USSSA Nationals 7/30

The Spiece Fieldhouse was home to some of the best talent in the country on Thursday and the Lucky Mongrel got to take in some of it and get lots of pictures, all of which taken about a quarter of a second after the players turned around. So it goes, but the basketball was not disappointing at all. There were ballots for the all-tourney team for the coaches and since I was denied the pleasure of a secret ballot, let me make mine publicly (with apologies to the guys i didn't get to see).

* I'll start my ballot off with 2012 Spiece Indy Star Ron Patterson (pictured on right). He was impressive as per usual. The 6'2 guard is a really dangerous scorer. He gets to the bucket on the drive and can jump up and shoot it quickly and he's usually on target. His athleticism around the basket can be really impressive. He seems to always have a few dunks or awe inspiring hang time plays and today was no different. His Spiece Indy Stars won their 10:30 bracket game 66-62 against the Fieldhouse Elite 2011 Knights. Patterson had 20 and was well on his way to another good game in the evening against Spiece Indy Heat (Felder). The Stars are playing up but still competing and winning. Jeremy Hollowell scored 11 and looked good as well.

*I'm not sure if I think he had one of the five best weeks there, but just off wow factor Marques Teague is probably gonna make my list. Teague has become a really strong leader on the floor. He makes some of the nicest plays I've seen a high school player make when he gets an angle to go to the bucket. He can take over offensively and defensively and is massively talented but might not be as consistently dominant as he could be. He has a decent looking shot, he is improving those two areas and be even better than he is already. I'll bet the high majors start recruiting him if he starts out his junior season strong. kidding, kidding... Spiece Indy Heat 2010 Betts defeated Team Southern Indiana ed 66-51. Ross, Wischmeier, Jeffersonville's AJ Adams were outstanding in defeat, and Teague was joined by an all star cast on his squad (Yogi Ferrel, DeJuan Marrero, Khristian Smith, Raphael Davis, AJ Hammons and more). I will double check on a couple of those TSI 17U names so as to avoid ridcule.

* I was just up there today so forgive me if the rest of the tournament went differently but Gary Harris was playing for a squad called Team Indiana. He is one of the 7 kids I'm calling the top prospect in the Indiana high school class of 2012 depending on day of the week. Harris is a superior athlete with long arms and is already becoming a special player. He could play point or wing, has a nice looking shot from three, and is young for his class if I remember correctly. The last time I caught him he got hurt for Up Tempo in a 15U game but was the best player on the floor. His game was at half time when I left so I don't have any stats for him. Harris, Patterson, Smith-Rivera, Hammons, and Marrero are on the rotation so far at least...vbg

* Ryan Taylor was outstanding for Spiece Indy Fastbreak and has to be on my first team ballot from today. The 2011 Lawrence North little power forward is well on his way to becoming the Louisville Cardinals wing forward. He has always been tough on the glass and fearless inside, but today I got to see him really attack the basket a lot more than I've seen off the dribble before. Taylor is handling the ball with more confidence than he was in the school year. Turner wound up with 22 points on the game. He was matched against a very impressive player Evan Cleveland wound up with 15 points and is probably was a little taller than Taylor but not quite as thick.

* Crishawn Hopkins was playing with the Blaze Select again. They had a chippy battle with Fieldhouse Elite Hoosier Boyz. Need to look up rosters, but #5 was good and competitive for the Hoosier Boyz and was probably a 6'4 kid with good length but Hopkins was in control. He elevates very high in the air when he shoots and it is a very smooth shot. He is a lot more than a leaper, the 6'0 Manual guard needs to put on some weight but he is fearless. Eastern Michigan and Ohio had coaches watching. I'll have to go with two points on my squad, put him on the first team.

* Other guys that were impressive included Yogi Ferrel was outstanding. He seems to be a little bigger but the urgent pace and intensity which he plays with is a real treat to watch. His recent Ohio State offer is well deserved. His teammate Raphael Davis looked good playing up. He had 16 points and played hard. He is always good, and consistently shows off some of his scoring prowess but today even though he was less dominant than he can be, he also did a much better job deciding when to pass the ball to a teammate and he limited the wild shots. Playing with a vocal point like Teague might be really good for the young Purdue star who looks to be 6'5 and strong. Bowman Academy's Dejuann Marrero was a treat to see as well. He controls the glass every time out and is an all effort kid with impressive ability in the paint and high major athleticism.

* Kenny Enoch scored 9 points and Evan Blackman had 14 for the Spiece Indy Fieldhouse who were eliminated 63-61.

* Travis Carrol and Donnie Hale were imposing for Spiece Indy Heat Down against Spiece Gym Rats Tolson. The Mongrel is a big fan of both players. Carrol particularly will be a very good power forward for Purdue. Unfortunately I just looked in a bit on this game and didn't get any stats.

* The NEO Ballers 16U squad were very impressive. A Michigan State assistant was on hand to see them crush the Illinois Predators. He most likely was watching Anton Grady, a 6'7 shot blocker who really got off the floor quickly. #14 Brian Burdine from Lutheran East High School is class of 2011 and is a very quick but thin 5'9 skinny point guard with amazing body control. They beat the Predators 81-41 and just terrorized them defensively. Thanks to coach Tom Coleman for getting me the updates on the roster.

* A sophomore to be Spiece Gym Rats Davis squad was in action on the adjacent court. They were led by #13 Jason Kalongi I believe who is going to be playing varsity for Bishop Leuers this year. #50 was about a 6'6 strong forward who had good form shooting to 15 feet for the Gym Rats. #52 Gregory for Fieldhouse Indy Impact was really impressive, he is about a 6'6 forward who likes to play defense with attitude. Nick Nimtz was another big kid who played well for the Impact.
* 2013 super phenom Daryl Baker scored 21 in a loss Wednesday to Team Indiana (Gary Harris). Logan Bailey (Bedford North Lawrence) added 20. This HoosierHillsHoops.com update has several other notes on Hoosier state prospects in the event. http://www.hoosierhillshoops.com/index.php

* Coaches were looking a little less bright eyed and busy tailed than they were on day one of the evaluation period a few weeks ago. IPFW Coach Dane Fife was on hand as were coaches from Evansville (straddling Spiece Indy Heat games at one point), Gardner Webb, Ball State, Michigan State, Northwestern, and others.

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...

Ken Kaminski 2012 Ohio Star in the Making

One of the best players I've seen in the 2012 class is without a doubt Ken Kaminski. This is a kid who is so good he's not going to be able to be referred to as overlooked or underrated for very long so the Hoops Mongrel wants to strike while the iron is hot.

The Mongrel watched Kaminski for the first time this spring playing for Team Pride. He's about 6'5 or 6'6 and extremely athletic. He not only can leap, he also has a little grace to it and some hang time which stands out at this age. And wow, the kid just throws up nice looking 3's with a quick release and Kaminski can flush the ball with authority. He plays with intensity and is really smart. Its hard to be more impressed with a kid in this age group the first time you see him play.

The forthcoming Mongrel is far from the only one noticing, however. The good gentleman the Mongrel sat next to during one of Kaminski's hoops explosions would interrupt stories about his top-secret inside information on Butler basketball's coming ascendency with secret recruits already locked up like Ben Brust and Austin Etherington with several compound words that began with "holy" but ended in ways best not described in such a friendly environment. Kaminski belongs in the same class as other elite 2012 players nationally that the good Mongrel has been fortunate to see such as D'vonte Smith-Rivera, Ron Patterson, Jaylen Beckham, Raphael Davis, Elijah Macon, and AJ Hammons.

Kaminski is from Medina, Ohio and plays AAU ball for an impressive Michigan AAU program by the name of Team Pride. The resourceful Mongrel found google very kind when looking for ooh's and aah's describing Kaminski's game. Saginaw area hoops guru Lou Dawkins is one of the sharpest knives in the drawer when it comes to Michigan hoops. Tubby Smith fans might remember Dawkins as a star for Tubby's Tulsa squads. He has a blog at http://www.botbscouting.blogspot.com/ that does some great event recaps and scouting and the grateful Mongrel will return to this well a time or two at least when doing our Michigan hoops homework. Look for Dawkins' event recaps in the May archive and you'll find an entry from the IPS Border Battle in which he refers to Kaminski as a "potential McDonalds All-American" and comfortably suggests he might be the best player in Ohio's 2012 class including Macon and (at that time) Behanon. Take a look at Kaminski and you'll be a fan. Quickness, skill, intangibles, range, hops, this kid has it all.