NIKE ALL-AMERICAN LIVES UP TO EXPECTATIONS:  FEATURES EIGHT OF THE TOP 11 RISING SENIORS
by Clark Francis, Editor & Publisher of the HOOP SCOOP

                    If you wanted to get a handle on the top players in the Class of 2005, then the NIKE All-American Camp in Indianapolis, IN was the place to be, as the camp featured eight of the top 11 rising seniors in the nation in 6'7 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL, 6'9 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, 6'8 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6'6 C.J Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, and 6'11 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN.  And any way you slice it, McRoberts, Williams, and Hendrix were the three best players in camp.  However, in the end, McRoberts gets the nod based on performance, as he was the most consistent player from start to finish.  However, if we ranked the camp the way most of competition do their rankings and factored in only college and pro potential, then Williams, who is a prototypical NBA point guard, would have easily gotten the nod.  Hendrix, who was the best center in camp, scored around the basket and a force on the boards, as he dominated at what was one of the best and deepest positions in camp.  Hansbrough, who is ranked as high as #1 in the class by one of our competitors, finished ranked #4 in cam by the HOOP SCOOP.  But we still question whether Hansbrough should be ranked higher than McRoberts, Williams, Hendrix, Wright, and Webster, who is still recovering from a broken leg that has kept him sidelined for the better part of six months, and, as a result, he's not going to be ranked among our  top five next time we update our national rankings.   Speaking of Webster, he was one of the most debated players in camp after the first day, because he did nothing in the afternoon session, but was spectacular in the evening session, as he frequently brought the ball up the court and started the offensive, used his great moves and athleticism to get to basket, and impressed us with his ability to hit 3-pointers.  As a matter of fact, Webster was so impressive that he reinforced our belief that he'll be the best player in senior class nationally once he's fully recovered for his injuries and has dropped 10 to 15 pounds.  In other words, the cream really did rise to the top as five of the eight players mentioned above finished ranked among the top eight in camp and two more were ranked among the top 20 in camp. 
                    The lone exception was C.J. Miles, who did make our list of the top wing forwards in camp at #14, but was mediocre at best and, as a result, might have been the biggest disappointment of the entire camp.  However, there were plenty of other players ready to step up and take his place and right at the top of the list were 6'9 Micah Downs from Bothell (H.S.) WA, and 6'7 Jr Isaiah Dahlman from Braham (H.S.) MN.  Downs, who finished ranked #7 overall in camp and #1 at his position, impressed us once again with his athleticism and ability to get his shot from long range, plus he appeared to be less of a defensive liability than he was when we saw him several weeks earlier at the NBA Players Association Camp.  Dahlman, who finished ranked #13 overall in camp, is another athletic white kid who can shoot the lights out and was as good as anybody we saw on the first day of camp.  We also were very impressed by 6'10 Jr Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, who gets ranked as a center, because that's the position he played in camp.  However, Wright is really more of a power forward thanks to his ability to face-up and score away from the basket and incredible athleticism, which will make him a match-up problem waiting to happen for most power forwards at both the college and professsional level.   Previously we had 6'7 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA ranked #22 in the senior class nationally, but, after not taking any prisoners inside and displaying surpring athleticism for somebody his size, there is no question that he will move into the top dozen nationally.  Some people think that 6'5 Chris Douglas-Roberts from Detroit (Cass Tech) MI will someday be as good as 6'6 Malik Hairston from Detroit (Renaissance) MI and 6'3 Joe Crawford from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, but for that to happen, Douglas-Roberts has to become a much better outside shooter.  However, we did like Douglas-Roberts' athleticism, ball handling and passing skills, ability to get to the basket, and ability to rebound for his size.  And, of course there were 6'2 Soph Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St.Mary's) AZ, 7'1 Jr Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ, 6'7 Jr Isaiah Dahlman from Braham (H.S.) MN, 6'8 Jr Bryan Davis from Grand Prairie (H.S.) TX, and 6'9 Jr Kevin Durant from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, who, when combined with Dahlman, gives the camp six underclassmen ranked among the top 16 players in camp. 
                    And that compares favorably to the Reebok ABCD Camp, which had seven underclassmen ranked among its top 16 players, and the adidas Superstar All-American Camp, which had six underclassmen ranked among its top 16 players in camp.  In other words, it really does look like the top players in the junior and sophomore classes nationally are already more than competitive with most of the top seniors nationally.  One of the best players in camp after the first day of camp, July 7th, which was a practice day, was 5'11 A.J. Abrams from Austin (McNeil) TX, who shot the lights out.   However, Abrams cooled off as the week wore and, as a result, dropped to #20 in our final rankings for the NIKE All-American Camp.  We also were very impressed by the performance turned in by 5'11 Deonta Vaughn from Indianapolis (Arlington) IN, who hit three straight 3-pointers, get to the basket, played excellent defense, and ran the show when I saw him on the first afternoon of camp.  As a matter of fact, based on his performance here, Vaughn is a better prospect than 6'0 Dominic James from Richmond (H.S.) IN.   And that's saying a lot when one remembers that James is ranked #67 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP and is already bound of Marquette.  And what about 6'9 David Weaver from Swannanoa (Charles D. Owen) NC, who is very active and athletic inside, as he scores around the basket, rebounds, and passes surpringly well for somebody his size.  The player with the best physical presence in camp was 6'11 Andrew Bynum from Metuchen (St. Joseph) NJ and, thus explains, why he finished as high as he did (#21 overall in camp).  Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis thought 6'7 Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA had one of the best individual performances on the first afternoon of camp, but, in the end, Boykin got edged out by 6'7 Fendi Onobun from Alief (Taylor) TX.  And the deciding factor was Onobun's athleticism.  However, otherwise we think they are both very similar in that they are both undersized power fowards who always go to war.  We also think it is interesting that 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL made a strong case to be ranked as the #1 senior in the nation recently at the NIKE Peach Jam, but finished ranked no higher than #17 by the HOOP SCOOP at the NIKE All-American Camp.  Our theory is that Wright, who will have to project as wing forward, if he wants to someday play in the NBA, is much better right now playing inside, which is where he played at the NIKE Peach Jam.  In contrast, Wright played the wing forward spot at the NIKE All-American Camp, because the unit on which he played had 6'10 Eric Boateng from Middletown (St. Andrews) RI and 6'7 Jr Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY playing center and power forward.   I also personally thought 6'11 Luke Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN should have been ranked much higher than #37 in camp.  However, I only got to see him once and the other six people who helped cover this camp were pretty much in agreement that this was the right range to put him in, so I allowed myself to be overruled. 
                    The best position in camp was the wing forward spot, which featured six of the top 20 players in camp in 6'9 Micah Downs from Bothell (H.S.) WA, 6'7 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL, 6'7 Jr Isaiah Dahlman from Braham (H.S.) MN, 6'9 Jr Kevin Durant from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL and 10 of the top 40 players in camp in Downs, Webster, Brumbaugh, Dahlman, Durant, Wright, 6'7 Chris Knight from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH, 6'7 Casaan Breeden from Clio (Marlboro County) SC, 6'6 Jaron Griffin from Manchester (H.S.) NJ, and 6'7 Jr DeShawn Sims from Detroit (Pershing) MI.  And finishing a close second, also with 10 players ranked among the top 40 in camp, was the center spot, which featured 6'9 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, 6'10 Jr Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, 7'1 Jr Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ, 6'9 David Weaver from Swannanoa (Charles D. Owen) NC, 6'11 Andrew Bynum from Metuchen (St. Joseph) NJ, 6'8 Alfred Aboya from Tilden (School) NH, 6'9 Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 6'10 Magnum Rolle from Freeport, Bahamas, 6'11 Luke Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, and 6'8 Landrell Brewer from Bossier City (Airline) LA, and third was the power forward spot with nine of the top 40 players in camp in 6'11 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN, 6'8 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, 6'7 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA, 6'8 Bryan Davis from Grand Prairie (H.S.) TX, 6'9 Ryan Wright from Mississauga (Loyola Catholic) ON, 6'7 Fendi Onobun from Alief (Taylor) TX, 6'7 Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'8 Echefu Uchechukwu from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, and 6'8 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX.   In other words, 29 of the top 40 players in camp were centers, power forwards, or wing forwards, as only six 2-guards in 6'1 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'5 Chris Douglas-Roberts from Detroit (Cass Tech) MI, 5'11 A.J. Abrams from Austin (McNeil) TX, 6'3 Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, and 6'4 K.C. Rivers from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and only five point guards 6'2 Soph Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 5'11 Deonte Vaughn from Indianapolis (Arlington) IN, 6'4 Jr Jeremiah Rivers from Winter Park (H.S.) FL, 6'0 Justin Dentman from Carbondale (H.S.) IL, and 6'0 Dominic James from Richmond (H.S.) IN made the top 40 list. 

Final Ranking of the Top Players at the 2004 NIKE All-American Camp
(Rankings are based primarily on camp performance)
by Clark Francis, Chris Johnson, Mark Melvin, Linzy Davis, Dinos Trigonis, Roy Schmidt, & Harv Schmidt

TOP PLAYERS AT THE NIKE ALL-AMERICAN CAMP

TOP CENTERS AT THE NIKE ALL-AMERICAN CAMP

TOP POWER FORWARDS AT THE NIKE ALL-AMERICAN CAMP

TOP WING FORWARDS AT THE NIKE ALL-AMERICAN CAMP

TOP SECOND GUARDS AT THE NIKE ALL-AMERICAN CAMP

TOP POINT GUARDS AT THE NIKE ALL-AMERICAN CAMP