September Visits, Commitments, Updates...

The summer is winding down, the pig skin is being dusted off, and bikinis are still in fashion. That's right folks, September is in full force. Recruiting visits are happening all over the country, and most of the time schools try to get their top priorities on campus first so expect commitments to pick up a little starting next week. Last week one of the best uncommitted players in Ohio pulled the trigger for Xavier. Griffin McKenzie had his list down to four schools and found his future home in his own back yard. The Cincinnati star is all of 6'9 and has good reach. I haven't seen much of him since May when he was still kicking the rust off from a long recovery from a back injury so I don't have a real good feel for how good he is. When I saw him he appeared a bit mechanical but showed a nice outside shot. He had strong interest from Ohio State, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, and several other high major programs.

Meanwhile a pair of Baltimore area stars are visiting high major campuses near you. 2010 star guard Jerrian Grant is visiting Mike Brey and Notre Dame this weekend, and 6'4 athlete supreme Victor Oladipo is on Indiana's campus. Its thought that Notre Dame will also have an excellent shot at both players as Oladipo has a visit scheduled for Notre Dame as well. Indiana and Notre Dame are also both expecting visits from Alabama's Ralston Turner this fall, another fine wing in the 2010 class.

The good Mongrel has been puting off a series of posts in response to emails on who is the best player in each state not to show up on the national top 100 lists and Kentucky is one of the primary culprits. 2010 stars Ricardo Johnson, Josh Sewell, and Ge'lawn Guyn are all outstanding players that in the opinion of the impressed Mongrel would be nice additions for any program in the country. Guyn ended up at Charlotte and Sewell with the Miami Redhawks but Johnson is out doing visits right now. Johnson is an outstanding athlete and has good size and strength for a guard as well. He's about 6'4 and can really defend. Johnson's first really strong offer came from Jim Les' Bradley program who has been on him from the beginning and he mentions some of the appeals of Bradley in this player bio put out by Hoopsreport.com. http://www.hoopsreport.com/news/playerdiaries/ricardosdiary

According to the Louisville Courier Journal reporter Jody Demling, Aaron Thomas has picked up an offer from Indiana. Thomas is a 6'4 wing in the 2011 class from Cincinnati who drew a lot of high major attention for the Queen City Prophets in July. Demling's blog is linked on the side-bar.

Another Indiana prospect is heading to prep school. Its an epidemic which is wiping out the state's talent base in 2010. Dominique Fergeson and Justin Martin are getting all the attention, and for good reason they are outstanding high major star prospects. But Indianapolis Northwest's Ronald Ross will be joining Martin at Mountain State Academy. http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2009/09/ross-to-prep-sc.html Ross has an offer from Ohio. In addition to the three Indianapolis stars, Enique Mason and Xavier Jones from the SYF Players organization will be leaving the state for prep school. Jones is a very well known prospect from Gary who has offers to several strong mid-majors and some high majors as well. Mason might be a name people aren't as familiar with but that won't be the case too long. Right now he's probably projected as a lower D1 player, but the kid is very strong and coordinated and at 6'10 you just don't see many bodies out there like his. If you got to see Maurice Walker this summer from Team Breakdown (Canada) Mason looks like he's on track to be that kind of player. He needs to get a little more aggressive but he works hard on defense, uses his body against his opponent, has good hands, and can get the ball in the hoop when he tries and he has the size you can't teach. Walker is also in the 2010 class but I'm pretty sure he's 2-3 years older than Mason iirc. Big guys have the famous light that comes on and Mason is a kid who can go from nowhere to somewhere pretty quick if that happens, he's got all the parts lined up waiting for the big game to happen. I hope the move to Ohio treats him well.

Chicago area shooting forward Duje Dukan has an offer from Miami to add to his collection. Check out this free story on his visit to see the Redhawks campus. http://miamiohio.scout.com/2/894589.html Dukan is a 6'8 forward with a smooth shooting stroke and has other offers from Oregon State, New Mexico, and several mid-major programs.

Kentucky is going to host 6'8 Portland, Oregon forward Terrance Jones on September 22nd according to Zagsblog.com. http://www.zagsblog.net/

The absent-minded Mongrel missed this update on Central Michigan recruiting this year by MILive.com. http://blog.mlive.com/highschoolbasketball/ In addition to Coach Zeigler's son Trey, Central Michigan is in the running for Cole Darling, Colin Voss, Devin Long, Nate VanArendonk, and Maurice Jones.

2011 Muncie, Indiana star Jeremiah Davis is hearing from the locals how badly they want to see him wearing an Indiana uniform. Check out this interview from the Bloomington Herald Times on Davis. http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/?p=4325 When Davis first came to the good Mongrel's attention he was getting high major offers from the best programs in the country as an 8th and soon to be 9th grader. Much like fellow 2011 point guard star Marquis Teague, his teams have not performed as well as you'd hope for such an outstanding talent and smart kid at point to produce. Davis had a habit of taking too many shots and despite having all the right tools and being a good kid, he started out with a bit of a reputation for a free lancer. This summer he switched AAU teams and really handled the point well in July and regained the attention of some national scouts and more high major programs. Its unclear where he'll end up imo, I'm not real convinced the Indiana hype is going to pan out. Schools with huge fan bases like Indiana or Kentucky tend to drum up unrealistic expectations which include landing every recruit who talks them up, but many kids like to talk them up just to get their names out there. We'll see though, if Davis continues to mature on the court he's got the overall game and athleticism to continue his track to McDonald's All American status so he'd be a good get for any program who can keep him focused on running the team. Davis is pictured above from an IDS photo. I've seen him several times and love his ability on both sides of the ball, it'll be fun to see how good he can be if he keeps playing team ball.

Recruiting Tidbits

The elite camp report inspired quite a bit of emails, so here is a follow up on the Indiana camp. http://www.insidethehall.com/2009/08/30/scouting-notes-from-saturdays-elite-camp/ My mind isn't slipping, this is a different link from the last story. Inside the Hall apparently had a mole in the Indiana Elite camp who gave them a great scouting report. I think the comments on Baker, Hicks, Hulls, and Tokoto are particularly right on. Tokoto is a phenomenal prospect and seems like a better kid but the scouts will turn their lists over a dozen times before he graduates and I don't think he'll wind up being higher than Baker or Hicks for sure and probably not better than some of the other kids mentioned in that report. That's sort of like criticizing Cindi Crawford for not being quite as sexy as Bridgett Bardot though, as the Good Mongrel reported from the Kentucky Hoopfest and Hoosier Shootout, Tokoto is the real deal and will be a wonderful player. I like Ron Patterson, Ken Kaminski, and Devontes Smith-Rivera more personally, but its early and these kids will be a lot of fun to watch the next couple of years as they drift up and down the various top 100 lists. Here is an update on Hicks. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/2009/08/hicks-had-blast-in-bloomington.html

* Here is a link to an Insidethehall.com Muncie Central guard Jeremiah Davis interview after the elite camp where he says among other things that he could commit today, tomorow, or any time in the future (not to any specific school, but it is thought that Indiana and Ohio State are sitting pretty well with him right now). Davis is ranked #40 in the country by Rivals.com. He is an outstanding talent, a very physical guard who has the athleticism and aggressiveness to be a star in college if he continues to mature as a point guard. http://www.insidethehall.com/2009/08/31/q-a-jeremiah-davis-talks-elite-camp-recruiting/

HighMajorScoop.com had a nice IPS rundown from last week we missed. http://highmajorscoop.com/2009/08/weekend-scoop-2/ Here is a cut and paste from a few of the players with some school updates. Also check out the Scott County (KY) update on their site.

*Trey Lewis, 6-foot-1,2011, Shooting Guard, Garfield Heights, Ohio holds offers from Akron, Kent, Cleveland State, Ohio University and St. Joes. He is also getting interest from Penn State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Nevada, Michigan, Alabama, West Virginia and Xavier
* Trey Burke, 5-foot-11, 2011, Point Guard, Columbus (Northland H/S), Ohio holds offers from Butler, Akron, Kent, Ohio, James Madison, Miami-Ohio and Kent State. He visited Cincinnati and Ohio over this past wee and plans on taking visits to Penn State, Dayton, Baylor, Miami-Ohio among others.
* Treavon Jackson, 6-foot-2, 2011, Wing-Guard, Westerville (South H/S), Ohio visited Akron and Miami-Ohio this weekend. Jackson holds offers from both programs as well as Cleveland State and Ohio University. Jackson is the son of former Ohio State and NBA player Jimmy Jackson.
* Adreian Payne, 6-foot-9, 2010, PF, Dayton (Jefferson H/S), Ohio is reportedly down to four programs; West Virginia, Arizona, Michigan State and Kansas. Many still feel it’s a wild card race for Payne, but sources close say WVU and MSU are neck and neck. This should be a interesting one.
* Griffin McKenzie, 6-foot-8, 2010, SF, Cincinnati (Moeller H/S), Ohio visited Northwestern this week. Griffin is down to four programs, Xavier, Wake Forest, Northwestern and Vanderbilt.
* Rob Brandenberg, 6-foot-2, 2010, SG, Gahanna (Lincoln HS), Ohio took a unofficial visit to Ohio University this weekend. His top five are VCU, Ohio University, Wright State , Akron and Marshall. (update, Brandenberg has since committed to VCU)
* Kyle Molock, 6-foot-1, 2012, PG, from Dublin (Coffman H/S), Ohio holds offers from Ohio University, Akron, Georgia State and St. Joes. He is also getting strong interest from Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Florida International, Illinois and Purdue.

Mark Miller's Courtside blog is reporting that Vander Blue is down to five schools. Arizona (you know where you've heard that one before...vbg), UCLA, Marquette, Florida, and Wisconsin are the final five. http://www.wissports.net/sports/hoopsb/blog/blog.aspx?f=123

Jim Reamer's outstanding web site Hoosierhoopsreport.com has been redone and has been cranking out some excellent material of late. Most recently they reported that 2012 5'9 Park Tudor point guard Yogi Ferrell has received an offer from Purdue to go along with the previous offers from Butler and Ohio State. Yogi is one of the Mongrel's favorite players to watch this summer, most recently I got to see him in Ft Wayne playing on the same team as Marquis Teague and he may not be the kind of NBA prospect Teague is on track to be, but he runs the team at least as well in my opinion. You have to check Yogi out, he's got pretty long arms for a smaller player and is really intense, the wide open eyes kind of make me think of a Mike Singletary who wasn't much taller than Yogi who is seen above in an Indy Star photo. Here is a link to get to know Yogi better if you haven't had the chance. http://www.indy.com/posts/college-coaches-finally-catch-highly-touted-yogi

Here is another outstanding link from Hoosierhoopsreport.com. It has a scholarship chart for the D1 colleges in Indiana. Wish we could get one of those for Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois it makes it a lot easier to figure out when your competition is going to drop off for a player after they receive another commitment. I see these on team websites all the time but they are rarely as efficient and easy to read as this one and he gets several schools together on it.
http://hoosierhoopsreport.com/2009/08/30/scholarship-grids/

Back to High Major Scoop for some more scoops, they are twittering that Notre Dame hosted Marcus Crider and Travis Trice this weekend and they expect Trey Burke soon as well. Notre Dame recruiting is picking up steam right now with visits expected soon from many wonderful players such as Ralston Turner, Jabari Brown, and Victor Oladipo.

And finally one of the Mongrel's original favorites was visiting Bradley recently. Coach Blevins from Hoopsreport.com tells it like it is when he says Ricardo Johnson is a top 150 talent. He shut down and put away Georgetown commitment Vee Sanford in the 2009 class in the Sweet 16 matchup in Kentucky's state tournament last year on his way to earning tournament MVP honors and leading Covington Holmes to the state title along with his trusty and jumpy sidekick Elijah Pittman. The good Mongrel is very high on Josh Sewell and Ge'lawn Guyn also, all three of those kids would appear in any version of a top 150 the Mongrel would be foolhardy enough to produce. I'll be weighing in soon enough on which of those three overlooked kids is the best but it is not an easy task and you will all be hearing from them next year in a big way from Miami, Charlotte, and wherever Johnson winds up. Anyway, enough editorializing here is the link. http://www.hoopsreport.com/news/hoopsnews/ricardojohnsonvisitingbradley

Recruiting Round-up

In case you missed it, the Louisville Courier Journal's Jody Demling did a wonderful hoops recruiting chat. He covers Kentucky high school basketball as well as recruiting for Kentucky, Louisville, and Indiana. The "golden triangle" schools own 14 NCAA titles between them and all have been in the final four this decade. So he has quite a horde of fans beating his door down and got to answer quite a few questions today. Here is the link. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/2009/08/recruiting-live-chat.html Some highlights include...

* Marquis Teague has some mixed signals out there for all three top schools but most indicators lead to UL being his final choice.
* Says in 2010 class he thinks IU will most likely end up with Kyrie Irving and still has a chance with Victor Oladipo, Jalen Kendrick, Moses Morgan, Michael Cobbins, and Jeremy Lamb. (hoopsreport.com article linked below has Cobbins' five visits already scheduled and no IU)
* 2013 superstar Daryl Hicks has the attention of UL and UK and IU has been to several of his games already.
* Said Michael Gilchrist is supposed to make the IU elite camp this weekend.
* Said UL is expecting Rod Odom and Zach Price to visit Sep 5th and JJ Moore October 2nd and UL has a good chance at all three.
* Mentioned he really likes Rakeem Christmas (IU and OSU in his final 8).
* UK in 2010 is in good shape with CJ Leslie, Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, Josh Selby, Brandon Knight, Roscoe Smith, Cameron Clark, Tobias Harris, and Adriean Payne.
* IU in 2011 is in good shape with Marshall Plumlee, Rakeem Christmas, Jeremiah Davis, Cody Zeller, Deng Leek, Sam Thompson (Demling might be right about Leek if he recently reclassified, but last I knew Leek was 2010).
* UL and IU are expecting visits from Angel Nunez in late September.
* Cincinnati's Griffin McKenzie likes Xavier and Wake and could decide soon (not from demling but he is also considering Northwestern and Vanderbilt).
* When asked about Chane Behanon he said it was strange with the kid telling some people he was still committed and his uncle and hs coach saying he was open, but pointed out since he's letting people recruit him he's not really committed (mentioned Oklahoma State and WKU offers).
* Former UK commit Dakotah Euton is being recruited by EKU, High Point, Wofford, Coastal Carolina.
* Xavier likes Remy Abel from Eastern (Louisville).

Here are a few other tidbits the last couple of days from twitter mining...

* Duke has offered Marshall Plumlee (Bluedevilnation) and JP Tokoto (Evan Daniels).
* Dublin Coffman (Ohio) point guard Kyle Molock visited Duke, North Carolina, and Wake Forest (ONPSS).

Hoopsreport's Dustin Rumbaugh has a nice rundown on several top national targets and includes an update on Xavier Jones from Gary, Indiana. The 2010 tough as nails point guard has offers from Marquette, Indiana State, and Dayton and will be transferring to Ohio for his senior year. Also Dematha (Maryland) guard Jerrian Grant has Depaul and Notre Dame as two of his final four schools. Rumbaugh also says Macari Brooks (photo above is from a Midstatehoops.com article) will be visiting Louisville with Wayne Blackshear on September 5th. http://www.hoopsreport.com/news/hoopsnews/wednesdaybuzzerbeaters
*

Vegas/Orlando Day 1 Rundowns

Adidas Super 64 is the easiest to find updates on partly because they have a web site that updates scores. Its great and timely. http://www.adidassuper64.com/Default.aspx The 17U scores even list top scorers. I'll list a few teams of interest to the good Mongrel's range and some scores.

Here is a link to Coach Blevins' notes on the tournament yesterday. http://www.hoopsreport.com/news/eventreports/othernotesfromvegas He has nice reviews on Crishawn Hopkins, Justin Martin, Ryan Boatright, Gelawn Guyn, and other kids of note.

17U: Full Package Elite 68 (Photo above is a Sun Times shot of Dragecevich who scored 22) - KC Cowboys 57; Chicago Elite 77 - Colorado Select White 51; Chicago Elite 66 (Dority 20) - Gameday Basketball 61; Detroit Stars 87 - High Intensity 56; Gym Rats Gold 84 - SoCal All Stars White 71; California Supreme 67 - Gym Rats Black 36; Regis Raiders 70 - Gym Rats Black 50; Net Gain Sports 74 - 2D1 Basketball Academy 52; Derek Smith All Stars West 89 - Rocklin Warriors Blue 45; Pump N Run W - D1E Derek Rose All Stars forfeit; Ohio Basketball Club 76 (Parker 19) - Eric Gordon All Stars 52; Team Philly 65 (Green 18) - Michigan Mustangs 59; Indiana Elite (Fox) 51 (Guyn 16) - D Harris Superstars 40; Utah Pump N Run Red 73 - Derek Smith All Stars 68; Team Access 78 - Indiana Elite Red 47; SoCal All Stars Red 57 - Indiana Elite Red 47; Compton Magic Select 68 -Eric Gordon All Stars 63; Atlanta Celtics 83 (Harrow) - D1E Derrick Rose All Stars 76; Ohio Basketball Club 65 - Houston Select 63;

16U: Michigan Mustings 50 - NorCal All Stars 32; Full Package Elite (Preston) 69 - Mass Rivals 67; Ohio Basketball Club 79 Valley Stars Pump N Run 58; In Elite/ Team Indiana 62 - HP Elite 49; Chicago Elite 53 - Colorado Select 47; In Elite One 77 - 707 Finest 44; Derek Smith All Stars 88 - BCA All Stars 45; Aim High 78 - French Hoops Two 36; IN Elite Garlets 67 - Team Phenom 61; Chicago Elite 69 - Compton Magic 62; Gateway Basketball Club 70 - Gym Rats 32; Gym Rats late game;

15U: Eric Gordon All Stars 62 - DTA Superstars 44; Bay Area Hoosiers W - In Elite South Forfeit; Net Gain Sports 60 (Marcus Shreider 24 pts) - Urban Elite 49; D1E Derek Rose All Stars 54 (C Jones 14) - Bay Area Hoosiers 38; Texas Assault 51 - In Elite / Team In 48 (Smith Rivera 14); Oho BBall Club 65 (Mollock 17) - LA Rockfish 57; Derek Smith All Stars 74 (T Saxton 19) - LA Rockfish 50; D1E All Stars 70 (S Taylor 12) - Arizona Gym Rats Elite 60;

14U: Las Vegas Prospects 69 - Aim High 64; Ohio BBall Club 66 - Bay Area Hoosiers 37; The Ville 89 (Quick 25) - Triple Threat 25; Houston Select 6 - Aim High 51;

Main Event (Vegas): Here are some 17U updates: Illinois Mustangs 57 (Belcaster 20) - Crossover Basketball 41; Air Force Rojo 54 - Illinois Mustangs 40; Dallas Showtime Black 76 - Fieldhouse Elite Team Indiana 52; Yakima Elite 55 -Illinois Old School 44; Terry Porter Elite 78 - SA Scorpions 51; CP3 All Stars 66 - Spiece Select 57 (Sneary 15); Salt Lake Black 66 - Windy City Spartans 64 (Guyton 22); Mac Irvin Fire 69 (Mills 13/12) - Team Texas 61; King James Shooting Stars 81 - California Supreme 72; Oregon Lords 53 - Terre Haute Jammers 47; Miami Tropics 52 - Spiece Indy Heat 50 (Thomas 19); So Nevada Powerhouse 82 - Aim High 81 (Daniels 18);

Here is a Demling update although I think he changed over to different tournaments. He has nice updates on Josh Selby, Griffin McKenzie, and many others. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/2009/07/las-vegas-day-one.html

Hoops City Updates (Kansas City) tourney got underway in afternoon. Spiece Indy Stars 2012 won 67 - 53. Ron Patterson had 19, Austin Burgett had 17, Kellon Thomas had 10, Hollowell and Rhett Smith had 9. They play again at 11:45 local time on Thursday.

Super Showcase (Orlando) is down to a final 8 at the 15U division. One matchup is the NY Gauchos vs YOMCA (Memphis club). Another squad in the final 8 is the Memphis Bearcats.

16U division: Spiece Select 2011 went 2-0 in pool play. Shining Stars (Mohman) went 0-2 including a 57-55 loss to the Boston Warriors and a 36-33 loss to the Birmingham Storm. Shining Stars (Grote) lost to MB Nation 51-34. They lost later to Team Florida Elite 73-43.


I'm not going to chase all the twitter feeds all day like yesterday afternoon, its just too time consuming with so many tournaments going on. I'll keep track of coaches out being seen and add them to the old "who is your coach watching" post and repost it in a few days when I'm caught up. I'm still good for a few edits, links, and updates though! See yesterday's entry for information on who might be twittering from each event.

July 17 Recruiting Buzz aau re-shuffling for Vegas (Fergeson, Hopkins)

The Eric Gordon All-Stars are coming off their first tournament title at the Best of the Midwest Tournament. Indianapolis North Central and Purdue bound 6'2 shooting guard Terone Johnson was MVP of the tournament and continues to display a toughness and consistency that spells great things for Matt Painter. But Johnson is not the only star on this club.

6'10 Cincinnati Moeller forward Griffin McKenzie is fully recovered from his back injury and drawing offers left and right. I posted a link on his recruiting a couple of days ago, but since then the offers keep rolling in. Ohio State has offered and Indiana's head coach Tom Crean was at two of McKenzie's games at Best of the Midwest so don't be surprised if the offers keep rolling in for McKenzie. Peegs.com's Matt Weaver spoke with him on Thursday and he said he now has offers from Xavier, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Tennessee, and Providence. http://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=965279 The article is a premium article from the excellent Indiana rivals site run by Mike Pegram. Yesterday Moeller HS coach Carl Kremer told the Cincinnati Enquirer that McKenzie now has offers from Ohio State and Vanderbilt as well. We'll be watching to see where McKenzie visits before the Eric Gordon All Stars hit Vegas later in the month.

And when they do hit vegas, they will have a significant new addition. Indianapolis Manual's Crishawn Hopkins has been playing with the Bloomington Blaze but will be playing for the Eric Gordon All Stars in Vegas. Hopkins will be a huge addition for them. He is a 6'1 skinny point guard who can jump out of the gym. I saw the Blaze Select get waxed by Atlanta All Stars a couple of weeks ago and Hopkins was the best player on the floor and scored about 25 of his teams 32 points. Hopkins also is an impressive shooter with a nice three point shot. I haven't had the chance to see him play on a team where you'd want him setting up his teammates a great deal but he has a good handle and if he has the kind of feel for the team's offense that you want out of a point its hard to see how Hopkins won't wind up playing for a high major program. He already has good offers including Miami (Oh) and interest from Virginia, Indiana, and Arizona among others. The Eric Gordon All Stars will give him that opportunity for both exposure and to show how well he can play point when he isn't the only high level player on his squad. Johnson is a strong off guard with range and McKenzie and Indianapolis Howe forward Jordan Manual are big kids who can stroke the three. If Hopkins is a point guard he should have plenty of shooters to kick the ball out to. I know he can drive, dunk, and shoot. The Mongrel will be at the edge of his seat to see if Hopkins leaves Vegas with some new attention. He's got his grades back on track and believes he will qualify as a freshman if he has a good year in the classroom. And yes, he can dunk. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuhoC8C5LEw

The SYF Players will be losing Dominique Fergeson for a while at least (indystar photo of Fergeson trying to swat the Juice). http://twitter.com/Dferg23 He's going to be playing for Team Detroit in Vegas next week. SYF had a nice showing in the NY2LA Summer Jam last week. 17U Lafayette Jeff star Jesse Berry is committed to Dayton and he joins an already loaded back court with mid-major or better prospects Gary point guard Xavier Jones, East Chicago Central's Michael Harris, and Indianapolis combo guard Andre Hampton who really impressed me in May. The big kids for SYF are going to play D1 ball too. Jake Kitchell is a 6'9 forward who has offers from Oregon State and California and is being tracked by several Big Ten schools including Iowa, Minnesota, and Indiana where he attended an elite camp in June. He is a very prolific scorer and one of Indiana's leading rebounders and led the state in blocked shots. For SYF he takes a vocal leadership role and does the dirty work. It will be fun to see where he ends up. Enique Mason from Brownsburg is a 6'9 kid with a very strong developed body ready for trench warfare in college. He looked vastly improved this spring as well and really got after it on the boards and showed good hands finishing inside. With his size and coordination I expect to start hearing soon about some D1 schools knocking on his door, he should have a breakout year for Brownsburg.

But the big ticket for SYF's 17U squad this year has been Dominique Fergeson. Fergeson is a top 20 ranked prospect nationally and is being pursued by Kentucky, Arizona, Indiana, UCLA, and a virtual who is who in the college basketball world. Persistent rumors about his transferring have been brushed off as ridiculous all year by Fergeson and his father but he finally confirmed what all the Indiana coaches I talk to have been saying for a while. Fergeson will be leaving Lawrence North High School to attend prestigious Hargrave Military Academy in Massachusetts. Naturally his high school coach Jack Keefer is irate about this news. He says (publicly and yes Fergeson is a minor) Fergeson is not on track to qualify and is being used by Dye and his SYF program. http://www.insidethehall.com/2009/07/17/jack-keefer-sounds-off-on-dominique-ferguson/ This Inside the Hall article sums up some of my feelings about hearing Lawrence North's Jack Keefer sound off on Fergeson (originally a Franklin Central player) transferring away from Lawrence North on radio shows. I do not have the pleasure of knowing the coaches from SYF or Keefer himself so I will try to assume everyone has a good point here, but it is a shocker to hear a high school coach going after a player publicly like this, especially one he was getting criticized for recruiting from Franklin Central just a short while ago. And keep in mind that 09 Lawrence North big man Jeff Robinson did not get accepted into Purdue after staying eligible for Coach Keefer and playing and knowing ahead of time what he needed to get done in the class room. And 2010 Justin Martin is transferring away and like Fergeson is said to be in dire academic shape and in need of stronger academic structure to get ready to be accepted to college. And remember that 2010 6'10 center Jan Maehlen is a highly touted Lawrence North big man who plays for Dye's SYF program and is also transferring away from Lawrence North.

In other words, a pattern is forming for Lawrence North that will become downright ugly if 2011 prospects Michael Chandler and Ryan Taylor play ball all year for Lawrence North but end up not having the grades they need for college. Lets hope for a happy ending all around. Fergeson, Martin, and Maehlen can have good years and get into the schools they want to attend now that they chose stronger academic institutions (at least in Hargrave's case) that have a budget and expectations to monitor and pressure the kids into getting it done in the classroom. Hopefully Robinson fits in as well at Xavier as he thought he would at Purdue. And hopefully Chandler and Taylor lead Lawrence North to a huge season for the Wildcats and get it done in the class room vindicating Keefer's "addition by subtraction" stab. Meanwhile the Mongrel will keep an eye on the relationship between the powerful SYF Players program and Indianapolis school coaches and pass on what is fit to e-print.

Ohio Uncommited Prospects Get New Interest

2010:


Griffin McKenzie has had a huge month so far in July, he claims new offers from Tennessee, Xavier, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Providence, and has had several coaches watching including Ohio State and Indiana. This Indy Star link has some updates on his recruitment. http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2009/07/offers-rolling.html


Cameron Wright has had a huge July as well. He had several great reviews at the LeBron Skills Academy and recently visited Indiana with his parents. He plans to visit Wisconsin and Georgia Tech with his parents before deciding. Wright was outstanding at the NY2LA Summer Jam.

Adreiene Payne might be a bit over the head of our under-hyped label, but he has continued to be a hot name on the recruiting circuit. He has had interested followers from all over the Big Ten and is being hotly pursued by his hometown Dayton Flyers who have a top 2010 recruiting class already lined up.

Peshown Howard, Queen City Prophets 6'6 Allen Payne, and Ohio State and Xavier target JD Weatherspoon are other players to keep an eye on.

2011:

Cameron Lee is a 6'3 wing for Lakota East. His dad Ralph played for Xavier. Cameron has been to Miami and Xavier's elite camps this summer. http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/recruits/player/10351/

Isiah McCular turned some heads at the Kentucky Hoopfest. He's a 6'9 kid who is already pretty strong with decent hands and is fundamentally solid. He didn't have much trouble against 7'0 Deng Leek and Cheir Ajou in a game the Mongrel got to see.

Zach Price is a 6'10 power forward from St Edwards who visited Louisville the same day as Shaw and Blackshear. He has been having a great summer. He has interest in Ohio State and Michigan State (Roe's teammate) and has been a hot name this summer. He's another guy who'll probably wind up top 50 nationally.

Aaron Thomas is a 6'4 guard from Western Hills who had a big week at the Kentucky Hoopfest for the Queen City Prophets. He is getting recruited by Xavier, Indiana, Ohio State, and Cincinnati.

Guys to keep an eye on would be Club Ohio (Calahan)'s 6'3 Job Jennings, Jakar Sampson from Akron and King James Shooting Stars, 5'6 point guard Stevie Taylor from Strongville and Ohio Basketball Club's Aaron White a 6'7 forward, and others.


2012:


Ken Kaminski has had Tom Crean and Tom Izzo taking in Team Pride games and appears stronger than he did in May. He won't have to wait long for some big time offers to come through.

Dylan Kaufman had quite a following at the Adidas It Takes Five tournament in Cincinnati. Tom Crean and an assistant from North Carolina were on hand for his game against CBIZ in Cincinnati and according to Miami Hawk Talk he has visited Akron, Butler, Miami, and Ohio State so far. http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/recruits/player/10351/

Jalen Robinson is a 6'7 kid from Columbus who recently received an offer from Kent State.

Other names to watch are Dublin's Kyle Molok, Brampton's Moehmad Rage, and Davon Scott.

2013:

Matt Loving is a 6'6 forward from Toledo who was a standout at the Top 150 incoming freshman camp in Lexington in June.

Let me know who needs to be added to the list of the uncommited kids.

More Cincinnati Link-O-Rama and King James Skills Academy reports

Here's another Courier Journal (this time Rick Bozich) link so some before mentioned topics. The new news here is the Florida Gators all over Jon Horford. And Demling refers to him as the 6'9 Jon Horford. If a 6'9 Jon Horford exists, he will be a popular man. The 6'6 Jon Horford was starting to draw a crowd. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/bozich/2009/07/final-aaurecruiting-thoughts-from.html

Over 225 coaches registered in Cincinnati by dinner-time according to this Demling story. http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090706/SPORTS11/907060357/1028/rss0702

Jeremiah Davis had a nice game in Cincinnati... http://www.idsnews.com/basketblog/?p=2496

NBE blog has several area coaches watching teams of note. Rick Pitino, Mike Brey, and Depaul assistants were on hand for the Derek Rose Elite game at 11:45, John Calipari was at an Ohio Basketball Club vs NE Playaz game at 12:15, the Atlanta Celtics drew Cincinnati, Marquette, and Depaul. More on Cincinnati and Louisville as well. http://w3.nbebasketball.com/2009/07/06/nbe-live-at-adidas-it-takes-5ive/

Van Coleman of Hoopmasters has a good report on several kids of interest from day one in Cincinnati. Hoopmasters is a pay site, but not as expensive as some others and I believe they have a free trial if you're interested. He had good things to say about Louisville commit Michael Chandler, apparently playing for Derek Rose All-Stars now. Coleman also noted Cincinnati Moeller's Griffin McKenzie was hitting 18 footers and playing well inside. Michigan's 5'7 Maurice Jones, Western Kentucky commit Ge'Lawn Guyn, 6'3 combo guard Brandon Spearman from Chicago Simeon, and John Gasser of Port Washington, Wisconsin were also singled out for good play on day one.

Lebron James Skills Academy had a lot of elite prospects on hand this year. Among kids of interest to IL/IN/KY/MI/OH schools were Jujan Staten, Doron Lamb, Russell Byrd, Cameron Wright, Marques Teague, Dominique Fergeson, Crandal Head, Trey Zeigler, Michael Gilchrist, Ray McCallum Jr, and Kyrie Irving. http://w3.nbebasketball.com/2009/07/06/nbe-live-from-lebron-james-skills-academy/

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.