Here is volume one of the soon to be anticipated 10 hot tips from the recruiting world.
1) The Mongrel has been all over the spectacular job being done by the Dayton Flyers in recruiting some of the best talent in the midwest in any conference for the class of 2010. Staten, Berry, and company could be on the verge of adding Chicago's Brandon Spearman to that haul according to the Hoops Report blog (Hendrickson). http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/ Scroll down to the sub-header "Warriors Brief Appearance" and you'll see that Hendrickson is saying word from the Chicago Summer Classic was that Spearman is about to join the already loaded Dayton class of 2010. Hendrickson also talks about Purdue and Illinois targets (not to mention half the Big Ten) Nana Egwu and Chasson Randle as well as Louisville and Indiana targets Mike Shaw and Wayne Blackshear. James Siakhem, Jacob Williams, Jordan Threloff and other Chicago area players are mentioned.
2) IPFW offered Bloomington South's Spencer Turner and head coach Dane Fife was on hand to watch Indiana Elite at the Kentucky Hoopfest on more than one occasion. Turner is one of the best shooters as I have seen in the high school ranks but isn't extremely quick laterally. He has improved his conditioning this summer from last year and is getting stronger. In the quarter-final loss to Team Takeover Turner made a key drive late in the game and hit an 8 foot floater that we have seen him bust out a few times before. He is more than just a shooter, but it is that amazingly deadly rainbow bomb that will always be his hallmark. http://www.hoosierhillshoops.com/index.php
3) The Mongrel will not often (if ever) use the word lock, but you can put this in the bank. Western Michigan is an already attractive mid-major destination. They have the finest brewery in the Midwest (Bells) and the great middle linebacker (inside linebacker in the NFL) John Offerdahl went to school there. That is enough to get the Mongrel on board, but the Western Michigan staff also used the greatest weapon in their arsenal. They photo-shopped Taylor Swift's face on recruiting material with Jack Isenberger from Zionsville, Indiana. http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2009/07/crunch-time-for.html Isenberger has strong interest in Wright State and Miami of Ohio but since the Taylor Swift card has never been used unsuccessfully, the Mongrel suggests betting on the Mustangs. In fact, double down!
4) Here is a link from IllinoisHSBasketball.com who had a very interesting blog last year but it stopped being updated for a while and it looks like Mr. Poneman is back online. Here is a link to a story from what sounds like a killer Mac Irvin Fire vs Team STAT game which featured Austin Rivers who is rumored to be close to a decommitment and Illinois HS basketball also says in its twitter that Coach K and Tom Crean and others were on hand. http://illinoishsbasketball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=868&Itemid=1 Keep an eye on Mr Rivers. Tweet tweet.
5) The Vill 14U have an absolutely dominant incoming freshman named Daryl Hicks who is going to Shelbyville. He was held in check for once in the title game of the 14U bracket. There is no doubt he is an elite player in his class and he has big time athleticism and a strong mature frame and is already being watched by Indiana, Ohio State, Xavier, Michigan State, Illinois, and other Kentucky incoming freshmen such as Trinity's James Quick who looked outstanding. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/2009/07/ville-falls-short-in-14s.html In the Sunday afternoon game he hit a few 3 pointers and had some unreal drives finished off with finger rolls and just couldn't be stopped. Hicks' teammate Shane Hatcher was the leading scorer with 17. Hatcher is a strong kid who might project as a small forward but will certainly benefit from the attention placed on his star teammate. http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090712/SPORTS/907120356/1030/rss0704 Also note the game Cody Zeller had which inspired Brian Snow to publicly apologize for not ranking Zeller on twitter.
6) The previous Demling article mentions the Spiece Indy Stars 2012 win (their second consecutive tournament) over the Wisconsin Playground Warriors 72-66. Rhett Smith had an outstanding game scoring 16 points and I always liked him but he is showing a bit more athleticism than I gave him credit for. He had a foul called on an outstanding block he had in the semi-final that really underscored he can get up. He also showed the ability to look good shooting deep. He shows potential to be a very good small forward. Jeremy Hollowell and Ron Patterson had another great game as well. Hollowell had to go toe to toe with JP Tokoto and came out on top for the second time in a week. Jody Demling likes Tokoto more than Burgette, Patterson, and Hollowell. That is a tough one to call. I think Patterson is the best player right now and Hollowell outplayed Tokoto head to head over the last couple of championship games and has even more outstanding upside. But Tokoto and Burgette will be outstanding players too. I could defend any of the four. If Tokoto adds some range to his game he will probably end up a McDonalds All American and Burgette is a wonderful forward who gets better every time out. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/2009/07/spiece-team-wins-15s-title.html Demling also has nice things to say about another couple of Louisville Trinity players (Charles Foster and Kyle Saxon) as well as Indianapolis stars RJ Hunter and Harry Willis. Patterson and Hollowell for the Indy Stars have indicated some interest in winding up in college together and seem to be drawing non-stop attention from Bruce Weber, Mick Cronin, Tom Crean, and other coaches this July. They made quite a stir by showing up for a couple of games wearing Ohio State shorts. Thad Matta may have snuck in when the Mongrel wasn't watching but he seems to be the one serious suitor not following the duo like the previously mentioned group. The move is sure to be seen in the paranoid world of recruiting as indicating OSU is out in front, it will be interesting to see if the Stars continue to draw the same crowd of pursuers the rest of July. The Mongrel suspects these two kids are just being playful, but it will be interesting to keep an eye on their recruitment.
7) The 16U players at Kentucky Hoopfest were outstanding. There were some grumblings about 17U talent at the event but the 16U plate was full. The good Mongrel had the chance to take in outstanding performances from Warsaw's Nic Moore who has drawn Matt Painter to at least one high school game and had an outstanding first half in the semi-final. He is about 5'8 but can jump and has a sweet stroke. He's got all the quickness that the handful of guys his size have that make it to high majors, it will be fun to see who steps up and offers Moore. Playing alongside Dee Davis and Jeremiah Davis gives coaches a point guard smorgasbord to check from. I pointed out Davis looking outstanding in a couple of other posts and he is really raising his stock this July. Kentucky and Indiana were schools to offer Davis early but there has been speculation that Kentucky wanted to take another look and bring him back to campus again and similar questions with Indiana but Davis would appear to have met those questions. Austin Etherington and Deng Leek had some good moments, both have a lot of potential but probably need to develop for a year or two to show what kind of players they can be. Etherington had a couple of nice tip ins and hit a deep ball but needs to get stronger with the ball. As does Deng who is looking a bit stronger than last couple of times I saw him. He and Cheir Ajou can really alter shots and Ajou shows some range as well but has had his minutes limited in this tournament with a tender ankle. Some Michigan players had outstanding tournaments as well. James Johnson had a huge game for Team Pride against IE Team Indiana and Matt Poches from Harland HS had a big game on Sunday as well. Johnson often set up at the free throw line with his back to the basket on offense and caught the pass to initiate the offense, then showed nice decision making in finding the open man or the guy who could get to the hole. He also hit several baskets himself and had a great game. Avon's Kendall Griffin had a couple of nice games in this tournament for Spiece Select 2011, he shows the ability to shoot and has good size for a point guard and is shaping up to be a top sleeper in the class of 2011. Cody Zeller and Matt Carlino are a treat to watch for Indiana Elite Orange. Zeller took over in his morning game and ended up with 25 points and Carlino had a few buckets but had lots of assists and made good decisions as coaches sons are known for. 16U kids might not like me saying so, but the best player in the 16U division might have been Jeffersonville's Daryl Baker who was playing up two years.
8) Mounds Meridian 2010 star Hoopy Jones has picked up an offer from the Indiana State Sycamores. Jones was getting great reviews this past week for his play with the Illinois Bobcats. http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/ijones.html
9) Indianapolis Pike junior to be Marques Teague is calling Louisville his favorite to Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports in a blog entry yesterday. http://community.foxsports.com/goodmanonfox/blog/2009/07/12/en_route_to_peach_jam_ Normally I don't pay a lot of attention to calling someone your favorite but a couple of days ago Teague said he knew where he wants to go but will take visits with his Mom and combined with him saying Rick Pitino is his favorite, expect Louisville to get the most talented guard in the class of 2011 when the July evaluation period wraps up.
10) Branden Dawson told GoldandBlack.com's Brian Neubert that Purdue is his favorite and he plans on deciding next year. Indiana is in hot pursuit and has hosted Dawson a couple of times but the school for Purdue to watch for is probably UCLA who just had Dawson in for a camp. I doubt Dawson shuttles back and forth to Pauley Pavilion on his own dime every June so when he gets that solid UCLA offer and doesn't commit Purdue fans can breath easier. There were earlier reports that his mom wanted him to stay close to home for college. But that is kind of like a sky is blue story, you don't want the kid on your team whose mom wants him to go to school farther away from home.
Showing posts with label Spencer Turner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spencer Turner. Show all posts
7/9/09
Thursday July 9 AAU and Camp roundup.
Cerroni and Patterson Dominate Hoosier Shootout is in the books. Spiece Indy Stars won the 15U game with big performances from Ron Patterson and point guard Kellon Thomas. Rhett Smith and Austin Burgette scored well and Wisconsin Playground Warriors super-star JP Tokoto was held in check with the Star's outstanding wings in Jeremy Hollowell and Drew. Drew is a 6'6 kid with a lot of the same length and versatility that gets coaches so excited about Hollowell but is a bit less farther along with his finishing at this point. He is an excellent athlete and will be a big time player one day in the not too distant future. Hollowell has been mentioned several times here and has offers on the table from Cincinnati and Iowa already and is in demand from Indiana, Ohio State, and other high majors. Tokoto and Popcorn Morris made the all tourney team for 2012 players for the Warriors squad.
Wisconsin Green Bay 2010 commitment Kameron Cerroni went hyper-nutso-ballistic in this tournament and set the tourney record for points scored in the event on the way to winning the title for the Wisconsin Playground Warriors. The Warriors are best known for their twin towers in Evan Anderson and Ben Mills and some of the younger players who play up sometimes such as Tokoto. But it was Cerroni who scored 48 points in a quarterfinal game and averaged 27.5 ppg in the tournament. He went for 18 this morning to beat the Shining Star Sports in the championship game.
http://www.wishoops.net/sports/hoopsb/blog/message.aspx?f=123&id=1042462
Here is a link to a HoosierNation.com story by John Decker on Burgette. http://indiana.scout.com/2/878026.html Burgette has a Cincinnati offer and strong interest from Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, and Xavier.
Another article from the Scout network, this time Redhawk Insider on Indianapolis (Manual) point guard Crishawn Hopkins who now has offers from Miami, Butler, and Wright State. He also has interest from Indiana, Virginia, and Arizona State. See earlier blog posts on Hopkins' game or do a youtube search on his dunks. You won't believe your eyes. He is under the radar because he missed some time in a couple of seasons for academics, but he is a bright kid and has turned it on and is taking summer school and making the grades now. http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=2&c=877991 Another article from their site updates Miami checking in on Covington Holmes star Ricardo Johnson who is my favorite unsigned senior in Kentucky. Johnson still only has the one offer from Bradley but he is being watched by several mid majors and some high majors.
Adidas It Takes Five was completed. The 17U champs was Triple Threat, the 16U champs were the Derek Smith All Stars, and the 15U champs was Indiana Elite/Team Indiana.
Here is a free recap from ESPN Scouts.inc writer John Stovall that gives good reviews to Indiana 2011 commitment Matt Carlino, Indianapoils North-Central 2012 combo guard Devontes Smith-Rivera, and 2013 Lansing Star Charles Tucker. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=4316431
Here are some comments on some Indiana Elite kids we've covered and Ricardo Johnson from hoopsreport.com. http://www.hoopsreport.com/news/eventreports/morefromthequeencity
King City Classic is on its final day. I've been pushing the NBE Blog and still suggest going there for info on many of the higher profile events and they were all over King City Classic. See link on my sidebar. For now, here is a link to a great recruiting update from U Michigan hoops. It has great links from the blog to information on the King City Classic and many of the players. One interesting link to follow is the Detroit News link and a blurb on there about how talented Jordan Crawford is even when compared to the other college players there. Xavier should be a tough out with Crawford added to an already strong roster after sitting out a year for transfer.
http://www.umhoops.com/2009/07/09/thursday-recruiting-bullets/ There is a lot of stuff on Bloomington South (Indiana) sharp shooter Spencer Turner and UM commit Evan Smotrycz.
Reebok All-Star Camp is in its second day in Philadelphia. I can't find a lot other than the NBE blog on this one. Most of what I'm hearing from there has to do with coaches visiting or how cheap Reebok went this year as they stopped keeping stats other than scoring. If I run across anything else tonight I'll add it later.
NY2LA Invitational in Milwaukee is wrapping up. Here is a day 3 report. http://www.ny2lasports.com/NextLevelDay3recap.htm Former Wisconsin commit Vander Blue was the headliner yesterday. He has offers from Marquette, Indiana, and Wisconsin on the table and is ranked top 50 nationally by Scout and Rivals. Other players of note included Flavien Davis (Wisconsin Scholars 2010), Zach McCabe (Iowa Barnstormers 2010), Xavier Jones (SYF Players 2010), Jordan Myrick (Grand Rapids Storm 2011) and Meanstreets 2013 6'9 center Milos Kostic.
Going into today the 2013 group had All Iowa Attack Red (Todd Friedman and Peter Jok) against Wisconsin Force (Nick Fuller) in one semifinal and Martin Brothers Select (Nick Zellar) against Meanstreets (Alex Foster, Milos Kostic, Nick Davidson) in the other. The 2012 division had Martin Brothers Select (Adam Woodbury) against Playground Elite (Arroyo Edwards) in one semi-final and Rising Stars Gold (Conner Boehm and Akeem Springs) against All Iowa Attack Red in the other. The 16U division had Rising Stars Gold (Michael Henry) against Iowa Barnstormers (Seth Tuttle and Rashawn Suarez) in one semifinal and All Iowa Attack Red against Wisconsin Playmakers in the other. And finally the 2010 grouping had All Iowa Attack Red (Josh Oglesby and Zach McCabe and Trayvon Wright) against SYF Players (Jones, Mason, Kitchell) in one semi and Net Gain Sports (Chase Creekmur) against the Milwaukee Spartans (Vander Blue) in the other.
Kentucky Hoopfest is underway already. Several of the better teams from the tournaments just completed in Cincinnati and Indianapolis will be there. The Spiece Indy Stars 2012 squad had to forfeit their first pool match and will play at 7:15 this evening. Spiece is sending several squads including Select 2011. Here are some early links from day one action including big games for Jeffersonville freshman Daryl Baker fresh off his standout performance at Indiana's elite camp. http://www.hoosierhillshoops.com/2009/07/09/kentucky-hoopfest-baker-leads-tsi-16u-to-win/
Team Pride had a strong Adidas Take Five tournament with Kenny Kaminski (2012) having a good tournament and drawing quite a crowd including some Big Ten coaches. The 16U team made it to the quarter finals. They had a great opening day at the Kentucky Hoopfest going 5-0. The Mongrel did a feature on Kaminski a couple weeks back, he is worth taking a look at. According to Team Pride's Twitter page Kaminski and 6'9 Matt Costello played well at the 2012 level. http://twitter.com/TeamPride
Shining Star Sports has several teams in tourney and starts 12-4, here's the rundown they most likely beat the team you're looking for and here are the scores for each of their teams.
http://shiningstarsports.blogspot.com/2009/07/kentucky-hoopfest-update-day-one.html
InsidetheHall has a good rundown of Spiece Indy Stars after their 15U victory against Indiana Swish Orange 2012 on day 1. After winning the championship in the Hoosier Shootout this morning the Stars had to forfeit their early game so they have no room for error in their pool and pull even to 1-1 including the forfeit. ITH has updates on Burgette, Patterson, Hollowell, Kellon Thomas, Darwin Davis, Austin Etherington, and Jeremiah Davis. http://www.insidethehall.com/2009/07/09/kentucky-hoopfest-day-one/ I should get a firsthand look at some talent at the Ky Hoopfest on Friday and Saturday in between some prior commitments and will have some observations to share late.
The Louisville Courier-Journal's Jody Demling has a day one rundown hits on several Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky players including Spencer Turner, Ken Kaminski, Jeremiah Davis, Matt Carlino, Aaron Thomas, RJ Hunter, and Taylor Epley among others.
http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/2009/07/kentucky-hoopfest-day-one.html
Chicago Summer Classic opened up today and I'm trying to round up some information on it. I read a report that 17U Mac Irvin Fire beat the Iowa Barnstormers in a close one. Alex Rossi had a big game but they lost in OT. Hearing some good twitters about Tavaras Heron and Travis Kellum as well as Michael Haynes.
I'll update later tonight if I find anything else from day one. All I can find so far is a premium article from Blackandgold.com who are doing a great job covering AAU events this summer. http://purdue.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=963733 They have reports on Nana Egwu, Chason Randle, and some 2013 prospects from Indiana and Michigan but nothing in depth on game action from the day.
Wisconsin Green Bay 2010 commitment Kameron Cerroni went hyper-nutso-ballistic in this tournament and set the tourney record for points scored in the event on the way to winning the title for the Wisconsin Playground Warriors. The Warriors are best known for their twin towers in Evan Anderson and Ben Mills and some of the younger players who play up sometimes such as Tokoto. But it was Cerroni who scored 48 points in a quarterfinal game and averaged 27.5 ppg in the tournament. He went for 18 this morning to beat the Shining Star Sports in the championship game.
http://www.wishoops.net/sports/hoopsb/blog/message.aspx?f=123&id=1042462
Here is a link to a HoosierNation.com story by John Decker on Burgette. http://indiana.scout.com/2/878026.html Burgette has a Cincinnati offer and strong interest from Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, and Xavier.
Another article from the Scout network, this time Redhawk Insider on Indianapolis (Manual) point guard Crishawn Hopkins who now has offers from Miami, Butler, and Wright State. He also has interest from Indiana, Virginia, and Arizona State. See earlier blog posts on Hopkins' game or do a youtube search on his dunks. You won't believe your eyes. He is under the radar because he missed some time in a couple of seasons for academics, but he is a bright kid and has turned it on and is taking summer school and making the grades now. http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=2&c=877991 Another article from their site updates Miami checking in on Covington Holmes star Ricardo Johnson who is my favorite unsigned senior in Kentucky. Johnson still only has the one offer from Bradley but he is being watched by several mid majors and some high majors.
Adidas It Takes Five was completed. The 17U champs was Triple Threat, the 16U champs were the Derek Smith All Stars, and the 15U champs was Indiana Elite/Team Indiana.
Here is a free recap from ESPN Scouts.inc writer John Stovall that gives good reviews to Indiana 2011 commitment Matt Carlino, Indianapoils North-Central 2012 combo guard Devontes Smith-Rivera, and 2013 Lansing Star Charles Tucker. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=4316431
Here are some comments on some Indiana Elite kids we've covered and Ricardo Johnson from hoopsreport.com. http://www.hoopsreport.com/news/eventreports/morefromthequeencity
King City Classic is on its final day. I've been pushing the NBE Blog and still suggest going there for info on many of the higher profile events and they were all over King City Classic. See link on my sidebar. For now, here is a link to a great recruiting update from U Michigan hoops. It has great links from the blog to information on the King City Classic and many of the players. One interesting link to follow is the Detroit News link and a blurb on there about how talented Jordan Crawford is even when compared to the other college players there. Xavier should be a tough out with Crawford added to an already strong roster after sitting out a year for transfer.
http://www.umhoops.com/2009/07/09/thursday-recruiting-bullets/ There is a lot of stuff on Bloomington South (Indiana) sharp shooter Spencer Turner and UM commit Evan Smotrycz.
Reebok All-Star Camp is in its second day in Philadelphia. I can't find a lot other than the NBE blog on this one. Most of what I'm hearing from there has to do with coaches visiting or how cheap Reebok went this year as they stopped keeping stats other than scoring. If I run across anything else tonight I'll add it later.
NY2LA Invitational in Milwaukee is wrapping up. Here is a day 3 report. http://www.ny2lasports.com/NextLevelDay3recap.htm Former Wisconsin commit Vander Blue was the headliner yesterday. He has offers from Marquette, Indiana, and Wisconsin on the table and is ranked top 50 nationally by Scout and Rivals. Other players of note included Flavien Davis (Wisconsin Scholars 2010), Zach McCabe (Iowa Barnstormers 2010), Xavier Jones (SYF Players 2010), Jordan Myrick (Grand Rapids Storm 2011) and Meanstreets 2013 6'9 center Milos Kostic.
Going into today the 2013 group had All Iowa Attack Red (Todd Friedman and Peter Jok) against Wisconsin Force (Nick Fuller) in one semifinal and Martin Brothers Select (Nick Zellar) against Meanstreets (Alex Foster, Milos Kostic, Nick Davidson) in the other. The 2012 division had Martin Brothers Select (Adam Woodbury) against Playground Elite (Arroyo Edwards) in one semi-final and Rising Stars Gold (Conner Boehm and Akeem Springs) against All Iowa Attack Red in the other. The 16U division had Rising Stars Gold (Michael Henry) against Iowa Barnstormers (Seth Tuttle and Rashawn Suarez) in one semifinal and All Iowa Attack Red against Wisconsin Playmakers in the other. And finally the 2010 grouping had All Iowa Attack Red (Josh Oglesby and Zach McCabe and Trayvon Wright) against SYF Players (Jones, Mason, Kitchell) in one semi and Net Gain Sports (Chase Creekmur) against the Milwaukee Spartans (Vander Blue) in the other.
Kentucky Hoopfest is underway already. Several of the better teams from the tournaments just completed in Cincinnati and Indianapolis will be there. The Spiece Indy Stars 2012 squad had to forfeit their first pool match and will play at 7:15 this evening. Spiece is sending several squads including Select 2011. Here are some early links from day one action including big games for Jeffersonville freshman Daryl Baker fresh off his standout performance at Indiana's elite camp. http://www.hoosierhillshoops.com/2009/07/09/kentucky-hoopfest-baker-leads-tsi-16u-to-win/
Team Pride had a strong Adidas Take Five tournament with Kenny Kaminski (2012) having a good tournament and drawing quite a crowd including some Big Ten coaches. The 16U team made it to the quarter finals. They had a great opening day at the Kentucky Hoopfest going 5-0. The Mongrel did a feature on Kaminski a couple weeks back, he is worth taking a look at. According to Team Pride's Twitter page Kaminski and 6'9 Matt Costello played well at the 2012 level. http://twitter.com/TeamPride
Shining Star Sports has several teams in tourney and starts 12-4, here's the rundown they most likely beat the team you're looking for and here are the scores for each of their teams.
http://shiningstarsports.blogspot.com/2009/07/kentucky-hoopfest-update-day-one.html
InsidetheHall has a good rundown of Spiece Indy Stars after their 15U victory against Indiana Swish Orange 2012 on day 1. After winning the championship in the Hoosier Shootout this morning the Stars had to forfeit their early game so they have no room for error in their pool and pull even to 1-1 including the forfeit. ITH has updates on Burgette, Patterson, Hollowell, Kellon Thomas, Darwin Davis, Austin Etherington, and Jeremiah Davis. http://www.insidethehall.com/2009/07/09/kentucky-hoopfest-day-one/ I should get a firsthand look at some talent at the Ky Hoopfest on Friday and Saturday in between some prior commitments and will have some observations to share late.
The Louisville Courier-Journal's Jody Demling has a day one rundown hits on several Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky players including Spencer Turner, Ken Kaminski, Jeremiah Davis, Matt Carlino, Aaron Thomas, RJ Hunter, and Taylor Epley among others.
http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/2009/07/kentucky-hoopfest-day-one.html
Chicago Summer Classic opened up today and I'm trying to round up some information on it. I read a report that 17U Mac Irvin Fire beat the Iowa Barnstormers in a close one. Alex Rossi had a big game but they lost in OT. Hearing some good twitters about Tavaras Heron and Travis Kellum as well as Michael Haynes.
I'll update later tonight if I find anything else from day one. All I can find so far is a premium article from Blackandgold.com who are doing a great job covering AAU events this summer. http://purdue.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=963733 They have reports on Nana Egwu, Chason Randle, and some 2013 prospects from Indiana and Michigan but nothing in depth on game action from the day.
7/8/09
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.
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.
6/30/09
Twitter Tuesday Summer League Tracker
Bittersweet technology simultaneously confounds and tempts the simple Mongrel and nowhere is the landscape quite so vague, yet rewarding as the Twitter fields. Twittatory can be confusing and often searches turn up more than one fish the Mongrel wishes he could throw back. But some good ball is being played, and gettin twitty wit' it is the only way the good Mongrel can come to terms.
GoldandBlack.com has a twitter page the Mongrel has been following for a while now. Purdue has hosted five team camps and several juicy droplets of update mana have flowed from their free twitter page http://twitter.com/GoldandBlackcom. Several links reveal even more detail, but the team camps at Purdue this June have included Whitko winning the small school tournament behind star junior Zach Van DeWater and coach's son Logan Irwin. Irwin is a 5'9 sophomore to be and is one of Indiana's top scoring returning sophomores. Van DeWater is a 6'5 athletic kid with good driving ability and quickness. Indianapolis Pike won Purdue's most recent team camp behind a strong effort from Khristian Smith who has an offer from IUPUI and strong interest other D1 schools including Brad Brownell's Wright State program and Chris Lowery's Southern Illinois machine. Recent Purdue 2010 commitment Donnie Hale from New Albany was up and down, but had a good game against elite 2011 forward Branden Dawson. Dawson is one of the best athletes in the class and has a little bit of a jump shot but will need to keep developing some wing skills or grow into power forward to keep his lofty position in the class of 2011. His upside is unlimited and he simply outclasses good athletes because he's on another level. Rock Island, Illinois star Chason Randle just made it back from the USA 16U team playing somewhere down where snakes get 50 feet long and they make gas out of sugar in time for some good performances as well.
Forgive the Mongrel some map-bending, but excellent and frequent updates of the (deep breath) Hoop Group Metro Summer Showcase provided by NorthStarBball at http://twitter.com/NorthstarBball deserves a special mention. Kids today. Tisk, tisk, tisk. Ok, now that the authoritative Mongrel has spoken he feels better. Several national level stars who are being recruited by Ohio State, Indiana, Kentucky, Marquette, Louisville, and several other areas closer to the Mongrel's lair participated. This year a brawl broke out between Patterson Catholic and Neumann-Garetti in the semi-final. The Hoops Gods are throwing some moving screens and leading with their elbows this morning after being robbed of a showdown between Patterson Catholic and Saint Benedicts. The aging Mongrel has been kicking around thoughts of spinning a yarn for the blog on the fights which have become an epidemic at Chicago Public League games between players in some cases and fans in other cases. Last year games were cancelled, spectators killed, and some games games were played with no spectators at all. Come on fellas, this is a game. If the other guy is better than you or a little meaner than you, you don't get to win by fighting. In fact it kind of makes you look like a wuss when you can't handle getting slapped around a little by somebody who is better or is willing to work a little harder, you gotta prove it the right way boys. Hoops is hoops, non-hoops is non-hoops. The worried Mongrel will keep a close eye on how CPL officials address this problem, but it is not limited to Chicago unfortunately.
OK, this section is where the tricky Mongrel will confuse you with alliteration aplenty and some words that just sort of sound a little funny which might tell similar stories. Bark bark no shell games please. An outstanding blog the Mongrel peruses from time to time is now twitting away. Hoosier Hills Hoops can be found at http://twitter.com/hoosierhills. They reported that defending 4A Indiana state champion Bloomington South crushed New Albany who ended the season #2 in the state in the same class before the tournament. The score was 94-34, but it was the USSFA runner up game. Bloomington South finished the season undefeated last year but lost Indiana Mr Basketball Jordan Hulls. Butler University 2010 commitment Eric Fromm, Xavier University 2011 commitment Dee Davis, and high major 2011 prospect Spencer Turner return along with newcomers first team All-State (AZ) and 2011 Indiana University commitment Matt Carlino and 2012 Illinois import TJ Bell. Turner was fresh back from the Michigan elite camp and the keen Mongrel believes he has gotten in much better shape than he was last summer. The USSFA championship was won by Mount Vernon, which has benefited from the play of a trio of 2010 stars that Hoosier Hoops Report (different from Hoosier Hills Report, see the tricky Mongrel wasn't pulling your leg) says look to be mid majors. Hoosier Hoops Report's twitter page is http://twitter.com/HHReport and they provided some excellent coverage of the event including 3A Mount Vernon's double digit wins over 4A favorites Bloomington South and Carmel. PJ Hubert was lighting it up behind the arch again and Daniel Turner and DeArmond Davis had big tournaments as well. The good Mongrel has been fond of Daniel Turner's game for a while and is looking forward to seeing the trio play this year. Turner is a scrappy fighter and plays strong and is a pretty good athlete at 6'5.
The good Mongrel retreated from the Twitter fronteir to the blogsphere which his mind has finally embraced, and the relieved Mongrel spent some time just looking at some web sites for some other summer league and team camp news. As always, Chicago Hoops and their e-rival Illinois Prep Bullseye both present a wealth of good free information, not to mention Chicago Hoops' premium content. This time we'll site the good work of the Bullseye http://ilprepbullseye.com/page50.html which reported that at the satellite University of Illinois team camp Foreman HS teammates 2010 LeVonte Dority and 2010 Mike McCall were outstanding once again. McCall has recently returned from the Texas AM elite camp and Dority returned from Indiana University's elite camp and both appear to be on a roll this summer. The good Mongrel loves his Chicago point guards. Dority seems to get a bit more national buzz than McCall but the Chicago media seem to see it the other way.
GoldandBlack.com has a twitter page the Mongrel has been following for a while now. Purdue has hosted five team camps and several juicy droplets of update mana have flowed from their free twitter page http://twitter.com/GoldandBlackcom. Several links reveal even more detail, but the team camps at Purdue this June have included Whitko winning the small school tournament behind star junior Zach Van DeWater and coach's son Logan Irwin. Irwin is a 5'9 sophomore to be and is one of Indiana's top scoring returning sophomores. Van DeWater is a 6'5 athletic kid with good driving ability and quickness. Indianapolis Pike won Purdue's most recent team camp behind a strong effort from Khristian Smith who has an offer from IUPUI and strong interest other D1 schools including Brad Brownell's Wright State program and Chris Lowery's Southern Illinois machine. Recent Purdue 2010 commitment Donnie Hale from New Albany was up and down, but had a good game against elite 2011 forward Branden Dawson. Dawson is one of the best athletes in the class and has a little bit of a jump shot but will need to keep developing some wing skills or grow into power forward to keep his lofty position in the class of 2011. His upside is unlimited and he simply outclasses good athletes because he's on another level. Rock Island, Illinois star Chason Randle just made it back from the USA 16U team playing somewhere down where snakes get 50 feet long and they make gas out of sugar in time for some good performances as well.
Forgive the Mongrel some map-bending, but excellent and frequent updates of the (deep breath) Hoop Group Metro Summer Showcase provided by NorthStarBball at http://twitter.com/NorthstarBball deserves a special mention. Kids today. Tisk, tisk, tisk. Ok, now that the authoritative Mongrel has spoken he feels better. Several national level stars who are being recruited by Ohio State, Indiana, Kentucky, Marquette, Louisville, and several other areas closer to the Mongrel's lair participated. This year a brawl broke out between Patterson Catholic and Neumann-Garetti in the semi-final. The Hoops Gods are throwing some moving screens and leading with their elbows this morning after being robbed of a showdown between Patterson Catholic and Saint Benedicts. The aging Mongrel has been kicking around thoughts of spinning a yarn for the blog on the fights which have become an epidemic at Chicago Public League games between players in some cases and fans in other cases. Last year games were cancelled, spectators killed, and some games games were played with no spectators at all. Come on fellas, this is a game. If the other guy is better than you or a little meaner than you, you don't get to win by fighting. In fact it kind of makes you look like a wuss when you can't handle getting slapped around a little by somebody who is better or is willing to work a little harder, you gotta prove it the right way boys. Hoops is hoops, non-hoops is non-hoops. The worried Mongrel will keep a close eye on how CPL officials address this problem, but it is not limited to Chicago unfortunately.
OK, this section is where the tricky Mongrel will confuse you with alliteration aplenty and some words that just sort of sound a little funny which might tell similar stories. Bark bark no shell games please. An outstanding blog the Mongrel peruses from time to time is now twitting away. Hoosier Hills Hoops can be found at http://twitter.com/hoosierhills. They reported that defending 4A Indiana state champion Bloomington South crushed New Albany who ended the season #2 in the state in the same class before the tournament. The score was 94-34, but it was the USSFA runner up game. Bloomington South finished the season undefeated last year but lost Indiana Mr Basketball Jordan Hulls. Butler University 2010 commitment Eric Fromm, Xavier University 2011 commitment Dee Davis, and high major 2011 prospect Spencer Turner return along with newcomers first team All-State (AZ) and 2011 Indiana University commitment Matt Carlino and 2012 Illinois import TJ Bell. Turner was fresh back from the Michigan elite camp and the keen Mongrel believes he has gotten in much better shape than he was last summer. The USSFA championship was won by Mount Vernon, which has benefited from the play of a trio of 2010 stars that Hoosier Hoops Report (different from Hoosier Hills Report, see the tricky Mongrel wasn't pulling your leg) says look to be mid majors. Hoosier Hoops Report's twitter page is http://twitter.com/HHReport and they provided some excellent coverage of the event including 3A Mount Vernon's double digit wins over 4A favorites Bloomington South and Carmel. PJ Hubert was lighting it up behind the arch again and Daniel Turner and DeArmond Davis had big tournaments as well. The good Mongrel has been fond of Daniel Turner's game for a while and is looking forward to seeing the trio play this year. Turner is a scrappy fighter and plays strong and is a pretty good athlete at 6'5.
The good Mongrel retreated from the Twitter fronteir to the blogsphere which his mind has finally embraced, and the relieved Mongrel spent some time just looking at some web sites for some other summer league and team camp news. As always, Chicago Hoops and their e-rival Illinois Prep Bullseye both present a wealth of good free information, not to mention Chicago Hoops' premium content. This time we'll site the good work of the Bullseye http://ilprepbullseye.com/page50.html which reported that at the satellite University of Illinois team camp Foreman HS teammates 2010 LeVonte Dority and 2010 Mike McCall were outstanding once again. McCall has recently returned from the Texas AM elite camp and Dority returned from Indiana University's elite camp and both appear to be on a roll this summer. The good Mongrel loves his Chicago point guards. Dority seems to get a bit more national buzz than McCall but the Chicago media seem to see it the other way.
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