Murray State Recruiting

FLORIDA ’13 PG RASHAWN POWELL PICKING UP RECRUITING INTEREST WITH STRONG SPRING

Dr. Phillips High of Orlando (FL) has been a steady supplier of Division 1-A basketball prospects. The names of highly recruited guards are familiar to college basketball fans and recruitniks across the country to come from the program in recent years: Chris Warren – Ole Miss; Shane Larkin – Miami; Jason Rich – Florida State; Mario Sisinni – Coastal Carolina, etc. The latest to come out of coach Anthony Long’s successful program is 6-foot, 175-pound point guard Rashawn Powell, a highly recruited Class of 2013 point guard in the Sunshine State.

“RaShawn is next in line in continuing Dr. Phillips’ run of excellent lead guards,” coach Long says on the Dr. Phillips High basketball website. “His skill set is really at an advanced level for a junior. He can get to the rim almost any time he wants and usually makes good decisions with the ball. He presents a lot of problems for defenses because if you play off of him, he’ll drain the perimeter shot, but if you play him tight he will get by you every time.”

‘Pookie’, as he is known by friends and teammates, has impressed onlookers this spring on the AAU trail with Florida Assault with his ability to be a pure point guard and able to score when needed to. He was very appreciatie of the NCAA restoringthe April evaluation periods as he was able to show the college coaches more of his game.

“It was exciting playing in front of college coaches, I know a lot of coaches haven’t really seen me play so I saw it as an opportunity to prove myself as a quality basketball player,” Powell told NBE Sports. “I hope they saw that I play with passion and intensity.”

In the immediate aftermath of the open evaluation period Oklahoma State and Florida State began their recruiting efforts of Powell. He also added a new offer.

“Memphis offered me Sunday night,” Powell said.

He is currently considering those three schools in the recruiting process along with schools that had been previously involved such as Maryland, Illinois, Central Florida, Murray State and Cincinnati. Powell admits the process is just geting rolling at this time in his recruitment.

“No leaders right now, I want to take some unofficials first before I get into having leaders or favorites,” he said.

While keeping his game sharp on the AAU circuit Powell will also work on his defense and strength over the summer. With excellent quickness and the ability to knock down shots and create for others, Powell is ready to work on the areas of his game he feels needs to improve to become an all-around lead guard that college coaches will covet.

While he is still in the early stages of his recruitment, Powell has an ideal plan mapped out on how his recruitment will shape up.

“I’m looking at shedding my list after July/August,” he said. “[The] most important factor is my happiness, it doesn’t matter the school name, it’s what makes me happy at the end of the day.”

You can be certain one lucky program will consider themselves lucky if RaShawn Powell picks their school at the end of the day! Stay tuned through the summer as we continue to follow Powelland his rising recruitment.

THE HOOP GROUP’S PITTSBURGH JAMFEST: DAY ONE

By Brian Batko

The Hoop Group Jamfest rolled into Pittsburgh Friday night with several intriguing 1st and 2nd round games in the 17 and under and 16 and under divisions. Many of the games were blowouts, as the elite teams were mostly matched up with the lower level squads for the early rounds, but there were still some high level players in action on Friday. Teams like Sports U/Team Izod’s 16U, Atlanta Xpress 17U, and DC Assault Gold 17U are littered with Division 1 prospects who put forth impressive performances, albeit in limited action.

Karl Towns (Sports U 16U, 2015, St. Joseph Metuchen) – Only a freshman, Towns was easily the most talented player on the floor in Sports U’s 65-38 win over Blaze (WV), grabbing any rebound he wanted to and clogging the lane with his 6’10” frame. While not the most physically imposing Sports U big man – that would be 6’8” 2014 power forward Quadri Moore – Towns showed why he’s going to be one of the hottest names in the 2015 class. He’s still very thin at this point but his perimeter skills are awfully promising for such a young post player. Offensively, especially on the low block, Towns is still somewhat raw. He was forced into a travel after one catch in the post and failed to get position in the halfcourt a couple times. The rising sophomore also needs to get much stronger, as he was fouled multiple times by much smaller players and was unable to finish inside. The good news on that front, though, is that Towns is an excellent free throw shooter, going 6-6 at the line with great form. His free throw shooting ability translates to the outside, as well, where he has a nice stroke from beyond the arc. Towns, who finished with a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds, went 1-3 from downtown, hitting one from a few feet behind the line. Defensively, his natural gifts make him an intimidating shot blocker, but he also has very active hands and was able to get a steal or two in trapping situations. Despite his aggressiveness, Towns does a pretty good job of avoiding fouls, which is encouraging for a young prospect. Competing with and against players a year older than him – and in front of Jamie Dixon (Pitt), Bill Carmody (Northwestern), and a slew of other college coaches – Towns proved himself a (literally) big name in the class of 2015.
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LAS VEGAS AAU DAY 2 NOTEBOOK: TOP MATCHUPS CONTINUE

Khan/Judah not the only prize fight in town

By Raphielle Johnson

While boxing fans enjoyed the battle between Amir Khan and Zab Judah over at Mandalay Bay, two of the top AAU teams on the West Coast did battle at Bishop Gorman in the Las Vegas Fab 48. Led by the interior tandem of 2012 Brandon Ashley and 2013 Aaron Gordon, the Oakland Soldiers withstood a late rally to beat Belmont Shore 85-80. Both showed off their vast array of skills, especially Gordon with a few thunderous dunks.

The game was also valuable to see what Belmont Shore big men Zena Edsomwan and Grant Jerrett could do against two of the best prep players regardless of class. Edsomwan isn’t the kind of player who’s going to dominate the basketball but rather do the little things on both ends of the floor needed to win. Jerrett had his moments as well but it proved to be a tale of two halves for the Arizona commit.

In the backcourt the battle was just as intense, with the likes of Dominic Artis and Jabari Bird taking on Ikenna Ireogbu and Katin Reinhardt for Belmont Shore. With regards to dribbling skills, Artis may not have an equal in the 2012 class (Kris Dunn is another to consider). Bird can do just about everything on the floor, and while the 2013 prospect needs to continue to improve as a shooter he’s shown the ability to knock down open shots.
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NATIONAL PREP CHAMPIONSHIP RECRUITING NOTES

by PAT STEVENS

Earlier this month, St. Thomas More (CT) won the fifth annual National Prep Championship tournament with Andre Drummond named MVP of the final, where they defeated Notre Dame Prep (MA) 90- 74. This culminated an exciting week of basketball in New England as just a few days earlier the NEPSAC championships concluded with Maine Central Institute taking home the AAA crown and the Tilton School winning the AA title. NBE was taking in the action throughout and here are some recruiting notes picked up on during the action:

-Notre Dame Prep has two players who have another year to go before college in Ricardo Ledo and Myles Davis. Expect Connecticut, Louisville and potentially Providence to be in the mix for Ledo, along with Kentucky. Pittsburgh could be considered a favorite for Davis, along with Xavier.

-NIA Prep has two unsigned players with Kelvin Amayo and Ryan Rhoomes. Oregon State and Seton Hall have long been options and depending on if they choose to recruit him, Providence (new staff) or DePaul (new interest) are also possible choices for Amayo. Seton Hall had Rhoomes on campus last week and TCU is scheduled to host him on an official visit this weekend.

-Westwind Prep’s Kiwi Gardner, a 5-foot-8 point guard from Oakland, visited Providence before heading to New Haven for the National Prep Championships. This was before the coaching change but it’s notable that Fairfield was recruiting him as well, whose coach Ed Cooley is now the new Friars coach. TCU, South Florida, Murray State and San Francisco have also shown interest. Gardner was originally a 2011 prospect but then planned to re-classify, however it now looks as if he’ll head to college next year.

-As we covered, St. Thomas More took home the National Prep Championship and Andre Drummond was named the event’s MVP. Connecticut, Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia remain the short list involved, but the Huskies are still the favorite for one of the nation’s top prospects.

-Tilton had a great run this season behind the play of their underclassmen, winning New England Class AA and an impressive showing at the National Prep Championship tournament. Sophomore big men Nerlens Noel and Goodluck Okonoboh have wide Big East interest (Noel also with ACC and Big Ten offers) while a href=”http://www.nbebasketball.com/w3/big-east-team-pages/connecticut/”>Connecticut and Providence had the two in to see games this year. 2012 power forward Georges Niang should see Big East interest this summer but to date has various A-10, CAA and NEC offers. Iowa and Iowa State have also offered and expect to have him in for visits. Wayne Selden, a 2014 prospect, will be nationally recruited over the next few years. The young guard made a big splash this season, finishing with 22 points in each of the NEPSAC Final and the NPC Opening Round vs. Notre Dame Prep.

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Pat Stevens has assisted with the National Prep School Invitational and has covered prep schools for Van Coleman’s Hoopmasters.com the past seven years. He has also contributed his knowledge to NBE often in the past. Be sure to visit PatStevensBasketball.com for more of his insights to the prep school game.
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NIKE EYBL PEACH JAM: DAY ONE

BY JEFF BORZELLO

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. – Annually, the best event of the summer is the NIKE Peach Jam – a collection of 24 of the best NIKE-sponsored AAU teams in one spot. This year, it took on added importance, as it was the culmination of a four-event tournament that spanned three months and four cities. The top 20 teams from the Elite Youth Basketball League in Hampton, Va., Houston and Los Angeles joined four wildcard teams and headed to the Riverview Park Activities Center in North Augusta, S.C. In other words, the best event got even better. Throw in a U-16 division with 16 of the best teams in the country, and the Peach Jam continued to stand above the rest. You can visit the Nike EYBL website for schedules, scores and boxscores from all the games Here.

Below is our look at some of the opening day standouts and some detailed recruiting lists and updates from many top players of note, which included a pair of future Big East players (Michael Carter-Williams and Tyrone Johnson) going for at least 40 points in one of their two contests and Joe Coleman of Howard Pulley racking up the points and gives NBE his latest recruiting update. As usual, nobody covers an event like Jeff Borzello and your favorite school is likely covered in a recruiting update below…worth the price of admission (3.95 a month or 24.95 a year).

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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