Cincinnati Recruiting, Connecticut Recruiting, Georgetown Recruiting, Marquette Recruiting, Pittsburgh Recruiting, Rutgers Recruiting, Seton Hall Recruiting, St. John's Recruiting, Syracuse Recruiting, Villanova Recruiting, West Virginia Recruiting

SPALDING HOOPHALL CLASSIC RECAP, PART III

by Jeff Borzello

Despite arguably the coldest weekend of the winter blowing through most of the Northeast, the high school basketball was heating up across the East coast a couple weeks ago in mid-January. The long weekend that culminated with Monday’s observance of Martin Luther King Jr Day has traditionally become a top weekend of high school basketball action and there were a couple of events in New Jersey, the Big Apple Invitational in New York and the mother of them all, the 2009 Spalding HoopHall Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Always one of the best events of the year, the HoopHall Classic was loaded with several of the top high school and prep teams and players in the country. The four-day event had a 43-team field and attracted coaches from dozens of colleges around the nation. Let’s take a look at the weekend that was:

Also see, Spalding HoopHall Classic Recap, Part I, Spalding HoopHall Classic Recap, Part II and NBE Live at Spalding HoopHall Classic for a live tally of the action from the final day of the event.

St. Anthony (N.J.) 58, Putnam City (Okla.) 50

Dominic Cheek, St. Anthony:
The 6-6 star on the wing had a showdown with Putnam’s Xavier Henry, a Memphis-signee. He played well, though, despite not filling up the stat sheet offensively. He played very good defense on Henry for the most part due to his length and athleticism. Cheek is very good on the offensive glass and gets put-backs. He handles the ball well and can pass. Shooting the ball, he has deep range and can also pull-up inside the arc. He had six points and seven rebounds.

College Update: Committed to Villanova

Devon Collier, St. Anthony:
In his first game after sitting out due to transfer, Collier was a force. He is very long and lanky, but is also versatile. He showed the ability to post-up and make moves towards the basket, but also could face-up and take his man off the dribble. Furthermore, he handled the ball for extended time when St. Anthony’s was trying to milk the clock. Defensively, he can block shots well with his length and athleticism. He is a good rebounder and really skies to the basket. At times, he needs to go up stronger, but he has a nice touch on his short jumper. He had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

College Update: Offers from St. John’s, Villanova, Seton Hall, Virginia, Fordham. More will definitely be getting involved from the looks of it.

Ashton Pankey, St. Anthony:
Also playing his first game after sitting out, Pankey demonstrated again – to me, at least – that he’s somewhat overrated. He made several mistakes early on, getting pulled out by Bob Hurley to sit on the bench. He also missed a couple of lay-ups and easy shots when he got the chance. On the positive side, he has good hands and is a solid passer. He cuts to the basket and runs the floor well, too. Pankey had nine points and five rebounds.

College Update: Some of those mentiond at one time or another include St. John’s, Virginia, Georgetown, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Kentucky, Marquette, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Temple, Hofstra, Fordham

Derek Williams, St. Anthony:
Williams was the third player for St. Anthony to debut after sitting out for 30 days. He drew the start over Pankey, and showed why he got the nod. He has a thick body and uses it to his advantage. Despite the fact he is only about 6-6, he holds his own against taller players on the inside. Williams is very physical and is relentless on the glass. He does need to work on his face-up game, though. Williams finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

St. Benedict’s Prep (N.J.) 77, Wheeler High School (Ga.) 67

Lamar Patterson, St. Benedict’s:
Although he is just 6-5, Patterson is an inside-outside forward who can do a lot of things. He is not a flashy player, but gets the job done. He gets to the basket at will, taking defenders off the dribble. He is tough to match-up with because of his skill set. He is very active on the inside and gets good position. Furthermore, Patterson is a very good offensive rebounder who gets a lot of points off second opportunities. He also doesn’t mind contact and is very athletic. He finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

College Update: Signed with Pittsburgh

Mike Poole, St. Benedict’s:
Poole was entirely unimpressive despite the hype he has in the 2010 class. He is a versatile player who is a very good passer and can handle the ball and run the offense. However, he was not productive whatsoever and was held scoreless all night. He can rebound the ball and fills a variety of roles. On the other hand, though, he is not aggressive offensively and seems lost at times. Poole had zero points, three rebounds and two assists in just 11 minutes.

College Update: Mentioned schools such as Connecticut, UAB, Marquette, St. John’s, USC, Florida, West Virginia and Kansas at the Eddie Griffin Challenge Junior Game back in October.

Tavon Sledge, St. Benedict’s:
The 5-9 sophomore point guard plays bigger than his listed size and is fearless going to the basket. He is extremely quick and can beat his defender off the dribble with ease. With Texas-commit Myck Kabongo playing the point, Sledge plays off the ball at times, and doesn’t miss a beat. He is strong going to the rim and has good leaping ability. He can also shoot the three well and likes to get out in transition. Sledge finished with nine points and four rebounds.

College Update: A lot of high-majors like him: Marquette, Villanova, Seton Hall, Syracuse, etc.

Aaron Brown, St. Benedict’s:
Although not as heralded as Poole, he is seemingly always more productive and impressive than him. He plays much bigger than 6-4 and is not afraid to mix it up inside if necessary. Brown is a versatile player who can do a lot of things. Brown is a physical player for his position but is not aggressive as he was in the summer. He runs the floor very well and finishes at the rim effectively. Brown is also a good passer and a solid rebounder. Defensively, he is decent. He had six points and three rebounds.

College Update: In the recent Newark Invitational Recap Brown’s recruitment list was updated and it is a long one that reads Virginia Tech, Virginia, Florida State, Harvard, Penn, Miami and Kentucky as schools that offered and Big East schools Seton Hall, Rutgers, Connecticut, and Cincinnati as schools that have shown interest.

Phil Taylor, Wheeler:
With Wake Forest-signee Ari Stewart and North Carolina State-signee Richard Howell down low, Taylor gets a lot of open looks from the perimeter. The 5-9 guard is extremely quick and can get to the rim very effectively. Taylor has excellent handle and does not turn the ball over often. He defers to the big men too much at times, but when he is looking for his shot, he can fill it up. He can pull-up from deep and knock down threes and is an overall smooth player. However, he did make a few mistakes when trying to do too much. Taylor had 18 points and five rebounds.

College Update: Offers from Xavier, Georgia, Florida State, Richmond, with interest from North Carolina State, Alabama, Auburn, and Cincinnati

Leflore High School (Ala.) 67, Lincoln High School (N.Y.) 54

Lance Stephenson, Lincoln:
Lance Stephenson was typical Lance Stephenson. He got the basket whenever he wanted against his defender, and was fearless attacking the rim. He showed phenomenal athleticism and leaping ability and went up very strong no matter who was on his way. He even attempted a dunk attempt over DeMarcus Cousins – in which he was called for a charge. He showed great body control. However, on defense, he seemed lost at times, and when he wasn’t getting the ball offensively, he drifted a little bit. Also, he got caught up in the showdown with Cousins, and let his emotions get the best of him. He finished with 24 points and eight rebounds, but was in early foul trouble.

College Update: USC, St. John’s, Kansas, Maryland, as reported by ZagsBlog.com today.

Shaq Stokes, Lincoln:
Being the backcourt partner to Lance Stephenson doesn’t leave a lot of room for recognition, but Stokes does his best to garner some. The sophomore has a strong upper body and doesn’t give up the ball easily. He is quick with his handle and can get to the basket but failed to finish on more than one occasion. He shoots the three fairly well and is a good passer. He had five points, nine rebounds, zero assists and five turnovers.

College Update: Cincinnati, Villanova, UCLA, Xavier, North Carolina State, etc are some mentioned early on.

DeMarcus Cousins, Leflore:
One of the best players in the country, the 6-11 Cousins was dominant during his contest against Maryland-signee James Padgett and Lincoln. He is an excellent rebounder and completely controlled the backboards. Also, he made several great outlet passes leading to easy baskets. He has a variety of post moves, and turns very quickly. Cousins is also not afraid to shoot it from the perimeter. He has good hands and gets great position down low. Defensively, he was beat a few times by Padgett but was very solid at that end. Also, he looks like he was having fun while playing – a complete contrast to the frustration of Lance Stephenson. Cousins had 17 points and 20 rebounds.

College Update: Memphis, North Carolina State, Washington, Kansas State (or wherever UAB’s Mike Davis ends up, if he leaves) and Rice.