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NY GAUCHOS: BATTERED, BUT READY TO RUMBLE

NY AAU power ready to defend home city in this weekend’s Rumble in the Bronx.

If you ever needed a reminder about how tough a NY Gaucho AAU squad was, you would not have to look much further than the recent Nike Memorial Day Classic. Starting the action with an injury-decimated line-up of just seven players, including walking wounded such as Durand Scott and Tevin Baskin, the Gauchos showed their toughness and tenacity throughout, even with Basin unable to play later in the event, to make it all the way to the tournament championship contest where they fell one-point shy against Athlete’s First out of Oklahoma.

When one player would go down, another was there to step up. “Just to make the Gauchos you have to be a pretty good player,” assistant coach Chad Babel told the NBE Basketball Report. “We consider ourselves not your average AAU team.”

Following their close lose at the MDC in Nashville, the Gauchos suffered a similar fate this past weekend, losing again by a single point in the finals, this time at the Boston Shootout to local favorite BABC. Now the action heads back towards their home turf this weekend as the Gauchos prepare for the Rumble in the Bronx this weekend (June 13-15) at Fordham.

The star and leader of this year’s NY Gaucho U-17 squad is Durand Scott, a 6’4 G/F from Rice High School in New York City. Playing with a broken knuckle that took away his ability to shoot from outside all weekend, Scott still dominated and got to the rim to score at will at the MDC.

“Durand was truly un-guardable in leading us to the championship game,” according to Babel. “He is one of the best defensive players in the country and can guard all five positions on the court. His best attributes are his leadership, will to win, and his refusal to lose.”

Even though Scott is regarded highly among talent evaluators nationally, coach Babel still believed many are missing the boat on the player being recruited by the majority of the Big East. “To me, is the most underrated player in the country. Some would say that’s biased because I’m his coach but I pride myself on being harder on my players then anyone.” Babel indicated he feels Scott is among the top 25 players in the country and “…would put him up against ANYBODY in the country.”

Out of the Big East, schools like St. John’s, Connecticut, Rutgers, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall and West Virginia are just a sampling of the college interest that Scott is receiving from across the country.

Another key to much of the recent success of the Gauchos has been the play of 6’2 shooting guard Sean Johnson of Christ the King High School. Johnson has been a recent addition to the Gaucho squad, joining the ranks late in April, so he is still getting his name onto the radar for the college coaches.

Johnson is highly athletic and is adept at attacking the rim or connecting from the mid-range and beyond the arc. His 24-point performance in the championship game of the MDC definitely had people talking which should continue through the upcoming summer events. “I expect his recruitment to continue to elevate above the mid-major level it is currently at based on the way he has been playing of late,” according to Babel.

Running the show for this year’s Gaucho squad is Russell Smith, 6’0 floor general out of the Archbishop Molloy program. The Gauchos have long been known for excellent guard play with players like Ronald Ramon, Levance Fields, Edgar Sosa and Jesse Sapp all playing in the Big East last season out of the program in recent years. Smith hopes to be the next and might have two years to develop into that role as he will take a post-grad season and move into the class of 2010, according to Babel.

“(Smith is an) extremely tough and fearless guard who shoots with range and is an expert at slithering through defenses and finishing at the rim.” Babel continues that Smith “is still learning the point guard position because his tremendous scoring ability has led coaches to play him at the shooting guard position his whole life.”

Smith’s evolution from scoring guard to point guard is making strides, similar to the process Edgar Sosa underwent in high school. As his point guard skills improve, the interest in his skills which are currently wide ranging, will find more in the Big East following him closely.

One of the top players in the class of 2010 nationally also runs with the Gauchos 17-U squad and Doron Lamb is considered the next star coming out of New York City. The 6’4 guard from Bishop Loughlin High School is described as “a VERY SMOOTH player, his crossover gets him into the lane on a regular basis,” explains Babel. Lamb is competent scoring from mid-range with a floater and pull-up jumper to out beyond the 3-point line,

With a recruitment that expands the entire Big East and to many of the top teams of the nation, Lamb’s future is bright as long as he continues to work hard. “(Doron) has become a much better defender and rebounder over this spring but needs to continue to focus in those areas,” cited Babel. “(Doron) is a player who will be as good as he wants to be based on how hard he works. His potential is immense.”

One of the walking wounded for the ‘Choz is St. Raymond’s 6’0 point guard Tyreak Johnson. It was Johnson who made quite an impression on college coaches in the King James Shooting Stars Classic with a 26 point performance, showing off an improved junpshot. Unfortunately, because of injuries, it was the last time Johnson has played for the Gauchos due to a broken toe. “(Tyreak) is physically ready to play college basketball from a strength perspective right now and is a tremendous defensive player,” Babel said of Johnson.

Every program at every level can not solely rely on their guard play, not matter how good those guards are. Even the NY Gaucho squad that won several national tournaments featuring Ramon, Russell Robinson and Sundiatta Gaines had Big East talent on their front line like Curtis Kelly and Mike Davis. This Gaucho squad could have another pair of Big East forwards playing alongside their talented guards.

Another Gaucho battling through injuries this summer is the ultra-athletic 6’6 forward Tevin Baskin out of Trinity Catholic in Connecticut. “Tevin has a reliable mid range jumper and the ability to defend both out on the perimeter as well as on the block,” comments Babel.

With high-major schools from several conferences in hot pursuit of Baskin, including  St. John’s, Rutgers, Marquette, and Seton Hall, Baskin will concentrate on getting healthy for the important July evaluation events and is not expected to participate this weekend in the Rumble in the Bronx.

Anchoring the paint for this year’s squad is Danny Jennings, a 6’8 power forward/center who played this past season at Oak Hill Academy after leaving NYC’s Bishop Loughlin High School. Jennings will attend prep school this season and be a hot commodity in the class of 2009 and he already has seen St. John’s, DePaul, Rutgers, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Louisville and West Virginia show interest in him this spring.

Jennings is an imposing presence visibly and, according to Babel, “Danny greatly improved his strength, physique, and conditioning during his year at Oak Hill Academy.”

Jennings is a left big man, which is always in demand, and he is perfecting a go-to drop step and utilizing an improving jump hook to score in the paint and compliment the hard work he does on the boards. “Danny relies on his physical and athletic abilities to score most of his point but has been working very hard to continue his ever improving skill game,” notes Babel.

With injuries to players like Baskin and Scott, role players like James Stukes and Trevon Hamlet become even more important to the success of the Gauchos. Stukes is an interesting player as the 6’6 forward out of Rice continues to work on his skills away from the basket. The combo forward plays much bigger than his size and loves to attack the basket. A solid summer will boost his stock. According to Babel, Stukes “…is a great warrior and competitor (who) is getting mid to low Division 1-A interest right now but deserves much more consideration especially at the mid-major level.”

Doing the dirty work is Hamlet, a 6’7 forward from Bishop Louglin who collects points off the offensive boards because of his strong work ethic. His efforts on the boards with a nice shooting touch should make Hamlet a steal for the mid-major programs as he develops more physically as time goes by.

The strong performances of the MDC and Boston Shootout should give the NY Gauchos some additional confidence and motivation to get over the hump this weekend at the Rumble in the Bronx. One thing is for certain, the ‘choz will bring the effort and will defend their turf this coming weekend tooth and nail. So, if your lacing ‘em up this weekend, be ready to play, because the NY Gauchos will be ready to go!

Thank you to Chad Babel for taking the time to help the NBE Basketball Report give our readers a perspective of this year’s Gauchos squad.

(photos courtesy of CAAInsider.com)

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