The ambitious Mongrel will try to tie a mid-major and a high-major school together in most of the target area states once a week and take a look at some of the recruiting hubub. Today we start in Ohio where all the action has been this week.
Cincinnati Bearcats
The biggest news? I'm sure you've heard, Lance "Born Exploited" Stephenson has committed to the Bearcats as hoops blogger guru Adam Zagoria suggested would happen last week. The Bearcats return almost their entire team from last year and will be a force. The Bearcats will lean on All-Big East Deonte Vaughn to run the show and have a big man to work with in Yancey Gates so the imaginary and totally pretend addition of the young Mr. Stephenson would make them a top 10 team nationally most likely.
But in the real world we all know Stephenson was not shunned by every college he looked at in recent weeks just because of a probable misdemeanor charge for allegedly groping a girl in school. Tyreke Evans can be a hot commodity after much more serious concerns last year. The real concern the colleges who took a close look at Lance had was that coaches believe he has almost no chance of ever being eligible to play college basketball. Any games he plays in will be subject to forfeit because he has so many dollars running through and over him. See the great Pat Forde's ESPN column on Stephenson from earlier this month for a rundown, but reality shows and shoe shenanigans are the most obvious but not complete set of concerns with Stephenson.
Still, its a big splash and that is what Coach Cronin probably wants. And who knows, a year of winning with ineligible kids will come back to hurt the kids who stay but you never know when you will wind up coaching one of the elite programs in the sport and out of harms way as a result (cough, cough no real life similarities will be admitted to). And Cronin is doing a masterful job of building his recently struggling program into a Big East contender without Stephenson. Vaughn and Gates will be joined by Sean Kilpatrick and the Bearcats continue to recruit top talent. The Bearcats are in good shape with Atlanta Celtics 6'8 shot blocker Brandon Mobley of Savannah, Goergia and Mongrel favorite Ricardo Johnson of Covington Holmes, KY in the 2010 class. Coach Cronin and staff continue to track in-state stud Adreian Payne as well as Ronald Ross of Indianapolis Washington and several others. One other instant impact soring guard to keep an eye on is Jesse Berry of Lafayette, Indiana who appears to favor Dayton right now.
2011 recruiting is off to a big start with Bowling Green, Kentucky import Chane Behanan locked up and other targets include point guards Marques Teague and Jeremiah Davis from Indianapolis and Tyrone Johnson of Plainfield, New Jersey as well as big man Robert Goff who is a junior college kid who just transferred and will redshirt a year moving him into the 2011 class. The Bearcats will be spending a lot of time in Bowling Green keeping tabs on Behanan but also working on George Fant who is a top priority in the class of 2011 as well. Prying Fant away from the hometown Hilltoppers will be a chore considering they are on a bit of a roll themselves.
2012 recruiting is continuing to take off with recent offers extended to Speice Indy Stars teammates Ron Patterson, Austin Burgett, and Jeremy Hollowell from Indianapolis. All in all, its a great time to be a Bearcat as long as Born Ready only rocks the boat and doesn't run it ashore.
Dayton Flyers
The Flyers are also making big waves in the recruiting world. The Flyers 2010 class should be among the nation's best once all is said and done. Hometown star Adriean Payne appears ready to wait it out to see who else he would be surrounding himself with, but he is the name floating around just beneath the surface. The Flyers are in great shape with several guards who are arguably almost as good or better, but Payne is the combination of size and athlete rarely seen in mid-major leagues and would be a huge get for the Flyers.
The 2010 class is already off to a big start with 5'11 point guard Juwan Staten already locked up. ESPN's ScoutsInc has Staten as the 43rd ranked prospect in the country. Other key targets for 2010 include Indiana's second leading scorer Jesse Berry of Laffayette, Indiana. Berry had 6 games over 40 points last season and according to Dayton Daily News staff writer Doug Harris is favoring the Flyers. http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/university-of-dayton-flyers/flyers-going-after-guards-181266.html Look for Berry to continue to continue to blow up in July, he is an elite level scorer and has great range. The Mongrel watched him help lead SYF Players to the 17U championship at the Adidas May Classic and he looked a cut above some other talented kids on his team such as 2010 stars Jake Kitchell (Union Co) and Xavier Jones (Gary). Berry's camp has said Kentucky called to check in on him and he is supposed to visit Arizona in August so keep an eye on this situation.
The Flyers are looking to bring in several guards in this class and one of the hottest prospects they are in good shape with is Brandon Spearman from Chicago. He is a 6'3 shooting guard who has been great for the Illinois Warriors this year and is ranked #71 by rivals.com. With the exception of the Ohio Basketball Club, the Warriors have probably had the best spring on the 17U AAU circuit and Spearman has received a lion's share of that credit. The Harris article linked above claims Berry, Spearman, and Jalen Steel of Knoxville have offers and have called the Flyers their favorite. He also mentions an offer to Cameron Wright of Cleveland St Benedictine. Wright is no longer committed to Ohio State after Coach Matta looked to replace him with a higher ranked prospect. This has not deterred the Flyers or Big Ten heavyweights Wisconsin and Indiana. Wright has offers from all three and was heavily recruited by Bo Ryan before his original OSU verbal and was thought to be a natural fit to replace Vander Blue when he first opened things up. But the Flyers and Hoosiers are making strong pushes to land Wright. Wright recently made a second visit to Indiana and took his family with him per a story on Peegs.com, Indiana's excellent Rivals site. In the Harris article mentioned above, veteran hoops scout Van Coleman says Wright's "quickness and explosion in the open court make him a dangerous player." Wright will be playing this July for the King James All-Stars and will probably draw more attention as he missed most of last year with an injury and was not evaluated as heavily as some of his peers in the class.
With four graduating guards the Flyers look to reshape the future of their program by landing a few of these excellent prospects. Keep a close eye on the Flyers, they are recruiting like a Big Ten or Big East program. The Flyers have excellent prospects lined up behind these elite guards already with reported offers out to Josh Sewell of Louisville, Trinity and Jordan Manual of TC Howe in Indianapolis. Other key recruits such as Nick Kellog (Columbus, OH) and Roy Marble Jr (Southerfield, MI) have visited and the Flyers already have in-state power forward Ralph Hill verbally committed so missing out on Payne might only be a speed bump to a brighter future which is already taking shape.
6/30/09
Twitter Tuesday Summer League Tracker
Bittersweet technology simultaneously confounds and tempts the simple Mongrel and nowhere is the landscape quite so vague, yet rewarding as the Twitter fields. Twittatory can be confusing and often searches turn up more than one fish the Mongrel wishes he could throw back. But some good ball is being played, and gettin twitty wit' it is the only way the good Mongrel can come to terms.
GoldandBlack.com has a twitter page the Mongrel has been following for a while now. Purdue has hosted five team camps and several juicy droplets of update mana have flowed from their free twitter page http://twitter.com/GoldandBlackcom. Several links reveal even more detail, but the team camps at Purdue this June have included Whitko winning the small school tournament behind star junior Zach Van DeWater and coach's son Logan Irwin. Irwin is a 5'9 sophomore to be and is one of Indiana's top scoring returning sophomores. Van DeWater is a 6'5 athletic kid with good driving ability and quickness. Indianapolis Pike won Purdue's most recent team camp behind a strong effort from Khristian Smith who has an offer from IUPUI and strong interest other D1 schools including Brad Brownell's Wright State program and Chris Lowery's Southern Illinois machine. Recent Purdue 2010 commitment Donnie Hale from New Albany was up and down, but had a good game against elite 2011 forward Branden Dawson. Dawson is one of the best athletes in the class and has a little bit of a jump shot but will need to keep developing some wing skills or grow into power forward to keep his lofty position in the class of 2011. His upside is unlimited and he simply outclasses good athletes because he's on another level. Rock Island, Illinois star Chason Randle just made it back from the USA 16U team playing somewhere down where snakes get 50 feet long and they make gas out of sugar in time for some good performances as well.
Forgive the Mongrel some map-bending, but excellent and frequent updates of the (deep breath) Hoop Group Metro Summer Showcase provided by NorthStarBball at http://twitter.com/NorthstarBball deserves a special mention. Kids today. Tisk, tisk, tisk. Ok, now that the authoritative Mongrel has spoken he feels better. Several national level stars who are being recruited by Ohio State, Indiana, Kentucky, Marquette, Louisville, and several other areas closer to the Mongrel's lair participated. This year a brawl broke out between Patterson Catholic and Neumann-Garetti in the semi-final. The Hoops Gods are throwing some moving screens and leading with their elbows this morning after being robbed of a showdown between Patterson Catholic and Saint Benedicts. The aging Mongrel has been kicking around thoughts of spinning a yarn for the blog on the fights which have become an epidemic at Chicago Public League games between players in some cases and fans in other cases. Last year games were cancelled, spectators killed, and some games games were played with no spectators at all. Come on fellas, this is a game. If the other guy is better than you or a little meaner than you, you don't get to win by fighting. In fact it kind of makes you look like a wuss when you can't handle getting slapped around a little by somebody who is better or is willing to work a little harder, you gotta prove it the right way boys. Hoops is hoops, non-hoops is non-hoops. The worried Mongrel will keep a close eye on how CPL officials address this problem, but it is not limited to Chicago unfortunately.
OK, this section is where the tricky Mongrel will confuse you with alliteration aplenty and some words that just sort of sound a little funny which might tell similar stories. Bark bark no shell games please. An outstanding blog the Mongrel peruses from time to time is now twitting away. Hoosier Hills Hoops can be found at http://twitter.com/hoosierhills. They reported that defending 4A Indiana state champion Bloomington South crushed New Albany who ended the season #2 in the state in the same class before the tournament. The score was 94-34, but it was the USSFA runner up game. Bloomington South finished the season undefeated last year but lost Indiana Mr Basketball Jordan Hulls. Butler University 2010 commitment Eric Fromm, Xavier University 2011 commitment Dee Davis, and high major 2011 prospect Spencer Turner return along with newcomers first team All-State (AZ) and 2011 Indiana University commitment Matt Carlino and 2012 Illinois import TJ Bell. Turner was fresh back from the Michigan elite camp and the keen Mongrel believes he has gotten in much better shape than he was last summer. The USSFA championship was won by Mount Vernon, which has benefited from the play of a trio of 2010 stars that Hoosier Hoops Report (different from Hoosier Hills Report, see the tricky Mongrel wasn't pulling your leg) says look to be mid majors. Hoosier Hoops Report's twitter page is http://twitter.com/HHReport and they provided some excellent coverage of the event including 3A Mount Vernon's double digit wins over 4A favorites Bloomington South and Carmel. PJ Hubert was lighting it up behind the arch again and Daniel Turner and DeArmond Davis had big tournaments as well. The good Mongrel has been fond of Daniel Turner's game for a while and is looking forward to seeing the trio play this year. Turner is a scrappy fighter and plays strong and is a pretty good athlete at 6'5.
The good Mongrel retreated from the Twitter fronteir to the blogsphere which his mind has finally embraced, and the relieved Mongrel spent some time just looking at some web sites for some other summer league and team camp news. As always, Chicago Hoops and their e-rival Illinois Prep Bullseye both present a wealth of good free information, not to mention Chicago Hoops' premium content. This time we'll site the good work of the Bullseye http://ilprepbullseye.com/page50.html which reported that at the satellite University of Illinois team camp Foreman HS teammates 2010 LeVonte Dority and 2010 Mike McCall were outstanding once again. McCall has recently returned from the Texas AM elite camp and Dority returned from Indiana University's elite camp and both appear to be on a roll this summer. The good Mongrel loves his Chicago point guards. Dority seems to get a bit more national buzz than McCall but the Chicago media seem to see it the other way.
GoldandBlack.com has a twitter page the Mongrel has been following for a while now. Purdue has hosted five team camps and several juicy droplets of update mana have flowed from their free twitter page http://twitter.com/GoldandBlackcom. Several links reveal even more detail, but the team camps at Purdue this June have included Whitko winning the small school tournament behind star junior Zach Van DeWater and coach's son Logan Irwin. Irwin is a 5'9 sophomore to be and is one of Indiana's top scoring returning sophomores. Van DeWater is a 6'5 athletic kid with good driving ability and quickness. Indianapolis Pike won Purdue's most recent team camp behind a strong effort from Khristian Smith who has an offer from IUPUI and strong interest other D1 schools including Brad Brownell's Wright State program and Chris Lowery's Southern Illinois machine. Recent Purdue 2010 commitment Donnie Hale from New Albany was up and down, but had a good game against elite 2011 forward Branden Dawson. Dawson is one of the best athletes in the class and has a little bit of a jump shot but will need to keep developing some wing skills or grow into power forward to keep his lofty position in the class of 2011. His upside is unlimited and he simply outclasses good athletes because he's on another level. Rock Island, Illinois star Chason Randle just made it back from the USA 16U team playing somewhere down where snakes get 50 feet long and they make gas out of sugar in time for some good performances as well.
Forgive the Mongrel some map-bending, but excellent and frequent updates of the (deep breath) Hoop Group Metro Summer Showcase provided by NorthStarBball at http://twitter.com/NorthstarBball deserves a special mention. Kids today. Tisk, tisk, tisk. Ok, now that the authoritative Mongrel has spoken he feels better. Several national level stars who are being recruited by Ohio State, Indiana, Kentucky, Marquette, Louisville, and several other areas closer to the Mongrel's lair participated. This year a brawl broke out between Patterson Catholic and Neumann-Garetti in the semi-final. The Hoops Gods are throwing some moving screens and leading with their elbows this morning after being robbed of a showdown between Patterson Catholic and Saint Benedicts. The aging Mongrel has been kicking around thoughts of spinning a yarn for the blog on the fights which have become an epidemic at Chicago Public League games between players in some cases and fans in other cases. Last year games were cancelled, spectators killed, and some games games were played with no spectators at all. Come on fellas, this is a game. If the other guy is better than you or a little meaner than you, you don't get to win by fighting. In fact it kind of makes you look like a wuss when you can't handle getting slapped around a little by somebody who is better or is willing to work a little harder, you gotta prove it the right way boys. Hoops is hoops, non-hoops is non-hoops. The worried Mongrel will keep a close eye on how CPL officials address this problem, but it is not limited to Chicago unfortunately.
OK, this section is where the tricky Mongrel will confuse you with alliteration aplenty and some words that just sort of sound a little funny which might tell similar stories. Bark bark no shell games please. An outstanding blog the Mongrel peruses from time to time is now twitting away. Hoosier Hills Hoops can be found at http://twitter.com/hoosierhills. They reported that defending 4A Indiana state champion Bloomington South crushed New Albany who ended the season #2 in the state in the same class before the tournament. The score was 94-34, but it was the USSFA runner up game. Bloomington South finished the season undefeated last year but lost Indiana Mr Basketball Jordan Hulls. Butler University 2010 commitment Eric Fromm, Xavier University 2011 commitment Dee Davis, and high major 2011 prospect Spencer Turner return along with newcomers first team All-State (AZ) and 2011 Indiana University commitment Matt Carlino and 2012 Illinois import TJ Bell. Turner was fresh back from the Michigan elite camp and the keen Mongrel believes he has gotten in much better shape than he was last summer. The USSFA championship was won by Mount Vernon, which has benefited from the play of a trio of 2010 stars that Hoosier Hoops Report (different from Hoosier Hills Report, see the tricky Mongrel wasn't pulling your leg) says look to be mid majors. Hoosier Hoops Report's twitter page is http://twitter.com/HHReport and they provided some excellent coverage of the event including 3A Mount Vernon's double digit wins over 4A favorites Bloomington South and Carmel. PJ Hubert was lighting it up behind the arch again and Daniel Turner and DeArmond Davis had big tournaments as well. The good Mongrel has been fond of Daniel Turner's game for a while and is looking forward to seeing the trio play this year. Turner is a scrappy fighter and plays strong and is a pretty good athlete at 6'5.
The good Mongrel retreated from the Twitter fronteir to the blogsphere which his mind has finally embraced, and the relieved Mongrel spent some time just looking at some web sites for some other summer league and team camp news. As always, Chicago Hoops and their e-rival Illinois Prep Bullseye both present a wealth of good free information, not to mention Chicago Hoops' premium content. This time we'll site the good work of the Bullseye http://ilprepbullseye.com/page50.html which reported that at the satellite University of Illinois team camp Foreman HS teammates 2010 LeVonte Dority and 2010 Mike McCall were outstanding once again. McCall has recently returned from the Texas AM elite camp and Dority returned from Indiana University's elite camp and both appear to be on a roll this summer. The good Mongrel loves his Chicago point guards. Dority seems to get a bit more national buzz than McCall but the Chicago media seem to see it the other way.
6/29/09
Jeff Robinson 2009 6'10 Xavier commit!
Hoosierhoopsreport reported yesterday that 6'10 center Jeff Robinson from Jack Keefer's Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis was in the process of committing to play for Xavier this upcoming season. http://www.hoosierhoopsreport.com/smf/index.php?topic=1991.0 This could be quite a coup for Xavier. Robinson is an under the radar prospect but you can blame that squarely on his stunningly talented teammates.
Last summer Robinson had a huge performance at the NBA camp and started showing up on top 100 lists and his ability was no secret to the country's most elite talent scouts. Robinson is very athletic and has great reach. He is a productive AAU player but in high school he actually saw his production decrease from his junior to his senior year. He shared the court with fellow senior Stephen Van Treese who is a 6'9 Louisville commit, 6'9 junior Dominique Fergeson who was at the time committed to UK and is now open, 6'11 sophomore Michael Chandler who along with 6'5 sophomore teammate Ryan Taylor had committed to Rick Pitino and his Louisville program. Many current high major big men couldn't crack that lineup so the mulligan goes out to Robinson who projects to be a fine shot blocker. One other source of playing time traffic jams at Lawrence North was the presence of junior 6'7 wing Justin Martin who was committed to Louisville at the time but has since decommitted. Martin has been mentioned with Xavier in the past and has a relationship not only with Xavier's current staff but also with Coach Miller in Arizona and is currently evaluating schools a second time around.
Robinson was originally committed to Matt Painter and Purdue but when he failed to develop in the classroom and on the court as had been anticipated Painter found a rugged 6'10 post prospect in Sandi Marcius from La Lamurie, IN to replace him this spring. Robinson was still on track to qualify and Painter stuck with Robinson into the summer as his admissions were considered at Purdue's admissions office. Robinson has been clear that he was happy with the universally popular Painter's efforts to bring him in and has pointed to his own disappointing effort in the classroom as a senior as the reason Purdue did not accept him this summer.
But Robinson is not a quitter, he kept his nose to the grindstone and completed the summer courses he needed to get eligible and didn't have a problem with his test scores and finds himself going from a program on the rise with an impressive Sweet 16 run in a major conference to an established program accustomed to playing deep into the tournament year in and year out in recent years. Xavier finds a gem who might benefit from a red shirt year if the Musketeer's other bigs stay healthy but will be an excellent prospect down the road. Meanwhile, Xavier finds itself well on way to developing an impressive Indiana recruiting pipeline. Recent commitment Dee Davis from the 2011 class was the MVP of the state championship in Indiana and has been outstanding this spring and is one of the impressed Mongrel's favorite players in the entire class.
The satisfied Mongrel loves a happy ending.
Last summer Robinson had a huge performance at the NBA camp and started showing up on top 100 lists and his ability was no secret to the country's most elite talent scouts. Robinson is very athletic and has great reach. He is a productive AAU player but in high school he actually saw his production decrease from his junior to his senior year. He shared the court with fellow senior Stephen Van Treese who is a 6'9 Louisville commit, 6'9 junior Dominique Fergeson who was at the time committed to UK and is now open, 6'11 sophomore Michael Chandler who along with 6'5 sophomore teammate Ryan Taylor had committed to Rick Pitino and his Louisville program. Many current high major big men couldn't crack that lineup so the mulligan goes out to Robinson who projects to be a fine shot blocker. One other source of playing time traffic jams at Lawrence North was the presence of junior 6'7 wing Justin Martin who was committed to Louisville at the time but has since decommitted. Martin has been mentioned with Xavier in the past and has a relationship not only with Xavier's current staff but also with Coach Miller in Arizona and is currently evaluating schools a second time around.
Robinson was originally committed to Matt Painter and Purdue but when he failed to develop in the classroom and on the court as had been anticipated Painter found a rugged 6'10 post prospect in Sandi Marcius from La Lamurie, IN to replace him this spring. Robinson was still on track to qualify and Painter stuck with Robinson into the summer as his admissions were considered at Purdue's admissions office. Robinson has been clear that he was happy with the universally popular Painter's efforts to bring him in and has pointed to his own disappointing effort in the classroom as a senior as the reason Purdue did not accept him this summer.
But Robinson is not a quitter, he kept his nose to the grindstone and completed the summer courses he needed to get eligible and didn't have a problem with his test scores and finds himself going from a program on the rise with an impressive Sweet 16 run in a major conference to an established program accustomed to playing deep into the tournament year in and year out in recent years. Xavier finds a gem who might benefit from a red shirt year if the Musketeer's other bigs stay healthy but will be an excellent prospect down the road. Meanwhile, Xavier finds itself well on way to developing an impressive Indiana recruiting pipeline. Recent commitment Dee Davis from the 2011 class was the MVP of the state championship in Indiana and has been outstanding this spring and is one of the impressed Mongrel's favorite players in the entire class.
The satisfied Mongrel loves a happy ending.
Ken Kaminski 2012 Ohio Star in the Making
One of the best players I've seen in the 2012 class is without a doubt Ken Kaminski. This is a kid who is so good he's not going to be able to be referred to as overlooked or underrated for very long so the Hoops Mongrel wants to strike while the iron is hot.
The Mongrel watched Kaminski for the first time this spring playing for Team Pride. He's about 6'5 or 6'6 and extremely athletic. He not only can leap, he also has a little grace to it and some hang time which stands out at this age. And wow, the kid just throws up nice looking 3's with a quick release and Kaminski can flush the ball with authority. He plays with intensity and is really smart. Its hard to be more impressed with a kid in this age group the first time you see him play.
The forthcoming Mongrel is far from the only one noticing, however. The good gentleman the Mongrel sat next to during one of Kaminski's hoops explosions would interrupt stories about his top-secret inside information on Butler basketball's coming ascendency with secret recruits already locked up like Ben Brust and Austin Etherington with several compound words that began with "holy" but ended in ways best not described in such a friendly environment. Kaminski belongs in the same class as other elite 2012 players nationally that the good Mongrel has been fortunate to see such as D'vonte Smith-Rivera, Ron Patterson, Jaylen Beckham, Raphael Davis, Elijah Macon, and AJ Hammons.
Kaminski is from Medina, Ohio and plays AAU ball for an impressive Michigan AAU program by the name of Team Pride. The resourceful Mongrel found google very kind when looking for ooh's and aah's describing Kaminski's game. Saginaw area hoops guru Lou Dawkins is one of the sharpest knives in the drawer when it comes to Michigan hoops. Tubby Smith fans might remember Dawkins as a star for Tubby's Tulsa squads. He has a blog at http://www.botbscouting.blogspot.com/ that does some great event recaps and scouting and the grateful Mongrel will return to this well a time or two at least when doing our Michigan hoops homework. Look for Dawkins' event recaps in the May archive and you'll find an entry from the IPS Border Battle in which he refers to Kaminski as a "potential McDonalds All-American" and comfortably suggests he might be the best player in Ohio's 2012 class including Macon and (at that time) Behanon. Take a look at Kaminski and you'll be a fan. Quickness, skill, intangibles, range, hops, this kid has it all.
The Mongrel watched Kaminski for the first time this spring playing for Team Pride. He's about 6'5 or 6'6 and extremely athletic. He not only can leap, he also has a little grace to it and some hang time which stands out at this age. And wow, the kid just throws up nice looking 3's with a quick release and Kaminski can flush the ball with authority. He plays with intensity and is really smart. Its hard to be more impressed with a kid in this age group the first time you see him play.
The forthcoming Mongrel is far from the only one noticing, however. The good gentleman the Mongrel sat next to during one of Kaminski's hoops explosions would interrupt stories about his top-secret inside information on Butler basketball's coming ascendency with secret recruits already locked up like Ben Brust and Austin Etherington with several compound words that began with "holy" but ended in ways best not described in such a friendly environment. Kaminski belongs in the same class as other elite 2012 players nationally that the good Mongrel has been fortunate to see such as D'vonte Smith-Rivera, Ron Patterson, Jaylen Beckham, Raphael Davis, Elijah Macon, and AJ Hammons.
Kaminski is from Medina, Ohio and plays AAU ball for an impressive Michigan AAU program by the name of Team Pride. The resourceful Mongrel found google very kind when looking for ooh's and aah's describing Kaminski's game. Saginaw area hoops guru Lou Dawkins is one of the sharpest knives in the drawer when it comes to Michigan hoops. Tubby Smith fans might remember Dawkins as a star for Tubby's Tulsa squads. He has a blog at http://www.botbscouting.blogspot.com/ that does some great event recaps and scouting and the grateful Mongrel will return to this well a time or two at least when doing our Michigan hoops homework. Look for Dawkins' event recaps in the May archive and you'll find an entry from the IPS Border Battle in which he refers to Kaminski as a "potential McDonalds All-American" and comfortably suggests he might be the best player in Ohio's 2012 class including Macon and (at that time) Behanon. Take a look at Kaminski and you'll be a fan. Quickness, skill, intangibles, range, hops, this kid has it all.
6/28/09
10 Most Underrated Kids in Indiana
10 best D1 prospects in Indiana who the deep digging Mongrel has not seen on a top 100 list, its getting hard because old secrets like Dee Davis, Jeremy Hollowell, Ron Patterson, are gettin out and showing up already.
1) Jesse Berry 2010
2) Tony Springmann 2011
3) Austin Burgett 2012
4) Zach Van DeWater 2011
5) Edward Seay 2012
6) Gary Harris 2012
7) Justin Gant 2011
8) Kendall Griffin 2011
9) Jake Kitchell 2010
10) Xavier Jones 2010
Indiana is so deep in talent in the 2011 and 2012 classes the overwhelmed Mongrel figures there are at least a dozen kids who'll show up on top 100 lists in those classes that have yet to prove themselves to the right people, it'll be a constant update/edit task because the Hoosier state is well scouted and wonderful web sites (many are linked at the bottom of the Mongrel's home page) like Hoosier Hoops Report and the Indiana and Purdue rivals sites as well as Indiana's Scout site do spectacular jobs of covering local talent. * Edit one 6/30/09 my #1 on the list was Cody Zeller and he showed up #57 on Scout.com's top 75 list for 2011. Austin Etherington was on the list too removing him from future consideration of our 10 Snubbed Hoosiers.
There are more AAU programs in Indiana than stars in the sky and the school coaches there entertain in front of the biggest crowds in the country. The nomadic Mongrel has roots all around, but nowhere is basketball so beloved and so organized and efficient as you see in the Hoosier state. Kentucky is a good comparison but its more a religion in Kentucky and an probably more of an art in the Hoosier state. The well traveled Mongrel grew up in Rex Chapman country and had a lot of years in Damon Bailey country as well. Hoosiers love their hoops and the maters are pret near heavenly right time of year in Indiana too. And there's good basketball year round. The conflicted Mongrel included Seay and Harris in 2012 going blind for now but the wisest owls in the barn consistently say they are big time so the Mongrel is going to err on the side of caution for now.
1) Jesse Berry 2010
2) Tony Springmann 2011
3) Austin Burgett 2012
4) Zach Van DeWater 2011
5) Edward Seay 2012
6) Gary Harris 2012
7) Justin Gant 2011
8) Kendall Griffin 2011
9) Jake Kitchell 2010
10) Xavier Jones 2010
Indiana is so deep in talent in the 2011 and 2012 classes the overwhelmed Mongrel figures there are at least a dozen kids who'll show up on top 100 lists in those classes that have yet to prove themselves to the right people, it'll be a constant update/edit task because the Hoosier state is well scouted and wonderful web sites (many are linked at the bottom of the Mongrel's home page) like Hoosier Hoops Report and the Indiana and Purdue rivals sites as well as Indiana's Scout site do spectacular jobs of covering local talent. * Edit one 6/30/09 my #1 on the list was Cody Zeller and he showed up #57 on Scout.com's top 75 list for 2011. Austin Etherington was on the list too removing him from future consideration of our 10 Snubbed Hoosiers.
There are more AAU programs in Indiana than stars in the sky and the school coaches there entertain in front of the biggest crowds in the country. The nomadic Mongrel has roots all around, but nowhere is basketball so beloved and so organized and efficient as you see in the Hoosier state. Kentucky is a good comparison but its more a religion in Kentucky and an probably more of an art in the Hoosier state. The well traveled Mongrel grew up in Rex Chapman country and had a lot of years in Damon Bailey country as well. Hoosiers love their hoops and the maters are pret near heavenly right time of year in Indiana too. And there's good basketball year round. The conflicted Mongrel included Seay and Harris in 2012 going blind for now but the wisest owls in the barn consistently say they are big time so the Mongrel is going to err on the side of caution for now.
Evan Daniels says Ge'Lawn Guyn to Charlotte!
Great get for the A10 program. The limited Mongrel just blogged on Guyn yesterday and predicted another home run for Western Kentucky but he was caught in Charlotte's Web and no one escapes that gentle embrace. Good for Ge'Lawn we look forward to seeing him hooking up with Chris Braswell on dimes deep in the tournament in a few years. For more information on what kind of game Guyn plays see the eager Mongrel's entry from yesterday.
Nice job Evan Daniels as always with the Scoop. Evan's work is posted on Scout.com and he and Dave Telep are the friendly Mongrel's favorite national scouting team amongst the new wave scouting services. They do great work and see a ton of people and the humble Mongrel is always eager to read what they have to say. Here's a link, probably a premium article you'd have to do a free trial for to check it out. http://scouthoops.scout.com/2/875594.html Scout has several good basketball recruiting team sites, the Mongrel is fond of John Decker's HoosierNation and the Michigan sites most particularly but their real specialty is their national scouting.
Nice job Evan Daniels as always with the Scoop. Evan's work is posted on Scout.com and he and Dave Telep are the friendly Mongrel's favorite national scouting team amongst the new wave scouting services. They do great work and see a ton of people and the humble Mongrel is always eager to read what they have to say. Here's a link, probably a premium article you'd have to do a free trial for to check it out. http://scouthoops.scout.com/2/875594.html Scout has several good basketball recruiting team sites, the Mongrel is fond of John Decker's HoosierNation and the Michigan sites most particularly but their real specialty is their national scouting.
10 Most Underrated Kids in Kentucky
For this post, I'm omitting anyone I've seen on top 100 lists. Let me know if someone is on a legit top 100 list.
1. Ricardo Johnson 2010
2. George Fant 2011
3. Josh Sewell 2010
4. Ge'Lawn Guyn 2010
5. Tommy Knipp 2011
6. Elijah Pittman 2010
7. Vinnie Zollo 2011
8. Tameron Manning 2012
9. Chad Jackson 2010
10. Dakotah Euton 2010
The diligent Mongrel found Jaylen Beckham ranked #36 on ny2la's national list and dropped him from the #1 spot. Its a pay site the frugal Mongrel hasn't perused yet but this link to one of my favorite blogs had the low down. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/2009/06/lexcath-sophomore-tabbed.html We will be linking Mr Demling as a matter of course on matters relating to the sacred Golden Triangle schools (UL, IU, and UK) who own more titles and have more coming than anybody you'll find on Tobacco Road. This ny2la was sharp as a tack to include some of the kids it did (Jeremy Holowell for example will be awesome but is a bit of a secret) so it might be worth a look. It almost made us not include Manning at #8 but at least we got workhorse forward Dakota Euton on the updated list.
1. Ricardo Johnson 2010
2. George Fant 2011
3. Josh Sewell 2010
4. Ge'Lawn Guyn 2010
5. Tommy Knipp 2011
6. Elijah Pittman 2010
7. Vinnie Zollo 2011
8. Tameron Manning 2012
9. Chad Jackson 2010
10. Dakotah Euton 2010
The diligent Mongrel found Jaylen Beckham ranked #36 on ny2la's national list and dropped him from the #1 spot. Its a pay site the frugal Mongrel hasn't perused yet but this link to one of my favorite blogs had the low down. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/2009/06/lexcath-sophomore-tabbed.html We will be linking Mr Demling as a matter of course on matters relating to the sacred Golden Triangle schools (UL, IU, and UK) who own more titles and have more coming than anybody you'll find on Tobacco Road. This ny2la was sharp as a tack to include some of the kids it did (Jeremy Holowell for example will be awesome but is a bit of a secret) so it might be worth a look. It almost made us not include Manning at #8 but at least we got workhorse forward Dakota Euton on the updated list.
6/27/09
Ge'Lawn Guyn
In the Commonwealth of Kentucky where Daniel Boone learned to fight then love the native people, where spitoons still adorn the patio in front of a few old time general stores, and where hoops will always be as beloved as Ale-8, Knob Creek, and Bill Monroe, the talent is on the upswing especially in the classes of 2011 and 2012. The good Mongrel will have plenty to say about some of those yungins who have sprung from the hollers and cool mountain swimmin holes as time allows on the by and by...
There are some 2010 kids in Kentucky who are going to be wonderful college players. The fortunate Mongrel had the pleasure of watching absolutely supertastic Scott County defeat a tremendomarkarificly talented Lexington Catholic team this spring. Ge'lawn Guyn was sensational. He is only about 6'2 but has long arms and is a high major athlete. Guyn guarded cat-quick Jaylen Beckham (2012) for much of the game. The good Mongrel believes Beckham to be the best college prospect in the state although the Mongrel is still yearning to get a gander at Bowling Green's new Cincinnati import. Beckham is quicker n a five legged hound but Guyn was ok with that. Guyn can drive like you'd want a high major point guard to drive, he's got a good but not terrific handle at point. One draw back is that Guyn doesn't seem to have a go-to offensive weapon yet. He can shoot some and looks ok doing it but prolly not where he'll hang his hat.
The lucky Mongrel was fortunate to see Guyn in May for Indiana Elite (Fox) light up superstar Michigan recruit Tyrone Appleton in the first half of an AAU game with a few 3 pointers, and Guyn can get to the hole when he gets a little space. But he's more a guy who can do it than a guy who will do it a lot of times on offense. He doesn't quite dominate his team's pace on offense like the best points do neither. Still, on defense he's what the kids fancy calling da'bomb and his offense is pretty well rounded and capable. The fundamentally challenged Mongrel was quite pleased with watching Guyn try to defend the stupendumagnificentaliciously talented driving machine Keith Appling, who naturally ended up having a good game. Guyn would pick him up quickly, the keen Mongrel saw him peeking over his shoulders at the right time to make sure no screens were coming up on him and Appling still got a few on him but did most of his damage with Ge'lawn on the bench.
Guyn gets the defensive side of point guard and is a good but not freaky good athlete, the Mongrel hears word Guyn is loving Western Kentucky in a direct and passionate way and also has an offer from Charlotte and likes them an awful lot. He's had high majors kickin around and a good July might see Indiana, Arizona, or Louisville to jump all the way in bed with him or some new stranger in the night but the Mongrel suspects Western Kentucky might be getting the call before anybody new gets invited upstairs. The insightful Mongrel thinks Guyn would handle himself pretty well anywhere he goes if he keeps making the can into do, especially after he cuts his teeth a bit. Guyn don't have that one lure thats gonna always take home the lunker like Appleton can get to the hole anytime agin anybody but Guyn might be better at the rest of being a high major point guard than Appling if you get my drift. Appling is a gifted athlete and going somewhere that he'll be taught how to be sompin' else most likely too and he'll be able to score when he walks into the buildin. Guyn ain't gonna be on everybody's top 50 list like Appling, but he has a lotta good ball to be played. It'll be fun to see who is what in five years when these fine players are leaving with educations and bright futures ahead of 'em.
There are some 2010 kids in Kentucky who are going to be wonderful college players. The fortunate Mongrel had the pleasure of watching absolutely supertastic Scott County defeat a tremendomarkarificly talented Lexington Catholic team this spring. Ge'lawn Guyn was sensational. He is only about 6'2 but has long arms and is a high major athlete. Guyn guarded cat-quick Jaylen Beckham (2012) for much of the game. The good Mongrel believes Beckham to be the best college prospect in the state although the Mongrel is still yearning to get a gander at Bowling Green's new Cincinnati import. Beckham is quicker n a five legged hound but Guyn was ok with that. Guyn can drive like you'd want a high major point guard to drive, he's got a good but not terrific handle at point. One draw back is that Guyn doesn't seem to have a go-to offensive weapon yet. He can shoot some and looks ok doing it but prolly not where he'll hang his hat.
The lucky Mongrel was fortunate to see Guyn in May for Indiana Elite (Fox) light up superstar Michigan recruit Tyrone Appleton in the first half of an AAU game with a few 3 pointers, and Guyn can get to the hole when he gets a little space. But he's more a guy who can do it than a guy who will do it a lot of times on offense. He doesn't quite dominate his team's pace on offense like the best points do neither. Still, on defense he's what the kids fancy calling da'bomb and his offense is pretty well rounded and capable. The fundamentally challenged Mongrel was quite pleased with watching Guyn try to defend the stupendumagnificentaliciously talented driving machine Keith Appling, who naturally ended up having a good game. Guyn would pick him up quickly, the keen Mongrel saw him peeking over his shoulders at the right time to make sure no screens were coming up on him and Appling still got a few on him but did most of his damage with Ge'lawn on the bench.
Guyn gets the defensive side of point guard and is a good but not freaky good athlete, the Mongrel hears word Guyn is loving Western Kentucky in a direct and passionate way and also has an offer from Charlotte and likes them an awful lot. He's had high majors kickin around and a good July might see Indiana, Arizona, or Louisville to jump all the way in bed with him or some new stranger in the night but the Mongrel suspects Western Kentucky might be getting the call before anybody new gets invited upstairs. The insightful Mongrel thinks Guyn would handle himself pretty well anywhere he goes if he keeps making the can into do, especially after he cuts his teeth a bit. Guyn don't have that one lure thats gonna always take home the lunker like Appleton can get to the hole anytime agin anybody but Guyn might be better at the rest of being a high major point guard than Appling if you get my drift. Appling is a gifted athlete and going somewhere that he'll be taught how to be sompin' else most likely too and he'll be able to score when he walks into the buildin. Guyn ain't gonna be on everybody's top 50 list like Appling, but he has a lotta good ball to be played. It'll be fun to see who is what in five years when these fine players are leaving with educations and bright futures ahead of 'em.
Who Da Mongrel? What he know?
Nobody and Nuttin.
I'll say it again. Nobody and Nuttin.
Now whats the duplicitous Mongrel tryin to say? Here my words, read them they don't mean nuttin? Yep, sort a.
Take the simple Mongrel for what he blog. The keen Mongrel is a smart dude, the handsomely weathered Mongrel has seen thousands of hoops games. But so are you dear reader, you chased down some anonymous humble hoops blog and start countin da games people who'd look for such nonesense have watched and you'd be surprised. The clear sighted Mongrel would consider the opinion of anybody on anytin dey done watched happen a thousand times. The perplexed Mongrel ain't no good at hoops, he's a 6'0 Bill Lambier without the nice mid-range jumper. The good Mongrel runs only when chased and don't care. The confident Mongrel would smoke Rick Majerus in a sprint and might spot him a bucket in a game of one and one though.
The Mongrel understands sumpin important about hoops recruiting that inspired this blog. Other than a hanful of early NBA type of players there are a few hundred kids who will get looked at for division one schools. Some of them would be great playing for Belien but couldn't do what Izzo wants. There's an awful lot of kids around the country who are good enough that if they go to the right place they gonna do real good. Sometimes a kid could play for any system too. But the most important things for this large group of kids is to go where they fit. The wise Mongrel's evaluations are simple. Is there a can? You ain't gonna get many D1 coaches knockin on your door unless you got the ability to suggest you gonna play if everything goes the way people expect. Is there a do? Is the kid a good player right freakin now? Is the kid productive or does the kid heavily influence the game now? The Mongrel is not wise enough to always say who'll go from can to do. You gotta know a kid to say that with any real confidence and even then its far from a science. Is the kid a good teammate that makes his team better? The weary Mongrel sees a lot of me-ism out there and doesn't get too excited about the most talented player on the court when his team does better with his dynamic derriere on the bench. And the number 4 thing you gotta ask is if the kid is a hard worker. Does he bust his butt on defense and spend a lot of time in the gym? Those are the four things the limited Mongrel looks at. See the links at the bottom of the page for more complex individuals with deeper insights and clearer certainties.
The straight forward Mongrel will mostly opine on kids he's seen and get real facty and linky when he gets to talking about kids he ain't seen. Its a big area and the sleuthy Mongrel is seeking under the radar kids so the Mongrel is gonna trust some wise owls and spend time down at the docks shakin down his connections for wise words and then will blog all facty and careful with stuff like that. As time goes on the Mongrel will bank more face time into the far reaches of the target area but he aint afraid to do some homework and gather and point to other people's work to get somebody's story across. There will be some interviews and college team recruiting reports as well.
I'll say it again. Nobody and Nuttin.
Now whats the duplicitous Mongrel tryin to say? Here my words, read them they don't mean nuttin? Yep, sort a.
Take the simple Mongrel for what he blog. The keen Mongrel is a smart dude, the handsomely weathered Mongrel has seen thousands of hoops games. But so are you dear reader, you chased down some anonymous humble hoops blog and start countin da games people who'd look for such nonesense have watched and you'd be surprised. The clear sighted Mongrel would consider the opinion of anybody on anytin dey done watched happen a thousand times. The perplexed Mongrel ain't no good at hoops, he's a 6'0 Bill Lambier without the nice mid-range jumper. The good Mongrel runs only when chased and don't care. The confident Mongrel would smoke Rick Majerus in a sprint and might spot him a bucket in a game of one and one though.
The Mongrel understands sumpin important about hoops recruiting that inspired this blog. Other than a hanful of early NBA type of players there are a few hundred kids who will get looked at for division one schools. Some of them would be great playing for Belien but couldn't do what Izzo wants. There's an awful lot of kids around the country who are good enough that if they go to the right place they gonna do real good. Sometimes a kid could play for any system too. But the most important things for this large group of kids is to go where they fit. The wise Mongrel's evaluations are simple. Is there a can? You ain't gonna get many D1 coaches knockin on your door unless you got the ability to suggest you gonna play if everything goes the way people expect. Is there a do? Is the kid a good player right freakin now? Is the kid productive or does the kid heavily influence the game now? The Mongrel is not wise enough to always say who'll go from can to do. You gotta know a kid to say that with any real confidence and even then its far from a science. Is the kid a good teammate that makes his team better? The weary Mongrel sees a lot of me-ism out there and doesn't get too excited about the most talented player on the court when his team does better with his dynamic derriere on the bench. And the number 4 thing you gotta ask is if the kid is a hard worker. Does he bust his butt on defense and spend a lot of time in the gym? Those are the four things the limited Mongrel looks at. See the links at the bottom of the page for more complex individuals with deeper insights and clearer certainties.
The straight forward Mongrel will mostly opine on kids he's seen and get real facty and linky when he gets to talking about kids he ain't seen. Its a big area and the sleuthy Mongrel is seeking under the radar kids so the Mongrel is gonna trust some wise owls and spend time down at the docks shakin down his connections for wise words and then will blog all facty and careful with stuff like that. As time goes on the Mongrel will bank more face time into the far reaches of the target area but he aint afraid to do some homework and gather and point to other people's work to get somebody's story across. There will be some interviews and college team recruiting reports as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)