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‘BIG TIME BUMP’ REVIEW (PART I)

Big East firmly represented at ‘Big Time Bump’ at Hoop Magic to close July

by RON BAILEY

August 3, 2009 – At Hoop Magic Sports Academy (Chantilly, VA), last Thursday and Friday, it could be described as a coaches convention, as at least 50 programs were under the top-level fitness facility’s roof. This group included many head coaches, such as John Thompson, III (Georgetown), Stan Heath (South Florida), Tony Bennett (UVA), Milan Brown (Mt. St. Mary’s), Gill Jackson (Howard), Seth Greenberg (VA Tech), and Quinnipiac’s Rob Moore. Some programs had multiple staff members present.

Of course the B-East was represented by schools other than the Hoyas and Bulls, with assistants from West Virginia, DePaul, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Villanova and Cincinnati being observed.

A number of players were the object of these coaches collective desire. The following list represents many, with additional information being present at < b>i95Ballerz.com (including All-Event teams) and/or twitter.com/ronbailey19:
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John Henderson, 6’11”, 240 lbs, Sr., C, Cave Springs HS (VA), East Coast Fusion – Henderson said he enjoys an offer from Cincinnati, along with Vandy, Davidson, St. Bonaventure, Bucknell and Richmond. The Big Ten’s Penn State “is on the verge” of offering a scholarship, while Xavier, Maryland, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest are all interested. His collegiate destination will boast “A good balance of academics and basketball and be somewhere I’m comfortable.” John is not league-focused, as John noted “The Big East is a good conference, but anywhere you go it’s good”.”

Henderson is a guy who can create matchups: “I can score if I get the ball in the post. If they push me out to three (point land), I’ll shoot it.”

Inherent in that assessment - which is on point yet fails to acknowledge his ability to move up and down the floor, even filling lanes while beating defenders to scoring position - is the need for Henderson to get stronger. Doing so will address his admitted need to “be more aggressive and rebound more consistently”.
All Big Time Bump 17u first teamer.
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Mikael Hopkins, 6’8”, 220 lbs, Jr., F/C, DeMatha (MD), Team Takeover 17u – Syracuse is the only Big East school that has offered Hopkins at the time of this writing, but Georgetown is rumored to be close in doing so. Florida, Clemson and Maryland all join Syracuse in tendering a schollie. West Virginia, Xavier, Ohio State and Texas are all recruiting him.

What stands out about Hopkins’ development most is increased intensity; He will have to bone up on footwork and develop a go to move for college, which is occurring.

Hopkins on the Big East: “I think it’s the best conference for athletic big men.”

Tabbed second team 17u All Big Time Bump.
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Jerian Grant, 6’4”, 185 lbs, Sr., G, DeMatha (MD), Team Takeover 17u – The recent target of a NBE Basketball Report treatment, Grant did nothing but reinforce his travel circuit upswing, making first team All-Event. Over the course of two days, Jerian defended, scored and as is his wont, ran point guard for stretches. In the championship game, that was done rather extensively, to good effect. Was a first team 17u selection.

Many of the coaches in attendance were fixing their gaze on Grant; DePaul, Notre Dame, Providence, Oklahoma State, Clemson, Maryland and Virginia Tech have offered Grant scholarships. (Twitter)
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Waverly Austin, 6’10”, 240 lbs, Post Grad, C, Maine Central, Delaware Takeover - Austin has good height and with weight training, will be a load down low. He must work on his footwork currently, as he can end up off balance after post moves, as well out of position. Not super-explosive, Austin can rebound and block shots via long arms and timing. Again, weight training will be of benefit.

George Washington and Florida International have tendered scholarship offers to Austin, with, per him, the likes of “Georgetown, Maryland, Virginia, Louisville, Georgia, Cincinnati” and Temple checking him out. He plans to make his decision “Hopefully before the season” at MCI, where he hopes to slightly improve his ACT score.
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Jaylen Bond, 6’7”, 210 lbs, F, East Coast Elite – According to an Elite coach, Villanova, West Virginia, Virginia, Florida State, LaSalle and NC State are in the mix with Bond. It’s unsure whether these schools have offered or are simply interested, and whether Bond is in the class of 2010 or 2011 (previous NBE information places him in the 2011 class), but he is long and active. Jaylen showed a penchant for attacking off the face up via the right hand; he must broaden that to include his left, as well as show better shot selection, but is talented. Made second team All Big Time Bump 17u.