Louisville Recruiting, Notre Dame Recruiting, Pittsburgh Recruiting, Rutgers Recruiting, Seton Hall Recruiting, St. John's Recruiting, Villanova Recruiting

PLAYAZ NEW YEAR’S JUMP-OFF REVIEW

Top New Jersey teams square off in Teaneck

by Matt Whitfield

The 2009 New Year’s Jump-off presented by the Playaz Basketball Club was held last Sunday afternoon at Teaneck High School. Jimmy Salmon and his crew pulled together an impressive field of teams that brought out many college recruiters to see the action.

St. Peters Prep Edges Don Bosco Prep 57-48

Don Bosco Prep and St. Peters Prep both happen to have two of New Jersey’s most prestigious football programs. Their basketball programs aren’t too shabby either. St. Peters won last year’s Hudson County tournament and Don Bosco won last year’s Bergen County Jamboree. The two basketball programs faced off Sunday in a hard fought, defensive and close game that featured several Division One prospects.

In the game that featured two teams with similar size (with the exception of St. Peters 6’7 270 lb Keith Lumpkin), St. Peters started off the game on 8-2 run. Bosco however first tied, then eclipsed that lead at the 2:15 mark, behind the play of Mike Dudas to take a 10-8 lead. Dudas was on his game all night long finishing with 18 points for Bosco. 6’7 junior Ronald Roberts’s added two baskets that knotted the game up 14-each at the end of the first quarter.

Good defense and poor shooting was a factor in the second quarter as it was all game. Neither team would put up much offense in the quarter and Ronald Roberts was a rebounding machine as his St. Peters team took a slight 25-22 halftime lead.

In the third quarter it was more of the same as Roberts continued to be a factor on the boards and also had three blocks down low. Big man dual-sport athlete Keith Lumpkin also really made his presence felt as St. Peters increased its slight lead up to seven, 39-32, at the end of the third quarter.

Bosco came out strong in the final quarter. Behind the play of Mike Dudas and Gary Nova, Bosco made the game a close one down the stretch. Each time Bosco came within a few points, St. Peter’s would turn them away, usually behind the free throw shooting of Myles Davis who went six for six from the line down the stretch to ice the game for St. Peters.

Myles Davis led all scorers finishing 20 points. Teammates Ronald Roberts added 14, and fellow big man Keith Lumpkin finished with 8. Mike Dudas led all scorers for Bosco with 18 points.

Gibbs, Treadwell propel Seton Hall Prep past Plainfield 63-58

The second matchup of the day featured two more of the state’s best programs as Seton Hall Prep took on Plainfield. Jamie Dixon, head coach of the nation’s #1 college team was front and center for the action of this one and had to be impressed with a couple of the younger New Jersey recruits the Panthers have been tracking.

In the first half Isaiah Epps showed why he is a top junior recruit, and he has been offered scholarships by many schools, including Pittsburgh, as he led Plainfield with 16 points. Plainfield would hold a five-point lead at the break.

Unfortunately for Plainfield this game was a tale of two halves though as Seton Hall Prep would come on strong after intermission. Sterling Gibbs, whose brother Ashton plays for coach Jamie Dixon at Pittsburgh, would show Dixon and the other college recruiters in the stands why he too is worthy of high-major recruiting interest as the sophomore scored 12 of his team-high 20 points in the 2nd half. Senior Stephon Treadwell also boosted Seton Hall Prep with 11 points after halftime.

Plainfield cut the game close at the end pulling to within three as Seton Hall Prep only held a 56-53 lead, but the key rebounding of SHP and the poor shooting of Plainfield was just too much in the end as Seton Hall Prep won their fifth victory of the year by a score of 63-58.

Epps would lead Plainfield in the loss with 30 points, and fellow back court mate Tyrone Johnson would also add 18. Plainfield has now lost three straight on the season which once seemed so promising.

St. Anthony’s Edges Paterson Eastside 57-54

Don’t know if Jamie Dixon stayed for this one, but the final match-up of the day was by far the closest and most competitive game all day long. Winless Paterson Eastside would take on 8-1 St. Anthony’s before a close to capacity crowd at the Teaneck High School gymnasium.

This game was went back and forth games between the two teams. St. Anthony’s would take a big 21-10 first quarter lead then Eastside would outscore them 22 to 16 in the second quarter to make the score 37-32 at halftime in favor of the Friars. This trend continued all game long as going into the 4th quarter it was Eastside who held a three point advantage, leading 46-43.

The game came down to the wire in the final quarter. Trailing by three points, Paterson Eastside would have three chances in the final minute to hit the game tying three, except it was not Karon Abraham’s day as his missed attempts failed to put the game in overtime, and thus St. Anthony’s won out 57-54.

Villanova bound Dominic Cheek led all scorers on the day with 22, and his teammate Jamee Jackson would add another 16. David West would lead Paterson Eastside with 21 points and Abraham added 18.

Dominic Cheek 6’6”senior SG. St. Anthony’s. 22 pts.
The Villanova-commit showed he could score in the paint in this one, as well as with his patented long-range jumper. Very up-tempo game. Looks like the perfect basketball specimen, needs to bulk up slightly though putting on lean muscle shouldn’t be a problem for an athlete of his caliber.

Vaughn Gray 6’4” sophomore SF. 10 pts
Slightly undersized for a sophomore division one prospect at forward. Definitely a contributor to his Don Bosco Prep team, but his presence wasn’t always overly noticeable on his top 10 ranked team. Has offers from the top teams in the A-10 and cited interest from Seton Hall and Rutgers from the Big East.

Myles Davis, 6’1 sophomore guard. 20 pts
Adequate size for a sophomore division one prospect. Did not shoot well early on. Key foul shooting in the clutch and showed the ability to connect on the three-point shot when all was said and done. Davis noted that he has seen recruiting interest from Louisville, Villanova, Seton Hall and Rutgers from the Big East as well as Memphis, St. Joe’s and Kentucky.

Keith Lumpkin 6’7 270 lb sophomore PF. 8 pts
The biggest player on the court, although body definition and speed need to be a focus if he is to pursue division-one basketball over football. With his size, he
could be more of a presence on the court. In this game it was a tale of two halves for him; in the first he wasn’t that active and the second he was a beast. While Rutgers has shown some interest in his basketball services, the Scarlet Knights, Pitt, Stanford and Nebraska were examples of schools already interested in him for football.

Ronald Roberts 6’6 junior SF. 14 pts
Adequate size for a Division-One forward just a junior in high school. Adding a little muscle to his frame will play huge dividends. Most college-ready player on the court. Good in the paint. Not the biggest but he’s the best rebounder on his team. Effort and athleticism made him a defensive force in the paint as well. His early season play is starting to get him noticed more and more and elevates his recruiting interest from the likes of Rider and Marist and into the realms of St. Joe’s, Penn State and into Big East schools such as Notre Dame, Seton Hall and Rutgers.

Sterling Gibbs, 6’0”sophomore PG. Seton Hall Prep 20 pts.
Slightly undersized for a sophomore division one prospect. Good basketball court leadership and IQ on the court. Mentioned scholarship offers from Pittsburgh, Seton Hall and Rutgers and additional interest from St. John’s, Maryland, Florida. Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

Isaiah Epps, 6’2 junior guard. 30 pts.
Although he had 30 points in this game he didn’t seem to be playing with his usual speed and swagger, though playing back to back games can tire anyone.

Tyrone Johnson, 6’2 sophomore point guard. 18 pts.
Not playing as fast as usual either, back to back games is tough though. Good at getting inside to pose as an offensive threat.

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