memphis Recruiting

BASKETBALL RECRUITING NOTEBOOK (8/17/2010)

The recruiting landscape is in full flux right now as dominos fall left and right in the class of 2011. Over the next several weeks we will try to keep a regular Recruiting Notebook to keep readers up to date on the latest news of offers, visits and other news on recruits from the classes of 2011, 2012 and 2013 as the summer AAU season is now complete and the recruiting news picks up speed. Players in the class of 2011 will be setting up official visits in the coming weeks for the fall while college coaches will hit the road to conduct in-home visits with their top targets for 2011 and hit gyms to watch workouts of players in that class as well as the younger players.

Today we hit the ground running with updates on 2012 prospects Dominique Bull who has picked up new interest after helping BABC win the 16-U AAU National Title, Bull’s AAU teammate Georges Niang also updates NBE on new offers as he is also making an unofficial visit today. One of the top players in the 2012 class is J-Mychal Reese and he has picked up a few new offers recently and we also touch base with Jevon Thomas, Chris Hill and get updates on prep school destinations of Jeremiah Davis (2011) and Anthony Bennett (2012) for this fall.

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read today’s jam-packed Basketball Recruiting Notebook for August 17, 2010. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (8/16/2010)

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Here are a few news and notes from around the Big East conference for this Monday afternoon as the dog days of August continue to drag on. Beginning September 9th, college coaches can get back on the road and conduct in-home visits and stop by at high schools across the country to watch workouts. In the meantime, we expect to see more movement on the commitment front as players take unofficial visits and look to end the process before schools gets going for most. Others will take their time and begin setting up official visits for the fall.

There are a few recruiting notes below as well as updates on UConn’s battle with the NCAA, Seton Hall and Bobby Gonzalez settle their lawsuit, Mookie Jones is looking for a big year and Austin Freeman is determined not to let diabetes slow his basketball career.

Read on below for all of the latest News & Notes around the Big East basketball conference. Sports fans should also visit StubHub.com – The Safe Way to Buy & Sell Tickets Online for tickets to any NCAA event or NBA, MLB, NHL game or UFC, WWE or concert tickets at an arena near you this spring.

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WORLD BASKETBALL FESTIVAL RECRUITING NOTEBOOK

Top area players hit famed Rucker Park in Harlem over the weekend

The World Basketball Festival has kept New York City buzzing the last several days as players from around the world have come to the Big Apple to compete. In the Battle of the Boroughs competition between some of the top NYC-area high school players, it was Queens getting past Harlem 79-65 on Saturday with the Bronx slipping past Brooklyn, 58-56, on a late three-pointer.

Queens and the Bronx will meet next Saturday for bragging rights in the championship game, part of the Nike Tournament of Champions at Dyckman Park.

On Friday NBE’s Matt Whitfield made the trip down to Rucker Park for the action and has some detailed recruitng notes on Ryan Rhoomes (14 points, 10 rebounds for Queens), Corey Edwards, Omar Calhoun and Nkeruwem (pronounced like Kerwin) Okoro.

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read the recruiting updates from the World Basketball Festival from Rucker Park. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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NIA PREP TRIO HOT RECRUITING TARGETS THIS SUMMER

Alif Muhammad fills NBE in on Shaquille Thomas, Jamir Hanner and Kelvin Amayo and their recruiting

There have been many twists and turns in the recruitment of Shaquille Thomas, Jamir Hanner and Kelvin Amayo over the last year or two. Now each is playing at Alif Muhammad’s NIA School in Newark (NJ) and each is working through the recruiting process. Thomas had one time been thought of as a Syracuse lean and was close to committing on a few occassions. Hanner was committed to Seton Hall last spring and Amayo was a commitment for Western Kentucky at one time. Now each is working from a new list of schools and Muhammad fills NBE in on the latest of each as they are now uncommitted and in the class of 2011.

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more on NIA Prep and their talented trio who have seen their recruitments kick back up a notch now that they are open and working towards their academic requirements for NCAA eligibility as freshman in the class of 2011. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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DESERT DUEL SCOUTING REPORT & RECRUITING LISTS

The NY Panthers came out west and did work at Mesquite High School in Gilbert (AZ) by taking home the crown in a jam-packed Desert Duel field. The Panthers got a big performance over the two days from Maurice Harkless who earned NBE’s MOP award for the event. The Panthers, coached by Rafer Alston, defeated the NE Playaz in the championship game and DC Assault in the semifinals Wednesday to clinch the championship.

196 different colleges were represented over the two-day event with either a head coach, assistants or both as the field was strong up and down the 32-teams. Doug Ferguson spent a lot of time in the gym over the two days and below he runs through his scouting reports and recruiting notes from his time on top players from teams such as NJ Playaz, Franchize All-Stars, Team Loaded, Seattle Rotary, DC Assault, Illinois Wolves, Mac Irvin Fire, Team Philly, NE Playaz, Georgia Net Burners, Compton Magic and, of course, the NY Panthers.

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read the scouting reports and recruiting updates from some of the top players in the nation at last week’s Desert Duel. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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ORLANDO AAU UPDATE PART VIII (BABC TAKES 16′S CROWN)

The 16-U AAU National Championship was decided in Orlando on Friday afternoon as BABC out of Boston (MA) earned a 56-53 win over All-Ohio Red on the main court of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

All-Ohio Red held a 25-24 lead at the half with a balanced offensive attack led by Myles Hamilton with six points. For BABC it was the outside shooting of Jaylen Brantley keeping them in the contest as the 6-foot point guard connected on four three-pointers to account for all 12 of his points.

In the second half BABC began to take control as Georges Niang continued his impressive performance in Orlando this week, scoring 12 points in the quarter, helping BABC to a 42-38 lead after three quarters.

In the fourth quarter BABC held on for the win. Brantley finished with 20 points, hitting six of eight from the foul line in the second half. Niang had 17, with 14 of those in the second half. Egi Gjikondi added eight.

Leroy Hamilton led All-Ohio Red with 11 and Hamilton and Deontae Hawkins scored nine each and West Virginia-commit Jalen Robinson had eight.

The title was the 13th national championship for the BABC program and avenged a semifinal loss to All-Ohio Red in the 16-U AAU Super Showcase earlier in Orlando. The boys from the Buckeye state were the 16-U runners-up in both the Super Showcase and National Championship.

Some familiar faces took in the action of the 16-U finale. Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin along with one of his assistants as well as Providence assistant Chris Driscoll, who was a coach with the BABC program as recently as last month, were spotted. Along with Pitt assistant Pat Skerry, West Virginia assistant Larry Harrison, Marquette assistant Scott Monarch, assistant from Georgetown, UMass head coach Derek Kellogg and others.

On Saturday the 17-U AAU National Championships will continue with quarterfinal action. The remaining eight teams begin play this morning with the following match-ups:

Connecticut Basketball Club vs. St. Louis Gameface
Arkansas Wings vs. LI-Lightning (Blue)
HCYP Elite vs. Old Gold/Dream Team
CP3 All-Stars vs. Carolina Ravens

The 16-U title game marked the end of NBE’s coverage in Orlando. Alex Schwartz checks in below with some final player evaluations, including his look at Nerlens Noel, Jalen Robinson and Brice Johnson and detailed recruiting updates on Archie Goodwin, Rod Days and Demarcus Harrison. You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more of the coverage from Orlando. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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ORLANDO AAU UPDATE: PART VI

The hectic month of July is winding down. The championships of the 17-U National AAU tournament in Orlando has moved into bracket play today and the 16-U national championships have quarterfinal play underway as this story is posted.

The beginning of pool play saw some completel blowouts in the 17-U pools, but some good performances also shined through.

Alex Schwartz again checks in from Orlando and you can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more of our coverage from Orlando as he details the performance of the bigger names here with B.J. Young, Rashad Madden, Mitch McGary, Patrick Connaughton and Malik Price-Martin with detailed recruiting updates gathered by NBE on Young, Prince-Martin, David Rivers and Stephon Blair, all detailed below. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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DAY TWO VEGAS RUNDOWN

Cody Zeller, Gabe York and J.P. Tokoto among the impressive performances on Friday

By Raphielle Johnson

With games under their belts and jetlag likely shaken off on Thursday, many of the players at the adidas Super 64 and Fab 48 tournaments put forth far better performances in day two. The Super 64 featured a few very good individual and team matchups in the afternoon, beginning with Indiana Elite taking on The Magic (Arizona). Cody Zeller (with Roy Williams, Mike Brey and Brad Stevens among the many coaches in attendance) going head to head with Isaiah Austin did not disappoint, with the Hoosier State native getting the better of the battle in a close Indiana Elite victory. The same game also featured Jahii Carson going up against Kevin “Yogi” Farrell in the backcourt and with enough complimentary parts to make any hoops fan happy.

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more of our coverage from Las Vegas and the Adidas 64 and Fab 48 on Friday as Raphielle Johnson breaks down the impressive performances and key match-ups that highlighted the day. Also, recruiting updates on Tony Wroten, Gabe York, ‘Yogi’ Ferrell, Kaleb Tarczewski and more. Other impressive runs were put forth by the Oakland Soldiers, NJ Playaz and more. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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NY2LA SPORTS SUMMER JAM WRAP-UP – PART I

by RAY MERNAGH

Everybody’s talking about the Peach Jam and their 24 team tournament that got a lot of national run because of the marketing wizardry that is Nike/ESPN — the LeBron debacle exluded of course –but just like Em said 11 years ago when he talked about people doubting Dre, it seems like folks forgot about the NY2LA Summer Jam.

Here’s all I know — Bill Self, Ben Howland, Tom Izzo, Matt Painter, Tom Crean, Buzz Williams, Lorenzo Romar, Josh Pastner, Rick Pitino, Tony Bennet, Doc Sadler and Frank Martin were in Milwaukee for a great deal of this tournament. And just like Dre came hard with “The Chronic 2001″ the kids in Milwaukee showed why this tourney is now officially a must-stop in July’s opening Live Period for any true hoop junky. The talent matched up with any other tournament out there and might have surpassed them all top to bottom.

Enough with the accolades — here’s what you’all might have missed if you were elsewhere July 12-15th. Here’s what I saw and in part I of my final wrap-up I take a look at the games and recruiting of names you probably already know, like Branden Dawson, Perry Ellis, Paul Jesperson, Marcus Paige, De’Angelo Harrison, Nick Jacobs and Angelo Chol.

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more of our coverage from NY2LASports.com Summer Jam as Brendan Dawson talks about new schools in the mix, Paul Jesperson talks new offers and more from the players mentioned above. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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NIKE EYBL PEACH JAM: DAY THREE

BY JEFF BORZELLO

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. – If Tuesday was the day when the stars came out, with big-time performances from Mike Gilchrist, Anthony Davis, Austin Rivers, Marquis Teague and Brad Beal, Wednesday was the time to showcase some lesser-known talents from the class of 2012. There were only four sessions of U-17 games, with four sessions of U-16 contests. The playoffs also kicked off during the night session for each age group, with Team Takeover, BABC, St. Louis Eagles and Spiece – the group winners – advancing to play Metro Hawks, Team Final, Oakland Soldiers and Boo Williams, the runners-up in each group. In U-16, group winners Team Takeover, Georgia Stars, BABC and Memphis YOMCA squared off. With the night session featuring all playoff games, the semifinals in U-17 and finals in U-16 are set for tomorrow. Thursday will see Team Takeover take on Team Final and the St. Louis Eagles face Spiece in U-17 action, while BABC and Georgia Stars battle for the U-16 title.

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more of our coverage from North Augusta (SC) and the Nike EYBL Peach Jam’s third day of action as 18 more players update NBE on their recruitment and additional player evals are posted. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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NIKE EYBL PEACH JAM: DAY TWO

BY JEFF BORZELLO

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. – The finals of the inaugural NIKE Elite Youth Basketball League at the NIKE Peach Jam continued on Tuesday, as the 24 teams battled to finish in the top two spots in each group, which are the only places to advance. By the end of the day, only two teams – Team Takeover DC and the Oakland Soldiers – were undefeated, but plenty of clubs were still in contention for a playoff berth. Surprisingly, the regular-season champs, the NJ Playaz, were only 2-2 through two days and are unlikely to advance. Howard Pulley and Each One Teach One, also pool winners, are both 1-3. The heated competition to finish in the top two led to a great day two of action.

There are evals of players such as Mikael Hopkins, Amir Williams, Kyle Anderson, Anthony Davis, George Fant, AJ Hammons, Jevon Thomas and more along with recruiting updates from Trey Burke, who lists a top three, Jarnell Stokes, James Robinson, Justin Anderson, Jerami Grant, Kevin Johnson, who has two leaders, and many, many more from Day Two of the Nike EYBL championship pool play.

Related article: Nike EYBL Peach Jam: Day One

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more of our coverage from North Augusta (SC) and the Nike EYBL Peach Jam. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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SUPER 16 SHOWCASE NOTES

by RICHARD KENT

The event was held at the brand new TD Banknorth Arena on the campus of Quinnipiac University. Quinnipiac’s head coach Tom Moore, formerly an assistant at UConn, was like a proud poppa in the stands, watching some of the top talent in the country eye his digs.

Probably the best player on display was former Providence-commit, 6-foot point guard Naadir Tharpe of Brewster Academy and the New England Playaz. Tharpe can see the court well and is a pure point. He is now still involved with Providence along with Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Indiana and UMass, among others. He was coached in the event by John Carroll,former head coach of the Celtics.

Tharpe played against J.B. Hoops of Pennsylvania led by rising junior 6-foot-5 forward Terry Turner, drawing looks from Penn State,Temple, La Salle, St. Joe’s and to a lesser extent Syracuse and Rutgers. 6-foot-7 Mark Bevacqua also impressed. He has a high ankle sprain but is being looked at by some Big East schools.

The New England Playaz 16s were led by 6-foot-9 Evan Cummins of Northfield Mt. Hermon who is drawing looks from Ivies such as Brown, Penn and Cornell.

The New York Panthers were stuck in traffic and didn’t show by press time. Many coaches were there to see 6-foot-7 Maurice Harkless of South Kent (via NYC), heavily recruited by Rutgers, who is on his new list, along with Memphis, St. John’s, Georgetown, Miami, South Florida, Xavier, Virginia, Maryland, Syracuse, Temple, Pitt, Providence and Cincinnati, according to adviser Nate Blue’s twitter this afternoon, since retracting his verbal commitment from Connecticut. Many coaches were also waiting on Kadeem Jack, who will join Harkless at South Kent next season, as Jack is Working Through Recruiting Process as a 2011 Prospect now.

Rising sophomore Kuran Iverson was a star for Connecticut Select 16s and was being looked at by Big East assistants from UConn (Andre LaFleur), Pittsburgh (Pat Skerry) and Cincinnati (former Rutgers assistant Darren Savino was there on behalf of the Bearcats).

Present for Rutgers was Van Macon, who previously coached under former Hofstra and now Fordham coach Tom Pecora, who was also present. The two remain friendly.

ESPN’s Andy Katz headed the media contingent and was looking all over the place for West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, who was due to arrive by evening. Word is Huggins made sure to make himself seen when elite 2012 prospect Andre Drummond took the floor for Connecticut Basketball Club later on.

Affable Harvard head coach, and former Seton Hall head coach, Tommy Amaker was there looking at some prep players. He did not rule out coaching in the Big East again.
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NBE recently welcomed Richard Kent, a veteran college basketball writer, to our growing team. Richard has written for SI.Com, Athlon and has covered the NCAA Tournament in the CBS Studio. He also has done extensive work on women’s college basketball, having founded the Big East Women’s Basketball Report and written three books on the topic. He broke the story nationally that UConn and Tennessee would no longer be playing. His day job is practicing law as a matrimonial attorney in Fairfield, Connecticut where he is a member of Best Lawyers In America.
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Sports fans should also visit StubHub.com – The Safe Way to Buy & Sell Tickets Online for tickets to any NCAA event or NBA, MLB, NHL game or UFC, WWE or concert tickets at an arena near you this spring.

FINAL KING CITY CLASSIC PLAYER EVALS & UPDATES

BY JEFF BORZELLO

CLEVELAND – After a fairly lackluster experience at the LeBron James Skills Academy – aside from the hype of having James there, of course – the 75 or so players from that camp traveled about 40 minutes north to Cleveland State University for two days of tournament-style games. The players, broken into eight teams, competed in two games each before entering the playoffs. It was far easier to evaluate the prospects in the game-setting than it was in the drills and the controlled scrimmages.

While our attention is now squarely on the finals of the Nike Elite Yough Basketball League being played at the Peach Jam in North Augusta (SC), we take our final look back at last week’s King City Classic. Previously, in our King City Classic Update (Part A) we took a look at Big East commits such as Wayne Blackshear, Tyrone Johnson, Michael Carter-Williams and James Price and their performances when we were watching. In King Citty Classic Update (Part B) NBE updated notes on mega-prospect Anthony Davis as he discussed his three finalists, talked with LaQuinton Ross about offers and visits and spent time with Myles Davis as he discusses the new offer from ‘Nova and the impact of friend Tyrone Johnson committing to the Wildcats recently. Desmond Hubert, Myles Mack and Ben McLemore also chat about their recruiting. Earlier today in Part C of our King City Classic Recap we touched base with players such as Rodney Hood, Kedren Johnson, Bernard Silluvan, Cedric McAfee, Jahii Carson, LJ Rose, J-Mychal Reese, Trey McDonald and more.

In this last edition we take a look at Rodney Purvis, DaJuan Coleman, JaKarr Sampson, Nick Faust, Jabarie Hinds, Nick Johnson, jabari Brown, Anrio Adams, Kyle Wiltjer, Deng Leek and recruiting updates from Sam Thompson, Mike Shaw, Josiah Turner, Julian Royal, Alex Poythress, Victor Nickerson, Jelon Hornbeck and many, many more…

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more of our coverage from Cleveland and the King City Classic. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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KING CITY CLASSIC EVALS & UPDATES (PART C)

by JEFF BORZELLO

CLEVELAND – After a fairly lackluster experience at the LeBron James Skills Academy – aside from the hype of having James there, of course – the 75 or so players from that camp traveled about 40 minutes north to Cleveland State University for two days of tournament-style games. The players, broken into eight teams, competed in two games each before entering the playoffs. It was far easier to evaluate the prospects in the game-setting than it was in the drills and the controlled scrimmages.

In our King City Classic Update (Part A) we took a look at Big East commits such as Wayne Blackshear, Tyrone Johnson, Michael Carter-Williams and James Price and their performances when we were watching. In King Citty Classic Update (Part B) NBE updated notes on mega-prospect Anthony Davis as he discussed his three finalists, talked with LaQuinton Ross about offers and visits and spent time with Myles Davis as he discusses the new offer from ‘Nova and the impact of friend Tyrone Johnson committing to the Wildcats recently. Desmond Hubert, Myles Mack and Ben McLemore also chat about their recruiting. Now we move into part C below and touch base with players such as Rodney Hood, Kedren Johnson, Bernard Silluvan, Cedric McAfee, Jahii Carson, LJ Rose, J-Mychal Reese, Trey McDonald and more…

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more of our coverage from Cleveland and the King City Classic. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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KING CITY CLASSIC EVALS & UPDATES (PART B)

by JEFF BORZELLO

CLEVELAND – After a fairly lackluster experience at the LeBron James Skills Academy – aside from the hype of having James there, of course – the 75 or so players from that camp traveled about 40 minutes north to Cleveland State University for two days of tournament-style games. The players, broken into eight teams, competed in two games each before entering the playoffs. It was far easier to evaluate the prospects in the game-setting than it was in the drills and the controlled scrimmages.

In our King City Classic Update (Part A) we took a look at Big East commits such as Wayne Blackshear, Tyrone Johnson, Michael Carter-Williams and James Price and their performances when we were watching. In update B below we talk with mega-prospect Anthony Davis as he discusses his three finalists, talk with LaQuinton Ross as he talks about offers and visits and spend time with Myles Davis as he discusses the new offer from ‘Nova and the impact of friend Tyrone Johnson committing to the Wildcats recently. Desmond Hubert, Myles Mack and Ben McLemore also chat about their recruiting…

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more of our coverage from Cleveland and the King City Classic. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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HARKLESS ELIMINATES UCONN FROM CONSIDERATION

Former Husky commit expands list, but UConn no longer in the running

by JEFF BORZELLO

As recently as one month ago, Maurice Harkless was fully committed to Connecticut.

“He’s sticking with UConn, and I can see him curling off screens in Storrs,” a source said at the time.

Then, on June 21, Harkless decided to decommit – but was still heavily considering the Huskies.

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ADIDAS INVITATIONAL EVALUATIONS & RECRUITING UPDATES (PART A)

by RAY MERNAGH

The Adidas Invitational threatened to turn into the New Heights Invitational — that will happen when a team full of tough, NYC-area ballers takes out a juggernaut full of “high-major” prospects like New Heights did to Indiana Elite/Team Indiana in the quarterfinals early Thursday morning. New Heights then repeated the performance in the semifinals, where it fought back from a double digit deficit to defeat the New England Playaz. Alas, the run ended in the final when New Heights lost to the LeBryan Nash-led Dallas Mustangs 69-58. It was an impressive run by a New Heights squad not expected to challenge for the title this week and plenty of college coaches were here to witness it.

Earlier in our Adidas Invitational Day One Standouts article we went into (long) detail on the impressive performance of Shabazz Muhammad, who was the talk of the event Tuesday and plenty of top coaches were watching his EVERY move, as well as our thoughts and updates on Wannah Bail, Cody Zeller, Gabe York, recent UC-verbal Ge-Lawn Guyn and more that stood out on Tuesday.

Now here’s some evaluations and updates from the past two days (wed/Thurs) of action, including Winston Shepard, Lebryan Nash, Jermaine Sanders, Jeremiah Davis, Kenny Kaminsky and more…

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more of our first day coverage from Indianapolis and the Adidas Invitational. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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LEBRON JAMES SKILLS ACADEMY RECRUITING NOTES: PART I

by JEFF BORZELLO

AKRON, Ohio – While most of the top college coaches and AAU teams were in Indianapolis to start the July live period, 75 of the best high school players in the classes of 2011 and 2012 – and one from the class of 2013 – convened at the University of Akron for the LeBron James Skills Academy. It was the culmination of four separate skills academies over the past weeks: those of Deron Williams, Paul Pierce, Kevin Durant and Amar’e Stoudemire. It was a true camp setting, with dozens of drills, but there was one noticeable difference: the King himself, LeBron James, showed up to play pick-up with the players. That was arguably the highlight of the event, as there was not too much to glean from the campers based on various passing and dribbling drills. However, there was plenty of recruiting notes and updates to pass along as NBE caught up with players such as Jabarie Hinds, Ricardo Ledo, Ricardo Gathers, JaKarr Sampson, Branden Dawson, Trevor Lacey, Nick Faust and many more for the absolute latest in their recruiting situations in detail as they talk leaders, visits, offers and more.

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more recruiting updates below from the Lebron James Skills Academy and all of our July ‘live’ period news and notes. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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KADEEM JACK WORKING THROUGH RECRUITING PROCESS AS 2011 PROSPECT

A hot target in 2010 last spring, Jack is heading to prep school and taking a new look at recruiting

Throughout the spring you could not go a day without the regular Kadeem Jack update as schools were desperate to add size in the late signing period to their recruiting classes. Standing at 6-foot-9 and full of potential, Jack was a hot commodity as he waffled between heading to college for the fall of 2010 or taking another prep year and joining the class of 2011. Even after announcing he would attend South Kent (CT) School next fall the chase did not end as elite programs North Carolina and Kentucky made inquiries when their frontcourts were decimated by transfers and early entries to the NBA draft. However, when the dust settled, Jack has eased his way back into the recruiting landscape as an open recruit for the 2011 class.

After a quite spring on the AAU scene, Jack is on the campus of Albright College in Reading (PA) this week participating in the Hoop Group Elite camp. NBE’s Matt Whitfield was able to catch up with Jack after a game on Tuesday to get caught up on what is happening with his recruitment and the process he is taking towards, what he hopes, is a September decision. While he does not currently have a top-five, a couple Big East teams look to be in position to land on that list.

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more on Jack and his recruitment that is heating up once again. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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CHRIS HILL TAKING VISITS FOR 2010

Currently on official visit to Seton Hall, Hill has upcoming visits planned in Big East, C-USA as well

BY JEFF BORZELLO

Amare Stoudemire is one of the most sought-after free agents in the NBA this summer, but he might not even have the most important destination decision in his own family.

That honor could go to his cousin, unsigned 2010 prospect Chris Hill, a 6-foot-8 swingman from Christian Faith Center Academy (N.C.).

Although Stoudemire went straight to the NBA and therefore never went through the recruitment process, he is consistently helping Hill.

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more on Hill as he talks about qualifying for 2010, his current visit and those upcoming in the next week and a half. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers and detailed below is our coverage schedule for the next month.

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