Day 2 Standouts at Kentucky Hoopfest

Here are just a few of the standout performers of day 2 at the Ky Hoopfest. I didn't get a chance to see most of the best talent and will do some updates tomorrow on other action from the tournament but here are a few brief observations from today.

2010:

Curtis Washington is well worth his short lived hype for Shooting Stars McFarland. He is every bit of 6'9 and has long arms and good hands. He can handle the ball some and has wonderful balance and a soft touch on his inside buckets. How on Earth did this kid sneak by under the radar so long? USC got a steal.

Josh Sewell and Chad Jackson get to share an entry from the efficient Mongrel. Sewell is a 6'5 shooting guard who recently made a verbal commitment to Miami of Ohio. He plays for Louisville Trinity high school and I love his game. He can handle, shoot, defend, and plays hard. He could easily be a good player for a high major if he chose to wait it out. I was impressed with how good his handle was today. Normally he is off the ball but he took care of the ball most of the game when he was in and did great with it. Conversely Chad Jackson was someone I was looking at as a mid-major point guard even though he has some high major interest. But he showed a really pretty perimeter shot in this game that I wasn't expecting from watching him against Lexington Catholic a few months ago. I really like him off the ball and I really like Sewell on the ball more.

Kadeem Green for Team Takeover was the best player on the floor for the Team Takeover vs Florida Future match and that in itself is quite an accomplishment. He is long and skinny and had some blocks, several great drives down the middle in traffic, he finished with his left hand off balance on one of those. He took the ball coast to coast and knows how to draw contact. He's probably about 6'7 and is a rangy wing with an exceptional handle for his size. According to Hoopstars Canada he has interest from Iowa State and George Washington and has a standing reach of 9'2. http://www.hoopstarscanada.com/news.pl?nid=44

Maurice Walker is a 6'10 powerful center from Toronto who also was impressive. He didn't have a huge offensive game but he is really big and unlike a lot of kids his size he uses every ounce of that 270 pound frame and really beats on guys. He has interest from Texas AM, Depaul, and Iowa State among others.

Allen Payne for Queen City Prophets was really strong. He had over 20 points in an overtime one point victory against Common Bond-Hicks and saved his best for the end of the game. He had a crucial late bucket then got a steal on an inbounds and brought it up strong on the baseline. He is probably 6'6 and very quick.

Brandon Crane is a 6'11 center for Common Bond-Hicks. He has reported in the past that he has Michigan State, Purdue, and Indiana interest but he wasn't starting for his squad today and only had about 3 buckets. He is very skinny but long and moves well and has some potential but that frame is pretty slight for Big Ten ball.

2011:

Jeremiah Davis from Muncie Central is a very impressive player. His stock has fallen a little bit since BillyClyde Gillespie offered him as an 8th grader. He is a 6'4 big time athlete and a wonderful handler and passer who has good range and explosive athleticism. He has had a knock against him for a while for being a bit wild and dominating the ball too much but I didn't see anything like that today and he really guards people well.

Austin Etherington is a 6'5 wing who has a nice stroke and can jump. I jinxed him, this was the third time I've seen him and he didn't do much each time. Considering he is considering offers from Xavier and Indiana and has been told by Steve Alford that he is New Mexico's top priority in the class I'm assuming he usually plays a lot better. You can't be too cautious about assuming a kid who doesn't do much in an AAU game doesn't have it. The games are short and they often have so many good teammates. On the rumor-mongering front I hear from someone in the know that he really likes Indiana and Xavier right now but is a little freaked out by the pressure Crean is puting on him to commit right now and he thinks he will wind up with an offer from his dad's old friend Thad Matta eventually and has been told Purdue will offer him if they don't get a certain prospect at his position they are in good shape with. Hmmm... one to watch at any rate...

Justin Gant 6'8 forward Indiana Elite Orange really played well this evening. He didn't look real comfortable with Indiana Elite this spring but fills a great role for Indiana Elite Orange. He is a tough kid who is a deceptively good athlete and has good length at 6'8 and a nice perimeter shot. Iowa and Michigan have been all over him.

Cody Zeller is up to 6'10 now and puting on some definition from working on the weights. He made a couple of entry passes that were hard to fathom from a big kid his age that ended up being converted into Plumlee dunks in two cases and a Gant layup in another. But Zeller can score and put the ball on the floor too. He is one of the faster big kids I've seen in the age group. He really has gotten a lot better from the school year to May where he more than held his own head to head against Deshawn Thomas to today. I like him more than Plumlee and that is saying a lot because Plumlee is 6'11 and seems to like being a center and is really good too. But he just isn't the kind of athlete as Zeller and isn't as versatile.

Isiah McCullar was very effective against Indiana Elite and their twin towers of Leek and Ajou. He wasn't flashy but is probably 6'9 and very strong and co-ordinated and even though the big African kids had some blocks they probably didn't have more buckets.

Job Jennings and Alex McGlothlin were both impressive for Club-Ohio (Callahan). Jennings is a 6'3 guard who handled the ball a lot and shows the ability to drive, score, and play some defense. He and McGlothlin both had about 15 points.

2012:

Mongrel favorite Ken Kaminski was good but not exactly dominant for Team Pride in the evening session. He has a pretty shot and is quite an athlete but didn't get a lot of offense in the evening session. Tom Izzo and Tom Crean saw him play among other coaches.

A 6'0 guard who I mistakenly identified with a 6'8 forward's name (Tommy McCune) was outstanding for Team Pride as well. He had a couple of 3's and a great dunk and an assist on a wrap around underneath and showed a lot of versatility. He is about a 6'0 guard. I'll have to find my notes and dig around to find out the correct name for the fine player.

Ron Patterson played a great game on both ends of the floor against Wisconsin Blizzard 15U. He has such long arms and really gets in people's faces.

Brandon Tyler for the Wisconsin Blizzard was outstanding. He is about 6'4 and can handle, shoot, defend, and rebound. I caught him after losing a competitive game against the otherwise dominant Spiece Indy Heat sitting in the crowd watching the dunk show put on by JP Tokoto and Popcorn Morris before their game. Their less flashy counterpart might be as good a prospect in game action as those two impressive players and superb athletes. His teammate Jason Miller was a wonderful player as well and hit a lot of big time perimeter shots.

JP Tokoto was a treat to watch. He and teammate Popcorn Morris have great athleticism and Morris seems to hang in the air when he goes up for a jump. One of the highlights of the day was watching the Wisconsin Playground Warriors 2012 team go through warmups. There were 360 degree spins, tomahawk jams, and about everything you could think of and Tom Crean stood at rapt attention to watch the display. On the floor they were excellent players as well. Tokoto is very active and picked several passes off and handles the ball really well and Morris uses his superior athleticism to get up and over people and they both look like future college stars.

Nick Arenz is a 6'8 center from Onalaska, Wisconsin who had about 13 points including stroking a really nice 3 pointer and finishing off a Tokoto assist in traffic. He seems like a Bo Ryan type of player if he grows a little and keeps working hard.

2013:

Daryl Baker is every bit what he is cracked up to be. The kid can get to the basket and never disappoints when he does get there. He is a 2013 playing on 2011 Team Southern Indiana coached by former Jeffersonville star Sherron Wilkerson and there are some similarities to their games. Baker seems to be on track to me more of a dominant scorer but he is extremely quick and plays some swarming defense. In the late game at Hoops TSI was down a couple of baskets in the final minute of the game but Baker and #13 (will edit after some sleep and find his name) put heavy pressure on the ball and forced several turnovers and Baker got to the line with a chance to tie it up with about 4 seconds left. He missed the first and hit the second and forced a turnover on the inbound and collected the ball and turned and missed a tough layup where he changed directions in the air for the win. Baker was devastated after missing the potential game winning layup and his famously emotional coach was right in his face to tell him to keep his chin up and he'll knock it down next time. Baker is without question one of the best players in Indiana high school basketball and he's just going to be a freshman.

There is a mountain playing for a 2013 team out of Team Takeover named Taveer Bhullar. I didn't stick around to see much of the game as it was not in view from the crowd gathered for the Indiana Elite (Carlino, Zeller, Plumlee, Gant) game. But he had to be 7'1 and 300 pounds and I saw him catch the ball on a couple of tough passes. 2013 and he'd cast a shadow on Bryant Reeves!