Brian Crownover, Georgetown Recruiting, Ron Bailey, Syracuse Recruiting

DMV – PHILLY CHALLENGE, PART ONE

A look at the Freshman and Sophomore games and the players who competed.

Freshman Game (Class of 2012)
Philly 46
DMV 45

Sophomore Game (Class of 2011)
Philly 57
DMV 49

October 14, 2008 – Saturday’s DMV vs. Philly Challengewas a success, providing a chance for top level high school basketball players to compete and observers to evaluate young people most only read about.

To that end, selected player evaluations for the DMV’s freshman and sophomore entries follow. Despite the difficulty in completely assessing a player’s game in the loosie-goosy environment of ‘all-star’ games, it was nevertheless attempted. At the very least, readers will get a general understanding of the players covered.

DMV (by Ron Bailey):

FROSH

Marvel Redfearn (photo on right) – 6’4” SF – West Potomac (VA) – Marvel has the potential, with more growth and skill development, to be a high major swingman, capable of playing around the rim and on the perimeter. Fairly well developed physically, Redfearn is capable of hitting jumpers and driving, though the latter is a point of needed improvement.

Redfearn will press for varsity playing time at West Potomac this year (under Charles Houston), due to his ability, potential, and the experienced garnered from playing with one of the best youth groups in the nation recently, the Virginia Pride.

Jamaal Brown – 5’10” G – Sidwell Friends (DC) – Brown could be the sleeper of the 2012 Class, given his speed, intelligence, and coachable nature. His high school is more known for academic prowess, but has had distinguished athletes, a group Brown seems destined to join.

Able to shoot, drive and pass, an i95Ballerz.com message board poster has compared Brown to ex-NBA star Kevin Brown; that analogy could be spot on. According to his coach, Eric Singletary, Georgetown and other big schools came by for workouts, something that surely will be continued going forward, as Singletary and DC Assault (AAU) is committed to improving the young guy’s strength and point guard awareness.

Joe Lundy – 6’3” F – Friendship Collegiate (DC) – Lundy has been labeled an undersized power forward, which previously was fairly accurate. To his credit, Joe is becoming more proficient from 15-17 feet, skills he used in route to the DMV Freshman MVP.

At Friendship, expect Clinton Crouch, the team’s coach, to continue Joe’s learning curve, including increased face up and dribbling skills. That, coupled with physical growth and maturity, gives Lundy the potential for high Division I participation. He hits the circuit with Team Takeover.

John Crowder – 6’7” C – Towson Catholic (MD) – When you see Crowder play, he screams potential, given his size and athletic, light feet. Hailing from Baltimore, Crowder is a young big man that essentially is a ball of clay, waiting to be molded.

Still holding some ‘baby fat’, Crowder will become stronger and more explosive as he matures. Skills, including drop steps, face ups, along with better lateral movement will come with work, which is being demanded by the Nike Team Baltimore Elite (AAU) organization, along with Towson Catholic’s coach, Josh Pratt.

SOPHOMORES

(photo of, l-r, Dion Jones, Mikail Hopkins and Ibn Muhammad)

Kevin Smith – 6’2”, G, Freedom Academy (MD) – There is little wonder Baylor has already offered Smith, and North Carolina, Clemson, Va Tech and Oregon State have expressed interest in this B’More standout – Smith is an irrepressible scorer and competitor.

Smith could bolster his point guard instincts in the future (given his size), but the young guy makes it happen nonetheless. One play more or less epitomizes what Smith brings: Following a Philly basket and with his team fighting to stay within striking range, Kevin received the ball at half court, dribbled around a defender, got to the cup, and spun around another – all without breaking stride –, before laying it up.

Smith is yet another Nike Baltimore Elite (AAU) product.

Ibn Muhammad – 5’9” PG, Bishop McNamara (MD) – When you see the slightly built Muhammad, hooper doesn’t jump out at you. Don’t sleep, he is a good one, capable of breaking down defenders and finding the open man. Muhammad particularly excels in the open floor, finding teammates on breaks with deft yet sound passes.

Ibn definitely must become stronger, and to open up his game develop more competent outside shooting skills. Nevertheless he has the chance to be a power conference guard with such work, which he will receive from Marty Keithline, McNamara’s coach, and the Team Takeover (AAU) organization.

Mikail Hopkins – 6’8” F, DeMatha (MD) – Winning the DMV MVP was appropriate, given not only Hopkins’ Challenge play, but his development this summer: Initially an experienced, hesitant player with height, Hopkins has become an aggressive shot blocker willing to rebound and battle inside, who is displaying more perimeter touch.

Syracuse has recently tendered a scholarship offer (more on that later), and Maryland has expressed interest. Many more schools will follow suit, particularly when Mikail becomes stronger with age and fully develops his mid range shot and ball handling. Rest assured DeMatha’s coach, Mike Jones, and the Team Takeover (AAU) crew will see to that.

James Bourne – 6’6” C, Bishop O’Connell (VA) – Travel team ball helps some guys, as it’s done Bourne (Team Takeover); before James looked lost on the court at times, but no more. He’s also increased his mobility and explosion.

Bourne still needs to improve his skill set – including working on shooting – but at this stage the young guy is a budding big man to be respected at the high school level. Team Takeover’s staff, along with Joe Wootten, coach at O’Connell, will surely accept the challenge of getting James to that next level.

Dion Jones – 6’5” F, Paul VI (VA) – Brother of UVA’s Jeff Jones, Dion likes to put it up in the manner his older sibling did, but also adds some interior toughness and size not found in Jeff at the same age. Arriving late to the game after completing two hours of workouts, Dion immediately mad an impact on the floor, banging and slashing.

Jones must improve his handle, quickness and overall perimeter game to ensure success at a high major level, but make no bones about it, he’s on his way. Dion is coached by Team Takeover as well as Paul VI’s Glen Farello.

Additional game action from Ron Bailey can be found at i95ballerz.com.

Philly (by Brian Crownover):

John Johnson
John was certainly a key to victory. The talented young guard was outstanding running the floor. He scored numerous times around the rim, including a couple crafty finishes. John wastes very little time getting to the rim. His straight line speed is so impressive. One of his transition plays resulted in an old fashioned three point play. John attacked in each direction off the dribble. After driving left one time, he dished off an excellent assist. He was quiet from the perimeter in this one and rarely looked to shoot.

Juan’ya Green
This smooth scorer was solid and certainly had his moments. He knocked down a pair of three pointers with his smooth stroke. He also attackedsome off the dribble, including drawing a foul once.

Joey Gripper
Joey hit on pull up three pointer early on in the low scoring first half. He ran the floor and made a couple other plays too.

More coverage from Brian on the DMV-Philly Challenge will also be available at CAAInsider.com.

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