Main Event.  The final score was 78-61, but it really wasn't that close until the final six minutes when the Friends of Hoop opened up a 13-point led.  However, even at half-time when the DC Blue Devils were ahead 34-32, we knew they were in trouble, because 6'10 Kevin Durant from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD had six points and 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA had only four points and neither player ever really got into the flow of the game.  Hawes finished with 26 points, 5'8 Jr Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (Curtis) WA had 10 points, and 6'2 Jr Jamelle McMillan from Seattle (O'Dea) WA had nine points for the winners.  Durant and 6'3 Bobby Maze from Laurinburg (Institute) NC led the losers with 14 apiece and Lawson chipped in with 10 points.  It also looks like the final four is set at the Reebok Big Time Tournament, as earlier today the D-1 Greyhounds beat the Oakland Soldiers, 79-63; Team Danny Williams beat R.E.A.C.H. Legends, 80-79; the Spiece Indy Heat beat the Michigan Hurricanes, 85-46; and the Southern California beat the Portland Panthers, 85-71.  The D-1 Greyhounds, which got a combined 53 points from 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH and 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH and a combined 19 rebounds from Mayo and 6'8 Alex Tyus from Cincinnati (Harmony Christian) OH, also came from behind to knock off Team Danny Williams, 87-76, in the semi-finals at the Reebok Big Time Tournament.  However, we still question whether the D-1 Greyhounds, have the horses, outside shooting, and the intimidating presence inside necessary to beat the Spiece Indy Heat in the championship game which will tip-off at 6:20 PM local time.  Speaking of the Spiece Indy Heat, they jumped out to a 35-19 half-time lead against the Southern California All-Stars and never looked back in the other semi-finals game.  So, unless something strange happens, the same team that won each of the three major tournaments in Las Vegas, NV a year ago will repeat.  And, if the Spiece Indy Heat beats the D-1 Greyhounds as badly as they've been beating most of teams they've faced in the tournament since the last time these two teams met, they may have to arrest the entire Spiece Indy Heat team for murder right after the championship game.  If you will recall, the Spiece Indy Heat beat the D-1 Greyhounds, 69-67, on the first day of the tournament, but since that time they beat the New York Panthers, 77-63; they beat the Southern California All Stars, 81-57; they beat Eastern Washington Red, 87-59; they beat the Philadelphia Crusaders, 69-56; they beat the Spiece Gym Rats Central, 63-53; they beat the Texas Blue Chips, 71-42; they beat the Michigan Hurricanes, 85-46; and they beat the Southern California All-Stars again, 71-47.  Oden finished with 18 points, but only one other player - 5'11 Jordan Cheatham from Indianapolis (Pike) IN with 12 points -  finished in double-digits for the Spiece Indy Heat.  The leading scorer for the Southern California All-Stars was 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA with 14 points.  Also chipping in with 10 points for the Southern California All-Stars was 6'5 Soph Malik Story from Lakewood (Artesia) CA.  And just like the Spiece Indy Heat appears to be the dominant team in the Reebok Big Time Tournament, EBO-EA Sports jumped out early on the Friends of Hoop in the battle between the two champions in the other two tournaments that are going head-to-head this week in the Las Vegas, NV.  By half-time the game was really no long in doubt, as 6'3 Travon Willis from Fresno (Washington Union) CA got hot early with 17 points and the Lopez twins had combined for 13 points of their own by intermission.  Hawes had 12 points, but the Friends of Hoop didn't have the overall size, depth, and athleticism to pull this off in the second half and, as a result, the Friends of Hoop never got closer than 11 in the second half.  Willis finished with 27 points and Hawes had 35 points, but a lot of people in attendance were wondering how EBO-EA Sports would do against the Indy Spiece Heat.  However, it's our guess that Sonny Vaccaro, Chris Rivers, and the people at Reebok probably wouldn't want to trade places for a minute, because the championship game between the Spiece Indy Heat and the D-1 Greyhounds in the Reebok Big Time Tournament has developed into one of the most intense rivalries anywhere during the last year and the game will feature three of our top five-ranked high school players in the nation in Oden, Mayo, and Walker.  So it really did not come as much of a surprise when the D-1 Greyhounds came back from 12 points deficit in the first half to tie the game at 33-all at the intermission.  And it remained too close to call until only a couple of minutes left the game when the D-1 Greyhounds had their last lead at 58-56.  At that point 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN scored twice on drives to the basket to make it 60-all.  Then, 6'5 Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH connected on a field goal and a free throw and 6'3 Jr Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN hit his final 3-pointer of the tournament to make it 66-60.  And that was it for the D-1 Greyhounds, which not only lost in the championship the game 73-67, but have never beaten the Spiece Indy Heat in any of their numerous head-to-head battles during the last year-and-a-quarter.  Oden, who finished with 18 points, 13 rebounds, and eight blocked shot, was named the tournament MVP.  He also is our #1-ranked player in the nation regardless of class.  And he gets this ranking not because he's 7-feet tall, an incredible physical specimen, and freakish-like athlete, but because he's earned it!!!  Gordon connected on 3-5 3-pointers en route to 18 points of his own.  Conley and Cook had 15 points and 14 points apiece for the winners.  Mayo finished with 18 points, 10 rebound, and five assists, but he needed to connect on more than 4-11 of his 3-point attempts for his team to win. Walker chipped in with 16 points.  We also have confirmed that it will be Boo Williams versus the Illinois Warriors and the SYF Players versus the winner of the Murfreesboro-Charlotte Royals game in the final four at the Super Showcase in Orlando, FL. 

Monday, July 25, 2005

We're heading into the home stretch of all three tournaments in Las Vegas, NV, as the final two in the Main Event are the DC Blue Devils and the Friends of Hoop (WA), the final two in the adidas Big Time Tournament are EBO-EA Sports and Philly MJC, and the final eight in the Reebok Big Time Tournament are the Oakland Soldiers, D-1 Greyhounds, Team Danny Williams, R.E.A.C.H. Legends, Michigan Hurricanes, Spiece Indy Heat, Portland Legends, and Southern California All Stars.  And the winner of the EBO-EA Sports-Philly MJC championship game, which will tip-off at 10:30 AM tomorrow morning at the Cox Pavilion, will meet the winner of the DC Blue Devils-Friend of Hoop championship game, which will tip-off at 12:30 PM tomorrow afternoon at the Cox Pavilion, at 5:00 PM tomorrow at the Cox Pavilion in a game that will televised live on on Fox's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."  We predict that EBO-EA Sports and the Spiece Indy Heat, both of which won these respective tournaments a year ago, will repeat as champions.  However, we'd be surprised if the Friends of Hoop (WA), which won the Main Event are a year ago, is able to knock off the DC Blue Devils for the second time in three days.  Not only are the DC Blue Devils a lot more talented across the board, but 6'10 Kevin Durant from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD is coming off two of the best performances that we've seen during the last four days.  We're talking about a 26-point performance this afternoon against Capitol Athletic, which included five 3-pointers, and a 20-point performance tonight against the Houston Hoops, which included four more 3-pointers.  Not only is Durant arguably one of the two best players in the senior class nationally, along with 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, but he's got seemingly unlimited shooting range and he's not a afraid to pull the trigger when somebody leaves him open at 25-30 feet.  And Durant isn't the only lethal weapon that the DC Blue Devils have at their disposal, as 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA had 24 points and 6'5 Jerome Dyson from Proctor (Academy) NH had 19 points in their 74-66 semi-finals win tonight against the Houston Hoops.  The Friends of Hoop, which were led by 7'0 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA and 6'5 Ryan Anderson from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, who combined for 36 points in their team's 70-55 win, beat the King James Shooting Stars, which were led by 6'8 Raymar Morgan from Canton (McKinley) OH and 6'4 Marcus Johnson from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, in the other semi-finals game.  We also want to mention that fact that 6'3 Jr Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA had 20 points this morning against the Atlanta Celtics and celebrated his 17th birthday today, despite the fact DC Assault was upset this afternoon in the quarter-finals by Philly MJC.  I did not see this game, but I did see part of the game this morning when Philly MJC beat Baltimore Select, 76-67, in the round of 16 and I was very impressed with 6'0 Malik Alvin from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA.   Not only did he make his teammates - 6'9 Dan Geniot from Springfield (H.S.) PA, 6'1 Tyrone Lewis from Levittown (Truman) PA, 6'4 Reggie Redding from Philadelphia (St. Joseph's Prep) PA, and 6'8 Kraidon Woods from Swiftwater (Pocono Mountain East) PA - better, but he was knocking down 3-pointers and easily was the best player on the floor.  Another one of the top individual performances of the day was turned in by 6'2 Adrian Oliver from Modesto (Christian) CA, who hit three 3-pointers in less than a minute and totally took over the game, as he scored 16 points in the final five minutes of game against the Georgia Hurricanes in the Round of 16 at the Reebok Big Time Tournament.  And 6'8 Davon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA was even better in the next game, as he scored 22 points in the first half against R.B.C. and ensured Team Danny Williams a spot in the final eight of the tournament tomorrow morning at 10:20 AM against the R.E.A.C.H Legends.  We think that game will be too close to call, but predict that the D-1 Greyhounds will beat the Oakland Soldiers in the game at 9:00 AM, the Spiece Indy Heat will beat the Michigan Hurricanes in the game at 11:40 AM, and the Southern California All-Stars will beat the Portland Panthers in the game at 1:00 PM in the quarterfinals tomorrow at Foothill High School.  We also believed that the D-1 Greyhounds will get a rematch with the Spiece Indy Heat in the championship game and we think the result will be the same.  As a matter of fact, we think the only team in the tournament that can beat the Spiece Indy Heat is the Spiece Indy Heat.  Not only do they have 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN anchoring things inside, but 6'3 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN and 6'3 Jr Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN are both playing extremely well and they have the depth, chemistry, and experience necessary to meet whatever challenges are thrown at them.  Getting back to Jefferson, we also find it interesting that he's currently ranked 4th in the tournament in scoring with 24.3 ppg, behind 6'10 Ryan Anderson from El Dorado Hills (Oak Ridge) CA with 27.3 ppg, 6'6 Jr Drew Viney from Villa Park (H.S.) CA with 25.8 ppg, and 5'10 Darrell Mosley from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA with 24.4 ppg and ahead of 6'0 Bryan O'Leary from Guilford (H.S.) NH with 23.8 ppg, 6'8 Jr Will Creekmore from Tulsa (Edison) OK with 23.5 ppg, 6'4 Kyle Perkins from Dolores (Cortez County) CO 22.8 ppg, 6'2 Joshua Whythe from Calgary (Pearson) AB with 22.7 ppg, 6'2 Jr Jeffrey Maehl from Paradise (H.S.) CA with 22.6 ppg, and 6'3 Jr Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ with 22.5 ppg.  We also think it's interesting to note that one of the two players who are tied with the most points (45) in a single game in the tournament is just going to be a freshman in high school this year.  However, this comes as no surprise to us, because 6'1 Frosh Kenny Boynton from Coconut Creek (North Broward Prep) FL is ranked #7 in the Class of 2009 by the HOOP SCOOP.  Another incredible performance that everybody was talking about came yesterday at the Reebok Big Tournament when 6'2 Jr Corey Chandler from Newark (Eastside) NJ scored 40 points for the New Jersey Roadrunners and almost single handedly pulled off a major upset against Team Danny Williams.  Speaking of Danny Williams, our good friend Rick Issacs tells us that Williams, who recently was seriously injured in a car accident, is doing much better and appears to be on the road to a full recovery. 

Sunday, July 24, 2005

If we had to pick one player at the three big tournaments in Las Vegas to start at team with and win today, there is no question that 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY would be our man.  Not only is he a world-class athlete, incredible physical specimen, tremendous passer, great defender, outstanding rebounder, and almost unstoppable when he goes to the basket, but he also is one of the fiercest competitors that we've seen in a long time.  So it came as a total surprise earlier today when he tripped and turned the ball over in the open court with 15 seconds left in the game and his team down by two against the Atlanta Celtics.  The GC Ballers did get another look at the basket with two second left, but, instead of looking for 6'1 Robert Garrison from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, who finished with 24 points and was red hot from beyond the arc, the ball was tipped away from Harris, who was triple teamed, and the Atlanta Celtics won the game 88-85 to advance into the round of 16 tomorrow morning in the adidas Super 64 Tournament.  Also chipping in with 22 points was 6'6 Lazar Hayward from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA and Harris added 17 points, but now one of the next orders of business for Harris and 6'1 Jr Johnny Flynn from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY will be making it official for Syracuse.  If you will recall, Harris and Flynn have let it be known that they already have verbally committed to the Orangemen, but an official announcement won't be forthcoming until next week after the conclusion of the Summer Evaluation Period when they return home and can have a press conference at their high school.  So do avoid any more confusion, we asked Harris whether we should list them as verbally committed to Syracuse.  And he confirmed that it's a done deal, but said he'd prefer that we wait until next week before we list it as official.  In other words, he still has the opportunity to change his mind without looking like somebody who went back on his word and that's exactly what Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon, who seen at several of his games today, is hoping will happen.  Another one of our favorite is 6'5 Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA and he too made a number of big plays and acrobatic moves in what proved to be of the most intense games that we've seen the last three days, as he finished with 19 points and even further solidified himself a spot on the McDonald's All-American Team, which will be named next spring.  Also chipping in with 16 points apiece were 6'2 Jr Senario Hillman from  Irwinton (Wilkinson County) GA and 6'6 An'Juan Wilderness from Dunwoody (H.S.) GA and we also were impressed with 6'5 LaShun Watson from Greenville (H.S.) GA and 6'8 Curtis Brown from Marietta (Mt. Olive Prep) GA.  Yes, that's the same Curtis Brown that Kentucky was showing interest in last winter and entered his named into the NBA Draft several months ago.  And, while we liked Brown's athleticism and ability to run the court, rebound, and block shots, the reality of the situation is that he would be a nice player in the mid-major level, but certainly not in the Southeastern Conference, much the NBA.  Another one of the big stories at the adidas Super 64 Tournament today involved Playaz Gold, which had 75 points in the first half this morning against the Florida Starzz in the first round of the playoffs.  And the best individual performance so far in the entire tournament was the nine 3-pointers that 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA connected on in that game en route to 29 points.  And Ellington's teammate, 6'5 Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, had another one of the top performances earlier tonight when he scored 26 points against the Squires Foundation, Inc.  Also putting up big numbers today was 6'2 Jr Jesse Woodard from Compton (Centennial) CA, who finished with 27 points and single-handedly was responsible for the Compton Magic's 83-77 victory over the Los Angeles Rockfish in the first round of the playoffs.  Woodard also scored 30 points last night and had 25 points in his team's loss today against the San Antonio Celtics, which means he has to be one of the leading scorers in the tournament after the first three days.  Another one of the best games that we saw today involved EBO-EA Sports and the Tallahassee Wildcats and when the Tallahassee Wildcats came back from 11 points down with 10:51 left in the game, we thought we had an upset in the making.  Remember, EBO-EA Sports, which features 6'11 Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'11 Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'7 Quincy Pondexter from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'5 Derrick Jaspers from Paso Robles (H.S.) CA, 6'3 Tra'Von Willis from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, 6'5 Joe Harden from Stockton (St Mary's) CA, 6'6 Jr Darshawn McClellan from Fresno (Edison) CA, 6'11 Soph Jeffrey Withey from San Diego (Horizon) CA, and 6'8 Kenny Lawson from Vista (H.S.) CA, not only is absolutely loaded, but they also have the experience that comes from having won the tournament a year ago.  However, it wasn't meant to be as 6'9 Stanley Robinson from Birmingham (Huffman) AL missed a dunk with his team trailing by one with only 38 seconds left in the game.  EBO-EA Sports went on to win the game, 69-64, but the Tallahassee Wildcats, which also feature 6'10 Marreese Speights from St. Petersburg (Admiral Farragut) FL, and 6'7 Chadwick Gray from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, 6'3 Jr Gary Clark from Sarasota (Booker) FL, and 5'11 Jr Joey Rodriguez from Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL, who hit a big 3-pointer to tie the game at 60-60 with 3:55 left, are not a team that anybody wants to meet the rest of the summer.  So the EBO-Sports will advance into tomorrow's the round of 16, which will include EBO-EA Sports against Team Oklahoma, Derek Smith All-Stars versus KC Pump-n-Run, Playaz Gold versus Las Vegas Top Prospects, Illinois Fire versus San Antonio Celtics all at 10:20 AM and the New York Ravens versus Juice All-Stars, New England Playaz versus IEBP, DC Assault versus Atlanta Celtics, and Baltimore Select versus Philly MJC all at 11:40 AM.  I haven't seen DC Assault, which features 6'9 Jr Michael Beasley from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'3 Jr Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'4 Jr Austin Freeman from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'9 Jr Julian Vaughn from Reston (South Lakes) VA, yet in this tournament and I really enjoy watching the Playaz Gold and the Atlanta Celtics play, so the choice will be easy where I go tomorrow morning, as I plan to return the Main Gym at Eldorado High School for the Playaz Gold-Las Vegas Top Prospects and the DC Assault-Atlanta Celtics games.  Next, I will hustle over to Main Event to catch the second and third rounds of the playoffs at 12:40 PM, 1:50 PM, 3:00 PM, and 4:10 PM and then I will return to the Reebok Big Time Tournament were the round of 16 will be played with two games at 5:00 PM, two games at 6:20 PM, two games at 7:40 PM, and two games at 9:00 PM.  Speaking of the Reebok Big Time Tournament, it looks like the New York Panthers are out after losing 86-85 today to the R.E.A.C.H Legends, but the other three teams in Pool J, are still playing, as the D-1 Greyhounds are alive in Pool #2, Spiece Indy Heat is alive in Bracket #6, and Southern California All Stars are alive in Bracket #8.  We also are impressed that the complete updated brackets from two of the three tournaments already can be found by clicking onto Reebok Big Time Tournament and adidas Super 64 Tournament.  For more information about the Main Event, click onto VisionSports.com.

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Just like I did yesterday at the Reebok Big Time Tournament, I have spent the entire day today at the Main Event.  And, yes, I can confirm that 6'10 Kevin Durant from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, after attending summer school yesterday, did fly in last night and, as a result, the DC Blue Devils are the team to beat in this tournament.  Remember, in addition to Durant and 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who are two of our top five-ranked seniors in the nation, the DC Blue Devils also have 6'5 Jerome Dyson from Proctor (Academy) NJ, who is one of the fastest rising players in the nation and is being recruited by Maryland, Georgetown, Connecticut, Boston College, N.C. State, Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame, and Providence, and 6'8 Mike Freeman from Alexandria (Hayfield) VA, who signed with USC last fall, but will be going the prep school route next year.  And, if that weren't enough, they also have a great supporting cast with 6'8 Nasir Austin from Capitol Heights (Fairmont Heights) MD and 6'8 Cliff Dixon from Suitland (H.S.) MD, who do most of the dirty work inside, and 6'5 Robert Shannon from Oxon Hill (Potomac) MD, 6'6 Hillary Haley from Ft. Washington (Friendly) MD, and 6'3 Bobby Maze from Laurinburg (Institute) MD who provide depth and athleticism on the perimeter.  However, it still wasn't all that easy today for the DC Blue Devils, which beat the Portland Legends by only eight points and trailed most of the way against Athletes First before finally pulling it out 95-84.  Durant had 26 points, Lawson had 19 points, and Dyson had 21 points against Athletes First and they combined for 47 points against the Portland Legends.  Another one of the best performances on the entire day was turned by 6'5 Obi Muonelo from Edmund (Santa Fe) OK, who finished with 32 points against DC, as he once again impressed us with big time athleticism and ability to get to the basket with the best of them.  We also finally got a chance to see 6'2 Jerry Smith from Wauwatosa (East) WI, who has been sidelined with a series of injuries since April.  This was only his second game since coming back, but, all things considered, Brown played very well.  He lacked lift, explosion, and endurance and he missed more than his share of shots, but we were impressed with skills, ability to create his own shot, and competitiveness.  In other words, the shot wasn't falling, but he still showed all of the things we were looking for to justify his ranking among the top 15-30 players in the senior class nationally.  The biggest surprise of the day was 6'6 Jr Darrington Hobson from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, who finished with 20 points and impressed us with his athleticism, versatility, and work ethic.  Not only does this long lanky athlete have excellent ball handling and passing skills for somebody his size, but he has great hands, a nose for the ball, and the same type of upside that we thought Tracy McGrady and Dorell Wright had when we first saw them.  In other words, if Hobson doesn't get caught up in all the hype and continues to work hard and develop, the sky truly could be the limit.  We also were impressed with 6'8 Jr Gani Lawal from Riverdale (H.S.) GA, who finished with 18 points for the Georgia Stars 16's; 6'11 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA, who had 20 points for the Friends of Hoop; 6'5 Papa Oppong from Scarborough (Mother Teresa) ON, who had 18 points for Toronto Mission.  Another one of the highlights of the day at the Main Event was watching the 15-Under game between the P. Miller Ballers, which featured the three best players in the game in 6'4 Soph Demar Derozan from Compton (H.S.) CA, 6'8 Soph Chris Braswell from Suitland (Capitol Heights) MD, and 6'4 Soph Jason Clark from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, versus the Playaz Basketball Club with 6'1 Soph Travon Woodall from Jersey City (St. Anthony's) NJ, 6'8 Soph Albert Rodgers from Jersey City (St. Anthony's) NJ, 6'1 Soph Michael Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony's) NJ, 5'9 Frosh Gio Fongan from Jersey City (St. Anthony's) NJ, 6'4 Soph Deshawn Mitchell from Piscataway (H.S.) NJ, 5'5 Soph Wayne Mack from Paramus (Catholic) NJ, and 6'0 Soph T.J. Williams from Inglewood (H.S.) NJ.  Derozan was easily the best player on the court for either team, as he scored 26 points, played with tremendous intensity, rebounded well for his size, showed more range than we remembered him having, and brought the house down with several incredible dunks.  Braswell needs to get meaner and tougher, but he did finish with 10 points and used his long arms and excellent timing to blocks shots, rebound, and around the basket.  Clark is a multi-dimensional athlete who scored 12 points and provided the perfect complement to Derozan and Braswell with his intensity and ability to handle, pass, shoot, defend, and rebound.  Woodall finished with 15 points and impressed us with his incredible athleticism, explosiveness of the dribble, and ability to get the basket.  But we actually liked Rosairo, who finished with 14 points of his own, a little better, because he's more multi-dimensional with his ability to handle, pass, shoot, and get to the basket.  Fongan and Mack are both up tempo point guards who make good decisions and get their teammates involved, Mitchell and Rodgers both take care of business on the boards, and Williams is easily the best 3-point shooter on the team.  And, when you also add 6'5 Frosh Bilah Dixon from Jersey City (St. Anthony's) NJ into the mix, it's easy to see why we think Bob Hurley Sr should be well stocked with talent for a long time at St. Anthony's.  However, they sure didn't play like your normal St. Anthony's team at crunch time, as they missed a 3-pointer, a lay-up, and three free throw attempts in the final minute of the game en route to a 64-60 loss to the P. Miller Ballers.  The P. Miller Ballers also knocked off the Houston Hoops, 68-65, later in the day and Derozan once again was like a human highlight film as he finished with 13 points and had an impressive array of dunks and acrobatic moves to the basket.  Braswell chipped in with 12 points and 6'1 Soph Keion Bell from Gardena (Serra) CA and 5'10 Soph Percy Miller from Los Angeles (Windward) CA had 10 points and nine points apiece.  The leading scorers for the Houston Hoops were 6'5 Soph DeEverett Williams from Alief (Hastings) TX and 6'3 Soph Trent Rogers from Houston (Strake Jesuit) TX, who finished with 14 points apiece.

Friday, July 22, 2005

It looks like somebody knew what they were doing when they put the four best teams at the Reebok Big Time Tournament in the same pool, because the big match-up between the Spiece Indy Heat with 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'3 Jr Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, 6'5 Daequan Cook from  Dayton (Dunbar) OH, and 6'9 Jr Aaron Pogue from Dayton (Dunbar) OH and the D-I Greyhounds with 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'8 Jr Alexander Tyus from Cincinnati (Harmony Christian) OH, 6'8 JeJuan Brown from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'11 Jr Keenan Ellis from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'2 Heath White from Cincinnati (Taft) OH, and 6'0 Deonta Vaughn from Cincinnati (Harmony Christian) OH was standing room only and the New York Panthers, which featured 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'9 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'2 Edgar Sosa from New York (Rice) NY, 6'0 Doug Wiggins from East Hartford (H.S.) CT, 6'3 Rashard Green from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'5 Will Harris from Sheffield (Berkshire School) MA, and 6'0 Vernon Teal from Mendenhall (Genesis I) MS, knocked off the Southern California All-Stars, which are arguably the most talented team in the tournament with 6'7 Chase Budinger from Carlsbad (La Costa Canyon) CA, 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA,  6'8 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 6'10 Taylor Harrison from San Clemente (H.S.) CA, 6'5 Jr Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA, 6'5 Soph Malik Story from Lakewood (Artesia) CA.  And, despite missing most of the summer with an injury, Budinger, who scored 13 of the Southern California All-Star's first 15 points, was one of the best players we saw all day during the first day of action, as he finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.  Love finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds, King had 13 points, and Jennings had 11 points and three assists, but they still appeared to be intimidated early by the physical nature of the game, as the New York Panthers jumped out to a 26-7 lead.  And helping set the tone of the game were Thomas, who had 27 points and 13 rebounds, hit 10-17 field goals, and plays with incredible intensity, and Caracter, who had 10 points, nine rebounds, and four blocked shots and isn't afraid to use his body inside.  However, we have to give the Southern California All-Stars credit for not folding up their tents and going home, as they cut the lead to only eight by half-time and had a chance to tie the game in the final minute when they were down by only three.  We also thought we had an upset in the making when the D-I Greyhounds jumped out to an early 15-5 lead against the Spiece Indy Heat.  However, by half-time the D-I Greyhounds trailed 37-35 and, after the Spiece Indy Heat went on a 7-0 run to start the second half, they were never able to get it any closer than four until Mayo hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 69-67.  Mayo also hit another big 3-pointer in the final minute of the game, but missed the one that would have cut it to one and really would have made things interesting with only 14 seconds left.  Speaking of Mayo, he finished with 22 points against the Spiece Indy Heat, but he passed up some big shots and did not take the game over like we've seen him do in the past.  So obviously we're wondering if 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY got into his head at the Reebok ABCD Camp when he held him to two points on the second to last night of camp, because Mayo really has not been the same player since.  However, Walker was his usual athletic self, as he was like a human highlight film and most of his 15 points came off of dunks, and Tyus, who finished with 15 points, six rebounds, and 7-10 field goals, was unstoppable from mid-range, as he put on one of the best performances of the entire day.  Another one of the other best performances of the entire day were turned by 6'3 Jr Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, who simply picked where he left off at the NIKE All-American Camp, where he arguably was the best player in camp, as he finished with 27 points and seven assists when the Arizona Magic knocked off the West Valley Elite.  We also really were impressed with 6'9 Deon Thompson from Torrance (H.S.) CA, who was terrific against 6'11 Jr Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN in the morning and had 20 points and nine rebounds against the Dallas Mustangs in the evening.  And we liked the way the Illinois Wolves, which featured 6'5 Jr Devan Bawinkel from Winnebago (H.S.) IL, 6'1 Will Walker from Bolingbrook (H.S.) IL, and 6'3 Travis Marion from Aurora (West) IL, who combined for 38 points, dismantled the Michigan Hurricanes, 68-44.  If you will recall, the Michigan Hurricanes have 6'5 Jr Alexander Legion from Birmingham (Detroit County Day) MI, 6'4 Jr Darquvais Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI, 6'0 Tory Jackson from Saginaw (Buena Vista) MI, 6'0 Jr Kelvin Grady from East Grand Rapids (H.S.) MI, and 7'0 Tom Herzog from Flint (Powers) MI, but their best player in this game was 6'6 Jr Austin Thornton from Cedar Springs (H.S.) MI, who finished with nine points and four rebounds.  Yes, it really was that bad, as Tucker was tied with Thornton for top scoring honors with only nine points.  However, in fairness, it does appear that they picked it up in the evening game, as Legion and Tucker combined for 39 points and knocked off R.B.C., 70-62.  We also think it's worth mentioning that Jackson is coming off mono, so we're willing to through out all of his mediocre performances this summer.  However, we're extremely disappointed in Herzog, who, not only hasn't improved much in the last year, but had only two points and five rebounds when we saw him against the Illinois Wolves and was physically dominated inside by 6'10 Ray Hall from Lakewood (Artesia) CA when his team played R.B.C..  As matter of fact, we heard one college coach saying that he likes 6'10 Matt Hill from Lincoln (Southeast) NE better than Herzog.  And this is interesting, because Hill is not ranked by the HOOP SCOOP and he did not attend any of the major shoe company camps, which makes him a total sleeper.  However, the cat does appear to be somewhat out of the bag, because North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright, and Nebraska head coach Barry Collier all were at his game earlier today.  We're talking about an active big man with nice hands, excellent skills, good post moves, and a willingness to compete around the basket.  Another player that we'd never heard of before is 6'5 Jr Zach Payton from Ft. Wayne (Harding) IN.  But this strong physical athlete who gets to the basket, shoots the three, and has the ball handling and passing skills necessary to play the one, two, and the three was one of the best players on the Blessed IJN Team.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Assuming that 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR plays for the Southern California All-Stars, they should be the favorite to win the Open Division of this year's Reebok Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV.  And that's even without 6'7 Chase Budinger from Carlsbad (La Costa Canyon) CA, who has been sidelined all summer due to an injury.  Remember, this just might be Pat Barrett's best team ever, as 6'7 Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'9 Taj Gibson from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'8 James Keefe from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA, 6'3 Jr Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA, 6'10 Taylor Harrison from San Clemente (H.S.) CA, and 6'5 Soph Malik Story from Lakewood (Artesia) CA are all big time players.  And, if there was any doubt about which tournament to cover on the first day, Friday, July 22nd, the Southern California All-Stars will face the New York Panthers at 3:40 PM in the Main Gym at Foothill High School in a rematch of the quarterfinals game that they won at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions two months ago.  And there may be more talent on the floor for this pool play game than in most NCAA Final Four games, as the New York Panthers are expected to be going to war with 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'7 Antonio Pena from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'0 Doug Wiggins from East Hartford (H.S.) CT, 6'6 Rob Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'6 Tyrone Hanson from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, 6'9 Mike Davis from Brooklyn (Banneker) NY, 6'4 Frosh Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'10 Greg Washington from Melbourne (Florida Air Academy) FL, 6'3 Rashard Green from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, and 6'0 Soph Terrell Hollaway from Oyster Bay (St. Dominics) NY.  And the game preceding this game in the same gym at 2:20 PM will be the Spiece Indy Heat with 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'3 Jr Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, 6'5 Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 6'9 Jr Aaron Pogue from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, and 6'4 Jr Curtis White from Indianapolis (Pike) IN and the D-I Greyhounds with 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'2 Heath White from Cincinnati (Taft) OH, 6'0 Deonte Vaughn from Cincinnati (Harmony Christian) OH, and 6'2 Anthony Slaughter from Shelbyville (Shelby County) KY.  In other words, we're talking about watching arguably the three best players in the nation (Oden, Mayo, and Walker) in the same game in the same pool on the first day of the tournament.  And these aren't the only good games that will start off the tournament in the Main Gym at Foothill High School on Friday, July 22nd, as it will be the Long Island Lightning versus the Dallas Mustangs at 9:00 AM, Minnesota Magic versus Branch West Reebok at 10:20 AM, R.B.C. West (CA) versus Team Breakdown at 11:40 AM, Michigan Hurricanes versus Illinois Wolves at 1:00 PM.  In addition to all the outstanding players mentioned above, the list of outstanding talent is also pretty overwhelming, as some of the top players in the tournament will include 6'3 Jr Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 6'9 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Piney Wood (H.S.) MS, 6'8 Davon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'0 Jr Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL, 6'5 Jr Darquavis Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI, 6'5 Jr Alexander Legion from Birmingham (Detroit Country Day) MI, 6'7 Tyler Smith from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'6 Marques Johnson from Ft. Wayne (Snider) IN, 6'1 Jr Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'1 Jr Darius Gabriel from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'0 Frosh Junior Cadougan from Toronto (Eastern School of Commerce) ON, 6'1 Tory Jackson from  Saginaw (Buena Vista) MI, 6'0 Jr Kelvin Grady from East Grand Rapids (H.S.) MI, 6'10 Perry Stevenson from Lafayette (Northside) LA, 6'9 Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'9 Jordan Hill from Atlanta (North Spring) GA, 6'9 Jr DeAndre Jordan from Houston (Episcopal) TX, 6'6 Will Harris from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 7'0 Tom Herzog from Flint (Powers) MI, 6'9 Jonathan Uchendu from Pulaski (Robinson) AR, 6'3 Seketoure Henry from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'3 Jr Eshaunte Jones from Ft. Wayne (Northside) IN, 6'1 Willie Walker from Bolingbrook (H.S.) IL, 6'6 Devan Bawinkel from Winnebago (H.S.) IL, 6'4 Jodie Meeks from Norcross (H.S.) GA, 6'8 Jr Tracy Smith from Dutham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 5'10 Ed Tucker from Marietta (Covenant Christian) GA, 6'3 Devon McClendon from Durham (Mt Zion Christian) NC, 6'5 Jr Tony Neysmith from Alpharetta (H.S.) GA, 6'11 Xavier Crawford from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'8 Darris Santee from Missouri City (Ft. Bend Marshall) TX, 6'8 Dwayne Collins from Miami (Senior) FL, 6'8 Gary Flowers from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, 6'5 Jonathan Hall from Miami (Senior) FL, 6'3 Christian Polk from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ, 6'4 Dante Curry from Kissimmee (Poinciana) FL, 6'1 Jr Keegan Bell from Madison (Bob Jones) AL, 6'8 Cordell Pope from Birmingham (Parker) AL, 6'7 Demetrius Jemison from Birmingham (Huffman) AL, 6'6 Jr Eric Wallace from Kernersville (Robert Glenn) NC, 6'6 Jr Marshall Moses from Kernersville (Robert Glenn) NC, 6'2 Jr Jordan Block from Alta Loma (H.S.) CA, 6'6 Dale Van Wright from Houston (Bellaire) TX, 7'0 Kyle Luckett from Ft Wayne (Southside) IN, 6'9 Courtney Wallace from New Orleans (Brother Martin) LA, 6'9 Richard Semrau from Rocky River (Lutheran West) OH, 6'7 Jinski Grigsby from Nacogdoches (H.S.) TX, 6'9 Tearon Hill from Carrollton (Turner) TX, 6'3 Frosh Zack Williams from Garland (H.S.) TX, 6'1 Frosh Kenny Boynton from Coconut Creek (North Broward Prep) FL, 6'8 Ekpe Udoh from Edmund (Santa Fe) OK, 6'4 Daye Kaba from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 6'3 Niko Scott from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'7 Andre Hardy from New Hampton (Prep) NH, 6'8 Deon Thompson from Torrance (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Derrick Roland from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 6'8 Christian Soto from Miami (Christian) FL, 6'8 Justin Burrell from Bronx (Our Savior Lutheran) NY, 6'7 Casey Cunningham from Albuquerque (Cibola) NM, 6'8 Emmanuel Bidias from Albuquerque (Menual) NM, 6'0 Salvador Patricio from Lake Suzy (Florida Prep) FL, and 6'9 Ray Hall from Lakewood (Artesia) CA.  College coaches, scouts, and media can get a head start covering this tournament by checking in at the tournament headquarters, which will be at Foothill High School, today between Noon and 10:00 PM today. 

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Covering the three major shoe company tournaments a year ago during the live period in late July was a major problem  due to the fact that the headquarters for the Reebok Big Time Tournament was located about as far Southeast and the headquarters for the adidas Super 64 Tournament was located about as far Northwest as you can get in Las Vegas, NV.  However, this year things should be much easier, because the headquarters for the adidas Super 64 will be more centrally located at Desert Pines High School, which, instead of being a 30-40 minute drive, is only 10-15 minutes from the Reebok Big Time Tournament headquarters at Foothill High School and only 15-20 minutes from the Main Event's headquarters at Durango High School.  And, just like the adidas Superstar All-American Camp was earlier this month, the adidas Super 64 should be dramatically improved over a year ago when EB0-EA Sports won the 17-Under Division with a team that featured 6'11 Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'11 Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'7 Quincy Pondexter from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'3 Tre'von Willis from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, and 6'5 Derrick Jasper from Paso Robles (H.S.) CA, all of whom will be back this year to defend their title, and DC Assault, which was led by 6'7 Jr Michael Beasley from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and 6'3 Jr Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA won the 16-Under Division.  So when you add 6'5 Jr Austin Freeman from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD and 6'9 Jr Julian Vaughn from Reston (South Lakes) VA, who, along with Beasley and Smith, are two of the best juniors in the nation, to this DC Assault team, it's easy to see why they are one of the favorites to win the 17-Under Division in this year's tournament.  However, there also are some other very good teams, like the Playaz Basketball Club with 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 6'5 Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, and 6'8 Earl Clark from Rahway (H.S.) NJ; Team Memphis with 6'8 Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Mitchell) TN, 6'8 Pierre Niles from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN, 6'3 Willie Kemp from Bolivar (Central) TN, and 6'8 Wayne Chism from Bolivar (Central) TN; Atlanta Celtics with 6'5 Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 6'2 Jr Senario Hillman from Irwinton (Wilkinson County) GA, 6'6 An'Juan Wilderness from Dunwoody (H.S.) GA, 6'5 LaShun Watson from Greenville (H.S.) GA, 6'3 Wesley Mathews from Marietta (South Cobb) GA, and 6'3 John Tiller from Marietta (Wheeler) GA; GC Ballers with 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 6'5 Lazar Hayward from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 6'8 Tyrell Lynch from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 6'0 Jr Johnny Flynn from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, and 6'1 Rob Garrison from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY; Cleveland Basketball Club with 6'11 Soph B.J. Mullins from Canal Winchester (World Harvest) OH, 6'9 Soph Yancey Gates from Cincinnati (Hughes) OH, and 6'6 Soph Rayshawn Goins from Cleveland (Rhodes) OH; Tallahassee Wildcats with 6'4 Aaron Holmes from Lake Suzy (Florida Prep) FL, 6'10 Marreese Speights from St. Petersburg (Admiral Farragut) FL, and 6'7 Chadwick Gray from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL; New England Playaz with 6'9 Travis George from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'0 Jon Han from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'4 Jr Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, and 6'8 Jr Garrett Kissell from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI; New Orleans Jazz with 6'2 D.J. Augustine from New Orleans (Brother Martin) LA, 6'6 Dinerio Thomas from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'3 Lamar Falley from New Orleans, LA, 6'4 Lacedarrius Dunn from Monroe (Excelsior Christian) LA, and 6'8 JeJuan Brown from Biloxi (H.S.) MS; Illinois Fire with 6'3 Chris Singletary from Chicago (Farragut) IL, 6'3 Jonathan Peoples from Westchester (St. Joseph) IL, 6'7 Marcus Vann from Chicago (Curie) IL, 6'8 Robert Eppinger from Rockford (Jefferson) IL, and 6'3 Osirus Eldridge from Chicago (Phillips) IL; Philly MJC with 6'5 Reggie Redding from Philadelphia (St. Joseph's Prep) PA, 6'0 Malik Alvin from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA, and 6'9 Dan Geriot from Springfield (H.S.) PA; Compton Magic with 6'2 Tyree Thompson from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'6 Jervaughn Johnson from Compton (Centennial) CA, and 6'0 Jr Jesse Woodard from Compton (Centennial) CA; Pump-n-Run with 6'9 Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA and 6'3 Calvin Haynes from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA; DTA Wisconsin with 5'11 Soph Korie Lucious from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 6'10 Mitchell Carter from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, and 6'6 Soph Bryan Brown from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI; and Utah Pump-n-Run with 6'8 Daniel Deane from Salt Lake City (Judge Memorial) UT.  We also will be interested to see how well Team California does playing up two years in the 16-Under Division.  Remembers, this team features 6'4 Frosh Demetrius Walker from Fontana, CA, 6'7 Frosh Aaron Moore from Fontana, CA, 6'2 Frosh Roberto Nelson from Santa Barbara, CA, and 6'3 Frosh Terran Carter from Chatsworth, CA and is using this as a tune-up to defend their championship from a year ago in the 14-Under AAU Nationals in early August.  The best first round match-ups of the tournament will include DC Assault versus Tallahassee Wildcats at 10:20 AM on Friday in the Main Gym at Cimarron High School, New Orleans Jazz versus New England Playaz at 2:20 PM on Friday in the Main Gym at Cimarron High School, Team Memphis versus DTA Wisconsin at 2:20 PM on Saturday in the Main Gym at Desert Pines High School, and Pump-N-Run versus Compton Magic on Saturday in the Main Gym at Desert Pines High School.  But the best time to view games at the adidas Super 64 promises to be deep into the playoffs on Monday, July 25th.  As a matter of fact, if everything goes the way it should, the final four could be spectacular, as the two potential match-ups would be EBO-EA Sports versus the Playaz Basketball Club and Team Memphis versus DC Assault.  However, anybody wanting to see both games can't, because they are scheduled at the same time at two different sites.  And this isn't the only example of poor planning as all the way through the playoffs half of the games are scheduled to be played at Desert Pines and the other half are scheduled to be played at Cimarron.  College coaches can get a head start covering this tournament by checking in at the tournament headquarters, which will be at Desert Pines High School, tomorrow afternoon and evening between 1:00 PM and 8:00 PM.  Tomorrow's media check-in will be between 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM.  It also is important to point out that the championship game will be at 10:30 AM on Tuesday, July 26th, and the winner of the adidas Super 64 will play the winner of the Main Event live on Fox's "Best Damn Sports Show Period" at 5:00 PM that same afternoon. We'll have a preview of the Reebok Big Time Tournament tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

It looks like Hal Pastner, who is the king of running big gigantic events, has done it again, because in three days he will be tipping off this year's version of the Main Event, which will include over 450 teams in age groups ranging from 17-Under all the way down to 9-Under and will go head-to-head against the Reebok Big-Time Tournament and the adidas Super 64 Tournament from July 22nd-26th.  Not only does the Main Event's 17-Under Division promise to be even better than it was a year ago with teams like the DC Blue Devils, Houston Hoops, Friends of Hoops (WA), Athletes First, Portland Legends, Cecil Kirk, Albany City Rocks, Wisconsin Playground Warriors, Houston Westside All-Stars, Chicago Jaguars, Texas Top Prospects 17, Georgia Stars 16, Team Odom, the Schneider AllStars.com, and Mean Streets, but the 15-Under Division promises to be nothing short of spectacular.  And this is huge for anybody who wants to get a head start on the future, because the P. Miller Ballers, Team Texas, The Playaz (NJ), Houston Hoops, Team Indiana, Indiana Elite Hoops, Arkansas Kings, Team Melo (Maryland), Connecticut Young Gunz, Texas Ambassadors, Wisconsin Playground Warriors, Kansas City Keys, Smyrna Stars (GA), and Sporting Chance Tucson (AZ) are some of the best 15-Under Teams in the nation.  Most of the games in this division will be held at the Heinrich YMCA and Agassi Boys & Girls Club, but the P. Miller Ballers, which finished second in the 15-Under National Tournament in Kingsport, TN last week, will be playing twice on Saturday, July 23rd, at Durango High School.  Their first game will be in Gym #1 against the Playaz at 10:20 AM and their second game will be in Gym #1 against the Houston Hoops at 6:30 PM.  And right before the P. Miller Ballers-Playaz game on Saturday morning will be another must see game between Team Texas and Indiana Elite at 9:10 AM in Gym #2 at Durango High School.  However, just like with most of our competition and the Division I college coaches who will be in attendance, most our of attention will be focused on the 17-Under Division, which will feature many of the top high school players in the nation, including 6'10 Kevin Durant from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'11 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'7 Jr Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, 6'3 Jerry Smith from Wauwatosa (East) WI, 6'5 Jr Melquan Bolding from Beacon (H.S.) NY, 5'9 Nic Wise from Houston (Kingwood) TX, 6'8 Jr Kyle Singler from Medford (South Medford) OR, 6'8 Jr Gani Lawal from Riverdale (H.S.) GA, 6'5 Jerome Dyson from Proctor (Academy) NH, 6'9 Dajuan Summer from Baltimore (McDonogh) MD, 6'5 Obi Muenelo from Edmund (Santa Fe) OK, 6'7 Jr Blake Griffin from Edmund (Oklahoma Christian) OK, 6'8 Keith Clark from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 6'6 Jr Edwin Ubiles from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'5 Seth Tarver from Portland (Jesuit) OR, 5'9 Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (Curtis) WA, 6'5 Ryan Anderson from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, 6'2 Jr Jamelle McMillan from Seattle (O'Dea) WA, 6'4 Earnest Williams from Federal Way (H.S.) WA, 5'9 Brandon Brown from Houston (Aldine) TX, 6'6 Jr Mike Singletary from Houston (Kingwood) TX, 5'10 Jai Lucas from Houston (Bellaire) TX, 6'4 Anthony Green from Beliot (H.S.) WI, 6'5 Joevan Catron from Harvey (Thorton) IL, 6'9 Jr Nayal Koshwal from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'9 Thijin Moses from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'6 Edwin Ubiles from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'5 Gerard Anderson from Carson (H.S.) CA, 6'6 Jr Justin Holiday from North Hollywood (Campbell Hall) CA, 6'3 Jr Jrue Holiday from North Hollywood (Campbell Hall) CA, 6'9 Jr Clint Amberry from Huntington Beach (Ocean View) CA, 6'0 Lawrence Westbrook from Chandler (H.S.) AZ, 6'3 David Schneider from Phoenix (Brophy Prep) AZ, 6'2 Milan Prodonovic from Jamicia (Archbishop Molly) NY, 6'7 Jr Tony Denison from Astoria (Bryant) NY, and 6'6 Adron Tennell from Grand Prairie (Irving) TX.  Pool play will be the order of the day for the first three days (Friday, July, 22nd, Saturday, July 23rd, and Sunday, July 24th) at the Main Event and some of the best match-ups will occur when the Friends of Hoop and Athletes First square off at 12:40 PM on Saturday, July 23rd, in Gym #1 at Durango High School; when the Houston Hoops and the Wisconsin Playground Warriors square off at 3:00 PM on Saturday, July 23rd, in Gym #1 at Durango High School; and when the DC Blue Devils and the Friends of Hoop square off at 5:20 PM on Sunday, July 24th in Gym #1 at Durango High School.  And things should really heat up when the playoffs begin on Sunday evening with first round games in the Platinum Division to be played at 8:50 PM and 10:00 PM.  The  playoffs also will run all day Monday, July 25th, and the championship game will be held on Tuesday, July 26th at 12:30 PM at the Cox Pavillion live on the Fox College Sports Network.  And winner of the 17-Under Platinum Championship will play the winner of the adidas Super 64 Tournament live on Fox's "Best Damn Sports Show Period" at 5:00 PM that same afternoon.  College coaches, media, and scouts can get a head start covering this tournament by checking in at the tournament headquarters, which once again will be at Durango High School, day after tomorrow (July 21st) between 1:00 PM-9:00 PM or on Friday, July 22nd, beginning at 7:00 AM.  For even more information, including the brackets for each age group, about the Main Event, click onto VisionSports.com.

Monday, July 18, 2005

I did not get a chance to attend the Fullcourt Press All-West Camp at the Southern California Basketball Association Center in Cypress, CA last week, but a quick look at the rosters for the all-star games makes us wish that we had been there for what has evolved into the best camp on the West Coast.  The Black Squad was led by 6'8 Davon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, who hit 13-16 field goals en route to 26 points, nine rebounds, two blocked shots, and all-star game MVP honors; 6'4 Jr Quinton Watkins from Compton (Dominguez) CA with 18 points, eight rebounds, and three steals; 6'0 Jr Jesse Woodard from Compton (Centennial) CA with 15 points, six rebounds, and two assists; 5'10 Jamell Barrrett from Sacramento (Natomas) CA with 19 points and four rebounds, four assists, and four steals; 6'3 Tyree Thompson from Compton (Centennial) CA with six points, six rebounds, and nine assists; 6'6 Jr Tyrone Shelley from San Diego (Crawford) CA with 10 points and 10 rebounds; 6'6 Jr Justin Holiday from North Hollywood (Campbell Hall) CA with 10 points; and 6'6 Brad Sweezy from Huntington Beach (Ocean View) CA with nine points and 12 rebounds.  The White Squad was led by 6'6 Jr Tyler Bernardini from San Diego (Parker) CA, who hit four trifectas en route to 14 points; 6'6 Jervaughn Johnson from Compton (Centennial) CA with 10 points and four rebounds; 6'5 Gerard Anderson from Los Angeles (Verbum Dei) CA with 10 points; 6'8 Deon Thompson from Torrance (H.S.) CA with 10 points; 6'5 Jr Ian Anderson from Portland (Wilson) OR with eight points, five rebounds, and five assists; 6'5 Donald Thomas from Garden Grove (Pacific) CA with nine points and two steals; and 6'3 Soph Jrue Holiday from North Hollywood (Campbell Hall) CA with eight points and four assists.  Also playing well enough at the Fullcourt Press All-West Camp to be named to participate in the Top 30 Game were 6'0 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'6 Jr Omondi Amoke from Oxnard (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Patrick Christopher from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'7 Kevin Galloway from Sacramento (H.S.) CA, 6'10 Jr Clint Ambery from Huntington Beach (Ocean View) CA, 6'3 Jamel McGuire from San Diego (Gompers) CA, 6'0 Kevin Buggs from Long Beach (Poly) CA, 6'5 Les Brown from Salt Lake City (Judge Memorial) UT, 6'7 Jr Darrington Hobson from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, 6'6 Julius Thomas from Lodi (Tokay) CA, 6'9 Jr Matt Simpkins from Oakland (McClymonds) CA, 6'6 Jr Robert Jones from San Francisco (Riordan) CA, 6'8 Demetrius Monroe from San Diego (University) CA, and 6'6 Jason Deutchman from Santa Monica (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Kevin McDowell from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, and 6'8 Matt Lagrone from San Diego (H-town) CA.  Unfortunately Jennings and Galloway were no-shows for the White Squad and switching Deutchman from Black Squad to the White Squad and adding Thompson to the White Squad were not enough to balance things out as the Black Squad coasted to a 135-103 victory.  The Top 60 Game was much closer as the White Squad beat the Black Squad 85-79.  And the guy who stole the show was 6'7 Jr Mike Lizarga from Fremont (School of the Deaf) CA, who finished 15 points and eight rebounds and hit 6-10 field goals.  Also playing well in this game for the White Squad were 5'10 Omari Johnson from Long Beach (Jordan) CA with 10 points and five rebounds and 6'2 Matthew Rosinski from Peoria (Ironwood) AZ with 10 points, three rebounds, and three steals.  The Black Team was led by 6'4 Lathan Wallace from Portland (Jefferson) OR with 12 points; 6'6 Andre Hardy from San Diego (St. Augustine) CA with 10 points and five rebounds; 6'1 Jr Andre Borrows from Moreno Valley (Canyon Springs) CA with nine points; and DeAndre Denan from Long Beach (Jordan) CA with eight points.  Also appearing in the Top 60 Game were 6'10 Terron Sutton from Los Angeles (Price) CA, 5'11 Joseph Johnson from Serra (Gardena) CA, 6'2 Frosh Xavier Thames from Sacramento (Pleasant Grove) CA, 6'1 Soph Chris Jones from  Newark (Memorial) CA, 6'7 Jon Jaques from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'6 Bernard Burrell from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'9 Jr Genesis Maciel from South Gate (H.S.) CA, 6'3 Jeff Battle from Phoenix (South Mountain) AZ, 6'4 Jordan Lawley from Lodi (Tokay) CA, 6'10 Zach Moritz from Vancouver (Columbia River) WA, 6'6 Bennie Rhodes from Oakland (Castlemont) CA, 5'11 Kola Togunde from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'2 Jamarion Lewis from Las Vegas (Shadow Ridge) NV, 6'2 Jr Marcus Shannon from San Diego (Gompers) CA, 6'4 Jovan Bryant from Corona (Centennial) CA, 6'3 Shawn Deadwiler from Phoenix (South Mountain) AZ, 6'5 Ray McGee from Placentia (Valencia) CA, 6'7 Decensae White from San Mateo (Serra) CA, 6'7 Preston Eppinger from Corona (H.S.) CA, 6'9 Phil Benson from Scottsdale (Horizon) AZ, 6'4 Jr Shaun Thomas from Sacramento (H.S.) CA, and 6'3 Jake Orchid from Salt Lake City (Highland) UT, and Ryan Kelly from Glendora (H.S.) CA.  Also named to play in the Top 60 Game for the White Squad was 6'6 A.J. Tolbert from Compton (Dominguez) CA and for the Black Squad was 6'2 Dezon Otis from Compton (Dominguez) CA, but they were no-shows for the game.  The White Squad also beat the Black Squad in 96-79 in the Top 90 Game, as 5'11 Reggie Guyton from Hillsboro (H.S.) OR led a well-balanced attack with 12 points, four rebounds, and two assists.  Also chipping in with double-digits for the winners were 6'5 Frosh Joe Burton from San Jacinto (West Hill) CA with 11 points, 6'7 Seth Richins from Gilbert (H.S.) AZ with 11 points, and 6'2 Kyle Young from Henderson (Green Valley) NV has 10 points.  The only two players for the losers who finished in double-digits were 5'11 Innocent Wells from Chandler (Hamilton) AZ with 16 points and 6'6 J.J. Palmer from Tuscon (Desert Christian) AZ.  Also playing in the Top 90 Game were 6'2 Laith Al-Jamie from Mission Viejo (Trabuco Hills) CA, 6'6 Jamil Greenwood from Chino (Don Lugo) CA, 6'6 Demetrius Love from Long Beach (Wilson) CA, 6'6 Jr Justin McCullough from Peoria (Sunrise Mountain) AZ, 6'8 Steve Panos from Salt Lake City (Highland) UT, 6'5 Dominic Nichols from Glendale (H.S.) AZ, 5'9 Marlon King from Chula Vista (Eastlake) CA, 6'6 Jr Demetrius Crowell from Mesa (H.S.) AZ, 6'2 Dallas Rutherford from Granada Hills (Hillcrest) CA, 6'8 Daniel Brady from Lake Oswego (Lakeridge) OR, 6'4 Jack Anderson from Torres Pines (H.S.) CA,6'4 Wayne Berry from Phoenix (Paradise Valley) AZ,  6'5 Stephen Tyree from Houston (Strake Jesuit) TX, 6'5 Kevin Story from Manhattan Beach (Mira Costa) CA, 6'5 Arcellas Byrd from Oxnard (Rio Mesa) CA, 6'0 Corey Duncan from Reseda (Cleveland) CA, 6'6 Trent Anderson from Tucson (Ironwood Ridge) CA, 6'0 Jon Pastorek from Anaheim (Canyon) CA, 6'1 Chris Gweth from Hillsboro (H.S.) OR, 6'3 Keith Williams from San Diego (Valhalia) CA, and 5'10 Hamid Ford from Inglewood (Amino Charter) CA.  It also should be noted that Brian Currie from Los Angeles (Price) CA, D.J. Gray from Los Angeles (Poly) CA, and Darcenio Carter from Sacramento (Natomos) CA were replacements from 6'2 Soph Ryan Kelly from Glendora (H.S.) CA, 6'2 DeAndre Denan from Long Beach (Jordan) CA, and 6'7 Kevin Galloway from Sacramento (H.S.) CA in the Top 90 Game.  Actually Galloway was selected to play in the Top 20 Game, but was placed in this game because he had to catch a flight.  However, Galloway didn't bother to show up for this game either even though they went out of their way to accommodate him.  And, if this weren't enough to keep Dinos Trigonis busy, he also is getting ready the 2nd Annual Pangos Midnight Madness at the new Tarkanian Basketball Academy in Las Vegas, NV, which will kick-off the second part of the Summer Evaluation Period at 12:01 AM on July 22nd.  The Tarkanian Basketball Academy is located  next to Interstate 15 and across the street from the Palace Station off Sahara Avenue at 2730 South Rancho Road  and it will tip-off what promises to be the most intense five days of the entire year, as not one, not two, but three major tournaments will be going on simultaneously in Las Vegas, NV from July 22nd-26th.  This year's Midnight Madness will feature a number of the nation's top club team programs, including, The Playaz, EBO-EA Sports, New York Panthers, Michigan Hurricanes, Friends of Hoop (WA), Atlanta Celtics, GC Ballers, H-Squad, Belmont Shore, Compton Magic, Arizona Magic, Blessed INJ, Houston Swoosh, New Heights, Portland Legends, Portland Panthers, RBC West, Nevada Elite, San Diego Magic, and Villa Park and games will be 25-minutes each on four courts running simultaneously.  Some of the top players who are expected to be attendance include 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 6'3 Jr Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'11 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'8 Davon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'5 Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 6'11 Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'11 Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'7 Quincy Pondexter from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'8 Jr Kyle Singler from Medford (South Medford) OR, 6'9 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'5 Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 6'8 Earl Clark from Rahway (H.S.) NJ, 6'5 Jr Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'9 Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'7 Antonio Pena from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'5 Derrick Jasper from Paso Robles (H.S.) CA, 6'3 Tre'von Willis from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, 6'4 Patrick Christopher from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'3 Jr Drew Viney from Villa Park (H.S.) CA, 6'11 Jr Sean Williams from Villa Park (H.S.) CA, 6'5 Seth Tarver from Portland (Jesuit) OR, 6'3 Jr Alexander Legion from Birmingham (Detroit Country Day) MI, 6'5 Jr Darquavis Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI, 7'0 Tom Herzog from Flint (Powers) MI, 6'7 Anjuan Wilderness from Dunwoody (H.S.) GA, 6'2 Senario Hillman from Irwinton (Wilkinson County) GA, 6'5 LaShun Watson from Greenville (H.S.) GA, 6'3 Tyree Thompson from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'6 Jervaughn Johnson from Compton (Centennial) CA, 5'1 Jr Jesse Woodard from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'6 Jr Tyrone Shelly from San Diego (Crawford) CA, 6'4 Christian Polk from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ, 6'4 Frosh Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'6 Jr Omondi Amoke from Oxnard (H.S.) CA, 6'2 Jr Jordan Block from Claremont (H.S.) CA, 6'9 Austin Wallace from New York (La Salle) NY, 5'11 Jawan Carter from Wilmington (Tatnall) DE, 6'7 Trevor Booker from Union (H.S.) SC, 6'10 Jr Robert Sacre from North Vancouver, BC.  In other words, we're talking about more talent under one roof than they had two weeks ago at the Reebok ABCD Camp, NIKE All-American Camp, or the adidas Superstar All-American Camp and, as a result, this not is a must stop on everybody's way into Las Vegas, NV, but it also should be one of the best events of the entire year. 

Saturday, July 16, 2005, & Sunday, July 17, 2005

With the six day break between live periods during the Summer Evaluation Period upon us, now seems like a great time to update our HOOP SCOOP All-American Teams, which features our ranking of the top 60 players nationally regardless of class and position on five-man teams, along with all signing and verbal commitments to-date.  And the results are very interesting, as five 5th Year Players, 34 seniors, 17 juniors, three sophomores, and one freshman make the list.  We also find that 22 players on the list attended the Reebok ABCD Camp, 16 players attended the adidas ABCD Camp, 16 players attended NIKE All-American Camp, and five players did not attend any one of the three major shoe company camps.  California with 6'8 Davon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'7 Chase Budinger from Carlsbad (La Costa Canyon) CA, 6'11 Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'11 Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'7 Quincy Pondexter from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'0 Frosh Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'8 Taj Gibson from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, and 6'6 Jr Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA and Virginia with 6'7 Jr Michael Beasley from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'10 Vernon Macklin from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'6 Willard "Duke" Crews from Hampton (Bethel) VA, 6'3 Jr Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'7 Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN, 6'9 Jr Julian Vaughn from Reston (South Lakes) VA are the two states with the most players represented on HOOP SCOOP All-American Teams.  However, in both cases this is deceptive.  If you will recall, Gibson is originally from Brooklyn, NY and Jefferson is expected to go the prep school route this fall.  And don't forget Beasley, Lawson, and Smith are all originally from the Washington, DC area.   Next comes New Jersey with 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 7'0 Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ, 6'8 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'8 Earl Clark from Rahway (H.S.) NJ, and 6'5 Jr Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ; Indiana with 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'4 Jr Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, and 6'6 Marquis Johnson from Ft. Wayne (Snider) IN; Ohio with 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'5 Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, and 6'11 Soph Byron Mullins from Canal Winchester (World Harvest) OH, Texas with 6'7 Jr Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, 6'9 Durrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 6'8 Damien James from Nacogdotches (H.S.) TX,  and 5'9 Nic Wise from Houston (Kingwood) TX; New York with 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 6'9 Curtis Kelly from New York (Rice) NY, 6'4 Jr Melquan Bolding from Beacon (H.S.) NY, and 5'6 Soph Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY; Tennessee with 6'10 Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, 6'8 Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Mitchell) TN, and 6'8 Pierre Niles from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN; Illinois with 6'5 Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, 5'11 Sherron Collins from Chicago (Crane) IL, and 6'3 Jr Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL; and Pennsylvania with 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 6'5 Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, and 6'8 Jr Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA.  In other words, 10 states account for 46 of the 60 players on the list, as Florida, Maryland, and Oregon check in with two players apiece and Michigan, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Washington, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arizona each only have one player represented on our HOOP SCOOP All-American Teams.  Actually narrowing the list to 60 players was easy.  But there were some extremely close calls when determining who should be on what team.  And right at the top of the list was picking 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH over 6'10 Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN for the 5th spot on the first team.  However, after the way Wright played at the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, SC, where he easily was the best player, this past week, we wouldn't argue with anybody who wanted to put Wright on the First Team and Walker on the Second Team.  Yes, it really was that close!  We also had a very difficult time picking between 6'5 Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL and 5'11 Sherron Collins from Chicago (Crane) IL, but we think both are clearly better right now than 6'3 Jr Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL, who is not lived up to the hype as the best player in the state regardless of class when we saw him at the NIKE All-American Camp.  Thus, explains why Scheyer and Collins are both on the 6th Team and Rose is on the 8th Team.  The same also can be said about 6'9 Durrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX and 6'8 Damien James from Nacagdotches (H.S.) TX and, as a result, they both also can be found on the 6th Team.  It also was almost flip a coin time when trying to determine who was the best of the three Duke signees - 6'5 Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, 7'0 Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ, and 6'5 Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA.  We gave the not to Scheyer, because he's so skilled right now and we think he could become the next J.J. Redick.  But, with Henderson's incredible athleticism and Zoubek's size and skills, the sky also could be the limit.  One of the players who has not lived up to expectations this spring and summer is 6'5 Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH and 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN just gets better and better every time we see him.  So this suddenly this race also appears to be too close to call and, as a result, both Cook and Conley find themselves on the 7th Team.  We also find it interesting to note that the HOOP SCOOP All-American Teams include 14 wing forwards, 14 point guards, 12 2-guards, 10 centers, and 10 power forwards.  However, if you look only at the first 10 teams, it becomes clear that the wing forward spot, which still has 14 players listed, is the best position, and the 2-guard spot, which only has eight players listed, is the weakest position.  It also is important to note over one-third of the top 60 players are already off the board, as 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN has already gone to Ohio State, 6'10 Kevin Durant from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD has already gone to Texas, 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY has let it be known that he is going to Syracuse, 6'7 Jr Michael Beasley from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA has already gone to Charlotte, 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA has already gone to North Carolina, 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA has already gone to North Carolina, 6'5 Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA has already gone to Georgia Tech, 6'11 Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA has already gone to Stanford, 6'11 Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA has already gone to Stanford, 6'8 Damien James from Nacogdotches (H.S.) TX has already gone to Oklahoma, 6'5 Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL has already gone to Duke, 7'0 Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ has already gone to Duke, 6'5 Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA has already gone to Duke, 6'5 Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH has already gone to Ohio State, 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN has already gone to Ohio State, 6'11 Soph Byron Mullins from Canal Winchester (World Harvest) OH has already gone to Ohio State, 6'8 Jr Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA has already gone to Pittsburgh, 6'3 Jerry Smith from Wauwatosa (East) WI has already gone to Louisville, 6'9 Curtis Kelly from New York (Rice) NY has already gone to Connecticut, and 6'6 Marquis Johnson from Ft. Wayne (Snider) IN has already gone to Tennessee.  Or, if you want to look at it another way, Ohio State already has verbal commitments from four players, Duke, has verbal commitments from three players, Stanford and North Carolina have verbal commitments from two players, and Texas, Syracuse, Charlotte, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, Miami-FL, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Connecticut, and Tennessee all have one verbal commitment from somebody who is ranked among our top 60 players regardless of class and position. 

Friday, July 15, 2005

When 6'2 Greg Hill from Merrillville (H.S.) IN hit a 3-pointer to make it 49-49 with just over two minutes left in the championship game, we really thought that the SYF Players might just pull off the upset and win the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, SC.  However, with seven high Division I players - 6'10 Vernon Macklin from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA,  6'7 Willard "Duke" Crews from Hampton (Bethel) VA, 6'0 Scottie Reynolds from Herndon (H.S.) VA, 6'2 Stefan Welsh from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'2 Grevias Vasquez from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'0 Jr Chris Wright from Washington (St. John's) DC, and 6'8 Lewis Witcher from Rocky Mount (Franklin County) VA - on its roster and plenty of tournament experience after winning the Boo Williams Invitational Tournament and finishing second in the NIKE Memorial Day Tournament earlier this spring, the Boo Williams Summer League Team made big play after big play down the stretch, as they outscored the SYF Players 7-2 in the last two minutes of the game.  And the play that broke the SYF Players' back was when 6'0 Scottie Reynolds, who had fallen to the floor with the ball in the open court, saw Macklin wide open underneath the basket and hit him for a lay-up.  Reynolds also was the leading scorer with 16 points and Macklin and Crews combined for 19 points and 17 rebounds in the championship game, but the player who changed the entire momentum of the game with several coast-to-coast lay-ups was Wright, who finished with 11 points and used his speed and quickness to create havoc defensively.  And, if this Boo Williams team continues to play like they did in this tournament, it would not surprise us if they run the table and also win the Super Showcase and the National 17-Under AAU Tournament later this month in Orlando, FL.  Speaking of the National 17-Under AAU Tournament, the word on the street is that the people running this tournament plan to charge the media $200 for the packet with all the rosters of the teams in the tournament.  And, if this is true, it not only promises to be a public relations disaster, but it will assure that most of the national media (including us) that has given this tournament that national coverage that it certainly deserves will go elsewhere in the future during the last week in July.  In other words, there already are too many tournaments and events to cover and, as a result, I'm looking already looking to eliminate some things from my future schedule.  Besides, there is such a thing as professional courtesy, whereby, the people running tournaments and events provide us with access and rosters free of charge and in return we provide them with access to the information on our web site free of charge.  Getting back to the NIKE Peach Jam, the SYF Players deserve a tremendous amount of credit, because they also came from behind last night to beat the Murfreesboro Star, which were led by 6'10 Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, and they withstood a 19 point-come back against the Houston Hoops in the semi-finals earlier today.  The most talented player on the SYF Players is clearly 6'9 Jamil Tucker from Gary (West Side) IN, but 6'7 Jr Robbie Hummel from Valparaiso (H.S.) IN and 6'8 Jr Scott Martin from Valparaiso (H.S.) IN provide the versatility and outside shooting, and 6'4 Etwann Moore from East Chicago (Central) IN, 6'4 Tyrone Appleton from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, and 6'2 Greg Hill from Merrillville (H.S.) IN provide that Gary/East Chicago toughness for which players from the Northwest Region in the state are famous.  Moore and Appleton, who combined for 40 points, 17 rebounds, and 11 assists and did a great  job defensively against 5'9 Nic Wise from Houston (Kingwood) TX and 5'9 Brandon Brown from Houston (Aldine) TX, and 5'9 Jai Lucas from Houston (Bellaire) TX in the semi-finals and took it right to all the outstanding guards on the Boo Williams team in the championship, locked everybody up defensively and were unstoppable going to the basket throughout the entire tournament.  Hill doesn't have true position, but he is a tough hardnosed competitor who made every big shot in every big game right up until the the last minute of the championship game when he forced a contested 3-point shot that would have tied the game.  It also looks like 6'11 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA could not compete athletically with Macklin and Crews inside in the semi-finals, as Boo Williams won the game 73-64 and Macklin and Crews won the match-up.  They combined for 30 points and 17 rebounds, while Hawes finished with only four points, 11 rebounds, and three blocked shots.  Instead, the leading scorer for the Friends of Hoop was 5'9 Jr Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (Curtis) WA with 19 points, two assists, and four steals and the guy who played the best for the Friends of Hoop was 6'5 Ryan Anderson from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA with 11 points, three rebounds, and three assists.  Crews was both the leading scorer and leading rebounder with 18 points and 11 rebounds for Boo Williams, but Hayes chipped in 15 points and shot the lights out and Reynolds had 15 points and five assists for winners.  We also talked with several more players on the final day of the tournament and it appears that Duke, Maryland, and N.C. State are the leaders for 6'0 Jr Chris Wright from Washington (St. John's) DC, although he also mentioned Georgetown, Kansas, Villanova, Connecticut, North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Texas.  Ohio State and Virginia both appear to be making a late push and North Carolina and Wake Forest are also both still on the list of 6'10 Vernon Macklin from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA.  However, we think it's really more a question of when than if former Georgetown head coach John Thompson, who recruited Alonzo Mourning out the Boo Williams program in the late 80's, makes the call and convinces Macklin to become a Hoya.  However, Georgetown head coach John Thompson III is doing his part as well, as he not only was a very game the Boo Williams team played, but he has to be one of the leading candidates for Most Visible Head Coach of the Summer, along with North Carolina's Roy Williams, Arizona's Lute Olson, Cincinnati's Bobby Huggins, Tennessee's Bruce Pearl, Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon, Wake Forest's Skip Prosser, Virginia's Dave Leitao, and Marquette's Tom Crean.  And Thompson's other son, Ronny Thompson, who is an assistant coach at Arkansas, also was at the tournament right up until the bitter end watching 6'2 Stefan Welsh from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA.  As a matter of fact, Kevin Keats, who is the head coach at Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, told us that the Razorbacks are the strong favorite over schools like Xavier, Virginia, and Clemson for Welsh's services.  Keats also confirms that, in addition to Macklin and Welsh, 6'7 Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN, 6'10 Marreesee Speights from St. Petersburg (Admiral Farragut) FL, 6'11 Jonathan Mandeldove from Stone Mountain, GA, 6'1 Armond Bassett from Terre Haute (South) IN, and 6'4 Steven Kendell from Charlottesville, VA all are planning on enrolling at this basketball factory this fall.  We also understand that 6'8 Austin Steed from Augusta (Butler) GA has verbally committed to the University of South Carolina, which means that the Gamecocks have not one, but two athletes with a lot potential from the Augusta area already in the fold in this recruiting class.  If you will recall, South Carolina also already has a verbal commitment from 6'7 Chadwick Gray from Kingstree (H.S.) SC, who will be attending prep school this fall at Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Earlier today the Houston Hoops beat Louisiana Select, 83-75; the SYF Players will beat the Murfreesboro Stars, 56-51; the Friends of Hoop beat the Arkansas Wings, 61-56; and Boo Williams beat the Illinois Warriors, 64-54; to set up tomorrow's semi-finals games at 9:30 AM and 11:00 AM at NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, SC.  And, if everything continues to go as expected, it will be a rematch of the championship between Boo Williams and the Houston Hoops in early April at the Boo Williams Invitational Tournament in Hampton, VA.  However, for this to happen the Houston Hoops, which won the Las Vegas Spring Showcase and finished second in the Las Vegas Easter Classic will have to beat the SYF Players, which finished second in the Kingwood Classic, and Boo Williams will have to beat the Friends of Hoop, which won the Main Event last summer in Las Vegas, NV.  In other words, all four of these teams have both the talent and the pedigree necessary to still be playing in the tournament and we can't wait to see what happens when 6'11 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA, who is ranked #11 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, matches up against 6'10 Vernon Macklin from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA and 6'7 Willard "Duke" Crews from Hampton (Bethel) VA.  Remember, Hawes is one of the most skilled big men to come down the pike in a long time, but he also does not have the speed and quickness necessary to play against Macklin and Crews in a fast-paced unstructured setting where they can take advantage of their incredible natural talent and world-class athleticism.  So right off the bat we're talking about three of the best players in the tournament.  But this game will also feature some other terrific players, as 6'0 Scottie Reynolds from Herndon (H.S.) VA, 6'2 Stefan Welsh from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'3 Eric Hayes from Dumfries (Potomac) VA, 6'2 Grevias Vasquez from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'0 Jr Chris Wright from Washington (St. John's) DC provide all kinds of firepower out on the perimeter and 6'8 Lewis Witcher from Rocky Mount (Franklin County) VA provides valuable depth inside for Boo Williams and the Friends of Hoop also features 5'9 Jr Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (Curtis) WA, 6'2 Jr Jamelle McMillan from Seattle (O'Dea) WA, 6'4 Earnest Williams from Federal Way (H.S) WA, and 6'6 Ryan Anderson from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA.  We also can't wait to see if 5'9 Nic Wise from Houston (Kingwood) TX, who had 31 points against Louisiana Select in the quarterfinals, continues to shoot the lights out for the Houston Hoops and whether the SYF Players can negate the presence of 6'7 Jr Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX inside.  But, then again, the Houston Hoops may not have an answer for 6'9 Jamil Tucker from Gary (West Side) IN, who had 16 points for the SYF Players against the Murfreesboro Stars in the quarterfinals and has taken his game to another level in this tournament; 6'4 Jr Etwann Moore from East Chicago (Central) IN, who has developed into an outstanding defender; and 6'4 Tyrone Appleton from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, who runs the show and creates match-up problems from smaller guards.  The SYF Players also came from behind to knock off the Murfreesboro Star, which featured 6'10 Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, who finished third in scoring with 22.4 ppg in pool play, had 20 points and seven rebounds in the quarterfinals, and firmly established himself as the best player in the tournament.  And right on Wright's heels was 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who finished 4th in scoring with 22.2 ppg and tied for 4th in assists with 4.0 apg.  But Lawson couldn't get his team over hump when he got in foul trouble last night against Louisiana Select and 5'10 Demond Carter from LaPlace (Reserve Christian) LA.  Speaking of Carter, he too was outstanding, as he finished ranked #5 in scoring with 21.6 ppg, hit 21-37 3-pointers in pool play, and was much more under control than when we've seen him in other settings.  Moral to the story, when Carter doesn't force things and takes good shots, he's one of the best 3-point shooter in the nation.  The leading scorer in the tournament was 6'4 Brandon Fields from Arlington (Bowie) TX, but he got almost no help from anybody on his team, except for 6'8 Jr Papa Dia from South Kent (Prep) CT, as his team failed to win a single game in pool play.  The same also can be said about Howard Pulley, which was 0-5 in pool play.  However, 6'7 Corey Johnson from Duluth (Central) MN picked up where he left off at the NIKE All-American Camp last week, 6'0 Cameron Rundles from Minneapolis (DeLaSalle) MN and 6'3 Romaine Martin from Minneapolis (North) MN had a lot of mid-major schools watching their every move, and 6'10 Bryce Webster from St. Paul (St. Thomas) MN finally responded a little bit when he was challenged in his head-to-head match-up against 6'10 Brandon Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN.  We also were very disappointed with the Metro Hawks, which lost by 29 points to Louisiana Select, lost by 48 points to the Friends of Hoop, and finished 2-3 in pool play.  But 6'7 Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY did manage to finish ranked #10 in the tournament in scoring with 19.4 ppg and 6'0 Jr Mike Coburn from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY was tied for #1 in assists with 5.2 apg.  The New York Gauchos also finished 2-3 in pool play, but 6'10 Curtis Kelly from New York (Rice) NY redeemed himself after mediocre performances at the NIKE All-American Camp and 6'3 Edgar Sosa from New York (Rice) NY just picked up where he left at the NIKE Camp, as he finished ranked #7 in the tournament in scoring with 20.0 ppg.  We also were impressed with 6'9 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, who finished ranked #9 in the tournament in scoring with 19.6 ppg and second in rebounding with 7.8 rpg, but he also needs to shoot less and pass more.  And we were surprised by the fact that 6'5 Gilbert Brown from South Kent (Prep) CT hit five 3-pointers in two games, although, with his world-class athleticism and high-flying dunking ability, we still think he's more of a slasher than shooter.  The second leading scorer in the tournament was 6'0 Josue Soto from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL with 25.4 ppg and the leading shot blocker in the tournament was 7'1 Jason Bennett from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL with 3.6 bpg, but, just like the New Jersey All-Stars for which Thomas and Brown both played, the Miami Tropics were mediocre at best, as they finished 1-4 and never got out of pool play.  We also were disappointed with the lack of outside shooting provided by 6'4 Jeremiah Rivers from Winter Park (H.S.) FL and the inability of 6'3 Anthony Gurley from Newtonville (Newton North) MA, who finished ranked #6 in the tournament in scoring with 20.6 ppg, to get his shot when BABC (Boston Amateur Basketball Club) was beaten by the SYF Players.  Instead, BABC's best prospect and next superstar promises to be 6'7 Frosh Alex Oriakhi from Fessenden (School) MA.  Not only does he already know how to use his athleticism to block shots, rebound, and score around the basket, but BABC coach Leo Papile tells us that he expects Oriakhi to grow five or six more inches, which means he could have another Patrick Ewing on his hands.  We're intrigued with the athleticism, wing span, and potential of 6'9 Michael Washington from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, who finished ranked 5th in the tournament in rebounding with 7.4 rpg and tied for 5th in blocked shots with 1.6 bpg.  However, Washington has yet to put it all together and, as a result, we think he's more of a guy with a big upside and a lot potential than a finished product.  One of our favorite players is always 6'5 Obi Muenelo from Edmund (Santa Fe) OK and one of the biggest surprises was 6'7 Jr Blake Griffin from Edmund (Oklahoma Christian) OK.  Not only is Griffin a tough hardnosed blue collar power forward who is tough to stop around the basket, but he was the leading rebounder in the entire tournament with 9.6 rpg.  And 6'6 Frosh Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Cooper Middle School) OK, who is already versatile enough to do a little bit of everything, is another great name to write down for the future.  One of the best athletes in the tournament was 6'5 Donell Mack from Statesville (Christian) NC and one of the best rebounders was 6'7 Jr Michael Holmes from Bishopville (Lee Central) SC, although he has a tendency to take a lot of bad shots.  Thus, explains why Holmes was one of the leading offensive rebounders with 5.0 rpg and leading scorers with 19.7 ppg in the tournament.  We also have to mention 6'8 DeShawn Sims from Detroit (Pershing) MI and 6'7 Jr Leonard Washington from Lake Charles (Washington Marion) LA, who were two of the leading rebounder in the tournament; 6'5 Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, who is one of the most skilled and smartest players in the class and was the main reason why the Illinois Warriors advanced all the way into the final eight even though 6'0 Sherron Collins from Chicago (Crane) IL was missing in action; 6'5 Jr Nick Calathes from Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL, who finally showed us why so many people think he is one of the top juniors in the state; 6'7 Tony Davis from Sarasota (Riverview) FL, who could be a major sleeper for the right school looking for a raw 6'7 athlete who rebounds and plays hard, and 6'5 Jerome Dyson from Proctor (Academy) NH, was one of the best 3-point shooters in the tournament and is rumored to be close to making a verbal commitment to the University of Maryland.  It also should be noted that 6'7 Antonio Pena from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT did make it official for Villanova today and that 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY and 6'0 Jr Johnny Flynn from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY both have let it be known that they plan to verbally commit to Syracuse next week. 

 Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Neither of these verbal commitments are done yet, but don't be surprised if 6'7 Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY picks Marquette over Georgia Tech, Georgia, Villanova, and Virginia and if 6'7 Antonio Pena from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT picks Villanova over Florida, St. John's, and Syracuse.  And in both cases, don't be surprised if it happens sooner than later.  A commitment by Pena to the Wildcats would move Villanova's recruiting class, which also already includes 6'4 Reggie Redding from Philadelphia (St. Joseph's Prep) PA, 6'8 Kraidon Woods from Swiftwater (Pocono Mountain East) PA, 6'9 Andrew Ott from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, and 6'10 Caisem Drummond from Bloomfield (Tech) NJ, up to #5 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006.   However, even more important, getting Pena's commitment out of the way will allow Villanova head coach Jay Wright and his staff to concentrate exclusively on landing 6'9 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ and/or 6'8 Earl Clark from Rahway (H.S.) NJ.  If you will recall, Clark's final two appear to be Louisville and Villanova and Thomas has a list that still includes Arizona, Connecticut, Duke, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio State, Wake Forest, Marquette, Rutgers, Villanova, St. John's, and Louisville.  Currently the Wildcats only have one scholarship remaining, but, if they hit the jackpot and got both Thomas and Clark, we'd be surprised if they don't somehow find a way to take them both.  But, if, by some chance this happens, it still would not be enough to move Villanova the #1-ranked recruiting class ahead of Ohio State, which now has 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'5 Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 6'4 David Lighty from Cleveland (St. Joseph) OH, and 6'8 Josh Chichester from West Chester (Lakota West) OH all in the fold.  Yes, it looks like Chichester, who is ranked #114 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and verbally committed to play football at Ohio State a week ago, also plans to play basketball and, as a result, we are now including him with the Buckeyes' recruiting class.  We also never reported the verbal commitment by 5'10 Frosh Cully Payne from Burlington (Central) IL to DePaul a-week-and-a-half ago.  And, if you've never heard of Payne, don't feel bad, because you're not the only one.  Still, this is significant, because this is the earliest verbal commitment that we can ever remember and, if Payne turns out to be a major steal for the Blue Demons, we've got four years to get it right.  Remember, we're talking about somebody who has yet to play a high school basketball game.  We also have confirmed that 6'1 Solomon Bozeman from Oxford (H.S.) MS, who is ranked #327 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to Mississippi; 6'9 Will Paul from Corpus Christi (Calallen) TX, who is ranked #410 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to Stanford; and 6'10 Jonathan Uchendu from Pulaski (Robinson) AR, who was ranked #66 in our Final Ranking of the Top 800 Players in the Class of 2005 and promises to be one of the best 5th Year Players in the nation next year, has verbally committed to Purdue.  However, our main focus today has been watching games at the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, SC and finding about recruiting from some of the top players in the tournament.  And right at the top of the list is 6'7 Willard "Duke" Crews from Hampton (Bethel) VA, whose list of schools includes Cincinnati, Xavier, St. John's, Rutgers, Maryland, Georgetown, Illinois, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Florida, and Florida State.  Crews, who was ranked #10 at the NBA Players Association Camp and #3 at the NIKE All-American Camp by the HOOP SCOOP and is one of the fastest rising players in the senior class nationally, also told us that he is still wide open and that he also likes some schools, like Oklahoma State, Kentucky, and Texas, that are not yet recruiting him.  We also find it interesting that Vince Baldwin of PrepSpotlight.com thinks that Michigan State is the slight favorite over Michigan and Syracuse for 6'8 DeShawn Sims from Detroit (Pershing) MI.  Arkansas, Connecticut, Michigan State, Miami-FL, Florida, and Villanova are on the list of 6'3 Ramar Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI.  Oregon is the leader over Eastern Michigan, Detroit, Tennessee, and Wyoming for 5'7 Tajuan Porter from Detroit (Renaissance) MI.  The list for 6'4 Durrell Summers from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI, who is another one of the fastest rising players, as well as best 3-point shooters in the senior class nationally, now includes Michigan, Michigan State, Kansas, Connecticut, and North Carolina.  Connecticut, Florida, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Florida State, Auburn, and Charlotte were mentioned by 6'5 Donell Mack from Statesville (Christian) NC.  Michigan State and Iowa are still battling it out for 6'7 Isaiah Dahlman from Braham (H.S.) MN.  The final two for 6'10 Bryce Webster from St. Paul (St. Thomas) MN are Marquette and Boston College.  The early list for 6'7 Jr Trevor Mbwake from Mendota Heights (Henry Sibley) MN includes Illinois, Arizona, Marquette, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Ohio State and 6'3 Romaine Martin from Minneapolis (North) MN is getting the most interest from Boston College, Minnesota, Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Nebraska, Illinois State, Creighton, Western Illinois, Northern Iowa, and Wisconsin-Green Bay.   The list for 6'9 Jamil Tucker from Gary (West Side) IN includes USC, Arizona, Miami-FL, Purdue, Indiana, and UCLA.  The only school showing any interest in 6'7 Tony Davis from Sarasota (Riverview) FL is Central Florida.  Missouri, Iowa, and Massachusetts are the favorites for 6'6 Manual Cass from Carbondale (H.S.) IL.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

The GC Ballers beat the New England Playaz in the championship game earlier today at the Reebok Summer Classic East at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ, but this was anticlimactic when compared to the stunning 18-point upset that Jersey Shore pulled off yesterday against the D-I Greyhounds in pool play.  The D-I Greyhounds featured 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH and 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, who finished as two of our top five-ranked players at the Reebok ABCD Camp over the weekend.  In contrast, Jersey Shore was led by 6'7 Dan Werner from Lincroft (Christian Brothers) NJ and 6'1 Matt McFadden from Medford (Shawnee) NJ, both of whom are extremely skilled, but need a more structured like setting where they can take advantage of their skills, smarts, and competitive instincts.  In other words, it was a classic case of David slaying Goliath.  McFadden is a point guard with surprising athleticism and he made a living penetrating, dishing, and setting up Werner, who promises to be an excellent role player at N.C. State, for back-door after back-door, as they ran the Princeton-like offense to perfection.  The other big story in the tournament involved the GC Ballers, which coasted all they way to the championship, despite the fact that 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, who was the #2-ranked player at the Reebok ABCD Camp and yesterday was the best player in the tournament, was sidelined with a sprained ankle.  Instead, the GB Ballers were led by 6'0 Jr Johnny Flynn from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 6'0 Robert Garrison from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, and 6'8 Tyrell Lynch from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, who combined for 52 points and all of whom have the same type of tough hardnosed attitude that most players seem to have from the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area.  Remember, more often than not players from upstate New York don't get the same type of media coverage and attention that players from the New York Metropolitan area receive and, as a result, usually play like they have something to prove.  Some of the other big name players in the tournament included 6'6 Will Harris from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'5 Jr Darquavis Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI, 6'0 Doug Wiggins from East Hartford (H.S.) CT, 6'3 Jr Corey Chandler from Newark (Eastside) NJ, 6'9 Dajuan Summer from Baltimore (McDonogh) MD, 6'5 Jr Melquan Bolding from Beacon (H.S.) NY, 6'4 Jr Miles Beatty from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'5 Lazar Hayward from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 6'4 Jr Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 7'0 Jonathan Kreft from Parkland (Marjory Stoneman Douglas) FL, 7'0 Tom Herzog from Flint (Powers) MI, 6'7 Jejuan Brown from Biloxi (H.S.) MS, 6'5 Soph Sylvan Landesburg from Flushing (Holy Cross) NY, 6'6 Tyrone Hanson from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) NH, 6'0 Vernon Teal from Mendenhall (Genesis I) MS, 6'3 Rashard Green from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'9 Travis George from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'9 Greg Washington from Central Islip) NY, 6''9 Ray Hall from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'2 Luis Guzman from Paramas (Catholic) NJ, 6'8 Terrell Williams from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'8 Jerrell Williams from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'2 Anthony Slaughter from Shelbyville (Shelby County) KY, 6'7 Brian Grimes from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'2 Milan Prodonovic from Briarwood (Archbishop Molloy) NY, 6'1 Jon Han from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'4 Devon McBride from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'8 Rashad Austin from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, and 7'0 Shawntell Norman from Lakewood (Artesia) CA.  However, this was really a tournament where players with lesser names, like 6'5 Edwin Ubiles from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'8 Jr Garrett Kissell from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 6'9 Dennis Horner from Absecon (Holy Spirit) NJ, 6'8 Andrew Keister from Absecon (Absegami) NJ, 6'7 Tyler Roche from Manchester (Central) NH, 6'6 Lamonte Ulmer from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 6'4 Keith Cothran from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'1 Travis King from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'5 Brian Morris from Camp Hill (Trinity) PA, 6'5 Jr James Hardin from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'2 Derrick Glasser from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'8 Damien Hollis from Ft. Lauderdale (Taravella) FL, 6'6 Brian Howard from Salisbury (School) CT, 6'4 Bryant Barr from Falmouth (H.S.) ME, 6'3 Nikko Scott from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'8 Mike Yocum from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 6'5 Terrence Roderick from Allentown (William Allen) PA, 6'0 Jr Anthony Raffa from Wildwood (Catholic) NJ, 5'9 Frank Turner from Atlantic City (H.S.) NJ, 6'3 Corey Bigham from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, and 6'2 Tony Dennison from Astoria (Bryant) NY, were able to step up and enhance their reputation.  Ubiles is a big time athlete and sleeper for the high major level.  Kissell is a skilled big man who makes up for his lack of athleticism with his tough hardnosed demeanor, huge upside, and potential to grow three or four more inches.  Horner is a skilled combo forward who can rebound, put the ball on the floor, and shoot the lights out.  And this makes him ideally suited for somebody like West Virginia, which just happens to be the school showing the most interest in Horner.  Keister has a good mid-range jump shot, is good around the basket, and has the grades necessary to go to an Ivy League or a Patriot League school.  Roche, who recently verbally committed to Boston College, reminds us of 6'9 Chad Millard from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) MA.  However, Roche is more well rounded and better shooter than Millard.  Ulmer is an excellent athlete who is capable of playing both inside and outside.  Cothran is an excellent 3-point shooter and uses his athleticism to thrive in an fast paced setting.  King is an athletic point guard with good handling and passing skills.  Morris is a heady 6'5 2-guard with 3-point range and a good mid-range game, but in this tournament he also showed that he can play some point guard.  Hardin has both the athleticism and the shooting range necessary to get recruited at a high level.  Glasser is a heady point guard who makes people better and knows how to the run show.  Hollis is an athletic combo forward, but how high he gets recruited may depend upon how much he improves his jump shot.  Howard is an undersized power forward, but he has the tenacity and athleticism necessary to be a killer inside.  Barr has Ivy League-like grades and can flat out shoot the lights out.  Scott also is an excellent 3-point shooter.  Yocum is a skilled power forward who rebounds and scores around the basket with a mid-to-low Division I future.  Roderick does a little of everything and was the best player on the Sam Rines' team.  Raffa is a tough hardnosed combo guard who shot it extremely well in this tournament.  Turner did a good job running the show for Team Jersey.  Bigham was the leading scorer with 21 points for the New England Playaz in the championship game.  Dennison is an athletic 2-guard who shoots the three.  I also want to thank our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin for his help covering this tournament. 

Monday, July 11, 2005

A week ago we told you that 6'10 Caisem Drummond from Bloomfield (Tech) NJ and 6'6 Will Harris from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH would be making verbal commitments.  But due to the fact that I was the only person in our business to attend, as well as publish daily rankings from all three of the superstar oriented shoe company camps (Reebok ABCD Camp,  adidas Superstar All-American Camp, and NIKE All-American Camp), I've been extremely busy and, as a result, am only now confirming that they did indeed pick Villanova and Connecticut respectively.  Also sometime during the last week we confirmed that Boston College got a verbal commitment from 6'7 Tyler Roach from Manchester (Central) NH and 6'7 Corey Johnson from Duluth (East) MN picked Iowa State.  And in both cases we think this is an excellent catch.  Roach is one of the best 3-point shooters in the senior class nationally and Johnson proved that he can play against anybody at the NIKE All-American Camp.  Johnson also should be an excellent complement to all of the good inside players that the Cyclones landed in last year's recruiting class, which finished ranked #3 in our Final Ranking of the Top 285 Recruiting Classes For the Class of 2005 and included 6'11 Jiri Hubalek from Marshalltown (JC) IA, 6'9 Theo Davis from Toronto, ON, 6'10 Jessan Gray from Tyler (JC) TX, 6'11 Shawn Taggart from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, and 6'10 Ross Marsden from Ames (H.S.) IA, 6'3 Farnold Degand from Boston (John Byrant) MA, and 6'8 Mike Evanovich from South Kent (Prep) CT.  The addition of Johnson also moves Iowa State's current recruiting class, which also includes 6'4 P. Allen Stinnett from Las Vegas (Palos Verdes) NV, into a tie at #26, along with Kansas State and Illinois, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006.  We're also getting unconfirmed reports about 6'10 Albert Jackson from Madisonville (Hopkins County Central) KY reneging on his verbal commitment to the University of Georgia and we understand that Gonzaga has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'2 Steven Gray from Port Hadlock (Bainbridge) WA.  Gonzaga, California, Boston College, Notre Dame, and N.C. State make up the list for 6'5 Matt Bouldin from Highlands Ranch (Thunder Ridge) CO.  Gonzaga, Washington, Arizona, Connecticut, Oregon State, and Oregon are showing the most interest for 6'7 Phil Nelson from Salem (McNary) OR.  Arizona, Connecticut, Oregon, Oregon State, and Miami-FL were mentioned by 6'5 Seth Tarver from Portland (Jesuit) OR.  Kentucky, Indiana, UCLA, Florida, and Washington are always showing interest in 5'9 Jr Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (Curtis) WA.  North Carolina, Syracuse, Gonzaga, Villanova, UCLA, Washington, and Arizona now appear to be the favorites for 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA.  Arizona, UCLA, and USC still appear to be the final three for 6'7 Chase Budinger from Carlsbad (LaCosta Canyon) CA.  Wake Forest, Florida State, Clemson, Virginia, North Carolina, and Duke were mentioned by 6'6 Jr Marshall Moses from Kernersville (Robert Glenn) NC.  The leaders for 6'7 Jr Eric Wallace from Kernersville (Robert Glenn) NC are North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke, and Virginia.  The list for 6'7 Alex Tyus, who is transferring from Florissant (Hazelwood Central) MO and plans to reclassify as a junior, includes Syracuse, Arizona, Miami-FL, Texas, and Washington.  North Carolina, Texas, Connecticut, Georgia Tech, Connecticut, and Duke are the early favorites for 6'10 Jr DeAndre Jordan from Houston (Episcopal) TX.  Auburn, Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Georgetown were mentioned by 6'8 James Hickson from Marietta (Wheeler) GA.  The early favorites for 6'7 Soph Olu Ashaolu from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA are LSU, Michigan State, and Connecticut.  Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas A&M, Connecticut, USC, and Alabama are all showing interest in 6'8 David Booker from Moss Point (H.S.) MS.  Miami-FL, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Purdue, and Temple are in the hunt for 6'7 JeJuan Brown from Biloxi (H.S.) MS.  North Carolina, Mississippi, and Mississippi State were the three mentioned by 6'9 Gerald Fotso from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS.  Arizona, LSU, Auburn, and UT-Arlington are the early leaders for 6'8 Jr Elgin Bailey from Baton Rouge (Glen Oaks) LA.  Kansas, Purdue, Creighton, Wichita State, Southern Illinois, Cincinnati, and Missouri-Kansas City are already involved with 5'9 Jr Rahmon Fletcher from Kansas City (Paseo) MO.  The list for 6'3 Jonathan Peoples from Maywood (Proviso East) IL includes Georgia Tech, Illinois, UNLV, Marquette, Florida State, Cincinnati, Nebraska, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Dayton, and Xavier.  The early leaders for 6'3 Jr Demetri McCamey from Westchester (St. Joseph's) IL are Illinois, Arizona, Georgia Tech, Arizona State, Oklahoma, and N.C. State.  Among those showing the most interest in 6'7 DeSean Butler from Bloomfield (Tech) NJ are DePaul, Georgetown, West Virginia, Seton Hall, and Rutgers.  N.C. State, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Connecticut, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, and Miami-FL are involved with 6'8 Dennis Horner from Absecon (Holy Spirit) NJ.  Charlotte, Marquette, St. John's, Rutgers, Boston College Virginia, Maryland, and Wake Forest are all showing interest in 6'6 Shamari Spears from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ.  UNLV, Washington, St. John's, Georgia, and Arkansas comprise the list for 6'3 Daye Kaba from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY.  Georgia Tech, Virginia, Dayton, Hofstra, and St. John's appear to be the leaders for 6'3 Rashad Green, but first it looks like he will reclassify and spend the next two years at Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ.  The two early favorites for 6'7 Jr Devin Ebanks from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY are Louisville and St. John's.  South Florida, Kent State, Xavier, George Mason, George Washington, and Marquette are recruiting 7'0 Franklin Jones from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC.  Connecticut,, Syracuse, Georgetown, St. John's, Providence, and Boston College are all in the hunt for 6'4 Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI.  Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois, Tennessee, Florida, and Louisville were mentioned by 6'3 Willie Kemp from Bolivar (Central) TN and 6'8 Wayne Chism from Bolivar (Central) TN says he likes Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Mississippi State, and Memphis.  The list for 6'9 Ray Hall from Lakewood (Artesia) CA includes UCLA, North Carolina, USC, and Georgia Tech.  The early favorites for 6'4 Jr Darquavis Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI are Michigan State, Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Missouri, and Ohio State.  Among those in the hunt for 6'5 Jonathan Hall from Miami (Senior) FL includes Cincinnati, LSU, Auburn, and Nebraska.  The race is on among St. John's, Fordham, Drexel, Marist, Rhode Island, Providence, and Villanova for 6'8 Justin Burrell from Bronx (Our Savior Lutheran) NY.  George Mason, Drexel, and Boston College were mentioned by 6'5 Tyrone Hanson from Manhassett (St. Mary's) NY, but it looks like he's going to reclassify not one, but two years first at North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME.  Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, UNLV, Baylor, Vanderbilt, and Louisville are involved with 6'3 Jermaine Beal from De Soto (H.S.) TX.  Purdue, Kent State, UNLV, and Seton Hall make up an interesting list for 6'10 Jr Orlando Allen from Cincinnati (Woodward) OH.  Kentucky, Florida A&M, Tennessee, Clemson, Louisville,  Indiana, Xavier, and Miami-FL the early favorites for 6'11 Jr Keenan Ellis from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH.  Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, Kentucky, South Florida, and Auburn were mentioned by 6'8 Johnnie Lett from Mobile (B.C. Rain) AL.  Georgia Tech, Duke, Alabama, Auburn, Illinois, and Kansas are already in the hunt for 6'1 Jr Keegan Bell from Madison (Bob Jones) AL.  6'6 Soph Martez Walker from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL made an extremely early verbal commitment to Louisville last fall, but now it appears he's back on the board, because, in addition to the Cardinals, he's now mentioning UCLA, Arizona, UAB, and Texas. 

Sunday, July 10, 2005

The final returns are in and, once again, the big winner in the shoe company summer camp war was the Reebok ABCD Camp.  And, if you don't believe it, just look at the facts.  This camp had the #1-ranked player in the nation every class, as 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY will be our #1-ranked 5th Year Player, 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN will be our #1-ranked senior, 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH is our #10-ranked junior, 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA will be our #1-ranked sophomore, and 6'9 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS will be our #1-ranked freshman when we update our national rankings for each class in the fall.  It also had an incredible list of underclassmen, as Mayo, 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'9 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'8 Jr Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA, 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'5 Jr Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'2 Jr Corey Chandler from Newark (Eastside) NJ, 6'9 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS, 6'2 Soph Darius Gabriel from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'4 Jr Darquavis Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI, 6'6 Jr Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA, 6'4 Jr Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, and 5'8 Jr Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (Curtis) WA all finished ranked among the top 24 players in camp.  In other words, 63% of the top 24 players in the camp were underclassmen.  The camp also had plenty of drama, as 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY held 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH to only two points in their head-to-head match-up.  Harris also was the leading scorer for the week in camp with 15.6 ppg, was tied as the 7th leading rebounder with 6.9 ppg, and was the MVP in the Senior All-Star Game with 34 points.  However, Harris was not named co-Senior MVP in camp, along with 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN.  Instead, that honor went to 6'8 Damien James from Nacogdotches (H.S.) TX.  James did finish 8th in the camp in scoring with 13.1 ppg and was 10th in rebounding with 6.6 rpg, but anybody who thinks that he should have received this award ahead of Harris needs to get out of the talent evaluation business and do something else.  As a matter of fact, the only thing that we've seen this year that was more ridiculous was some of the politics that went into selecting the all-star games at the Pangos All-American Camp.  We didn't get to see the match-up earlier in the week between 6'5 O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH and 6'4 Frosh Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, but what happened after Stephenson tried to challenge Mayo in their head-to-head match-up early is still a hot topic of conversation.  Not only did Mayo totally humiliate Stephenson with a barrage of steals, lay-ups, and 3-point shots, but when Stephenson had had enough and decided to guard another man, Mayo stopped the action, called him over, and nailed another 3-pointer right in Stephenson's face.  No doubt this was a very humbling experience for Stephenson, but, in the final seconds of the all-star game, Stephenson was smart enough not to go out and guard Mayo and get embarrassed again.  The big rematch between 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN and 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ also was extremely interesting, as Oden more than made up for the humiliation that he suffered a year ago when these two big guys went head-to-head and Caracter left no doubt about who the better play was on that day.  Speaking of Oden, he took his game to another level at this camp, as he played every game with the type of effort, intensity, and efficiency that one would expect out of the #1-ranked player in the nation.  And the Player Rating Averages back this up, as Oden statistically finished ranked #1 in camp and he made 5.0 of the 7.3 shots that he averaged taking per game.  Oden also left little doubt who the best player was in his head-to-head battle against 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR on the first day of camp.  However, we have to give Love a lot of credit too, because he bounced right back and finished ranked #4 overall in camp behind Oden, Harris, and Mayo.  Love also was one six players to finish ranked among the top 10 in scoring and either rebounding or assists, as he was ranked #4 in scoring with 14.7 ppg and  #2 in rebounding with 8.1 rpg.  The others were Harris, James, 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, who finished ranked #2 in scoring with 15.4 ppg and 6th in rebounding with 7.0 rpg; 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, who finished ranked #3 in scoring with 14.9 ppg and tied for 5th in assists with 4.0 apg; and 5'8 Jr Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (Curtis) WA, who finished ranked #10 in scoring with 12.9 ppg and #3 in assists with 4.4 apg.  The one down side to the Reebok ABCD Camp was the Senior All-Star Game, which in recent years had evolved into the worst game of the entire year.  Maybe they would be better off playing the top underclassmen against the top seniors or just allowing the coaches who are coaching the teams to take players out when they cherry pick and don't play any defense. 

This also has to have been a win for the adidas Superstar All-American Camp for several reasons.  First, the set-up, whereby, they played four games at once with three sessions in the afternoon and evening on the first two days; three sessions in the morning, afternoon, and evening on the third day; and two sessions in the morning and afternoon and all-star games in the evening on the final day, made the camp much easier to cover.  If you will recall, a year ago we were trying to make heads or tails out of a camp with seven games going on a once and only two sessions in the afternoon and evening.  Second, the adidas Camp had an overwhelming number of excellent underclassmen and 6'7 Jr Michael Beasley from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'3 Jr Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'11 Soph Byron Mullins from Canal Winchester (World Harvest) OH, 6'4 Jr Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, 6'9 Jr Julian Vaughn from Reston (South Lakes) VA, 6'2 Jr Senario Hillman from Irwinton (H.S.) GA, 5'11 Soph Korie Lucious from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 6'8 Soph Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Hughes) OH, 5'6 Frosh Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'8 Jr Rick Jackson from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA, 6'7 Frosh Aaron Moore from Fontana, CA, 6'0 Jr Venoy Overton from Seattle (Franklin) WA, 6'6 Jr Tyrone Shelley from San Diego (Crawford) CA, 6'7 Soph Howard Thompkins from Lithonia, GA, 6'6 Jr Corey Raji from Township of Washington (Westwood) NJ, 6'5 Jr Lacedaris Dunn from Monroe (Excelsior Christian) LA, 6'2 Soph Ashton Gibbs from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'3 Frosh Demetrius Walker from Fontana, CA, and 6'3 Frosh Roger Franklin from Duncanville (H.S.) TX not only were ranked among the better players in camp, but they helped make the games better with their effort and intensity.  Third, the adidas Superstar All-American Camp had the star power that it lacked a year ago.  If you will recall, the three best players at the camp a year ago were 6'2 Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, 6'7 Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN, and 6'2 Mario Chalmers from Anchorage (Bartlett) AK, all of whom are very good players, but none of who are great players.  In contrast, the top four players in camp this year were 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 6'7 Jr Michael Beasley from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'5 Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, and 6'9 Stanley Robinson from Birmingham (Huffman) AL are all on another level.   After a mediocre performance at the NBA Players Association Camp two weeks ago, Ellington redeemed himself with what had to have been the best individual performance of the entire camp.  We're talking about his 32-point effort in his head-to-head battle against Crittenton and, as a result, he now has to be ranked #3 in the senior class nationally, behind 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN and 6'10 Kevin Durant from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD.  Beasley, who is a force to be reckoned with both inside and outside, has no weaknesses in his game, and played consistently harder than he's ever played before, has to be ranked right up there, along with 6'5 Jr O.J, Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH and 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, as one of the top four players in the junior class nationally.  Crittenton, who not only scored 24 points in his head-to-head battle against Ellington, but had 31 points in the Senior All-Star Game, played like a man possessed, as he firmly established himself as one of the top  players in the senior class nationally.  Maybe he was just excited about having verbally committed to Georgia Tech on the morning of the second day of camp or maybe he was being spurred on by the memory of Wallace Prather, who was the director of the Atlanta Celtics AAU program and one of the driving forces behind the adidas Superstar All-American Camp before dying of a heart attack several week ago.  Robinson, who was ranked #57 nationally in the Class of 2006 when updated our rankings in early June, has emerged as this year's version of 6'7 Korvotney Barber from Manchester (H.S.) GA.  And, just like Barber did at the NBA Players Association Camp a year ago, Robinson showed us that he can step out and hit the 3-point shot and play on the perimeter.  However, it would be a waste to play him out there, because what he does best is dominant inside.  And, at 6'9, instead of 6'7, Robinson is just flat out better than Barber, which is saying a lot.  As a matter of fact, after being ranked among the top five players both at this camp and at the NBA Players Association Camp, a strong case can be made for ranking Robinson being ranked among the top 10 seniors nationally.  This also was the camp where 6'3 Jr Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA took his game to another level, as he finished ranked #6 overall in camp and took home MVP honors in the Underclassman All-Star Game with 33 points.  I did not like 6'8 Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Mitchell) TN well enough to rank him among the top five in camp when I was there the first two days, but apparently the rust came off as the week wore on and this athletic wing forward who is ranked among the top 10 players in the camp provided even more star power.  Fourth, this camp also had more than its share of sleepers, like 6'2 Knezevic Nicola from Serbia-Montenegro, 6'9 Kodi Augustus from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, 6'10 Marresse Speights from St. Petersburg (Admiral Farragut) IL, 6'7 Chadwick Gray from Lake Suzy (Florida Prep) FL, 6'3 Calvin Haynes from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 6'5 Matt Bouldin from Highlands Ranch (Thunder Ridge) CO, 6'11 Jr Robert Sacre from North Vancouver, BC, 6'10 Frosh Zhun Zheng from Shanxi, China, 6'8 Jr Garrett Kissel from Springfield, MA, 6'0 Jon Han from Brooklyn, NY, and 6'6 Luke Bobbitt from Reno (Galena) NV, all of whom really helped themselves with their performances at this camp.

So the big loser in all of this appears to be the NIKE All-American Camp.  But maybe the expectations were just too high.  Remember, 6'10 Kevin Durant from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'10 Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'10 Vernon Macklin from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, and 6'11 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA are all ranked among the top dozen seniors nationally by HOOP SCOOP, and, with only 120 players in camp, we thought this actually might turn out to be the best camp.  However, Durant, who is the #2-ranked player in the senior class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, did not show up until the third day; they lost 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, who decided to instead attend the Reebok ABCD Camp, and 6'7 Jr Kyle Singler from Medford (South Medford) OR, who was sidelined with an injury; there was a big disparity between the top players and the bottom players in camp, and it took a little while for the marquee' players to get on track.  And the theater like atmosphere, where almost every game lacked excited and intensity on the July 7th, which was the one day that I attended this camp, didn't help things either.  However, this did leave the door open for some very interesting things to happen.  Like, 6'4 Jr Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ being the best player in camp all the way up until the final day when he was edged out 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  And, when you also add 6'0 Sherron Collins from Chicago (Crane) IL, who also finished ranked among the top five players in camp, 6'3 Jr Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL, 5'11 Josue Soto from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 6'3 Edgar Sosa from New York (Rice) NY, and 6'4 Frosh Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA, it's easy to see why we think this was clearly the camp with the best group of point guards.  Like, the players who took their game to another level, like 6'4 Jason Bohannon from Marion (Linn-Mar) IA, 6'7 Cory Johnson from Duluth (East) MN, 6'8 Raymar Morgan from Canton (McKinley) OH, 6'3 Anthony Gurley from Newtonville (Newton North) MA, 6'5 Mike Jones from Hopkins (Lower Richland) SC, 6'6 Gilbert Brown from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'3 Marcus Johnson from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, and 6'8 Williard "Duke" Crews from Hampton (Bethel) VA.  Actually Crews took his game to another level at the NBA Players Association Camp two weeks ago when he was one of the leading scorers and rebounder in camp, but no Division I college coaches were in attendance and, as a result, it probably comes as a shock to many that he was one of the top three players in camp, along with Lawson and Bayless.  We also were very impressed by the athleticism and electricity that Brown provided with his high flying dunks and we were totally shocked when Bohannon, who is ranked #405 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and is already verbally committed to Wisconsin, emerged as the best 2-guard in camp.  However, this athletic 2-guard who gets to the basket, shoots the three, and competes with the best of them, just got better and better as the week wore on.  As a matter of fact, Bohannon was so good that Roy Schmidt of the Illinois Bulls-eye Report was once heard talking about Bohannon being the best player in the entire camp. We also liked Johnson so well that we've decided that it doesn't matter whether he's big enough to play the four or quick enough to guard a wing forward out on the perimeter.  Johnson is a winner and he always seems to find a way to beat you and, as a result, he emerged into one of our favorite players in camp.  Morgan, who has the athleticism and versatility to play both inside and outside, had 20 points and 6 rebounds and was our unofficial choice for MVP honors in the second all-star game.  Gurley, who can beat you both with his ability to get to the basket and his outside shooting, has improved leaps and bounds since we saw him at the Boo Williams Invitational in early April.  Jones is an undersized power forward, but we like his strength, athleticism, and tenacity around the basket.  We've known that Johnson has had the natural talent and potential dating all the way back to the days when was a freshman at Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH with LaBron James, but he's never lived up to the expectations until now.  We also were pleased to see that for the first time in years that the NIKE All-American Camp decided to have several all-star games.  Obviously this is good for us, because it gives us one more chance to see all the top players competing against one another.  However, it's also good for the camp, because it gives the mainstream media, which really knows nothing about ranking players and covering a camp, an opportunity to see all of the top players in camp in one setting.  And, it appears that the cream really did rise to the top in this game, as 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA had 10 points and 7 assists, 6'10 Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN had 13 points, 6'10 Kevin Durant from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD had 19 points and was named co-All-Star Game MVP, along with 6'0 Sherron Collins from Chicago (Crane) IL, who had 11 points and 5 assists, in Game #1 and 6'9 Vernon Macklin from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA had 18 points and 15 rebounds and 6'11 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA had 14 points and 4 blocked shots in Game #2.

Saturday, July 9, 2005

7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN won the rematch from a year ago against 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ in the evening session last night at the Reebok ABCD Camp and, as a result, remains our #1-ranked player in camp over 6'5 Jr O.J Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH and 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY.  Speaking of Mayo and Harris, who also went head-to-head in last night's evening session, Harris shut Mayo down defensively, but Mayo still gets the nod as our #2-ranked player in camp, because he'd been so good in every game leading up to this match-up.  So our Ranking of the Top 40 Players in Camp after the first three days from Reebok All-American based on camp performance are as follows: 1) 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 2) 6'5 Jr O.J Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 3) 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 4) 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 5) 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 6) 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 7) 6'8 Damien James from Nacogdotches (H.S.) TX, 8) 6'8 Devon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 9) 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 10) 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 11) 6'8 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 12) 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 13) 6'8 Jr Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA, 14) 6'5 Jr Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 15) 6'5 Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 16) 6'2 Jr Corey Chandler from Newark (Eastside) NJ, 17) 6'9 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS, 18) 6'8 Jamie Skeen from Huntersville (North Mecklenburg) NC, 19) 6'2 Soph Darius Gabriel from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 20) 6'7 Alex Tyus from Florrisant (Hazelwood Central) MO, 21) 6'4 Jr Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 22) 6'4 Jr Darquavis Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI, 23) 6'6 Jr Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA, 24) 6'9 Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 25) 6'8 Wayne Chism from Bolivar (Central) TN, 26) 6'9 Jr Nyal Koswal from Chicago (Julian) IL, 27) 6'6 Dwight Lewis from Metarie (Archbishop Rummel) LA, 28) 6'6 Marquis Johnson from Ft. Wayne (Snider) IN, 29) 5'8 Jr Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (Curtis) WA, 30) 6'4 Frosh Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 31) 6'1 Jr Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 32) 6'5 Jr Alexander Legion from Birmingham (Detroit Country Day) MI, 33) 6'8 Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 34) 6'8 Jr Devin Ebanks from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 35) 6'9 Ekpe Udoh from Edmond (Santa Fe) OK, 36) 6'5 Seth Tarver from Portland (Jesuit) OR, 37) 6'3 Jermaine Beal from De Soto (H.S.) TX, 38) 6'3 Willie Kemp from Bolivar (Central) TN, 39) 6'11 Jr Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN, and 40) 6'0 Doug Wiggins from East Hartford (H.S.) CT.  Our Ranking of the Top Centers in Camp includes 1) 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 2) 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 3) 6'9 Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA. 4) 6'11 Jr Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN, 5) 6'9 Jr James Hickson from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 6) 6'9 Jr Elgin Bailey from Baton Rouge (Glen Oaks) LA, 7) 7'0 Tom Herzog from Flint (Powers) MI, 8) 6'8 Soph Drew Gordon from San Jose (Archbishop Mitty) CA, 9) 6'9 Mike Davis from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 10) 6'10 Casiem Drummond from Bloomfield (Tech) NJ, 11) 6'9 Perry Stevenson from Lafayette (Northside) LA, 12) 6'10 Jr DeAndre Jordan from Houston (Episcopal) TX, 13) 6'8 Deon Thompson from Torrance (H.S.) CA, 14) 6'8 Jr A.J. Stewart from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 15) 6'10 Jr Orlando Allen from Cincinnati (Woodward) OH, and 16) 6'9 Johnny Lett from Mobile (B.C. Rain) AL.  Our Ranking of the Top Power Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'8 Damien James from Nacogdotches (H.S.) TX, 2) 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 3) 6'8 Jr Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA, 4) 6'8 Jamie Skeen from Huntersville (North Mecklenburg) NC, 5) 6'7 Alex Tyus from Florrisant (Hazelwood Central) MO, 6) 6'8 Wayne Chism from Bolivar (Central) TN, 7) 6'9 Jr Nyal Koswal from Chicago (Julian) IL, 8) 6'8 Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 9) 6'9 Ekpe Udoh from Edmond (Santa Fe) OK, 10) 6'8 Jr Devin Ebanks from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 11) 6'8 George Fotso from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS, 12) 6'9 Bryan Davis from Grand Prairie (H.S.) TX, 13) 6'9 Austin Wallace from New York (La Salle) NY, 14) 6'11 Jr Keenan Ellis from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 15) 6'10 Jordan Hill from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 16) 6'7 JeJuan Brown from Biloxi (H.S.) MS, 17) 6'7 Jr Tracy Smith from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 18) 6'7 Soph Olu Ashaolu from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA, and 19) 6'8 Jr Darnell Gant from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA.  Our Ranking of the Top Wing Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 2) 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 3) 6'8 Devon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 4) 6'8 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 5) 6'9 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS, 6) 6'4 Jr Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 7) 6'6 Jr Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA, 8) 6'3 Jermaine Beal from De Soto (H.S.) TX, 9) 6'7 Tyler Smith from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 10) 6'7 Jr Jon Reed from Rancho Palos Verdes (H.S.) CA, 11) 6'5 Jr Zachary Graham from Lawrenceville (Peachtree) GA, 12) 6'6  Rob Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, 13) 6'5 Will Harris from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 14) 6'6 Anthony Dimaria from Pittsburgh (Bishop Canevan) PA, 15) 6'6 Jr  Marshall Moses from Kernersville (Robert Glenn) NC, 16) 6'8 Phil Nelson from Keizer (Mc Nary) OR, 17) 6'6 Tyrone Hanson from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 18) 6'7 DeSean Butler from Bloomfield (Tech) NJ, 19) 6'8 Dennis Horner from Absecon (Holy Spirit) NJ, and 20) 6'5 Jonathan Hall from Miami (Senior) FL.  Our Ranking of the Top Second Guards in Camp includes 1) 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 2) 6'5 Jr Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 3) 6'5 Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 4) 6'2 Jr Corey Chandler from Newark (Eastside) NJ, 5) 6'4 Jr Darquavis Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI, 6) 6'6 Dwight Lewis from Metarie (Archbishop Rummel) LA, 7) 6'4 Frosh Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 8) 6'5 Jr Alexander Legion from Birmingham (Detroit Country Day) MI, 9) 6'5 Seth Tarver from Portland (Jesuit) OR, 10) 6'5 Jernard Fleming from Raleigh (Bonner Academy) NC, 11) 6'5 Derrick Roland from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 12) 6'1 Deonta Vauhgn from Indianapolis (Arlington) IN, 13) 6'3 Soph Willie Warren from Ft. Worth (North Crowley) TX, 14) 6'3 Rashad Green from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 15) 6'2 Donald Sloan from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 16) 6'4 Devin Bawinkel from Winnebago (H.S.) IL, 17) 6'2 Heath White from Cincinnati (Taft) OH, 18) 6'3 Soph Blake Hoffarber from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, 19) 5'10 Ryan Wetherell from Calgary (Sir Winston Churchill) Alberta, and 20) 6'3 Jr Tom Manzano from Mendenhall (Genesis I) MS, and 21) 6'3 Jr Chris Allen from Lawrenceville (Meadowcreek) GA.  Our Ranking of the Top Point Guards in Camp includes 1) 6'5 Jr O.J Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 2) 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 3) 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 4) 6'2 Soph Darius Gabriel from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 5) 6'6 Marquis Johnson from Ft. Wayne (Snider) IN, 6) 5'8 Jr Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (Curtis) WA, 7) 6'1 Jr Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 8) 6'3 Willie Kemp from Bolivar (Central) TN, 9) 6'0 Doug Wiggins from East Hartford (H.S.) CT, 10) 6'0 Scott Reynolds from Herndon (H.S.) VA, 11) 5'11 Eugene Harvey from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 12) 6'4 Daya Kaba from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY,13) 6'9 Earl Clark from Rahway (H.S.) NJ, 14) 6'0 Malcolm Grant from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY, 15) 6'0 Will Walker from Bolingbrook (H.S.) IL, 16) 6'4 Adrian Oliver from Modesto (Christian) CA, 17) 5'11 Jr Kelvin Grady from East Grand Rapids (H.S.) MI, 18) 6'0 Jr  Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL, 19) 6'3 Joe Mazzulla from Warwick (Bishop Hendricken) RI, 20) 6'0 David Cubillan from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 21) 5'8 Jr Malik Boothe from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 22) 6'0 Jr Jonathan Flynn from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, and 23) 6'1 Jr Keegan Bell from Madison (Bob Jones) AL.  Our Ranking of the Top Underclassmen in Camp includes 1) 6'5 Jr O.J Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 2) 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 3) 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 4) 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 5) 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6) 6'8 Jr Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA, 7) 6'5 Jr Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 8) 6'2 Jr Corey Chandler from Newark (Eastside) NJ, 9) 6'9 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS, 10) 6'2 Soph Darius Gabriel from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 11) 6'4 Jr Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 12) 6'4 Jr Darquavis Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI, 13) 6'6 Jr Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA, 14) 6'9 Jr Nyal Koswal from Chicago (Julian) IL, 15) 5'8 Jr Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (Curtis) WA, 16) 6'4 Frosh Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 17) 6'1 Jr Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 18) 6'5 Jr Alexander Legion from Birmingham (Detroit Country Day) MI, 19) 6'8 Jr Devin Ebanks from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, and 20) 6'11 Jr Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN.

We also have our Ranking of the Top 30 Players after the first three days from the NIKE All-American Camp (July 6th-8th) and that list reads as follows: 1) 6'4 Jr Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 2) 6'8 Williard "Duke" Crews from Hampton (Bethel) VA, 3) 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 4) 6'4 Jason Bahannon from Marion (Linn-Mar) IA, 5) 6'0 Sherron Collins from Chicago (Crane) IL, 6) 6'10 Brandon Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, 7) 6'8 Raymar Morgan from Canton (McKinley) OH, 8) 6'10 Kevin Durant from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 9) 6'7 Jr Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, 10) 6'2 Ramar Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI, 11) 6'9 Michael Washington from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, 12) 6'3 Jr Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL, 13) 6'9 Vernon Macklin from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 14) 6'8 DeShawn Sims from Detroit (Pershing) MI, 15) 6'7 Cory Johnson from Duluth (East) MN, 16) 6'2 Jr Antonio Jardine from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA, 17) 6'7 Jr George Goode from Raytown (South) MO, 18) 5'11 Josue Sosa from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 19) 6'3 Adrian Graves from Cincinnati (Hughes) OH, 20) 6'5 Mike Jones from Hopkins (Lower Richard) SC, 21) 6'6 Jr Leonard Washington from Lake Charles (Washington Marion) LA, 22) 6'11 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA, 23) 6'4 Soph Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA, 24) 6'4 Jr Austin Freeman from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 25) 6'8 Jr Gani Lawal from Riverdale (H.S.) GA, 26) 6'4 L.D. Williams from Montverde (Academy) FL, 27) 6'3 Edgar Sosa from New York (Rice) NY, 28) 7'0 Jonathan Kreft from Parkland (Marjory Stoneman Douglas) FL, 29) 6'5 Obi Muonelo from Edmond (Santa Fe) OK, and 30) 6'6 Han Shuo from Jiang Su, China.  Our Ranking of the Top Centers in Camp includes 1) 6'10 Brandon Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, 2) 6'9 Vernon Macklin from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 3) 6'11 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA, 4) 7'0 Jonathan Kreft from Parkland (Marjory Stoneman Douglas) FL, 5) 6'10 Soph Xavier Gibson from Dothan (Northview) AL, 6) 7'3 Jason Bennett from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 7) 6'11 Jr Kosta Koufos from North Canton (H.S.) OH, 8) 6'11 Brian Carlwell from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, 9) 6'9 Jerome Burney from East Point (Westlake) GA, and 10) 6'11 Brad Sheehan from Latham (Shaker) NY.  Our Ranking of the Top Power Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'8 Williard "Duke" Crews from Hampton (Bethel) VA, 2) 6'7 Jr Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, 3) 6'9 Michael Washington from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, 4) 6'8 DeShawn Sims from Detroit (Pershing) MI, 5) 6'8 Jr Gani Lawal from Riverdale (H.S.) GA, 6) 6'8 Jr Braxton Dupree from Towson (Calvert Hall) MD, 7) 6'8 Dajuan Summers from Baltimore (McDonogh) MD, 8) 6'8 Jr Donte Green from Towson (Catholic) MD, 9) 6'8 Curtis Kelly from New York (Rice) NY, 10) 6'7 Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 11) 6'10 Soph Greg Monroe from Gretna (Helen Cox) LA, 12) 6'9 Jr LaRon Dendy from Greer (H.S.) SC, 13) 6'7 Jr Mike Holmes from Bishopville (H.S.) SC, 14) 6'9 Soph Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 15) 6'10 Jr Gary McGheen from Anderson (H.S.) IN, 16) 6'8 Josh Chichester from West Chester (Lakota West) OH, and 17) 6'7 Avery Jukes from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA.  Our Ranking of the Top Wing Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'8 Raymar Morgan from Canton (McKinley) OH, 2) 6'10 Kevin Durant from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 3) 6'7 Cory Johnson from Duluth (East) MN, 4) 6'7 Jr George Goode from Raytown (South) MO, 5) 6'5 Mike Jones from Hopkins (Lower Richard) SC, 6) 6'6 Jr Leonard Washington from Lake Charles (Washington Marion) LA, 7) 6'5 Obi Muonelo from Edmond (Santa Fe) OK, 8) 6'6 Gilbert Brown from South Kent (Prep) CT, 9) 6'6 Frosh Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 10) 6'7 Isaiah Dahlman from Braham (H.S.) MN, 11) 6'5 Jr Jeff Robinson from Elizabeth (St. Patrick)) NJ, 12) 6'6 JaJuan Jones from Douglasville (Douglas County) GA, 13) 6'6 Jr Chris Wright from Trotwood (Trtotwood-Madison) OH, 14) 6'5 William Graves from Greensboro (Dudley) NC, 15) 6'8 Zachary Peacock from Miami (Norland) FL, and 16) 6'9 Kevin Coble from Scottsdale (Christian Academy) AZ.  Our Ranking of the Top Second Guards in Camp includes 1) 6'4 Jason Bahannon from Marion (Linn-Mar) IA, 2) 6'2 Ramar Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI, 3) 6'2 Jr Antonio Jardine from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA, 4) 6'3 Adrian Graves from Cincinnati (Hughes) OH, 5) 6'4 Jr Austin Freeman from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6) 6'4 L.D. Williams from Montverde (Academy) FL, 7) 6'3 Anthony Gurley from Newtonville (Newton North) MA, 8) 6'6 Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, 9) 6'3 Marcus Johnson from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, 10) 6'5 Patrick Christopher from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, 11) 6'4 Jr Durrell Summers from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI 12) 6'5 Ryan Thompson from Shawnee (Lenape) NJ, 13) 6'3 Jerome Dyson from Andover (Proctor) NH, 14) 6'4 Jr Nick Calathes from Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL, 15) 6'2 Stefan Welsh from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, and 16) 6'3 Soph Sean Mosley from Baltimore (St. Frances) MD.  Our Ranking of the Top Point Guards in Camp includes 1) 6'4 Jr Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 2) 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 3) 6'0 Sherron Collins from Chicago (Crane) IL, 4) 6'3 Jr Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL, 5) 5'11 Josue Sosa from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 6) 6'4 Frosh Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA, 7) 6'3 Edgar Sosa from New York (Rice) NY, 8) 6'6 Han Shuo from Jiang Su, China, 9) 5'11 Nigel Munson from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 10) 6'3 E'Twan Moore from East Chicago (Central) IN, 11) 5'7 Tajuan Porter from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 12) 5'9 Nic Wise from Houston (Kingwood) TX, 13) 5'9 Demond Carter from LaPlace (Reserve Christian) LA, 14) 5'9 Jr Jai Lucas from Houston (Bellaire) TX, and 15) 6'4 Greivas Vasquez from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD.  Our Ranking of the Top Underclassmen in Camp includes 1) 6'4 Jr Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 2) 6'7 Jr Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, 3) 6'3 Jr Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL, 4) 6'2 Jr Antonio Jardine from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA, 5) 6'7 Jr George Goode from Raytown (South) MO, 6) 6'6 Jr Leonard Washington from Lake Charles (Washington Marion) LA, 7) 6'4 Soph Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA, 8) 6'4 Jr Austin Freeman from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 9) 6'8 Jr Gani Lawal from Riverdale (H.S.) GA, 10) 6'8 Jr Braxton Dupree from Towson (Calvert Hall) MD, 11) 6'10 Soph Xavier Gibson from Dothan (Northview) AL, and 12) 6'8 Jr Donte Green from Towson (Catholic) MD.

Friday, July 8, 2005

To go right along with our rankings from both the adidas Superstar All-American Camp and the Reebok ABCD Camp are our Exclusive Ranking of the Top Players after the first two days from the NIKE All-American Camp.  And the clear-cut choice for our #1-ranked player at the NIKE All-American Camp is 6'4 Jr Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ.  From there it gets a little bit harder as the rest of our list of the Top 25 Players in Camp, which was compiled by Clark Francis, Editor & Publisher of the HOOP SCOOP; Roy Schmidt and Harv Schmidt of the Illinois Bulls-eye Report; and Mark Melvin of Cutting Edge Hoops, includes 2) 6'8 Williard "Duke" Crews from Hampton (Bethel) VA, 3) 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 4) 6'8 Raymar Morgan from Canton (McKinley) OH, 5) 6'10 Brandon Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, 6) 6'7 Jr Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, 7) 6'8 Jr Gani Lawal from Riverdale (H.S.) GA, 8) 6'2 Ramar Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI, 9) 6'4 Jason Bahannon from Marion (Linn-Mar) IA, 10) 6'0 Sherron Collins from Chicago (Crane) IL, 11) 6'9 Vernon Macklin from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 12) 6'3 Anthony Gurley from Newtonville (Newton North) MA, 13) 6'7 Cory Johnson from Duluth (East) MN, 14) 5'11 Josue Sosa from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 15) 6'6 Gilbert Brown from South Kent (Prep) CT, 16) 6'8 DeShawn Sims from Detroit (Pershing) MI, 17) 6'8 Jr Braxton Dupree from Towson (Calvert Hall) MD, 18) 6'8 Jr Donte Green from Towson (Catholic) MD, 19) 6'5 Obi Muonelo from Edmond (Santa Fe) OK, 20) 6'4 Jr Austin Freeman from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 21) 5'9 Nic Wise from Houston (Kingwood) TX, 22) 6'7 Isaiah Dahlman from Braham (H.S.) MN, 23) 6'11 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA, 24) 6'4 Soph Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA, and 25) 6'10 Soph Xavier Gibson from Dothan (Northview) AL.  Our Ranking of the Top Centers in Camp includes 1) 6'10 Brandon Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, 2) 6'9 Vernon Macklin from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 3) 6'11 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA, 4) 6'10 Soph Xavier Gibson from Dothan (Northview) AL, 5) 7'0 Jonathan Kreft from Parkland (Marjory Stoneman Douglas) FL, 6) 7'3 Jason Bennett from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 7) 6'11 Brian Carlwell from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, 8) 6'9 Jerome Burney from East Point (Westlake) GA, 9) 6'11 Brad Sheehan from Latham (Shaker) NY, and 10) 6'11 Jr Kosta Koufas from North Canton (H.S.) OH.  Our Ranking of the Top Power Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'8 Williard "Duke" Crews from Hampton (Bethel) VA, 2) 6'7 Jr Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, 3) 6'8 Jr Gani Lawal from Riverdale (H.S.) GA, 4) 6'8 DeShawn Sims from Detroit (Pershing) MI, 5) 6'8 Jr Braxton Dupree from Towson (Calvert Hall) MD, 6) 6'8 Jr Donte Green from Towson (Catholic) MD, 7) 6'8 Dajuan Summers from Baltimore (McDonogh) MD, 8) 6'9 Michael Washington from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, 9) 6'7 Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 10) 6'8 Curtis Kelly from New York (Rice) NY, 11) 6'10 Soph Greg Monroe from Gretna (Helen Cox) LA, 12) 6'9 Jr LaRon Dendy from Greer (H.S.) SC, 13) 6'10 Jr Gary McGheen from Anderson (H.S.) IN, 14) 6'7 Jr Mike Holmes from Bishopville (H.S.) SC, and 15) 6'9 Soph Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ.  Our Ranking of the Top Wing Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'8 Raymar Morgan from Canton (McKinley) OH, 2) 6'7 Cory Johnson from Duluth (East) MN, 3) 6'6 Gilbert Brown from South Kent (Prep) CT, 4) 6'5 Obi Muonelo from Edmond (Santa Fe) OK, 5) 6'7 Isaiah Dahlman from Braham (H.S.) MN, 6) 6'6 Jr Leonard Washington from Lake Charles (Washington Marion) LA, 7) 6'7 Jr George Goode from Raytown (South) MO, 8) 6'5 Jr Jeff Robinson from Elizabeth (St. Patrick)) NJ, 9) 6'5 William Graves from Greensboro (Dudley) NC, 10) 6'8 Zachary Peacock from Miami (Norland) FL, 11) 6'9 Kevin Coble from Scottsdale (Christian Academy) AZ, and 12) 6'6 JaJuan Jones from Douglasville (Douglas County) GA.  Our Ranking of the Top Second Guards in Camp includes 1) 6'2 Ramar Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI, 2) 6'4 Jason Bahannon from Marion (Linn-Mar) IA, 3) 6'3 Anthony Gurley from Newtonville (Newton North) MA, 4) 6'4 Jr Austin Freeman from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 5) 6'2 Jr Antonio Jardine from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA, 6) 6'5 Patrick Christopher from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, 7) 6'6 Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, 8) 6'3 Marcus Johnson from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, 9) 6'4 L.D. Williams from Montverde (Academy) FL, 10) 6'5 Ryan Thompson from Shawnee (Lenape) NJ, 11) 6'2 Stefan Welsh from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, and 12) 6'3 Soph Sean Mosley from Baltimore (St. Frances) MD.  Our Ranking of the Top Point Guards in Camp includes 1) 6'4 Jr Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 2) 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 3) 6'0 Sherron Collins from Chicago (Crane) IL, 4) 5'11 Josue Sosa from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 5) 5'9 Nic Wise from Houston (Kingwood) TX, 6) 6'4 Frosh Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA, 7) 6'3 Edgar Sosa from New York (Rice) NY, 8) 6'3 Jr Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL, 9) 5'11 Nigel Munson from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 10) 6'6 Han Shuo from Jiang Su, China, 11) 5'7 Tajuan Porter from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, and 12) 5'9 Jr Jai Lucas from Houston (Bellaire) TX.  Our Ranking of the Top Underclassmen in Camp includes 1) 6'4 Jr Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 2) 6'7 Jr Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, 3) 6'8 Jr Gani Lawal from Riverdale (H.S.) GA, 4) 6'8 Jr Braxton Dupree from Towson (Calvert Hall) MD, 5) 6'8 Jr Donte Green from Towson (Catholic) MD, 6) 6'4 Jr Austin Freeman from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 7) 6'4 Soph Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA, 8) 6'10 Soph Xavier Gibson from Dothan (Northview) AL, 9) 6'2 Jr Antonio Jardine from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA, 10) 6'6 Jr Leonard Washington from Lake Charles (Washington Marion) LA, 11) 6'7 Jr George Goode from Raytown (South) MO, and 12) 6'5 Jr Jeff Robinson from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ.

We also have our Exclusive Ranking of the Top Players after the first two days from the Reebok ABCA Camp, which were compiled by Allen Rubin, the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor of the HOOP SCOOP; Dave Schultz, the Northeast Editor of the HOOP SCOOP; Chris Johnson, the Ohio Editor & International Editor of the HOOP SCOOP; and Jim Hough, a contributor to the HOOP SCOOP.  And, once again, the two best players in camp are 1) 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN and 2) 6'5 Jr O.J Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH.  The rest of the their list of the Top 40 Players in Camp includes 3) 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 4) 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 5) 6'8 Damien James from Nacogdotches (H.S.) TX, 6) 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 7) 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 8) 6'5 Jr Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 9) 6'8 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 10) 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 11) 6'6 Dwight Lewis from Metarie (Archbishop Rummel) LA, 12) 6'8 Devon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 13) 6'9 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS, 14) 6'4 Frosh Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 15) 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 16) 6'5 Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 17) 6'8 Jr Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA, 18) 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 19) 6'4 Jr Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 20) 6'7 Tyler Smith from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 21) 6'2 Jr Corey Chandler from Newark (Eastside) NJ, 22) 6'9 Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 23) 6'6 Marquis Johnson from Ft. Wayne (Snider) IN, 24) 6'9 Earl Clark from Rahway (H.S.) NJ, 25) 6'8 James Skeen from Huntersville (North Mecklenburg) NC, 26) 6'7 Alex Tyus from Florrisant (Hazelwood Central) MO, 27) 6'4 Jr Darquavis Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI, 28) 6'3 Willie Kemp from Bolivar (Central) TN, 29) 6'11 Jr Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN, 30) 6'3 Jermaine Beal from De Soto (H.S.) TX, 31) 6'9 Jr James Hickson from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 32) 6'8 Wayne Chism from Bolivar (Central) TN, 33) 6'9 Jr Elgin Bailey from Baton Rouge (Glen Oaks) LA, 34) 6'0 Doug Wiggins from East Hartford (H.S.) CT, 35) 6'1 Jr Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 36) 6'9 Jr Nyal Koswal from Chicago (Julian) IL, 37) 5'11 Eugene Harvey from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 38) 6'11 Jr Keenan Ellis from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 39) 6'5 Seth Tarver from Portland (Jesuit) OR, and 40) 6'0 Scott Reynolds from Herndon (H.S.) VA.  Our Ranking of the Top Centers in Camp includes 1) 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 2) 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 3) 6'9 Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 4) 6'11 Jr Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN, 5) 6'9 Jr James Hickson from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 6) 6'9 Jr Elgin Bailey from Baton Rouge (Glen Oaks) LA, 7) 7'0 Tom Herzog from Flint (Powers) MI, 8) 6'9 Mike Davis from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 9) 6'10 Casiem Drummond from Bloomfield (Tech) NJ, 10) 6'9 Perry Stevenson from Lafayette (Northside) LA, 11) 6'8 Jr A.J. Stewart from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 12) 6'10 Jr Orlando Allen from Cincinnati (Woodward) OH, 13) 6'10 Jr DeAndre Jordan from Houston (Episcopal) TX, 14) 6'8 Soph Drew Gordon from San Jose (Archbishop Mitty) CA, and 15) 6'9 Johnny Lett from Mobile (B.C. Rain) AL.  Our Ranking of the Top Power Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'8 Damien James from Nacogdotches (H.S.) TX, 2) 6'8 Jr Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA, 3) 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 4) 6'8 James Skeen from Huntersville (North Mecklenburg) NC, 5) 6'7 Alex Tyus from Florrisant (Hazelwood Central) MO, 6) 6'8 Wayne Chism from Bolivar (Central) TN, 7) 6'9 Jr Nyal Koswal from Chicago (Julian) IL, 8) 6'11 Jr Keenan Ellis from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 9) 6'9 Ekpe Udoh from Edmond (Santa Fe) OK, 10) 6'8 Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 11) 6'10 Jordan Hill from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 12) 6'7 Soph Olu Ashaolu from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA, 13) 6'7 JeJuan Brown from Biloxi (H.S.) MS, 14) 6'7 Jr Tracy Smith from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 15) 6'9 Austin Wallace from New York (La Salle) NY, 16) 6'8 Jr Darnell Gant from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA, 17) 6'8 George Fotso from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS, and 18) 6'8 Jr Devin Ebanks from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY.  Our Ranking of the Top Wing Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 2) 6'8 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 3) 6'8 Devon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 4) 6'9 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS, 5) 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6) 6'4 Jr Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 7) 6'7 Tyler Smith from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 8) 6'3 Jermaine Beal from De Soto (H.S.) TX, 9) 6'6 Jr Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA, 10) 6'6  Rob Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, 11) 6'5 Will Harris from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 12) 6'9 Bryan Davis from Grand Prairie (H.S.) TX, 13) 6'6 Anthony Dimaria from Pittsburgh (Bishop Canevan) PA, 14) 6'5 Jonathan Hall from Miami (Senior) FL, 15) 6'6 Jr  Marshall Moses from Kernersville (Robert Glenn) NC, 16) 6'5 Jr Zachary Graham from Lawrenceville (Peachtree) GA, 17) 6'6 Tyrone Hanson from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 18) 6'7 DeSean Butler from Bloomfield (Tech) NJ, and 19) 6'7 Jr Jon Reed from Rancho Palos Verdes (H.S.) CA.  Our Ranking of the Top Second Guards in Camp includes 1) 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 2) 6'5 Jr Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 3) 6'6 Dwight Lewis from Metarie (Archbishop Rummel) LA, 4) 6'4 Frosh Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 5) 6'5 Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 6) 6'2 Jr Corey Chandler from Newark (Eastside) NJ, 7) 6'4 Jr Darquavis Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI, 8) 6'5 Seth Tarver from Portland (Jesuit) OR, 9) 6'5 Jernard Fleming from Raleigh (Bonner Academy) NC, 10) 6'5 Jr Alexander Legion from Birmingham (Detroit Country Day) MI, 11) 6'5 Derrick Roland from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 12) 6'1 Deonta Vauhgn from Indianapolis (Arlington) IN, 13) 6'3 Soph Willie Warren from Ft. Worth (North Crowley) TX, 14) 6'3 Rashad Green from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 15) 6'2 Donald  Sloan from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 16) 6'4 Devin Bawinkel from Winnebago (H.S.) IL, 17) 6'2 Heath White from Cincinnati (Taft) OH, 18) 6'3 Soph Blake Hoffarber from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, 19) 5'10 Ryan Wetherell from Calgary (Sir Winston Churchill) Alberta, 20) 6'3 Jr Tom Manzano from Mendenhall (Genesis I) MS, and 21) 6'3 Jr Chris Allen from Lawrenceville (Meadowcreek) GA.  Our Ranking of the Top Point Guards in Camp includes 1) 6'5 Jr O.J Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 2) 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 3) 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 4) 6'6 Marquis Johnson from Ft. Wayne (Snider) IN, 5) 6'9 Earl Clark from Rahway (H.S.) NJ, 6) 6'3 Willie Kemp from Bolivar (Central) TN, 7) 6'0 Doug Wiggins from East Hartford (H.S.) CT, 8) 6'1 Jr Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 9) 5'11 Eugene Harvey from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 10) 6'0 Scott Reynolds from Herndon (H.S.) VA, 11) 6'2 Soph Darius Gabriel from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 12) 6'4 Daya Kaba from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 13) 6'0 Will Walker from Bolingbrook (H.S.) IL, 14) 6'0 Malcolm Grant from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY, 15) 5'8 Jr Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (Curtis) WA, 16) 6'4 Adrian Oliver from Modesto (Christian) CA, 17) 5'11 Jr Kelvin Grady from East Grand Rapids (H.S.) MI, 18) 6'0 Jr  Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL, 19) 6'3 Joe Mazzulla from Warwick (Bishop Hendricken) RI, 20) 6'0 David Cubillan from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 21) 5'8 Jr Malik Boothe from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 22) 6'0 Jr Jonathan Flynn from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, and 23) 6'1 Jr Keegan Bell from Madison (Bob Jones) AL.  Our Ranking of the Top Underclassmen in Camp includes 1) 6'5 Jr O.J Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 2) 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 3) 6'7 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 4) 6'5 Jr Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 5) 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6) 6'9 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS, 7) 6'4 Frosh Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 8) 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 9) 6'8 Jr Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA, 10) 6'2 Jr Corey Chandler from Newark (Eastside) NJ, 11) 6'4 Jr Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 12) 6'4 Jr Darquavis Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI, 13) 6'11 Jr Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN, 14) 6'9 Jr James Hickson from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 15) 6'9 Jr Elgin Bailey from Baton Rouge (Glen Oaks) LA, 16) 6'1 Jr Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 17) 6'9 Jr Nyal Koswal from Chicago (Julian) IL and 18) 6'11 Jr Keenan Ellis from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH.

Thursday, July 7, 2005

After the incredible performance that 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA turned in yesterday afternoon against 6'5 Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Christian) GA, he gets the nod over 6'7 Jr Michael Beasley from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'5 Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Christian) GA, and 6'9 Stanley Robinson from Birmingham (Huffman) AL in our ranking of the top players based primarily on performance at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp.  The complete List of the Top 30 Players in Camp after the first two days of camp on July 5th and July 6th includes 1) 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 2) 6'7 Jr Michael Beasley from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 3) 6'5 Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 4) 6'9 Stanley Robinson from Birmingham (Huffman) AL, 5) 6'11 Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6) 6'8 Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Mitchell) TN, 7) 6'7 Quincy Pondexter from  Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 8) 6'9 Jr Julian Vaughn from Reston (South Lakes) VA, 9) 6'11 Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 10) 6'5 Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 11) 6'11 Soph Byron Mullins from Canal Winchester (World Harvest) OH, 12) 6'0 D.J. Augustine from New Orleans (Brother Martin) LA,13) 6'4 Jr Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, 14) 6'3 Jr Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 15) 6'3 Calvin Haynes from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 16) 6'7 Pierre Niles from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN, 17) 6'9 Kodi Augustus from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, 18) 6'7 Frosh Aaron Moore from Fontana, CA, 19) 5'11 Soph Korie Lucious from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 20) 6'2 Knezevic Nicola from Serbia-Montgenegro, 21) 6'6 LaShun Watson from Greenville (H.S.) GA, 22) 6'8 Andre Stephens from Heidelberg (H.S.) MS, 23) 6'8 Soph Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Hughes) OH, 24) 6'0 Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY, 25) 5'6 Soph Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 26) 6'10 Marresse Speights from St. Petersburg (Admiral Farragut) FL, 27) 6'8 James Keefe from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA, 28) 6'7 Chadwick Gray from Lake Suzy (Florida Prep) FL, 29) 6'6 Kevin Galloway from Sacramento (H.S.) CA, and 30) 6'4 Wesley Matthews from Powder Springs (South Cobb) GA.  Our Ranking of the Top Centers in Camp includes 1) 6'9 Jr Julian Vaughn from Reston (South Lakes) VA, 2) 6'11 Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 3) 6'11 Soph Byron Mullins from Canal Winchester (World Harvest) OH, 4) 6'8 Andre Stephens from Heidelberg (H.S.) MS, 5) 6'10 Marresse Speights from St. Petersburg (Admiral Farragut) FL, 6) 6'8 Jr Rick Jackson from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA, 7) 6'9 Jr Josh Southern from Saginaw, MI, 8) 6'11 Xavier Crawford from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 9) 6'11 Jon Uchendu from Pulaski (Robinson) AR, 10) 7'0 Hamady Ndiaye from Lake Suzy (Florida Prep) FL, 11) 6'11 Jonathan Mandeldove from Stone Mountain, GA, 12) 7'0 Mitchell Carter from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 13) 6'8 Jason Love from Jenkintown (Abington Friends) MA, 14) 6'8 Jr Garrett Kissel from Springfield, MA, 15) 6'11 Jr Robert Sacre from North Vancouver, BC, and 16) 6'10 Frosh Zhun Zheng from Shanxi, China.  Our Ranking of the Top Power Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'9 Stanley Robinson from Birmingham (Huffman) AL, 2) 6'11 Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 3) 6'7 Pierre Niles from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN, 4) 6'8 Soph Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Hughes) OH, 5) 6'8 James Keefe from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA, 6) 6'7 Chadwick Gray from Lake Suzy (Florida Prep) FL, 7) 6'11 Tyrell Lynch from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 8) 6'8 Daniel Deane from Salt Lake City (Judge Memorial) UT, 9) 6'7 Demetruis Jemison from Birmingham (Huffman) AL, 10) 6'7 Trevor Booker from Union (H.S.) SC, 11) 6'9 Jarvis Varnardo from Brownville (Haywood County) TN, 12) 6'6 An'Juan Wilderness from Dunwoody (H.S.) GA, 13) 6'7 Kyle Austin from Pasadena (H.S.) CA, 14) 6'6 Jr Jamar Samuels from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, and 15) 6'8 Jr Harper Kamp from Mesa, AZ.  Our Ranking of the Top Wing Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'7 Jr Michael Beasley from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 2) 6'8 Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Mitchell) TN, 3) 6'7 Quincy Pondexter from  Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 4) 6'5 Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 5) 6'9 Kodi Augustus from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, 6) 6'7 Frosh Aaron Moore from Fontana, CA, 7) 6'7 Kiwan Smith from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 8) 6'6 Jr Tyrone Shelley from San Diego (Crawford) CA, 9) 6'5 Lazar Hayward from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 10) 6'5 Dinero Thomas from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 11) 6'6 Jr Terrell Bell from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA, 12) 6'7 Soph Howard Thompkins from Lithonia, GA, and 13) 6'8 Peng Zhou from Guangdone, China.  Our Ranking of the Top Second Guards in Camp includes 1) 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 2) 6'4 Jr Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, 3) 6'3 Jr Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 4) 6'3 Calvin Haynes from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 5) 6'6 LaShun Watson from Greenville (H.S.) GA, 6) 6'2 Jr Senario Hillman from Irwinton (H.S.) GA, 7) 6'4 Wesley Matthews from Powder Springs (South Cobb) GA, 8) 6'3 Verice Cloyd from Mendenall (Genesis I) MS, 9) 6'3 John Tiller from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 10) 6'6 Jr Corey Raji from Township of Washington (Westwood) NJ, 11) 6'4 Reggie Redding from Philadelphia (St. Joseph's Prep) PA, 12) 6'3 Tre'von Willis from Fresno (Washington Union) WA, 13) 6'7 Joseph Harden from Stockton (St. Mary's) CA, 14) 6'2 Soph Ashton Gibbs from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 15) 6'8 Frosh Demetrius Walker from Fontana, CA, 16) 6'3 Frosh Roger Franklin from Duncanville, TX, and 17) 6'5 Jr K'len Morris from Grand Blanc (H.S.) MI.  Our Ranking of the Top Point Guards in Camp includes 1) 6'5 Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 2) 6'0 D.J. Augustine from New Orleans (Brother Martin) LA, 3) 5'11 Soph Korie Lucious from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 4) 6'2 Knezevic Nicola from Serbia-Montgenegro, 5) 6'0 Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY, 6) 5'6 Soph Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 7) 6'6 Kevin Galloway from Sacramento (H.S.) CA, 8) 6'4 Derrick Jasper from Paso Robles (H.S.) CA, 9) 6'0 Jr Venoy Overton from Seattle (Franklin) WA, 10) 6'2 A.J. Slaughter from Shelbyville (Shelby County) KY, 11) 6'5 Matt Bouldin from Highlands Ranch (Thunder Ridge) CO, 12) 6'4 Lamar Falley from New Orleans, LA, 13) 6'1 Nick Vier from Oradell (Bergen Catholic) NJ, 14) 6'2 Todd Lowenthal from Poway (H.S.) CA, 15) 5'11 Malik Alvin from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA, 16) 6'0 Jon Han from Brooklyn, NY, 17) 6'3 David Schneider from Phoenix (Brophy Prep) AZ, 18) 6'0 Stephen Curry from Charlotte (Christian) NC, and 19) 6'4 Marcus Relphorde from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL.  Our Ranking of the Top Underclassmen in Camp includes 1) 6'7 Jr Michael Beasley from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 2) 6'9 Jr Julian Vaughn from Reston (South Lakes) VA, 3) 6'11 Soph Byron Mullins from Columbus, OH, 4) 6'4 Jr Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, 5) 6'3 Jr Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6) 6'7 Frosh Aaron Moore from Fontana, CA, 7) 5'11 Soph Korie Lucious from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 8) 6'8 Soph Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Hughes) OH, 9) 5'6 Soph Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, and 10) 6'2 Jr Senario Hillman from Irwinton (H.S.) GA.

We also had Dave Schultz, the Northeast Editor of the HOOP SCOOP; Chris Johnson, the Ohio Editor & International Editor of the HOOP SCOOP; Allen Rubin, the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor of the HOOP SCOOP; and Jim Hough, a contributor to the HOOP SCOOP; at the Reebok ABCD Camp for the first day of action yesterday and, after his impressive performance during the afternoon session, it comes as no surprise that 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN gets the nod as their #1-ranked player in camp.  The complete List of the Top 30 Players in Camp after the first day of camp based on performance on July 6th includes 1) 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 2) 6'5 Jr O.J Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 3) 6'5 Jr Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 4) 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 5) 6'8 Damien James from Nacogdotches (H.S.) TX, 6) 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 7) 6'8 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 8) 6'6 Dwight Lewis from Metarie (Archbishop Rummel) LA, 9) 6'8 James Skeen from Huntersville (North Mecklenburg) NC, 10) 6'11 Jr Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN, 11) 6'4 Jr Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 12) 5'11 Eugene Harvey from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 13) 6'8 Jr Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA, 14) 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 15) 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 16) 6'9 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS, 17) 6'2 Jr Cory Chandler from Newark (Eastside) NJ, 18) 6'0 Scott Reynolds from Herndon (H.S.) VA, 19) 6'7 Tyler Smith from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 20) 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 21) 6'8 Wayne Chism from Bolivar (Central) TN, 22) 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 23) 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 24) 6'3 Willie Kemp from Bolivar (Central) TN, 25) 6'4 Frosh Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 26) 6'7 Alex Tyus from Florrisant (Hazelwood Central) MO, 27) 6'3 Jermaine Beal from De Soto (H.S.) TX, 28) 6'6  Rob Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, 29) 6'11 Jr Keenan Ellis from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, and 30) 6'5 Jernard Fleming from Raleigh (Bonner Academy) NC.  Our Ranking of the Top Centers in Camp includes 1) 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 2) 6'11 Jr Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN, 3) 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 4) 6'9 Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 5) 6'9 Jr James Hickson from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 6) 6'9 Jr Elgin Bailey from Baton Rouge (Glen Oaks) LA, 7) 6'9 Perry Stevenson from Lafayette (Northside) LA, 8) 7'0 Tom Herzog from Flint (Powers) MI, 9) 6'8 Jr A.J. Stewart from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, and 10) 6'10 Jr DeAndre Jordan from Houston (Episcopal) TX.   Our Ranking of the Top Power Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'8 Damien James from Nacogdotches (H.S.) TX, 2) 6'8 James Skeen from Huntersville (North Mecklenburg) NC, 3) 6'8 Jr Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA, 4) 6'8 Wayne Chism from Bolivar (Central) TN, 5) 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6) 6'7 Alex Tyus from Florrisant (Hazelwood Central) MO, 7) 6'11 Jr Keenan Ellis from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 8) 6'8 Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 9) 6'9 Jr Nyal Koswal from Chicago (Julian) IL, 10) 6'9 Ekpe Udoh from Edmond (Santa Fe) OK, 11) 6'7 JeJuan Brown from Biloxi (H.S.) MS, and 12) 6'7 Jr Tracy Smith from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC.  Our Ranking of the Top Wing Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 2) 6'8 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 3) 6'4 Jr Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 4) 6'9 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS, 5) 6'7 Tyler Smith from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6) 6'7 Jr Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 7) 6'3 Jermaine Beal from De Soto (H.S.) TX, 8) 6'6  Rob Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, 9) 6'5 Jonathan Hall from Miami (Senior) FL, 10) 6'6 Jr  Marshall Moses from Kernersville (Robert Glenn) NC, 11) 6'6 Jr Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA, and 12) 6'5 Jr Zachary Graham from Lawrenceville (Peachtree) GA.  Our Ranking of the Top Second Guards in Camp includes Top Second Guards 1) 6'5 Jr Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 2) 6'6 Dwight Lewis from Metarie (Archbishop Rummel) LA, 3) 6'2 Jr Cory Chandler from Newark (Eastside) NJ, 4) 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 5) 6'4 Frosh Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6) 6'5 Jernard Fleming from Raleigh (Bonner Academy) NC, 7) 6'5 Jr Alexander Legion from Birmingham (Detroit Country Day) MI, 8) 6'5 Derrick Roland from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 9) 6'1 Deonta Vauhgn from Indianapolis (Arlington) IN, 10) 6'5 Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 11) 6'3 Soph Willie Warren from Ft. Worth (North Crowley) TX, 12) 6'3 Rashad Green from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 13) 6'2 Heath White from Cincinnati (Taft) OH, 14) 6'5 Seth Tarver from Portland (Jesuit) OR, 15) 6'3 Soph Blake Hoffarber from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, and 16) 6'4 Jr Darquavis Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI.  Our Ranking of the Top Point Guards in Camp includes 1) 6'5 Jr O.J Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 2) 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 3) 5'11 Eugene Harvey from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 4) 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 5) 6'0 Scott Reynolds from Herndon (H.S.) VA, 6) 6'3 Willie Kemp from Bolivar (Central) TN, 7) 5'8 Jr Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (Curtis) WA, 8) 6'0 Doug Wiggins from East Hartford (H.S.) CT, 9) 6'1 Jr Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 10) 6'6 Marquis Johnson from Ft. Wayne (Snider) IN, 11) 6'2 Soph Darius Gabriel from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 12) 6'4 Adrian Oliver from Modesto (Christian) CA, 13) 6'0 Will Walker from Bolingbrook (H.S.) IL, 14) 6'9 Earl Clark from Rahway (H.S.) NJ, 15) 6'4 Daya Kaba from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 16) 6'0 Jr  Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL, 17) 6'3 Joe Mazzulla from Warwick (Bishop Hendricken) RI, 18) 6'0 Malcolm Grant from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY, 19) 6'0 David Cubillan from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, and 20) 5'8 Jr Malik Boothe from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY.  Our Ranking of the Top Underclassmen in Camp includes 1) 6'5 Jr O.J Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 2) 6'5 Jr Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 3) 6'7 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 4) 6'11 Jr Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN, 5) 6'4 Jr Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 6) 6'8 Jr Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA, 7) 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 8) 6'1 Soph Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 9) 6'9 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Piney Woods (H.S.) MS, and 10) 6'2 Jr Cory Chandler from Newark (Eastside) NJ..

Wednesday, July 6, 2005

The highlight of the afternoon session at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp was watching 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA and 6'5 Jarvis Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA go head-to-head.  Ellington finished with 32 points and clearly established himself as the best player in camp.  Crittenton, who earlier this morning verbally committed to Georgia Tech, had 24 points of his own, as he too made a strong case for being ranked among our top five players in camp.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, who had 12 points and nine rebounds, won the big match-up against 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, who who had seven points and three rebounds, this afternoon at the Reebok ABCD Camp and, as a result, the race once again appears to be too close to call for the HOOP SCOOP's #1-ranking in the rising senior class nationally.  If you will recall, we've been Oden's biggest critic this spring because he doesn't play hard, Ellington did not play well a-week-and-a-half ago at the NBA Players Association Camp, and 6'10 Kevin Durant from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, who is our other choice for top players honors in the senior class nationally, will be missing in action most of the summer, because he will attending summer school.  Speaking of Durant and his academic situation, inside sources tell us that the fact that he did not do well academically at Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA this spring was the real reason why he transferred back to the Washington, DC area.  Editor's Note:  Check back late tonight or tomorrow for our updated ranking of the top players after the second day at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp and our ranking of the top players at the Reebok ABCD Camp.  

What a difference a year can make!  We're talking about how dramatically the depth of talent has improved in a year at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp, which kicked off yesterday in Suwanee, GA.  And, if you don't believe it, just look at our Exclusive Ranking of the Top Players in Camp after the first day of camp, which are based primarily on camp performance and were compiled by Clark Francis, Editor & Publisher of the HOOP SCOOP, Andre Whitehead, Tennessee Correspondent for the HOOP SCOOP; and Mike Muse, North Carolina scout and contributor to the HOOP SCOOP.  Our Ranking of the Top 25 Players in Camp  includes 1) 6'7 Jr Michael Beasley from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 2) 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 3) 6'9 Stanley Robinson from Birmingham (Huffman) AL, 4) 6'5 Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 5) 6'11 Soph Byron Mullins from Canal Winchester (World Harvest) OH, 6) 6'11 Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 7) 6'5 Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 8) 6'7 Quincy Pondexter from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 9) 6'2 Jr Senario Hillman from Irwinton (H.S.) GA, 10) 6'8 Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Mitchell) TN, 11) 6'0 D.J. Augustine from New Orleans (Brother Martin) LA, 12) 6'9 Jr Julian Vaughn from Reston (South Lakes) VA, 13) 6'11 Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 14) 5'11 Soph Korie Lucious from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 15) 6'7 Pierre Niles from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN, 16) 6'3 Jr Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 17) 6'2 Knezevic Nicola from Serbia-Montgenegro, 18) 6'7 Frosh Aaron Moore from Fontana, CA, 19) 5'6 Soph Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 20) 6'11 Jon Uchendu from Pulaski (Robinson) AR, 21) 6'9 Kodi Augustus from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, 22) 6'4 Wesley Matthews from Powder Springs (South Cobb) GA, 23) 6'9 Jarvis Varnardo from Brownville (Haywood County) TN, 24) 6'2 A.J. Slaughter from Shelbyville (Shelby County) KY, and 25) 6'0 Jon Han from Brooklyn, NY.  Our Ranking of the Top Centers in Camp includes 1) 6'11 Soph Byron Mullins from Canal Winchester (World Harvest) OH, 2) 6'9 Jr Julian Vaughn from Reston (South Lakes) VA, 3) 6'11 Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 4) 6'11 Jon Uchendu from Pulaski (Robinson) AR, 5) 6'9 Jr Josh Southern from Saginaw, MI, 6) 6'10 Marresse Speights from St. Petersburg, FL, 7) 6'11 Jonathan Mandeldove from Stone Mountain, GA, 8) 7'0 Mitchell Carter from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 9) 6'8 Jason Love from Jenkintown (Abington Friends) MA, 10) 6'8 Jr Garrett Kissel from Springfield, MA, 11) 7'0 Hamady Ndiaye from Lake Suzy (Florida Prep) FL, 12) 6'11 Jr Robert Sacre from North Vancouver, BC, and 13) 6'10 Frosh Zhun Zheng from Shanxi, China.  Our Ranking of the Top Power Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'9 Stanley Robinson from Birmingham (Huffman) AL, 2) 6'11 Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 3) 6'7 Pierre Niles from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN, 4) 6'9 Jarvis Varnardo from Brownville (Haywood County) TN, 5) 6'11 Tyrell Lynch from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 6) 6'8 Jr Harper Kamp from Mesa, AZ, 7) 6'6 Jr Jamar Samuels from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, and 8) 6'8 Daniel Deane from Salt Lake City (Judge Memorial) UT.  Our Ranking of the Top Wing Forwards in Camp includes 1) 6'7 Jr Michael Beasley from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 2) 6'5 Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 3) 6'7 Quincy Pondexter from  Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 4) 6'8 Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Mitchell) TN, 5) 6'7 Frosh Aaron Moore from Fontana, CA, 6) 6'9 Kodi Augustus from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, 7) 6'7 Soph Howard Thompkins from Lithonia, GA, 8) 6'5 Lazar Hayward from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, and 9) 6'8 Peng Zhou from Guangdone, China.  Our Ranking of the Top Second Guards in Camp includes 1) 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 2) 6'2 Jr Senario Hillman from Irwinton (H.S.) GA, 3) 6'3 Jr Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 4) 6'4 Wesley Matthews from Powder Springs (South Cobb) GA, 5) 6'6 LaShun Watson from Greenville (H.S.) GA, 6) 6'3 Frosh Roger Franklin from Duncanville, TX, 7) 6'4 Reggie Redding from Philadelphia (St. Joseph's Prep) PA, 8) 6'3 Alexander Zampier from East Greenbush (Columbia) NY, 9) 6'4 Jr Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, 10) 6'5 Jr K'len Morris from Grand Blanc (H.S.) MI.  Our Ranking of the Top Point Guards in Camp includes 1) 6'5 Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 2) 6'0 D.J. Augustine from New Orleans (Brother Martin) LA, 3) 5'11 Soph Korie Lucious from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 4) 6'2 Knezevic Nicola from Serbia-Montgenegro, 5) 5'6 Soph Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6) 6'2 A.J. Slaughter from Shelbyville (Shelby County) KY, 7) 6'0 Jon Han from Brooklyn, NY, 8) 6'6 Kevin Galloway from Sacramento (H.S.) CA, 9) 6'0 Jr Venoy Overton from Seattle (Franklin) WA, 10) 6'5 Matt Bouldin from Highlands Ranch (Thunder Ridge) CO, 11) 6'4 Lamar Falley from New Orleans, LA, 12) 6'3 David Schneider from Phoenix (Brophy Prep) AZ, 13) 6'2 Todd Lowenthal from Poway (H.S.) CA, 14) 5'11 Malik Alvin from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA, 15) 6'0 Stephen Curry from Charlotte (Christian) NC, and 16) 6'4 Marcus Relphorde from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL.  Our Ranking of the Top Underclassmen in Camp includes 1) 6'7 Jr Michael Beasley from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 2) 6'11 Soph Byron Mullins from Columbus, OH, 3) 6'2 Jr Senario Hillman from Irwinton (H.S.) GA, 4) 6'9 Jr Julian Vaughn from Reston (South Lakes) VA, 5) 5'11 Soph Korie Lucious from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 6) 6'3 Jr Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 7) 6'7 Frosh Aaron Moore from Fontana, CA, 8) 5'6 Soph Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 9) 6'0 Jr Venoy Overton from Seattle (Franklin) WA,  and 10) 6'9 Jr Josh Southern from Saginaw, MI.  It also should be pointed out that these rankings do not include players on the Hawaii, because none of us saw that team play yesterday.  So don't be surprised if 6'8 Soph Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Hughes) OH goes from not being on the list to ranked among the top players in camp in one day.  Remember, we ranked Yates even higher nationally in the Class of 2008 than Mullins.  And that's saying a lot when one remembers that Mullins is ranked among the top five players in camp by the HOOP SCOOP.  We also have yet to see 6'4 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 6'10 Dexter Pittman from Rosenberg (B.T. Terry) TX, 6'7 Jr Jamelle Horne from San Diego (Hoover) CA, and 6'0 Marcus Lawrence from Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) NV, all of whom are on the original camp roster, and, as a result, we're wondering if they just failed to show, are coming late, and/or are injured? 

Tuesday, July 5, 2005

The Summer Evaluation Period for NCAA Division I coaches doesn't begin until tomorrow, but I'm already in Suwanee, GA for the adidas Superstar All-American Camp and our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin is at the Reebok ABCD Camp in Teaneck, NJ and we've already talked to a lot of the players about their recruiting.  However, we first need to address the two expected verbal commitments that will come tomorrow from 6'10 Caisem Drummond from Bloomfield (Tech) NJ and 6'6 Will Harris from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH on Thursday.  Drummond who is ranked #135 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but has the athleticism, talent, and potential to move a lot higher, is expected to pick Villanova over Wake Forest and Pittsburgh.  And, assuming that we are correct about Drummond picking the Wildcats, this will move Villanova's recruiting class into a tie at #11, along with Texas A&M, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006.  However, even more important, it will give their recruiting class, which already includes 6'4 Reggie Reading from Philadelphia (St. Joseph's) PA, 6'8 Kraidon Woods from Swiftwater (Pocono Mountain East) PA, and 6'9 Andrew Ott from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, an even stronger foundation as they go after bigger fish like 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'9 Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, and 6'8 Earl Clark from Rahway (H.S.) NJ, all of whom have Villanova high on the list.  And, if the Wildcats by some chance hit the jackpot, just like they did four years ago when they got Jason Frasor, Curtis Sumpter, Allan Ray, and Randy Foye, and land  three of them, then suddenly not Ohio State, not North Carolina, and not Duke, but Villanova could end up with the #1-ranked recruiting class.  Do we think this happen?  Probably not.  But isn't as farfetched as you might think.  It appears to be too close to call for Harris among DePaul, Connecticut, and Seton Hall, but it may not matter anyway, because he's already working on his third prep school, as he was at Troy (Redemption) NY year before last and Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME this past season, and his second commitment.  If you will recall, he made it official for Nebraska last fall, but, after also flirting with the idea of entering his name into the NBA, reneged on the Cornhuskers this spring.  We also find it interesting that 6'9 Jr Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, who plays for the NIKE-sponsored Portland Legends club team, has shown up at the Reebok ABCD Camp.  Love, who has emerged into one of the top three rising juniors in the nation, along with 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH and 6'6 Jr Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, mentioned Connecticut, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Arizona, UCLA, and Washington.  The list for 6'5 Jr O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH includes Florida A&M, Connecticut, Syracuse, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Texas.  The only two schools mentioned by 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ were Louisville and Memphis.  Oklahoma, Texas, North Carolina, and Kansas appear to be the leaders for 6'9 Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX.  Kansas, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Missouri, and SMU were mentioned by 6'2 Jr Donald Sloan from Dallas (Seogoville) TX.  Georgetown, DePaul, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia are the leaders for 6'5 Devan Bawinkel from Winnebago (H.S.) IL.  Illinois, Connecticut, Florida State, N.C. State, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and DePaul are all in the hunt for 6'1 Willie Walker from Bolingbrook (H.S.) IL. The list for 6'6 Rob Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT includes Connecticut, Syracuse, DePaul, Miami-FL, and Virginia Tech.  Florida, North Carolina, and Illinois are the favorites for 6'7 Tyler Smith from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA.  Maryland, Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, and Wake Forest were mentioned by 6'4 Jodie Meeks from Norcross (H.S.) GA and Illinois, Purdue, Georgia,  Georgia Tech,  Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Clemson were all mentioned by 6'5 Jr Tony Neismith from Norcross (H.S.) GA.  Georgia Tech, Georgetown, South Florida, Providence, Syracuse, and Marist are showing the most interest in 6'8 Austin Wallace from New York (La Salle) NY.  The list for 6'9 Lance Thomas from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ includes Arizona, Duke, Connecticut, Villanova, Rutgers, Florida, and Louisville.  The early list for 6'1 Jr Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ includes St. John's, Virginia, Connecticut, and Kentucky.  It comes as no surprise that Connecticut, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Villanova, and Rutgers were all mentioned by 6'5 Jr Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ.  Texas and Cincinnati are the early favorites for 6'3 Soph Willie Warren from Ft. Worth (North Crowley) TX, who will be one of the top five sophomores in the nation the next time we update our Ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2008.  An even earlier list for 6'8 Frosh Renardo Sidney from Jackson, MS includes Stanford, Louisville, Rutgers, and Oklahoma, but, even more important, is the fact that his father told Rubin that his son plans to attend Piney Woods (H.S.) MS next year.   It also appears that Texas A&M has gotten another verbal commitment.  This time we're talking about 6'7 Jr Derrick Lewis from Tulsa (Cascia Hall) OK, who not only is a major sleeper, but is versatile enough to play the one, two, and three spots, as he has excellent skills, good athleticism, and can shoot, handle, and pass. 

Saturday, July 2, 2005, Sunday, July 3 2005, & Monday, July 4, 2005

Several years ago one of my competitors told me that he was going to sit down and take the afternoon to publish his ranking of the top recruiting classes.  Well, it normally takes us several weeks and I mention this because it really illustrates just how far ahead of the curve we really are with regards to covering recruiting.  As a matter of fact, with the publication of our list of National Commitments, which provides our list of the signings and commitments through the conclusion of the Spring Signing Period; our Final Ranking of the Top 285 Recruiting Classes For the Class of 2005; our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes By Conference from the Class of 2005; and Different Ways to Look at Recruiting from the Class of 2005 (July 2005), we're talking about the 83 pages and weeks worth of prepartion in order to get all of this published right before the beginning of the summer camp season, which for us starts tomorrow at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp.  And, as usual, we have found some very interesting things.  Like, the fact the Big-12 with Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Texas A&M, Kansas and Baylor and Conference USA with Marquette, Memphis, Louisville, Houston, and Cincinnati each had five of the top 20-ranked recruiting classes and that the Southeastern Conference with Mississippi, Mississippi State, LSU, and Alabama was right on their heels with four top 20-ranked recruiting classes.  And when we dig a little deeper, it becomes even more obvious just how big the Big-12 Conference won this year's recruiting battle, as 10 of our top 50-ranked recruiting classes belong to teams in this league, as Oklahoma State finished ranked #1, Iowa State is #3, Texas &M is #9, Kansas is #16, Baylor is #17, Kansas State is #24, Texas Tech is #29, Nebraska is #32, Missouri is #44, and Oklahoma is #49.  Like, the fact that neither Big-10 nor the Big East has a single school mentioned among the top 25-ranked recruiting classes.  But, when you factor in the fact that Marquette's class is ranked #4, Louisville's class is ranked #17, Cincinnati's class is ranked #19, and South Florida's class is ranked #31 and they all are joining the Big East next year, then it more than compensates for the fact the five highest ranked recruiting classes in the league belong to Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Connecticut, and Providence, all of which fall in the 26-50 on in our Final Ranking of the Top 285 Recruiting Classes For the Class of 2005.  This also explains why the Big-12 Conference and Conference USA finished ranked #1 and #2 in Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes By Conference from the Class of 2005.  It also will probably surprise you when we tell you that the Mid-American Conference finished ranked #7, the Sun Belt Conference finished #9, and the Southland Conference finished ranked #10 in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes By Conference from the Class of 2005.  However, this also is why it is important to look at recruiting in a number of different ways.  Remember, our rankings combine both quality and quantity and, if you're looking to find out just who signed the best players, it's important to look at our section that provides you with Different Ways to Look at Recruiting from the Class of 2005 (July 2005).  And this is where we find out just how well the Atlantic Coast Conference did, as, once again, the league has the highest Talent Rating Average Per Recruit by Conference and Duke and North Carolina both check in with the Highest Talent Rating Average Per Recruit by Team, the Highest Talent Rating For the Top Two Recruits, the Highest Talent Rating for the Top Three Recruits, and the Highest Talent Rating For the Top Four Recruits From This Year And Last Year Combined.  So, when you factor in the fact that the Tar Heels with 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 6'0 Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, and 6'6 Jr Williams Graves from Greensboro (Dudley) NC and the Blue Devils with 6'5 Jr Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, 7'0 Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ, and 6'5 Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA also have the #2 and #3-ranked recruiting classes on our list of Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006, it's even more amazing.  And right up there with Duke and North Carolina on our list of the Highest Talent Rating For The Top Two Recruits and the Highest Talent Rating For the Top Four Recruits From This Year And Last Year Combined is LSU.  Remember, the Tigers landed 6'8 Glenn Davis from Baton Rouge (University Lab) LA a year ago and this year they followed that up with 6'7 Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, 6'9 Kentrell Gransberry from San Jacinto (JC) TX, and 6'11 Magnum Rolle from Laurinburg (Institute) NC.  So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that LSU assistant coach Butch Pierre recently got a big raise!  Memphis also can be found ranked among the top 10 on all these lists and that's really the secret to having a great recruiting class, because it illustrates the fact that there are no weaknesses in their class.  Speaking of the Tigers, if it seems like Memphis is near the top in our ranking of the top recruiting classes every year, it should, because they have benefited by using some of the same players more than once.  And the two most recent examples are 6'9 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC and 7'0 Kareem Cooper from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, both of whom also counted in the Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes from the Class of 2004 when the Tigers had the #3-ranked recruiting class.  That's the good news.  The bad news (at least for Memphis) is that these two players didn't make it academically the first time around and, as a result, had to return to prep school for another year.  And Memphis isn't the only school that you can look back at and see exactly what's happened in terms of recruiting during both the Fall Signing Period and the Spring Signing Period dating all the way back to 1998, as you can click on Top Recruiting Classes and get the archives for the last seven years.  We also think it is important to point out that Oklahoma State's recruiting class, which is ranked #1 in our Final Ranking of the Top 285 Recruiting Classes For the Class of 2005, does not get the respect that it clearly deserves, because junior college players never get the same amount of respect and notoriety that the top high school players do.  However, 6'8 Torre Johnson from Garden City (JC) KS, 6'0 Jamaal Brown from Southern Idaho (JC) ID, and 6'8 Mario Boggan from Chipola (JC) FL were all Junior College All-Americans.  And this class has plenty of depth, as is evident by the fact that 6'0 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Lincoln) TX was named to the McDonald's All-American Team, 6'5 Terrel Harris from Garland (South Garland) TX and 6'6 Roderick Fleming from De Soto (H.S.) TX are both ranked in the 41-70 range nationally in our Final Ranking of the Top 800 Players in the Class of 2005, and 6'11 Kenneth Cooper from Monroe (Richwood) LA has both great size and a lot of potential.  So it should come as no surprise that Oklahoma State's recruiting class checks in at #6, behind North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Memphis, and Marquette and ahead of Syracuse, Connecticut, Maryland, Alabama, Louisville, Baylor, Arizona, Ohio State, Memphis, LSU, Pittsburgh, Iowa State, UNLV, and Notre Dame, DePaul, Texas, Wisconsin, and Clemson, on our list of teams with the Highest Talent Rating Average Per Recruit.

Friday, July 1, 2005

It is the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP to move every high school player in the nation up in class by one year on the first day in July and today happens to be that day.  It also happens to be the day that we finalize our ranking of the Top 100 5th Year Players, which complements perfectly our Final Ranking of the Top 800 Players in the Class of 2005, which was published exclusively in the Members Section yesterday.  And nowhere is the increasing number of players who are going the prep school route more evident than on this list that features 14 players - 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'9 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'8 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, 6'6 Sam Young from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'6 Rob Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'7 Shane Clark from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'8 Leo Criswell from Virginia Beach (Coastal Christian) VA, 6'6 Jeff Adrian from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'8 Taj Gibson from Merced (Stonebridge Prep) CA, 6'9 Vernon Goodridge from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, 6'6 Brandon Rush from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'8 Jonathan Kale from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 6'5 Antonio Anderson from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, and 6'9 Carl Swanigan from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL - who are the equivalent of a top 40 high school nationally.  And of those 14 players, Rush is still available with the Class of 2005 and Thomas, Gibson, and Swanigan will back in prep school for another year next year.  There also are five more players - 7'0 Kareem Cooper from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'4 Martiynas Pocius from Plymouth (Holderness) NH, 6'11 Shawn Taggart from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'6 Will Harris from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) NC, and 6'6 A.D.  Vassallo from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA - who would fall into the 41-70 range and 15 more players - 6'4 Stephon Jackson from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, 6'1 Jovan Adams from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, 6'5 Dwayne Anderson from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'8 Maurice Thomas from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, 6'3 Tyree Evans from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'5 Bobby Clark from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, 6'5 Harvey Perry from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'5 Chris Lutz from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 7'0 Joe Wolfinger from Northfield (Northfield-Mt. Hermon) MA, 6'5 Tommie Liddell from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'3 Chris Howard from Middleburg (Notre Dame) MA, 6'4 Dionte Christmas from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, 6'0 Justin Dentmon from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'4 Roburt Sallie from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, and 6'11 Kyle Luckett from Ft. Wayne (Snider) IN - who would fall into the 71-100 range.  In other words, there are 33 players who are the equivalent of being a top 100 senior who stuck around this past season for a 5th year of high school and/or prep school.  And this trend should get even higher once players at the high school and junior high school stop being worried about passing the SAT and getting their core, because they think they will going to the NBA after one year of prep school.  The complete list is available by clicking onto Final Ranking of the Top 100 5th Year Players for the Class of 2005.  Now also is a good time to point out one very important late breaking change for our list of Recent Signing & Commitments, which will be published tomorrow, as 6'5 Bryan Moten from Cincinnati (Christian Center Academy) OH, who originally committed to Virginia last fall, has reneged on the Cavaliers and now appears to be heading to Bowling Green.  We're talking about the somebody who is ranked #47 in our Final Ranking of the Top 5th Year Players for the Class of 2005 and, as a result, Bowling Green's class moves up to #41 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  If you will recall, the Falcons also have 6'3 Martin Samarco from Schoolcraft (JC) MI, 6'6 Lionel Sullivan from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI, 6'7 Dusan Radivojevic from Serbie and Montenegro, 6'7 Erick Marschall from New London (H.S.) OH,  6'8 Jeremy Holland from Austin (H.S.) IN, 6'4 Darryl Clements from Detroit (Rogers) MI, and 6'5 Nick Wilson from Trenton (Central) NJ already in the fold in what appears to be the best recruiting class among teams that will be in the Mid-American Conference next year.  Another player who has made a verbal commitment that can be found in our Final Ranking of the Top 5th Year Players for the Class of 2005  is 6'6 Gilbert Brown from South Kent (Prep) CT.  Yesterday he picked Pittsburgh over schools like Virginia, West Virginia, Miami-FL, and  Georgia Tech, but he too will return to prep school for another year.  So his commitment can be found on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006.  It also looks like Wake Forest landed the point guard they were looking for in 6'0 Ishmael Smith from Concord (Central Cabarrus) NC, Texas has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'2 Justin Mason from Amarillo (Palo Duro) TX , and Texas A&M has landed 5'11 Bryan Beasley from Pflugerville (H.S.) TX.  Beasley is ranked no higher than #268 nationally in the rising senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  But, admittedly, we haven't seen a lot him and Mike Kunstadt has Beasley ranked #11 in the state in the Class of 2006 on his TexasHoops.com web site.  Combine that with the fact that both Kunstadt and the Aggies coaching staff are both pretty sharp and it looks like Texas A&M may have stolen one.  This also means that year after next Texas A&M will have not one, not two, but three good point guards in the program in Beasley, 5'11 David Devezin from Missouri City (Ft. Bend Marshall) TX, who is ranked #209 nationally in our Final Ranking of the Top 800 Players in the Class of 2005, and 6'3 Eddie Smith from Moberly (JC) MO, who was a consensus top 10-ranked player in the junior college ranks last year.  The same also can be said about Mason, who we have ranked #460 nationally in the junior class, but is ranked #9 in the state in the Class of 2006 by Kunstadt.  We liked Smith well enough to rank him #15 at the point guard position at the NBA Players Association Camp a week ago, but this athletic point guard needs to learn to make better decisions, if he's supposed to be the heir apparent to Chris Paul, who filed for early entry into the NBA Draft this spring and was picked #4 in the NBA Draft, at point guard the Demon Deacons.  However, Smith is good insurance to go along with 6'2 Shamaine Dukes from Cuthbert (Randolph-Clay) GA, who also signed with the Demon Deacons earlier this spring.  We also have gotten several reports about 6'5 Frosh Justin Cerasoli transferring from Seton Hall to the University of Mississippi.  So how does a kid originally from Illinois who signed with a school in New Jersey end up in Mississippi?  Easy if Tracy Dildy, who is one of the best recruiters in the nation and has more than his share of Illinois connections, is an assistant coach on your staff.  It also looks like College of Charleston assistant coach Pat Skerry  has accepted a similar position at Rhode Island.  And this is important for several reasons.  First, Skerry is originally from Boston, MA, which should make the Rams just that much stronger in terms of recruiting in the Northeast.  Second, Skerry is ranked #2 on our list of the Top Assistant Coaches at the Mid-to-Low Division I level, which means he's one of the top up-and-coming guys in the business.  Third, Skerry played a major role in landing the excellent recruiting class, which is tied at #45 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005 and includes 6'7 David Lawrence from Daytona Beach (JC) FL, 6'5 Renardo Dickerson from Miami-Dade (JC) FL, 6'11 Ben Brown from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'4 Ryan Scott from Reston (South Lakes) VA, 6'3 Jeff Brown from Miami (Hernando) FL, and 6'2 Javon Parris from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, that the College of Charleston brought in this year.