Brian Crownover, Georgetown Recruiting, Louisville Recruiting, Pittsburgh Recruiting, Rutgers Recruiting, Seton Hall Recruiting, South Florida Recruiting, St. John's Recruiting, Syracuse Recruiting, West Virginia Recruiting

IS8 SEMIFINAL PLAYER REVIEWS

Brian Crownover set out from Philadelphia early Saturday morning for Long Island to check out the action of the GBOA East regional basketball tournament. Looking forward to seeing teams such as the NY Panthers, Gauchos, Team Philly, Grassroots of Canada, Juice All-Stars and others, Brian drove to Half Hollows Hills West High School in anticipation of catching the early action, however, a late scheduling change moved the tournament play to Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, but no notices were posted.

Not to waste a trip to the Big Apple, the ever resourceful Brian decided to catch the exciting action of the IS8 semifinals instead and he filled us in on the performances of some of the better 2008 Big East recruits as well as some younger talent that could fine their way to the Big East in the future…

By Brian Crownover

Scores
Shooting Stars 104 NY Elite 85
Playaz 99 New York Panthers Juniors 74

2008 Big East Recruits:

Samardo Samuels (Louisville Commitment)
As is often the case, Samardo was a man amongst boys. The big bodied post player is just overpowers other high school competiton. He gets to the rim with such ease using his size and ball handling ability. He has an array of post moves and often used a spin move to free himself. He had a pair of nasty dunks, including an alley-oop over St. Benedict’s high school teammate Myck Kabongo. Samardo was a monster on the boards for the Shooting Stars as usual and scored several times from the offensive glass. His full compliment of skills were on display in a beautiful up and under move that ended in a three point play. It showed his quickness, power and good touch. Samardo was dominant in this one. He finished with a game high 28 points and 10 rebounds.

(picture of Samardo Samuels and Mookie Jones)

Mookie Jones (Syracuse commitment)
Mookie had a solid game in the win for the Shooting Stars. He did most of his damage from the perimeter. He hit a pair of three pointers and another pull up jumper. The lanky wing can put the ball on the floor some too, but didn’t do so nearly enough in this one. Despite making a few shots, he also missed quite a few as well. Mookie settled too much for the outside shot and I’d like to see him take it to the hoop more than he did in this contest. He will be more effective at doing so when he adds strength to his thin frame. Mookie finish the game with 12 points.

James Southerland (Syracuse commitment)
James is a long and athletic forward. He did most of his damage blocking shots and grabbing rebounds. He did hit on a hook shot in the post, but didn’t look too comfortable working on the inside. He missed another hook and a turn around jumper. He absolutely must get stronger to be successful on the interior at the next level. He ended with 6 points for the Shooting Stars.

Dwan McMillan (South Florida commitment)
This speedy guard played a nice game as well for the Shooting Stars. He got up and down the floor and scored in transition. He also used his quickness to score in the lane. He had a nice crossover move into a runner. He also drove left on one play a shielded off the defender well with his body to convert on a lay-up. Dwan hit on a mid range jumper too. The talented guard finished up with 15 points.

Mike Rosario (Rutgers commitment)
Some of his high school teammates produced more, but Mike was still solid in this one for the Playaz. As usual, the sharpshooter buried several three pointers. He also banked home a runner and really surprised me by hitting a fade away post jumper. Mike had a transition dunk as well. It wasn’t his most explosive game, but the McDonald’s All American still scored 15 points.

Player of Note:

Omari Lawrence
The Panthers had a rough start and the big part of that was the early struggles of their talented duo. Omari miss several jumpers and a couple drives to the hoop before he really got going. He’s always looking to push that ball and did so again in this game. Omari finally got going as the game wore on. He hit a three pointer, a floater and had a beautiful play where he drove across the lane and banked home a shot. The skilled wing stilled ended up pouring in 28 points, but it came a little too late.

The 2009 guard has St. John’s, Seton Hall, Georgetown and Pittsburgh, among others, interested in his talents.

Kevin Parrom
Kevin’s rough week (altercation with high school coach earlier in the week) continued on Saturday afternoon. The normally dependable wing attacked often, but had difficulty finishing around the hoop. He did hit a runner in the lane and rolled home a pull up jumper. He also air balled a shot, was blocked on another attempt and missed a couple other jumpers. It definitely wasn’t Kevin’s best outing.

The 2009 forward has received recruiting interest from Big East schools such as St. John’s, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and West Virginia.

Mike Poole
Mike is a lanky guard who can attack off the bounce. He hit a runner in traffic. He also stepped outside and hit a jumper. With Omari and Kevin taking a lot of the shots, there weren’t many opportunities for Mike and his other teammates.

Mike is a 2010 prospect that should get a lot of attention this coming season playing again at St. Benedict’s.

Sterling Gibbs
This youngster had a couple nice plays. He hit a three pointer from the perimeter as well as another jumper. He also had a nice drive and dish play. Sterling is the younger brother of 2008 Pittsburgh commit Ashton Gibbs. The class of 2011 point guard is already on the radar of many Big East schools, especially that of the Panthers.

Myck Kobongo
Myck is a very quick young guard off the dribble. Playing for NY Elite he got into the lane some and ran the floor as well. He hit a pair of three pointers, but was quite inconsistent from the perimeter. One of his misses was an air ball that was way off. The 2011 prospect, originally from Canada, will have plenty of time to improve while playing for the powerful St. Benedict’s program.

Brian Crownover is the Lead Recruiting Analyst for CAA Insider and frequent contributor for the NBE Basketball Report. Living in Philadelphia, Brian travels all over the east coast to bring readers coverage from numerous events and games. For more on his coverage of Saturday’s IS8 action, see the story at CAA Insider on the is8 Semifinals.

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