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
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Adidas It Takes Five Wrap Up Reports...

Adidas It Takes Five

DC area power Triple Threat blew out Indiana Elite (Fox) in the 17U final of the Adidas It Takes Five. I'll update if any Triple Threat players are being heavily recruited by any area schools, but the tournament had many good performances in the 17U division and saw some players blow up on the national scene in a hurry. Indiana Elite (Fox) is led by a trio of Mount Vernon (Indiana) probable mid-major prospects in Daniel Turner, PJ Hubert, and DeAndre Davis. Turner is a bulldog small forward type who does a little of everything and gets plenty of rug burns along the way. Indiana Elite got big performances from Butler commit Eric Fromm. Louisville and Kentucky prospect Fab Mello drew a lot of attention, but some reports had Indianapolis 2011 prospect Michael Chandler playing him very well and Fromm doing well against him also. Chandler is also committed to Rick Pitino's Louisville program. Ge'lawn Guyn had a huge tournament fresh off his verbal to Charlotte. And Port Washington, Wisconsin's John Gasser had a huge tournament. Here is a link to Wishoops.net's story on him having a big game in front of Gary Williams and Tony Bennet (if i blog, does that mean this is my only allotted lounge singer wise-crack and I blew it?). http://www.wishoops.net/sports/hoopsb/blog/message.aspx?f=123&id=1041970

Elizabethtown, Kentucky big man Curtis Washington of the Derek Smith West All Stars has had quite a week. After the unheralded player earned MVP of the Bolus Blue Chip camp he showed up on high major radars overnight and was offered a scholarship to Kevin O'Niel's USC program and accepted. Its a long way from Elizabethtown to LA, we hope he brings his own Bourbon and Mammoth Cave Twist though. LA is a bit lacking in culture and things to do. I don't think any log cabin monuments to former presidents are likely to be found there as well. Maybe it won't be so bad... Congrats to Washington, this is the kind of nowhere to everywhere story the Mongrel lives for. Michael Johnston spoke with him after he committed. http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-9504-Louisville-High-School-Sports-Examiner~y2009m7d8-ETown-big-man-is-heading-out-to-the-Pac-10

The 16U division was won by Washington's pals at the Derek Smith All Stars. Remy Abel and George Fant have had big performances to lead the way (see past entries for direct links or click on Demling blog on left of page). They beat Indiana Elite Orange in a 78-76 decision. Fant and Abel were watched closely by Rick Pitino and Tom Crean and other high major coaches this weekend. Abel is a 6'3 shooting guard from Eastern (Louisville) and Fant is a 6'6 beast of a small forward from Warren Central in Bowling Green which looks to be a favorite to win Kentucky's beautiful and pure single class tournament with the new addition of Chase Behanon from Cincinnati. Indiana Elite was led by Bloomington South teammates Spencer Turner who had 21 points on 3 pointers and Indiana commitment Matt Carlino who had 13 to go with Princeton forward Rontay Chavis' 14 points along with support from Marshall Plumlee, Cody Zeller, and Justin Gant from Terre Haute North. http://www.hoosierhillshoops.com/2009/07/09/adidas-it-takes-5ive-ie-one-orange-takes-second/ Gant is 6'8 and very skilled and underrated and the Mongrel will be featuring him soon. He has an Iowa offer and has had heavy interest from Michigan and some from Purdue and Indiana. Gant can shoot, pass, handle the ball and can get up and down the court very well.

Other standouts in the 16U division include former USC commit Ryan Boatright who had great reviews for Derick Rose Elite, Jeremiah Davis from Indiana Elite/Team Indiana, Dee Davis from Indiana Elite/Team Indiana, and ... Jeremiah is a wonderful high major prospect with great strength and has a high major handle and impressive passing ability. He needs to become a more consistent decision maker and freelance a little less but he does knock it down. Dee Davis (no relation) was MVP of the Indiana state tournament and has a rare feel for the game as a 5'10 point guard. He's good enough that the high majors will miss him. He is a good defender and is a potential spot of infamy on Crean's recruiting record at IU letting Bloomington's own local hero go if he doesn't have similar or better players at the position actually commit to IU in the next couple of classes.

The 15U division was won by Indiana Elite/Team Indiana. Indianapolis North Central's Devontes Smith-Rivera led the way and is considered one of the elite players in the 2012 class nationally. Indiana, Tennessee, and Purdue are early leaders for Rivera with North Carolina joining the fray recently.

Day 3 evaluation period update...

Hoosier Shootout Updates:


Donnie Hale went for 20 and 9 in an overtime loss for Spiece Indy Heat 17U Felder. Spiece Indy Stars 15U won big. Several Illinois teams won, more notes following in an update soon.


Adidas It Takes Five Updates:

Indiana Elite (Fox) in finals of 17U winner's bracket after defeating Grassroots Canada. Butler commit Eric Fromm with a big game.

Indiana Elite Orange is in a close battle late in the game against outstanding Baltimore/DC area power Triple Threat. Matt Carlino getting great reviews. Highmajorscoop twittering that Carlino runs like a deer and Zeller, Plumlee and Justin Gant looking good.

Derek Smith All Stars 16U with suddenly hot prospects George Fant and Remy Abel beats Indiana Elite (Dee and Jeremiah Davis squad) to make it to the semi-finals of 16U division.

NY2LA Invitational Updates:

Aaron Simpson and Keith Carter having good morning games for Team NLP 15U squad. Coaches from almost every high major program in the country are on hand for 2012 probable top ten national kids Alex Foster from Chicago and Peter Jok, NY2LA's top ranked kid in the class nationally.

Here's a Day 2 report including updates on area players Marcus Crider, Xavier Jones, Alex Foster (who has an Illinois offer) and more... http://www.ny2lasports.com/NextLevelDay2recap.htm

King James Classic:

Twitter is aflutter with Marques Teague praise from his morning game which has been attended by Rick Pitino and Tom Crean among others. Jody Demling's (of Louisville Courier-Journal) twitter feed has been great, Teague says he kind of knows where he will go and will visit Louisville, Indiana, and Kentucky in August. http://twitter.com/jdemling

Other area players of note include Chicago's Reggie Smith, Indianapolis Lawrence North (for now) forward Dominique Fergeson, Ohio State commit Deshawn Thomas, Michigan and Indiana target Moses Morgan, Cleveland Benedictine's Cameron Wright, Purdue target and Gary, Indiana star Brandon Dawson, Chicago's Jermone Richmond and many others. Louisville targets Chicago stars Mike Shaw and Wayne Blackshear in the 2011 class have been touring campuses together and told Jody Demling they want to be a package deal.

This tournament is taking advantage of the rules to get the college coaches in to see the 40 or so college kids invited to the camp in action in a tournament following the camp we've been covering (loosely). They split into 8 teams and they are all stacked with talent.

Indiana Talent on display in Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

Adidas It Takes 5 is still going strong with only 8 teams left in each division set to tip off in a few hours. NBE Basketball blog as been keeping close tabs on several teams and players of interest. http://w3.nbebasketball.com/2009/07/07/nbe-live-evaluation-period-blog-day-ii/

One of the fastest rising prospects in Michigan is 6'9 forward Jon Horford for the Michigan Mustings. The Mustangs are still alive in the 17U division. Keith Appling has been getting great reviews as always and Jon Horford is drawing more attention. His latest list given to the NBE Blog was MSU, Florida, Alabama, Wake Forrest, and Miami. Izzo was watching intently but might be full in 2010 with Horford's teammates Guana and Appling locked up already.

Joining the Mustings in the final 8 teams at Cincinnati in the 17U field are the D1Elite (Derek Rose). Justin Martin has been playing well and is drawing attention from Xavier. Michael Chandler has had some good reveiws and the Mongrel believes he is playing with the 17U D1E right now.

The Illinois warriors will play Indiana Elite (Fox) in the 17U division. The Warriors have been extremely strong this summer and boast some of the best talent on the circuit. Dwayne Evans from Nequa Valley (Chicago burbs) has been having a good tournament for the Warriors. Indiana Elite's 17U team has the Mount Vernon Trio of Daniel Turner, DeArmond Davis, and shooter extraordinaire PJ Hubert along with Ge'Lawn Guyn, Butler commit Eric Fromm and other good players.

Two of the 16U division's final 8 teams are from Indiana as well. Indiana Elite Orange has been playing to a who is who of college coaches with Matt Carlino, Cody Zeller, and Marshall Plumlee leading the way and Indiana Elite/Team Indiana has been outstanding with Xavier commit Dee Davis and Muncie's Jeremiah Davis leading the way in final 8 of 16U division.

All-Ohio Red is the other area team still alive in the 16U field. Tom Crean has been spotted at a NJ Playaz vs Team Takeover 2:00 PM game according to the above link as well, no word on which prospects he is watching there yet.

The Derek Smith All-Stars West 16U squad has been on fire. Louisville's Remy Abel and George Fant and Chad Jackson have led the way for the Kentucky based squad which has drawn coaches from mid and high majors including Indiana and Louisville. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/blog.html Indiana was out in force to see the 16U Derek Smith All Stars for an earlier game, the 17 U Derek Smith All Stars boast among other good players 6'9 Curtis Washington who is fresh off his MVP performance at the Rick Bolus Blue Chip camp.

Indiana Elite/Team Indiana 15U is in the final of the winner's bracket against the Eric Gordon All-Stars. The EG all-stars are being led by Patrick Irving and Ronnie Johnson at guard and they will face off against Devontes Smith-Rivera and his Indiana Elite squad in the final four of the tournament.

Hoosier Shootout Developing Hoosier and Illinois Flavor

The Spiece Indy Stars 15U squad is still undefeated in the tournament and they face an excellent Atlanta Express squad in the 10:30 AM game. Austin Burgette and Jeremy Hollowell will have their hands full keeping tabs on 6'7 Denzel Council from Macon as well as 6'5 Jack Shanks. The Stars have played multiple games in front of Bruce Weber, Tom Crean, Brad Stevens, John Belien, Tubby Smith, Jack Owens, and assistants from Ohio State, Liberty, Cornell, and many other coaches.

The Spiece Indy Heat 17U Quarles squad has been unbeaten as well. 2010 Ohio commit Ethan Jacobs has been strong inside in the absence of 2012 behemoth AJ Hammons and Raphael Davis and Khristian Smith keep getting the ball to the hoop and it goes in or DeJuan Marrero is there to clean up. Point guards Steven Jamison and Brad Elam have been strong but for the Mongrel's money the best player for the Heat so far has been Yogi Ferrel the little point guard. Indianapolis Pike's Khristian Smith was outstanding on Monday at least.

Spiece Indy Heat (Felding) is without Travis Carrol but Purdue commit Donnie Hale is picking up the slack and they are still alive in the 17U division as well.

Team Southern Indiana has had a good start to the tournament. Day one updates are provided, I got to check in on a couple of their games but can't add a whole lot beyond what is in this Hoosier Hills Report blog. 6'7 Taylor Wischmeier is playing well and seeing Eastern Kentucky, Evansville, and IPFW interest.

The Chicago area is well represented in the round of 16 as well. Illinois Old Gold, Velocity Red, Illinois Titans, and Illinois Old School are all still alive.
http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/hoosier.html

Other notes:

I'm hearing SYF players combo guard Xavier Jones from Gary, Indiana is having a good start up in Milwaukee at the NY2LA tournament. I hope to have more on that this afternoon. Here is the updated brackets for the tournament. http://www.ny2lasports.com/events/NextLevelInvitational/Next_Level_Brackets-July7-1.pdf

Morning update, as expected Tom Crean and Rick Pitino are taking in Marques Teauge's first game in Cleveland.