Poor Bruce Weber, everywhere he goes he sees the Mongrel's ugly mug. Unlike most of his rivals, Coach Weber has a top notch 2010 class lined up so he has the luxury of giving all of his attention to the younger guys. Coach Weber was front and center for the 8:00 AM game for Spiece Indy Stars 2012, then slipped away into the auxiliary gym for the 9:15 AM game between Up Tempo (Gary Harris) 2012 and the Spiece Indy Heat 2013 team who played up. Coach Weber then went to SOAS tof the 10:30 AM game of Spiece Indy heat squad with Illini target DeJuan Marrero and several other prospects of note. Later in the afternoon Weber was among the coaches at the 2012 Spiece Indy Stars second victory and again at the second victory for the Spiece Indy Heat team with Marrero, Hammons, etc. He is making it clear to the kids in the Spiece program from 2012 that they are a top priority.
In the second game for the Spiece Indy Stars, they once again won easily. Patterson, Hollowell, Burgett, and Hartman were all excellent. Austin Burgett is better every time I watch him. He's getting a little stronger and more aggressive.
The Spiece Indy Heat Quarles team was outstanding in their second game as well. They outclassed their opponents and Dequan Marrero from Merrillville, Indiana was a monster cleaning up everyone's mess. Yogi Ferrel from Park Tudor (Indianapolis) was outstanding as well. Ohio got a steal in 6'11 Ethan Jacobs who looks great, and the other big kid AJ Hammons didn't play at all in this one. He missed the second half earlier today.
More updates to come late tonight or tomorrow, hope you had a good day of hoops watching if you were out or hoop-envy if you were at home in front of the glowing box.
7/6/09
Hoosier Shootout Update 2
Ok, back in between venues and sorry sorry Spiece Indy Stars for mislabeling you as Heat this morning (2012 anyway, I think the 13 was Heat at least for now)...
I missed the beginning of the 10:30 AM games at Sports of All Sorts so won't be able to offer stats yet. The program with all the rosters was also $125 so forgive me for using some numbers til I can double check a few things. Well, I suppose I'm a blogger and under some sort of organizational code to mess things up a little so I will jump in a little more than I should before I can look up some correct spellings.
10:30 games at SOAS first caught the Spiece Indy Heat (for real this time) Quarles team. They are a little different than last time I got to see them and some of the younger kids are playing up a year now. Purdue commit Raphael Davis, DeJuan Marrero, AJ Hammons, and Yogi Ferrel headline this group. I've been a little lukewarm on Yogi's potential as a high major player because of his size, but he continues to grow on me. The 2012 kids on the team were joined by some older kids. Brad Elam from Ben Davis handled point most of the game. I continue to be more and more impressed with Khristian Smith. He isn't the go for the jugular scorer that Raphael Davis is, but seeing them play next to each other I think Raphael can learn a lot from his game. Smith is about the same size and a good athlete and has good reach. I expect Smith to have a huge year this year for Pike. They won the recent high school summer shootout at Purdue University without Teague. Hammons didn't play at all in the second half, no word on why. Rangy combo guard Steven Jamison also handled himself well. The juniors have a year on the more hyped younger kids, and they played like it today. Bruce Weber and Tom Crean must be riding together because they were there at Arlington this morning and at SOAS later in the morning. They were joined by Mike Lewis from Eastern Illinois and coaches from Lipscomb, Drake, Southern Illinois, and other squads to watch the Indy Heat win this one 82-36 against the Runners.
Team Southern Indiana red beat Minnesota select 68-44, will have a little more on this one tomorrow after digging for some rosters.
The best player I've seen today so far is Christian Kabongo. He's the most talented certainly, I'm hearing he plays for Mt Zion Academy and he was on a team from Toronto and he is a gifted athlete and scored 30 points and had to be close to a triple double. He brought the ball up and has a great handle but goes between his legs constantly and overdoes it some. I heard he has some academic issues but has a Nebraska offer on the table, will find out more about him too.
Team Southern Indiana White beat the Wisconsin Force 60-56. More on this one later.
Over at Warren Central I was able to catch the Atlanta All-Stars dismantle Team Blaze. Team Blaze has hot 2010 recruiting name Crishawn Hopkins who reportedly has a recent offer from Miami (Oh) and was outstanding at Miami and Indiana's elite camps. He was outstanding, a gifted leaper with good range. I didn't catch his point total but he has most of the 30 or so points his team scored. Atlanta All-Stars had several impressive players which I will update later. Wright State, Princeton, North Colorado, Morehead State, and Eastern Illinois coaches were among the crowd gathered for this one.
Peoria Irish beat Camp Daryl 17U. The Irish had a couple of skilled big kids I will be getting back to you on as well.
The Illinois Titans had the most impressive athletes I've seen today as a group. Emanual Ochenje (Illinois offer) was very impressive physically but some of his older teammates were even better and almost as physically gifted. I look forward to seeing this squad again. They dismantled the Kansas Express.
Team Nashville has an extremely impressive player named Robert Wade. I was watching a different game, but I noticed a crowd gathering mostly of other players to watch the display he was pouting on. They were in a good game with the Indiana Dawgs when I left, Cincinnati and other schools had coaches on hand. More on this, you guessed it, later...
Back over at SOAS for the Spiece Select 2011 team (playing up with 2010) and Spiece Select won by 15. I didn't get to see the beginning of the game so I'll update the scores later. Coaches from Michigan and other schools were on hand for this one.
The Nashville Celtics Green had a few impressive players. They were beating the Michigan Mavericks when I left the building. The Mavericks point guard was very impressive and coaches from Vanderbilt and Michigan were on hand for the game among others.
More later, on my way to see the Spiece Indy Stars 15U team one more time at Arlington then back to Warren Central for another round of games before I retire for the evening...
I missed the beginning of the 10:30 AM games at Sports of All Sorts so won't be able to offer stats yet. The program with all the rosters was also $125 so forgive me for using some numbers til I can double check a few things. Well, I suppose I'm a blogger and under some sort of organizational code to mess things up a little so I will jump in a little more than I should before I can look up some correct spellings.
10:30 games at SOAS first caught the Spiece Indy Heat (for real this time) Quarles team. They are a little different than last time I got to see them and some of the younger kids are playing up a year now. Purdue commit Raphael Davis, DeJuan Marrero, AJ Hammons, and Yogi Ferrel headline this group. I've been a little lukewarm on Yogi's potential as a high major player because of his size, but he continues to grow on me. The 2012 kids on the team were joined by some older kids. Brad Elam from Ben Davis handled point most of the game. I continue to be more and more impressed with Khristian Smith. He isn't the go for the jugular scorer that Raphael Davis is, but seeing them play next to each other I think Raphael can learn a lot from his game. Smith is about the same size and a good athlete and has good reach. I expect Smith to have a huge year this year for Pike. They won the recent high school summer shootout at Purdue University without Teague. Hammons didn't play at all in the second half, no word on why. Rangy combo guard Steven Jamison also handled himself well. The juniors have a year on the more hyped younger kids, and they played like it today. Bruce Weber and Tom Crean must be riding together because they were there at Arlington this morning and at SOAS later in the morning. They were joined by Mike Lewis from Eastern Illinois and coaches from Lipscomb, Drake, Southern Illinois, and other squads to watch the Indy Heat win this one 82-36 against the Runners.
Team Southern Indiana red beat Minnesota select 68-44, will have a little more on this one tomorrow after digging for some rosters.
The best player I've seen today so far is Christian Kabongo. He's the most talented certainly, I'm hearing he plays for Mt Zion Academy and he was on a team from Toronto and he is a gifted athlete and scored 30 points and had to be close to a triple double. He brought the ball up and has a great handle but goes between his legs constantly and overdoes it some. I heard he has some academic issues but has a Nebraska offer on the table, will find out more about him too.
Team Southern Indiana White beat the Wisconsin Force 60-56. More on this one later.
Over at Warren Central I was able to catch the Atlanta All-Stars dismantle Team Blaze. Team Blaze has hot 2010 recruiting name Crishawn Hopkins who reportedly has a recent offer from Miami (Oh) and was outstanding at Miami and Indiana's elite camps. He was outstanding, a gifted leaper with good range. I didn't catch his point total but he has most of the 30 or so points his team scored. Atlanta All-Stars had several impressive players which I will update later. Wright State, Princeton, North Colorado, Morehead State, and Eastern Illinois coaches were among the crowd gathered for this one.
Peoria Irish beat Camp Daryl 17U. The Irish had a couple of skilled big kids I will be getting back to you on as well.
The Illinois Titans had the most impressive athletes I've seen today as a group. Emanual Ochenje (Illinois offer) was very impressive physically but some of his older teammates were even better and almost as physically gifted. I look forward to seeing this squad again. They dismantled the Kansas Express.
Team Nashville has an extremely impressive player named Robert Wade. I was watching a different game, but I noticed a crowd gathering mostly of other players to watch the display he was pouting on. They were in a good game with the Indiana Dawgs when I left, Cincinnati and other schools had coaches on hand. More on this, you guessed it, later...
Back over at SOAS for the Spiece Select 2011 team (playing up with 2010) and Spiece Select won by 15. I didn't get to see the beginning of the game so I'll update the scores later. Coaches from Michigan and other schools were on hand for this one.
The Nashville Celtics Green had a few impressive players. They were beating the Michigan Mavericks when I left the building. The Mavericks point guard was very impressive and coaches from Vanderbilt and Michigan were on hand for the game among others.
More later, on my way to see the Spiece Indy Stars 15U team one more time at Arlington then back to Warren Central for another round of games before I retire for the evening...
Hoosier Shootout Draws Crean, Weber, and hoops!
Here's the first update, sorry it will be brief as I am on my way to another venue and stopped at Panera for some free wireless and expensive coffee (funny how free always goes hand in hand with expensive).
This morning's games at Arlington HS for the 15U games drew quite a crowd. Tom Crean, Bruce Weber, and other coaches were on hand to see Spiece Indy Stars demolish an outmatched Peoria Irsish team 89-41. Ron Patterson led the way with 18 and Jeremy Hollowell had 15 and several others were in double figures.
Club Indy beat Terry Porter Elite at the 15U age group 50-35. St David's beat Nebraska Elite 52-44.
Weber, Crean, and the Mongrel made their way to the alternate gym to watch an impressive match between Up Tempo and Spiece Indy Heat 2013 who was playing up a grade. The incoming freshmen had several impressive performers but Up Tempo was pulling away when the Mongrel made his way out with about 4 minutes left. The most impressive player for Up Tempo and one of the players drawing high rollers like the Mongrel and those two coaches I mentioned before was Gary Harris. More later about how he played, he was extremely impressive but got hurt early in the second half in a collision. The injury didn't look to be serious.
Will update more in a couple of hours when I'm on my way from SOAS to Warren Central in a little while.
This morning's games at Arlington HS for the 15U games drew quite a crowd. Tom Crean, Bruce Weber, and other coaches were on hand to see Spiece Indy Stars demolish an outmatched Peoria Irsish team 89-41. Ron Patterson led the way with 18 and Jeremy Hollowell had 15 and several others were in double figures.
Club Indy beat Terry Porter Elite at the 15U age group 50-35. St David's beat Nebraska Elite 52-44.
Weber, Crean, and the Mongrel made their way to the alternate gym to watch an impressive match between Up Tempo and Spiece Indy Heat 2013 who was playing up a grade. The incoming freshmen had several impressive performers but Up Tempo was pulling away when the Mongrel made his way out with about 4 minutes left. The most impressive player for Up Tempo and one of the players drawing high rollers like the Mongrel and those two coaches I mentioned before was Gary Harris. More later about how he played, he was extremely impressive but got hurt early in the second half in a collision. The injury didn't look to be serious.
Will update more in a couple of hours when I'm on my way from SOAS to Warren Central in a little while.
7/4/09
Miami Redhawks land 2 recruits.
The Redhawks have landed two key recruits for their 2010 class. The Redhawks just have 1 out-going senior and would appear to be done with recruiting in the 2010 class.
Recent visitors to Miami include Illinois sharp shooter Alex Dragecevic, Zionsville, Indiana point guard Jack Isenberger, Indianapolis Manual athletic scoring point Crishawn Hopkins, Kentucky state champion Covington Holmes star Ricardo Johnson, and many others for the elite camp. Offers were extended to a handful of players including Hopkins who put on a show at the Miami Elite camp. This put a little pressure on the current offers with only one ride available on paper and brought in the big fish for the Red Hawks.
2010 Josh Sewell was the first commitment for the Redhawks. Here is a free story from Redhawks Insider editor T Tod Mallaun. http://miamiohio.scout.com/2/876908.html Sewell is a star for Louisville, Trinity and some believe the best D1 prospect in Kentucky's class of 2010. He is a 6'5 small forward who has had a big spring this year for his loaded AAU team Shining Stars (McFarland). He will be competing in the Adidas It Takes Five event in Cincinnati on the 6th-9th with that program. Sewell is very focused on academics and has credited Miami's outstanding business school as a key part of his decision.
Miami's business school was also a big factor for point guard Quinton Rollins of Wilmington HS in Ohio. Here is another free Redhawk Insider article on Rollins. http://miamiohio.scout.com/2/876912.html
The scholarship situation might dictate that the Redhawks are done recruiting the class of 2010. They have good relationships and extended offers to the above mentioned players plus Nick Kellog of Columbus (Desales), Jordan Hicks of West Chester, Ohio (Dakota West), Greg Gainey of Dayton's Thurgood Marshall HS, and 6'9 Griffin McKenzie of Loveland (Moeller HS).
In 2011 the Redhawks have extended offers to Gahanna, Ohio's Stevie Taylor and Aaron Cosby who is transferring to a prep school in Massachusettes and will be joining the 2011 class. The good Mongrel likes Cosby's ability to score from the perimeter. You might recall Cosby originally committed to UMass as a 2nd grader (kidding) when Travis Ford was there but has long since decommitted and been making a name for himself with a recent good performance at Indiana University's elite camp.
An excellent source for Miami recruiting news is Miami Hawk Talk Basketball http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home. The grateful Mongrel will be adding them to the links often visited if for no other reason than the outstanding link section with newspaper links for most of the schools in Ohio and surrounding areas.
Recent visitors to Miami include Illinois sharp shooter Alex Dragecevic, Zionsville, Indiana point guard Jack Isenberger, Indianapolis Manual athletic scoring point Crishawn Hopkins, Kentucky state champion Covington Holmes star Ricardo Johnson, and many others for the elite camp. Offers were extended to a handful of players including Hopkins who put on a show at the Miami Elite camp. This put a little pressure on the current offers with only one ride available on paper and brought in the big fish for the Red Hawks.
2010 Josh Sewell was the first commitment for the Redhawks. Here is a free story from Redhawks Insider editor T Tod Mallaun. http://miamiohio.scout.com/2/876908.html Sewell is a star for Louisville, Trinity and some believe the best D1 prospect in Kentucky's class of 2010. He is a 6'5 small forward who has had a big spring this year for his loaded AAU team Shining Stars (McFarland). He will be competing in the Adidas It Takes Five event in Cincinnati on the 6th-9th with that program. Sewell is very focused on academics and has credited Miami's outstanding business school as a key part of his decision.
Miami's business school was also a big factor for point guard Quinton Rollins of Wilmington HS in Ohio. Here is another free Redhawk Insider article on Rollins. http://miamiohio.scout.com/2/876912.html
The scholarship situation might dictate that the Redhawks are done recruiting the class of 2010. They have good relationships and extended offers to the above mentioned players plus Nick Kellog of Columbus (Desales), Jordan Hicks of West Chester, Ohio (Dakota West), Greg Gainey of Dayton's Thurgood Marshall HS, and 6'9 Griffin McKenzie of Loveland (Moeller HS).
In 2011 the Redhawks have extended offers to Gahanna, Ohio's Stevie Taylor and Aaron Cosby who is transferring to a prep school in Massachusettes and will be joining the 2011 class. The good Mongrel likes Cosby's ability to score from the perimeter. You might recall Cosby originally committed to UMass as a 2nd grader (kidding) when Travis Ford was there but has long since decommitted and been making a name for himself with a recent good performance at Indiana University's elite camp.
An excellent source for Miami recruiting news is Miami Hawk Talk Basketball http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home. The grateful Mongrel will be adding them to the links often visited if for no other reason than the outstanding link section with newspaper links for most of the schools in Ohio and surrounding areas.
7/3/09
Hoosier Shootout Preview (Part 2)
Yesterday we discussed some of the programs who will be in Indianapolis for the Hoosier Shootout July 6-9th. See yesterday's entry for updates on the Wisconsin Playground Warriors, Georgia Stars, Team Detroit, Illinois Titans, Randolph Boys Club, Illinois Old School, Peoria Irish, Tennessee Travelers, Shining Stars, Terry Porter Elite, Birmingham Storm, and Wisconsin Force squads. Today we'll feature a few more squads and report back after seeing some of them in action on Monday (the Mongrel will be celebrating nephew Eli's 3rd birthday on the 4th).
The Alabama Terriers are sending their 17U team. Look for Luke Cothron to lead the charge for Coach Wherry's athletic squad. Cothran is a 6'8 power forward rated #37 on Scout.com's new updated 2010 rankings who is a hot name on the recruiting trail for Louisville and several SEC schools.
Eric Gordon Indy All Stars 15U squad is led by Indianapolis Tech guard Momo Cross and Morristown's Dylan Lankabel who both project as future D1 players and should be fun to watch. Cathedral's Paul Bayt is another key player for this club. Here's a link to a blog post from someone close to the Eric Gordon program who talks in more depth about Bayt and Cross and some other Indianapolis area 15U players. http://p-hoops.blogspot.com/2009/04/pitt-jam-fest-report.html
Indiana Elite One Green 16U is not the most well known Indiana Elite team in this age group, but they won the 16U division at the Adidas May Classic and have several outstanding players including the Dontray Chavis and Rontray Chavis from Princeton and Brandon Dunnaway from Corydon. Hoosierscout has some video on Dontay Chavis if you scroll down. http://www.hoosierscout.net/ The Chavis twins are among the most explosive prospects in the country in this class but high majors are worry a bit that they might be undersized as 6'5 power forwards (for now). Both are getting plenty of D1 interest already however.
Parallel 45 has a 17U team at the event. Watch for 2 2011 players who play up with the program. Dwann Anderson is a 6'4 guard from Sutton Bay who has at least a mid-major future and Garrett Mortenson is a 6'0 pg from St Ignacius.
Spiece Indy Fastbreak is a star studded Indianapolis program who are sending a 16U team. Assuming these guys aren't playing up somewhere with a 17U team they have several can't miss prospects. The best is easily Michael Chandler, a 6'11 true center who committed to Louisville as a freshman. As did his high school classmate Ryan Taylor a 6'5 power forward who is also in the 16U age group. PJ Boutte is at least a mid-major point guard and keep an eye on Kenny Enoch, a 6'2 shooting guard who improved quite a bit this school year.
Ohio Gators have a 17U team in the event. They have a trio of seniors in their program who have been drawing good reviews this spring in 6'7 Mark Frilling and 6'0 combo guards Jay Springs and Anthony Henderson.
Spiece Indy Heat has two excellent 17U teams in the event as well as a 14U team playing in the 15U division. This is arguably the strongest arm of one of the premier AAU programs in the country and as always they are loaded with talent. Recent Wright State commitment Kegan Clark is joined by Purdue commitments Donnie Hale and Travis Carrol to lead the 17U Downs team. The Quarles 17U squad has the amazing Deshawn Thomas who is the favorite for Mr Basketball in Indiana and an OSU commit. He is joined by 2011 rivals #2 player Marques Teague and some hidden gems such as Broad Ripple's 2011 6'5 rangy Steve Jamison and other stars. They will also have a 2013 team playing up a year with the 15U and a 16U team (Felding).
Team Detroit has a 16U team in action at the Shootout. Percy Gibson is a 6'8 kid from Detroit Southeastern and along with Country Day's Urban Bigham and Lee Bailey they are going to be a force to be reckoned with at the 16U age group. Watch for 6'2 Ray Lee who has been playing up a year with this team but is 2012.
Spiece Indy Stars 15U team is one of the hottest teams on the recruiting circuit in the 2012 age group. Broad Ripple's Ron Patterson already has several high major offers including Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Tennessee, Illinois, and Cincinnati. The Bearcats have also offered sweet shooting 6'7 forward Austin Burgett and 6'6 wing Jeremy Hollowell. Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Purdue, Ohio State, and other area schools are all over this bunch early. Also keep a watch for 5'9 point guard Kellon Thomas who has a wonderful feel for the game and has drawn interest from many of the same teams. 6'6 Rhett Smith from Sullivan who also will be mid major or high major targets before all is said and done.
Spiece Select 2011 is going to be playing up with the 17U squads. They have made deep runs in almost every tournament since the group has been together and have probably had more head to head success than any other Indiana AAU programs in the 2011 age group. They feature 6'7 Notre Dame football target Tony Springmann. He is a strong, dominant power forward and has high major suitors in both sports. Kendall Griffin and Zach Van DeWater are two big guards to watch as well.
There are too many teams and players for the out-matched Mongrel to keep up with, and when the Mongrel shows up and gets his program half of them will be replaced by other interesting players as the summer teams tend to shuffle a bit between May and July. The Mongrel will keep his eyes open and let his faithful readers (or reader perhaps) in on the low down from the event Monday night at the latest. More kids keep coming to mind but we'll have to stop the preview before the event itself begins, see you out there!
The Alabama Terriers are sending their 17U team. Look for Luke Cothron to lead the charge for Coach Wherry's athletic squad. Cothran is a 6'8 power forward rated #37 on Scout.com's new updated 2010 rankings who is a hot name on the recruiting trail for Louisville and several SEC schools.
Eric Gordon Indy All Stars 15U squad is led by Indianapolis Tech guard Momo Cross and Morristown's Dylan Lankabel who both project as future D1 players and should be fun to watch. Cathedral's Paul Bayt is another key player for this club. Here's a link to a blog post from someone close to the Eric Gordon program who talks in more depth about Bayt and Cross and some other Indianapolis area 15U players. http://p-hoops.blogspot.com/2009/04/pitt-jam-fest-report.html
Indiana Elite One Green 16U is not the most well known Indiana Elite team in this age group, but they won the 16U division at the Adidas May Classic and have several outstanding players including the Dontray Chavis and Rontray Chavis from Princeton and Brandon Dunnaway from Corydon. Hoosierscout has some video on Dontay Chavis if you scroll down. http://www.hoosierscout.net/ The Chavis twins are among the most explosive prospects in the country in this class but high majors are worry a bit that they might be undersized as 6'5 power forwards (for now). Both are getting plenty of D1 interest already however.
Parallel 45 has a 17U team at the event. Watch for 2 2011 players who play up with the program. Dwann Anderson is a 6'4 guard from Sutton Bay who has at least a mid-major future and Garrett Mortenson is a 6'0 pg from St Ignacius.
Spiece Indy Fastbreak is a star studded Indianapolis program who are sending a 16U team. Assuming these guys aren't playing up somewhere with a 17U team they have several can't miss prospects. The best is easily Michael Chandler, a 6'11 true center who committed to Louisville as a freshman. As did his high school classmate Ryan Taylor a 6'5 power forward who is also in the 16U age group. PJ Boutte is at least a mid-major point guard and keep an eye on Kenny Enoch, a 6'2 shooting guard who improved quite a bit this school year.
Ohio Gators have a 17U team in the event. They have a trio of seniors in their program who have been drawing good reviews this spring in 6'7 Mark Frilling and 6'0 combo guards Jay Springs and Anthony Henderson.
Spiece Indy Heat has two excellent 17U teams in the event as well as a 14U team playing in the 15U division. This is arguably the strongest arm of one of the premier AAU programs in the country and as always they are loaded with talent. Recent Wright State commitment Kegan Clark is joined by Purdue commitments Donnie Hale and Travis Carrol to lead the 17U Downs team. The Quarles 17U squad has the amazing Deshawn Thomas who is the favorite for Mr Basketball in Indiana and an OSU commit. He is joined by 2011 rivals #2 player Marques Teague and some hidden gems such as Broad Ripple's 2011 6'5 rangy Steve Jamison and other stars. They will also have a 2013 team playing up a year with the 15U and a 16U team (Felding).
Team Detroit has a 16U team in action at the Shootout. Percy Gibson is a 6'8 kid from Detroit Southeastern and along with Country Day's Urban Bigham and Lee Bailey they are going to be a force to be reckoned with at the 16U age group. Watch for 6'2 Ray Lee who has been playing up a year with this team but is 2012.
Spiece Indy Stars 15U team is one of the hottest teams on the recruiting circuit in the 2012 age group. Broad Ripple's Ron Patterson already has several high major offers including Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Tennessee, Illinois, and Cincinnati. The Bearcats have also offered sweet shooting 6'7 forward Austin Burgett and 6'6 wing Jeremy Hollowell. Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Purdue, Ohio State, and other area schools are all over this bunch early. Also keep a watch for 5'9 point guard Kellon Thomas who has a wonderful feel for the game and has drawn interest from many of the same teams. 6'6 Rhett Smith from Sullivan who also will be mid major or high major targets before all is said and done.
Spiece Select 2011 is going to be playing up with the 17U squads. They have made deep runs in almost every tournament since the group has been together and have probably had more head to head success than any other Indiana AAU programs in the 2011 age group. They feature 6'7 Notre Dame football target Tony Springmann. He is a strong, dominant power forward and has high major suitors in both sports. Kendall Griffin and Zach Van DeWater are two big guards to watch as well.
There are too many teams and players for the out-matched Mongrel to keep up with, and when the Mongrel shows up and gets his program half of them will be replaced by other interesting players as the summer teams tend to shuffle a bit between May and July. The Mongrel will keep his eyes open and let his faithful readers (or reader perhaps) in on the low down from the event Monday night at the latest. More kids keep coming to mind but we'll have to stop the preview before the event itself begins, see you out there!
Hoosier Shootout to Kick off July (Part 1).
The Hoosier Shootout begins at 8 AM sharp on Monday, July 6. Much of the national spotlight will be on Cincinnati this week for the Adidas Take Five tournament which is loaded. But the nearby Hoosier Shootout will draw the Mongrel out of his June cave. Every national scout worth his salt will be in Cincinnati telling the Mongrel the same news, meanwhile a deep and impressive field will be on hand in Indianapolis and the Mongrel will be there with about a million college coaches.
Indiana is a known hotbed of hoops talent and the Hoosier state will be well represented as usual with several Speice, Indiana Elite, Team Southern Indiana, and other programs well represented. Part 2 of the Mongrel's Hoosier Shootout preview will discuss some of the Indiana talent. For now, lets look at just a sample of some of the talent descending on Indianapolis with out of state plates.
Wisconsin Playground Warriors are one of the top AAU programs in the midwest and this year is no different. The 17U team is filled with D1 talent. Evan Anderson (UW), Noah Cotrill (WVU), and Kameron Cerroni (UW-GB) have committed to D1 programs and rugged Dakota Euton was committed to UK before Billy Gillespie was ousted. The Warriors boast one of the most formidable front courts on the circuit with Euton and twin 7'0 towers Anderson and Ben Mills. Mills has offers from Indiana State, Ball State, and UW-GB along with interest from Marquette, Indiana, and Minnesota.
The Warriors younger squads are strong as well. According to Wishoops.net, the two best players in the Warriors system are 2011 Quevyn Winters and JP Tokoto. Winters is a 2011 6'4 wing who has offers from Marquette and Wisconsin and is considering Purdue University and plans to attend the late August elite camp there http://www.wissports.net/sports/hoopsb/blog/blog.aspx?f=123. Tokoto has offers from Kansas, Marquette, and Wisconsin and has been spotted at the Marquette elite camp recently by the JS Online Golden Eagles blog. Both Tokoto and Winters have played up before so check your program the Warriors brought teams in all three divisions. Brett Vandenburgh is another fine 2012 player but he is listed on rosters for both the Wisconsin Playground Warriors and the Wisconsin Blazers.
Georgia Stars are yet another of the country's elite travelling teams, the Georgia Stars are sending their premier 17U team but not the rest of their fleet. The 17U team will be one of the favorites at the Shootout and have several of their own D1 players. Marcus Thornton has already committed to Clemson. According to their Rivals.com profiles, 6'7 power forward Adrian Hubbard has a Clemson offer and is looking at ACC and SEC programs, 6'0 pg Devonte White is looking at ACC and SEC programs, 6'5 Jeremy Burgess is looking at Minnesota, Indiana, Georgia and others, and 6'4 Chris Grier is looking at SEC and ACC programs as well.
Illinois Titans are only sending their 17U team, but they have two outstanding younger players who have been playing up. Watch for 2011's 6'7 power forward James Siakham or even 2012's 6'9 Emanual Ochenje who Chicagohoops has #1 in the class of 2012 in Illinois. Siakham already has offers from Depaul and Southern Illinois and Ochenje has already landed an Illinois offer.
Randolph Boys Club are sending 15, 16, and 17U teams. Look for 2010's 6'3 gritty combo guard Austin Armga and 6'0 Kevin Hurd from Portage to lead the way. Sam Mader and Avery Hinz lead the way for their 15U team but watch out for Duke Vander Galien if he makes the trip. He's been playing up 3! years with this team. They keep getting younger, but its like a car wreck and the Mongrel can't look away!!
Peoria Irish are sending 3 teams although their 16U and 17U teams will both compete at the 17U division. One of the Irish's top 17U players is James Johnson, a 6'8 forward whom Chicagohoops gave good reviews to at the Chicago Tip Off classic. The 16U team beat the Mac Irvin Fire to win the title in the same event and will compete up with the 17U teams this time around. Jordan Nelson from Lincoln and Hayden Hordeman pair up to make for a deadly shooting duo. Hordeman is a 6'3 shooting guard from Bloomington Central Catholic who has offers from Northern Illinois and Eastern Illinois and jumped on the radar screen for several Big Ten programs after his MVP performance in the Tip Off classic including Illinois, Iowa, Penn State, and Indiana.
Illinois Old School is sending four teams to the tournament. 6'1 Oswego East guard Jay Harris is ranked #53 in the class of 2010 by ESPN and he will be leading the Old School's 17U team. He teams with 6'0 point guard Hollis Hill who recently committed to UW-Milwuakee.
Other players of note: The Tennessee Travelers 17U team will feature Jalen Steele, who is a 6'2 highly recruited guard from Knoxville the Mongrel blogged about in some recent Dayton entries. The Shining Stars have five teams in the field so once again check your program, but watch for 17U point guard Chad Jackson from Scott County who claims offers from Xavier and West Virginia. The Mongrel has watched a couple of Jackson's games and likes his ability to get to the rim but he might need a little tweak or two to be a high major point guard. His shooting is ok and he's not super quick but has great length if he can be a point guard. Donovan Gibbs from Iriquois is a good point guard as well. On the 16U squad Austin Flannery can light it up from deep quickly. Terry Porter Elite has 3 teams at the event. Their most anticipated prospect might be Deonte Burton who some have called a top 20 player nationally in the class of 2013 but he'll be playing with TP Elite's 15U team. 15U Birmingham Storm made the trip but not the older teams. 6'6 JaCorey Williams is one of the players to watch for them. 17U Wisconsin Force will feature 6'1 Josh Cameron who is a fine scorer and getting mid-major looks from schools such as Akron. Waterloo's 6'6 Sam Gage is also getting mid-major interest, hearing from Old Dominion and Northern Iowa among others.
This is only a small sample of the talent at the Hoosier Shootout. The website for the tournament is http://www.hoosiershootout.com/ and the Mongrel will provide some updates from some of the most impressive talent in the building and a second part of the preview focusing on the many Indiana squads at the tourney and a few out of state teams we overlooked the first time around.
Indiana is a known hotbed of hoops talent and the Hoosier state will be well represented as usual with several Speice, Indiana Elite, Team Southern Indiana, and other programs well represented. Part 2 of the Mongrel's Hoosier Shootout preview will discuss some of the Indiana talent. For now, lets look at just a sample of some of the talent descending on Indianapolis with out of state plates.
Wisconsin Playground Warriors are one of the top AAU programs in the midwest and this year is no different. The 17U team is filled with D1 talent. Evan Anderson (UW), Noah Cotrill (WVU), and Kameron Cerroni (UW-GB) have committed to D1 programs and rugged Dakota Euton was committed to UK before Billy Gillespie was ousted. The Warriors boast one of the most formidable front courts on the circuit with Euton and twin 7'0 towers Anderson and Ben Mills. Mills has offers from Indiana State, Ball State, and UW-GB along with interest from Marquette, Indiana, and Minnesota.
The Warriors younger squads are strong as well. According to Wishoops.net, the two best players in the Warriors system are 2011 Quevyn Winters and JP Tokoto. Winters is a 2011 6'4 wing who has offers from Marquette and Wisconsin and is considering Purdue University and plans to attend the late August elite camp there http://www.wissports.net/sports/hoopsb/blog/blog.aspx?f=123. Tokoto has offers from Kansas, Marquette, and Wisconsin and has been spotted at the Marquette elite camp recently by the JS Online Golden Eagles blog. Both Tokoto and Winters have played up before so check your program the Warriors brought teams in all three divisions. Brett Vandenburgh is another fine 2012 player but he is listed on rosters for both the Wisconsin Playground Warriors and the Wisconsin Blazers.
Georgia Stars are yet another of the country's elite travelling teams, the Georgia Stars are sending their premier 17U team but not the rest of their fleet. The 17U team will be one of the favorites at the Shootout and have several of their own D1 players. Marcus Thornton has already committed to Clemson. According to their Rivals.com profiles, 6'7 power forward Adrian Hubbard has a Clemson offer and is looking at ACC and SEC programs, 6'0 pg Devonte White is looking at ACC and SEC programs, 6'5 Jeremy Burgess is looking at Minnesota, Indiana, Georgia and others, and 6'4 Chris Grier is looking at SEC and ACC programs as well.
Illinois Titans are only sending their 17U team, but they have two outstanding younger players who have been playing up. Watch for 2011's 6'7 power forward James Siakham or even 2012's 6'9 Emanual Ochenje who Chicagohoops has #1 in the class of 2012 in Illinois. Siakham already has offers from Depaul and Southern Illinois and Ochenje has already landed an Illinois offer.
Randolph Boys Club are sending 15, 16, and 17U teams. Look for 2010's 6'3 gritty combo guard Austin Armga and 6'0 Kevin Hurd from Portage to lead the way. Sam Mader and Avery Hinz lead the way for their 15U team but watch out for Duke Vander Galien if he makes the trip. He's been playing up 3! years with this team. They keep getting younger, but its like a car wreck and the Mongrel can't look away!!
Peoria Irish are sending 3 teams although their 16U and 17U teams will both compete at the 17U division. One of the Irish's top 17U players is James Johnson, a 6'8 forward whom Chicagohoops gave good reviews to at the Chicago Tip Off classic. The 16U team beat the Mac Irvin Fire to win the title in the same event and will compete up with the 17U teams this time around. Jordan Nelson from Lincoln and Hayden Hordeman pair up to make for a deadly shooting duo. Hordeman is a 6'3 shooting guard from Bloomington Central Catholic who has offers from Northern Illinois and Eastern Illinois and jumped on the radar screen for several Big Ten programs after his MVP performance in the Tip Off classic including Illinois, Iowa, Penn State, and Indiana.
Illinois Old School is sending four teams to the tournament. 6'1 Oswego East guard Jay Harris is ranked #53 in the class of 2010 by ESPN and he will be leading the Old School's 17U team. He teams with 6'0 point guard Hollis Hill who recently committed to UW-Milwuakee.
Other players of note: The Tennessee Travelers 17U team will feature Jalen Steele, who is a 6'2 highly recruited guard from Knoxville the Mongrel blogged about in some recent Dayton entries. The Shining Stars have five teams in the field so once again check your program, but watch for 17U point guard Chad Jackson from Scott County who claims offers from Xavier and West Virginia. The Mongrel has watched a couple of Jackson's games and likes his ability to get to the rim but he might need a little tweak or two to be a high major point guard. His shooting is ok and he's not super quick but has great length if he can be a point guard. Donovan Gibbs from Iriquois is a good point guard as well. On the 16U squad Austin Flannery can light it up from deep quickly. Terry Porter Elite has 3 teams at the event. Their most anticipated prospect might be Deonte Burton who some have called a top 20 player nationally in the class of 2013 but he'll be playing with TP Elite's 15U team. 15U Birmingham Storm made the trip but not the older teams. 6'6 JaCorey Williams is one of the players to watch for them. 17U Wisconsin Force will feature 6'1 Josh Cameron who is a fine scorer and getting mid-major looks from schools such as Akron. Waterloo's 6'6 Sam Gage is also getting mid-major interest, hearing from Old Dominion and Northern Iowa among others.
This is only a small sample of the talent at the Hoosier Shootout. The website for the tournament is http://www.hoosiershootout.com/ and the Mongrel will provide some updates from some of the most impressive talent in the building and a second part of the preview focusing on the many Indiana squads at the tourney and a few out of state teams we overlooked the first time around.
7/1/09
2010 Commits Rolling In, Who is Left?
Jesse Berry committed to the Dayton Flyers today. The relieved Mongrel blogged yesterday that Berry was indeed close to doing that very thing. Since the good Mongrel is quick to laugh at himself when he guesses wrong (Ge'Lawn Guyn, cough... cough...) there is no shame in having a little relief at improving the batting average a little. The Flyers have landed a backcourt that will be the envy of many high major programs between Staten and Berry.
Cross town rival Wright State also landed a promising prospect from neighboring Indiana. Kegan Clark of Jeffersonville commited to coach Brownell according to Hoosier Hills Report.
http://www.hoosierhillshoops.com/2009/06/30/clark-off-the-board-commits-to-wright-state/#more-483 Clark was coming off a visit to Southern Illinois University and is a high level athlete who averaged 14 ppg last year for the Jeffersonville Red Devils. Clark was named to the south platoon for the Junior All-Star team and has turned heads this spring with his play for Speice Indy Heat (Downs).
Coach Lickliter landed one of the sweetest shooting guards in the country today for his Iowa Hawkeye program as well. Chicagohoops is reporting that Ben Brust has committed to the Iowa Hawkeyes. http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/brust2.html Ben Brust is Chicagohoops 11th ranked prospect in Illinois and is the Mongrel's choice for top shooter in the state. Brust hoops for Rising Stars in the summer, and the Mongrel hopes to catch up with him sometime on the July circuit. As the Mongrel mentioned in an earlier blog, many Butler insiders liked their chances with Brust but the Big Ten was too much to pass up. Iowa has seen enormous turnover as Coach Lickliter reshapes the program to his image and Brust could compete for playing time early in his career if he continues to work hard.
The guards in 2010 are flying off the board quickly. Scouting guru Dave Telep said as much on his twitter account today (http://twitter.com/DaveTelep). According to Telep, of his top 25 shooting guards only 6 are on the board: Doron Lamb, Trey Zeigler, Anthony Brown, Madracus Wade, Trae Golden, and KT Harrell.
Time is starting to run out on colleges looking to fill in their 2010 class with elite level players. However, big kids often develop later and slower and the good Mongrel will be watching several 2010 prospects this July who will be getting looked at with fresh sets of eyes from coaches who haven't seen them in person for a while. Keep an eye on the following 2010 prospects to see how they preform compared to some of their more well known classmates. These are all people who high majors know about, where they end up might very well depend on how they play the next four weeks.
Michigan: Chris Anderson, Brandon Crane, Cory Petros, Jon Horford, Isiah Sykes
Indiana: Jake Kitchel, Crishawn Thomas, Xavier Jones, Enique Mason, Jordan Manual, Kennis White, Michael Harris (Gary),
Ohio: Nick Kellog, Cameron Wright, Griffin McKenzie, Storm Stanley
Kentucky: Ricardo Johnson, Elijah Pittman, Josh Sewell, Dakota Euton, Curtis Washington
Illinois: Brandon Spearman, Mike McCall, Reggie Smith, Jordan Threloff, Alex Dragecevic
The thorough Mongrel will be updating his favorite under the radar prospects left on the board in upcoming blog links. As always inform the Mongrel of his ignorance if there is someone left out. Edit #1 we took Roy Marble Jr off Michigan's list when he verballed to Iowa on Thursday.
Cross town rival Wright State also landed a promising prospect from neighboring Indiana. Kegan Clark of Jeffersonville commited to coach Brownell according to Hoosier Hills Report.
http://www.hoosierhillshoops.com/2009/06/30/clark-off-the-board-commits-to-wright-state/#more-483 Clark was coming off a visit to Southern Illinois University and is a high level athlete who averaged 14 ppg last year for the Jeffersonville Red Devils. Clark was named to the south platoon for the Junior All-Star team and has turned heads this spring with his play for Speice Indy Heat (Downs).
Coach Lickliter landed one of the sweetest shooting guards in the country today for his Iowa Hawkeye program as well. Chicagohoops is reporting that Ben Brust has committed to the Iowa Hawkeyes. http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/brust2.html Ben Brust is Chicagohoops 11th ranked prospect in Illinois and is the Mongrel's choice for top shooter in the state. Brust hoops for Rising Stars in the summer, and the Mongrel hopes to catch up with him sometime on the July circuit. As the Mongrel mentioned in an earlier blog, many Butler insiders liked their chances with Brust but the Big Ten was too much to pass up. Iowa has seen enormous turnover as Coach Lickliter reshapes the program to his image and Brust could compete for playing time early in his career if he continues to work hard.
The guards in 2010 are flying off the board quickly. Scouting guru Dave Telep said as much on his twitter account today (http://twitter.com/DaveTelep). According to Telep, of his top 25 shooting guards only 6 are on the board: Doron Lamb, Trey Zeigler, Anthony Brown, Madracus Wade, Trae Golden, and KT Harrell.
Time is starting to run out on colleges looking to fill in their 2010 class with elite level players. However, big kids often develop later and slower and the good Mongrel will be watching several 2010 prospects this July who will be getting looked at with fresh sets of eyes from coaches who haven't seen them in person for a while. Keep an eye on the following 2010 prospects to see how they preform compared to some of their more well known classmates. These are all people who high majors know about, where they end up might very well depend on how they play the next four weeks.
Michigan: Chris Anderson, Brandon Crane, Cory Petros, Jon Horford, Isiah Sykes
Indiana: Jake Kitchel, Crishawn Thomas, Xavier Jones, Enique Mason, Jordan Manual, Kennis White, Michael Harris (Gary),
Ohio: Nick Kellog, Cameron Wright, Griffin McKenzie, Storm Stanley
Kentucky: Ricardo Johnson, Elijah Pittman, Josh Sewell, Dakota Euton, Curtis Washington
Illinois: Brandon Spearman, Mike McCall, Reggie Smith, Jordan Threloff, Alex Dragecevic
The thorough Mongrel will be updating his favorite under the radar prospects left on the board in upcoming blog links. As always inform the Mongrel of his ignorance if there is someone left out. Edit #1 we took Roy Marble Jr off Michigan's list when he verballed to Iowa on Thursday.
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