Commitments, Visits, and School Lists Update: 8/5

6'6 Glenbrook North swingman Alex Dragecevich has had a big July for Full Package and seen his interest list and offers expand quickly. Dragecevich was second team all-state by the Sun Times last year and Chicagohoops has him ranked 12th in the class of 2010 in Illinois. He committed to Coach Mike Brey and joins point guard Eric Atkins in Notre Dame's 2010 recruiting class. Dragecevich is still a shooter first but has worked hard to be a legitimate high major wing and has developed an all around game this summer. It will be a blast seeing how he develops in South Bend and Notre Dame landed a deadly shooter. http://w3.nbebasketball.com/2009/08/05/notre-dame-adds-dragicevich-to-2010-class/ Notre Dame is pursuing several elite targets still in the 2010 class including Ralston Turner, Tobias Harris, Kyrie Irving, and Jerian Grant among others.

Kentucky is expecting 6'7 Long Island wing forward Tobias Harris today on campus according to RumbaughD1 on twitter. Harris is being pursued by many of the top programs in the country including Notre Dame and Syracuse among others. Syracuse just beat out Louisville and Kentucky for 7'0 Florida Rams project Fab Mello. Since he was a bit of a new arrival and a novelty I think a lot of people nationally fawned over Mello excessively. He is talented and is going to be a wonderful pro in four or five years in my opinion but I see no reason to expect anything special out of him during his one or two college years. He was outplayed by younger and less talented kids in July including 2011 Louisville commitment Michael Chandler. If you do your player rankings by who is going to be high in the draft in two years he's your guy but if you're a college basketball fan he probably shouldn't be mentioned with the other five star type of guys in my never humble enough opinion.

Avon, Indiana 2012 big man Austin Burgett received offers from Iowa and Northwestern. He already had an offer on the table from Cincinnati and his recruitment is early but he has interest from Indiana, Purdue, Butler, Louisville, and others. Burgett is already 6'7 and growing and has reliable range to the three point line to go with several post moves and a good handle. He will be a hot commodity this time next year!

Burgett's Spiece Rising Star teammate Kellon Thomas received a Butler offer according to P-hoop.blogspot.com. http://www.p-hoops.blogspot.com/ Kellon is an outstanding point guard who is being pursued by several high major programs as well. He's about 5'9 and has a nice outside shot and gets to the hole at will. He also has the kind of handle and floor vision you hope to get from a point guard. Photo is from the USSSA Nationals last week.

Here's an outstanding rundown of stock raisers and post-July awards for Illinois kids from the Hendrickson Blog in the Sun Times (hoopsreport). http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/ He has nice comments on several 2012 Chicago area point guards, the 16U Illinois Wolves, the 17U Rising Stars team, UI recruits Leonard, Robinson, and Abrams as well as the talented 2013 trio of Parker/Hamilton/Foster who he says are not as good as Peter Jok of Des Moines! Good stuff as always from Hendrickson.

Here's a couple of links from chicagohoops. The first talks about Bolingbrook's Antwain Cox and his recent visit to Eastern Illinois. http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/acox1.html The second talks about the top uncommitted point guards in Chicago in the 2010 class. Mike McCall, Levonte Dority, Jay Harris, Reggie Smith, Hoopy Jones, and Karl Madison are the ones focused in on. http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/availbackcourt.html Several of these guys are going to high majors and will be among the "how did they get away" file from local schools.

Here's an Illinois Prep Bullseye link with a ton of nuggets. http://ilprepbullseye.com/page33.html They mention Evansville making Hayden Hoerdemann top priority, Peoria Irish 17U Jeff Johnson possibly favoring Eastern Kentucky, Walter Lemon from Chicago Fenger being pursued by Wright State, and Sean McGonagill being pursued by several programs. Also notice Hollis Hill and Aaron Williams drawing quite a crowd of head coaches from Bradley, Chicago State, Illinois State, Murray State and other schools after decommitting from UW Milwuakee. James Siakem was being watched by several schools including Notre Dame and Illinois while Threloff and Revonte Rice drew a big crowd including Evansville, Illinois State, Indiana State, and several others.

New Offers, Interest, Happenings in AAU world

* Northstar Blog has done some great work getting word out on several tournaments this July as well as talking to several kids and getting quotes on their interest and offers. This link has breakdown for several kids from Ohio and Kentucky as well as several kids claiming offers and interest from area schools. Its from AAU Nationals Day Three: http://blog.northstarbball.com/2009/07/29/aau-super-showcase-day-three--u17-action-gets-underway-nyarsuk--reese-stand-out.aspx Some of the updates include:

* Northland, Ohio's JD Weatherspoon has offers from Xavier, Ohio State, and Maryland and seems to favor Xavier right now. You may recall he decommitted from Xavier after Miller left.

* Ball State has offered Devonte White from Centenial, Georgia.

* Indiana has offered 2011 Team Takeover's Michael Gbinijie.

* Xavier has offered Dezmine Wells of Word of God Academy.

* Westerville South and All-Ohio Red's 2011 Travaeon Jackson has offers from Ohio, Akron, Cleveland State, and Miami. He is Jimmy Jackson's son.

* Teays Valley and All Ohio Red 2011 player Nate Anderson has offers from Ohio and Penn State.

* And here's the day four http://blog.northstarbball.com/2009/07/31/aau-super-showcase-day-four-rundown-the-miracle-of-st-patricks.aspx with offers from Notre Dame to Jerrian Grant, from Wright State to Jordan Downing, Purdue, Illinois, and Minnesota offers out to Bradley Beal as well as Beal plans to go to Purdue and Illinois camps, some praise for Indiana, Kentucky, and Louisville target Stacey Poole's defense.

* Demling has been doing a great job as well, his latest update includes Scott County's Chad Jackson getting a James Madison offer, Princeton, Indiana point guard Jalen Packer getting offers from Tennessee Chattenooga and Southern Illinois. Demling is also looking for Austin Rivers to get Indiana involved in his re-recruitment. Hoopsreport's Coach Blevins spoke with Rivers and said he's going to visit "at least" Duke and North Carolina. http://www.hoopsreport.com/news/eventreports/austinriverstovisitdukeandnorthcarolina

* Another link on some Orlando Nationals tournament success for Illinois Old Gold and Rising Stars from Illinois Prep Bullseye has updates on several players recruitment including Dekalb 6'10 senior Jordan Threloff who wants to decide soon and might favor Illinois State according to the link. Brehm Prep 6'6 athlete James Siakhem has drawn Southern Illinois, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, Dayton, and Vanderbilt coaches recently. His Illinois Titans teammate Bruce Barron has interest from Vanderbilt as well. Barron impressed me earlier this month at the Hoosier Shootout, few college level point guards play with the kind of strength and athleticism he commands at a young age. Purdue, Northern Iowa, Ohio, Illinois, and Notre Dame are also very interested in Barron. The photo above is Barron from an Endtoendscouts.com article discussing his cousin Justin Dentmon among other things. Finally, Jay Harris from Illinois Old School received an offer from Duquesne. http://ilprepbullseye.com/page33.html

* According to Demling the Derek Smith All-Stars made it to the semi-finals (final four) of the Double Pump tournament in Los Angeles and had to leave for travel arrangements. Indiana Elite (Fox) without Ge-lawn Guyn made it to the elite eight of that tournament.

* All Ohio Red beat Nike Team Florida to win the AAU National tournament in Orlando. Bowling Green's Elijah Macon had 16 points. All Ohio Red 17U are in the quarter finals in Orlando as well.

* Coach Weber, Illinois State assistant Paris Parham, and Purdue assistant Jack Ray were the only coaches present for the championship victory Mac Irvin Fire 15U team which had Jabari Parker and Travis Hamilton playing up on it. http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/2009/07/a_whole_lot_more_from_las_vega.html

* The Illinois Wolves beat the Mac Irvin Fire 17U team yesterday in Merrillville. Chicagohoops listed the following head coaches as being in Merrillville on Thursday; Weber, Painter, Beilein, Brey, Craig Robinson, Todd Lickliter, Greg McDurmott, Travis Ford, Jim Les, Rick Majerus, Jim Molinari (W Ill), Billy Taylor (Ball St), and Kevin McKenna (In St). http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/endseason5.html The playoff teams are listed in the link but it doesn't say who is in the gold, silver, and bronze brackets. I'll update later in the day.

* GoldandBlack.com twittered that North Central shooting guard Terone Johnson had a huge game in Merrillville today finishing with 45 points! I'd be pretty surprised if Terone doesn't end up ranked in the top 50 with an expert or two after this summer.

* Mark Miller of Wishoops.net says Paul Jesperson has received an offer from Loyola and UW Green Bay and Port Wahington's John Gasser has added Maryland and Airzona State offers to his Northwestern, St Louis, Bradley, Butler, and several other existing offers.

* ESPN has a great review on Xavier Jones from Gary, Indiana from the Desert Duel.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=4365943

* Another ESPN link, former Majerus assistant Paul Biancardi really likes the Rising Stars team from Illinois and gets the dirt, all four Rising Star senior to be studs have great academics. Ohio State bound Lenzelle Smith, Iowa bound Ben Brust, Cal bound Alex Rossi, and William and Mary bound Fred Heldring all have 3.0 or higher and the link also a review of Trey Lewis from Garfield, Ohio. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=4363230

July 10 AAU roundup and link-o-rama

Detroit Finny's Isiah Sykes and Ohio State commitment Lenzelle Smith made the all-star team at the Reebok All-American camp. Some Kentucky, Louisville, Indiana, and Notre Dame targets were also selected including Stacey Poole, LaQuinton Ross, Fuquan Edwin, Joe Jackson, Kyle Anderson, and Sterling Gibbs. http://w3.nbebasketball.com/2009/07/11/friday-open-evaluation-period-notebook-part-ii/ Part one of their evaluation has more on some east coast prospects at Reebok and some notes on Chicago Summer Classic including liking 2011 James Siakhem for Illinois Titans. They also spoke with Indianapolis Howe's 6'8 forward Jordan Manual who is listing a top 3 of Wright State, Saint Josephs, and Providence. http://w3.nbebasketball.com/2009/07/10/friday-open-evaluation-period-notebook-part-i/ The summer classic is on day 3 right now and here is a link to updated playoff schedules. http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/sclassic6.html

All-Iowa Attack Red won the 17U division of the NY2LA Invitational in Milwaukee and 2011 star Donivine Stewart was playing up a grade and still won co-MVP honors with teammate Travon Wright. http://www.ny2lasports.com/NextLevelDay4recap.htm Chris Oliver, Jesse Berry, Alex Foster, and other players of note are featured. Milwaukee's own Vander Blue scored 33 in the loss.

Here is a link to some wonderful player profiles from the event by Illinois Prep Bullseye. http://ilprepbullseye.com/page42.html They profile Mike McCall who strangely enough is consistently ranked among the top handful of players in Chicago by all local media but seems to be way below that level by all the national guys. They also take a look at Donivine Stewart and several other players from Illinois including Keith Carter and Aaron Simpson (2013) who were watched closely by Purdue and Illinois at the event.

On July 12 the Summer Jam in Milwaukee will host elite talent from around the country including Vander Blue, Jalen Kendrick, Ray McCallum Jr, Moses Morgan, Cameron Wright, Flavien Davis, John Gasser, Dominique Fergeson, Trey Zeigler, Branden Dawson, Levonte Dority, Jake Kitchell, Quevyn Winters, Chason Randle, and Dante Williams. This Wisnet preview by Mark Miller has player rankings for many of the invitees and brief descriptions. http://www.wishoops.net/sports/hoopsb/blog/message.aspx?f=123&id=1043188

Dylan Kaufman (2012) of Akron recently visited Miami and received a scholarship offer. Kaufman also visited Ohio State and drew coaches from North Carolina, Akron, and Indiana's Tom Crean at the Adidas Take Five. http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/recruits/player/10351/

Port Washington, Wisconsin shooting guard John Gasser has had a huge summer so far this year and according to a couple of separate Mark Miller blurbs he is being tracked closely by Wisconsin and Virginia at the Kentucky Hoopfest.

Hoosier Shootout Day 1 Top Players:

2010:

Christian Kabongo Mt Zion Academy NC was the most dominant player I got to see on day one. He was playing with a team from Toronto called Scadding Court Ballhawks that I'm having trouble finding a roster for. He's a legit 6'5 and went coast to coast at will. He dribbles between his legs way too much but its impressive nonetheless and he pulls it off against some really quick players. He missed almost all of his deep shots but the people on hand assured me he usually hits them. He played great on defense for most of the game against one of the quickest points I saw yesterday. He took a lot of possessions off on defense too, but was extremely talented. He's the sort of guy who I'm sure will be a pro but I'm not sure if he'll make it to college. I was told he has a Nebraska offer on the table but is 19 already. He's an instant impact D1 talent if he makes it to a campus but might need reigned in a bit. He scored 30, had at least 8 assists and several steals and rebounds (and turnovers) as well.

Robert Wade from Team Nashville has to be one of the least talked about future college high major stars in the country. Here is a link I found while digging for more dirt on Wade. He was the player that all the kids from other teams gathered to watch and he kept going up strong on offensive rebounds and jamming the ball with one hand and having near misses. I didn't get to see enough of his game to get a feel for how good the little things are, but the big things are great, ask the Indiana Dawgz about him! Cincinnati and other schools were there watching and a couple of coaches were seen flipping through their $125 programs on the sidelines as they walked by. http://www.tnprephoops.com/content/view/1161/48/

Crishawn Hopkins from Indianapolis Manual was outstanding for Team Blaze but he was the only highlight for his team. He scored well over 20 of his teams 30 or so points. He is every bit of 6'0 tall but skinny, but the kid can jump out of the gym and has some range. He reportedly got a Miami (Oh) offer and did well at Miami and Indiana's elite camps recently. Coaches from Wright State, Eastern Illinois, Northern Colorado, Morehead State, and Princeton were on hand for his game against a loaded Atlanta All Stars team.

David Mason was the most impressive college prospect on the Atlanta All Stars. I haven't dug for their roster yet to see who some of his talented teammates were, but Mason was about 6'5 with good reach and had high major athleticism and some explosion to his game. This was one of the most talented teams I got to see in the 17U group yesterday and should be a tough out in the tournament. #34 was about 6'9 and played well as did #55 who was about the same size but a little bit stronger. Both looked like mid-majors or better to me.

Jeff Johnson was outstanding for the Peoria Irish 17U squad against Camp Daryl. #0 and #30 were both 6'8 forwards with nice games. I'm pretty sure Johnson was #0 so please correct me if I'm wrong. He had a shaved head and a headband and kept draining jumpers and defending well and being physical. #30 was also about the same size but more mobile and longer and made some nice plays with the ball and hustled. Let me know if you know who he was. Just found out Josh Piper was the other one. They both play for Champaign Centennial.

Eric Gaines was very impressive for Orange Crush. They had a very athletic team and the 6'4 rangy Gaines was chosen for his work on the baseline, he's quite an impressive athlete for his Hillcrest high school.

Jeff Hoskins is a 6'1 shooting guard from Kalamazoo who looked really good against the Irish for Camp Daryl. He was playing point yesterday and hustled all game long and showed off a nice 3 pointer even when well guarded. He was #10 unless the rosters have shuffled around.

Illinois Titans had some impressive athletes. I mentioned Siakhem and Ochenje from the younger class playing up with this squad and they were dominant. But the team was loaded with guys with muscles and mohawks. #32 and #23 were especially impressive physically.

Nashville Celtics Green #2 was big time as well. I'm not sure who he was, have three suspects so until I narrow it down somebody help me out. He was a 6'4ish kid who had a nice stroke, star level athleticism and had Vanderbilt and Michigan coaches among others watching he and his Nashville Celtics Green team. #1 and point guard #8 were good as well.

2011:

James Siakhem is playing up with the 17U Illinois Titans and was extremely impressive. He didn't look near the 6'7 height I'd seen him listed before but he's got to be one of the most physically imposing players in his age group. He hustled and is a special athlete. Word on him is that Depaul, Vanderbilt, and Southern Illinois have already offered. The 17U Titans had several other good athletes, check them out.

Khristian Smith from Indianapolis Pike has had a good summer. He led his Pike team to a victory at Purdue's team camp without Marques Teague and has picked up some D1 offers. If he continues to play alongside the special 2012 prospects who joined his team for the Shootout, the college coaches following them like a band of gypsies will continue to be impressed with him. He is about 6'5 with good length, athleticism, and a mature game. He plays hard on defense, cuts at the right time, and has a decent stroke. Keep an eye on him.

2012:

Emanuel Ochenje had the most potential of the 2012 kids I got to see yesterday. He is ranked #1 in the class by Chicagohoops and was playing up with the 17U Illinois Titans. He is an amazing athlete, you simply have to go see this team play if you are checking out the shootout. They have outstanding athletes at many positions and should be one of the favorites to win the tournament. When I saw them play they didn't get a challenge from the Kansas Express who were most notable for having a kid play who reminded me of Seth Rogen from Badass but kept sticking nice 12 footers off the glass nonetheless.

Ron Patterson keeps playing great ball. He plays for Broad Ripple in Indianapolis and is only about 6'2 but his arms are so long he plays with the length of a forward. He's a really impressive defender and can shoot some and make it to the hoop. Look for him to continue to improve his handle and be a star in the class of 2012.

Gary Harris from Huntington Southeast was with a new AAU team and word apparently hadn't spread beyond Bruce Weber and Tom Crean who joined the Mongrel and a few others to watch Harris go to work. Harris changes speeds well, can drive, and looks good going up for pull up jumpers. He got hurt early in the second half, I can't wait to see him again expect to see him rocket up the charts with the national guys and make the Mongrel stop talking about him. Up Tempo had a really long lanky kid who came off the bench and stroked some 3's and played really good defense that had Tom Crean walking over to the scorer's table, he was #32 but not sure yet who he was.

Austin Burgett from Avon, Indiana keeps getting better and better. He looks a legit 6'7 now and is getting stronger. He was very aggressive yesterday in front of legions of college coaches for the first time and really took over his team's second game on both ends of the floor. He's got a very nice handle and shot for a big kid.

Yogi Ferrel from Park Tudor in Indianapolis was outstanding yesterday playing against older kids. The teams the Indy Stars went up against were not offering the kind of competition he's likely to face as the tournament goes on, but he was easily the most impressive of the 2012 kids playing up with Quarles' Indy Stars. He was efficient and made great assists at times. I believe he had 20 points in the second game and was all over the glass, penetrating, and his shot keeps looking better. I also think he might have grown an inch or so since last time I saw him and his arms look a bit longer than you'd expect from a 5'9 point guard.

Jeremy Hollowell from Indianapolis was outstanding. He is about 6'6 and has a smooth 3 point stroke and was active driving to the basket as well as off the ball yesterday. He has great length and a good handle.

Raphael Davis is another outstanding prospect on that Indy Stars team. He is going to be big time in college. Right now he dominates the ball too much for a kid with a shaky handle and 3 outstanding point guards on his team and he tends to shoot the team out of rhythm from time to time. But he's got talent to burn and will be an extremely good small forward in college. What could be seen as shooting too much to some is probably a killer instinct to Matt Painter. This kid will score a ton of points in college. He might not have the handle and defensive quickness you want a shooting guard to have, but he is 6'4 with good length and I can't wait to watch him mature.

Brad Hartman, Kellon Thomas, Rhett Smith, and Larry Drew were also impressive for the 2012 Spiece Indy Stars. DeJuan Marrero was extremely impressive rebounding and getting put backs. AJ Hammons didn't play in the second half of the first game or at all in the second game presumably because of a minor injury but he looked fine. RJ Mahurin was an impressive floor general for Up Tempo.

2013:

VJ Beachum from Ft Wayne played a great game for his Spiece Indy Heat 2013 game playing up a year against Up Tempo and Gary Harris. Tom Crean and Bruce Weber got to take it in. Beachum is very long and can shoot, drive, and block shots. He's about 6'5 already and usually had the ball and didn't look outclassed against extremely underrated 2012 prospect Gary Harris. If anyone has a roster for his team I'd love to know who #9 and #12 were on his team as they have bright futures as well as #5 who appears to be a Matt Howard clone in the making.

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.