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BRIAN CROWNOVER ON THE PHILLY HS BEAT

Brian Crownover is the Lead Recruiting Analyst for CAAInsider.com. Based in Philadelphia, look for more contributions from Brian in the future on the Big East Basketball Report.

On Friday night, Brian headed over to Villanova for the opening games of the Primetime Shootout. Brian took in four games on Friday and will be on hand again this coming weekend when the action takes place at Rutgers on Friday and moves to Trenton on Saturday and Sunday. Here are the scores of the games Brian saw on Friday:

Scores:
Hotchkiss 72 Our Savior New American 58
Timber Creek 55 Plymouth-Whitemarsh 52
Chester 80 Jeannette 70
St. Benedict’s 77 American Christian 70

Read Brian’s individual player analysis on several Big East commitments and targets below:

St. Benedict’s

Samardo Samuels (Louisville Commitment)
The only word really needed to describe this powerful forward is dominant. He grabbed rebound after rebound after rebound and scored on numerous putbacks. He has such a great combination of size and skill that defenders just have to give way on the inside. Nearly everything he did on the inside was easy in this one. He hit a couple of short bank shots, including one of the turnaround variety. He also had a drive and finish going at the hoop. Samardo finished with an impressive 27 points and 17 rebounds in the victory over Tyreke Evans and American Christian.

Greg Echenique (2009 target considering Rutgers and Pitt in Big East)
Greg is just Mr. Efficient on the inside. He uses his huge frame to get deep in the post and then finishes well over defenders. His shots aren’t the prettiest, but they are effective. He absorbs contact so well. Greg showed a nice jump hook with both hands. When the defense refused to play him away from the basket he buried two foul line jumpers. Greg was also a force on the boards. It’ll be very interesting to watch him next year with Samardo gone. How good can he be when he’s the go to guy?

Tamir Jackson (2009 target considering St. John’s in Big East)
Tamir was solid for the Gray Bees. He missed a couple shots early, but then picked up his scoring. He hit a runner, buried a three pointer and ran the floor. He also nailed a deep three pointer at the end of the third quarter. He did have some difficulty guarding Tyreke Evans, but he certainly isn’t the first person with that problem.

Tristian Thompson
The lanky, athletic big man did some damage in transition. He threw down a dunk on the run. He also dunked on an offensive rebound. He crashed the boards on both end. Tristian handles the ball very well for his size, but often doesn’t seem to really know what he wants to do with it.

American Christian

Jeremiah Kelly (DePaul commitment)
Jeremiah Kelly exploded out of the gate. He buried four three pointers early on in the contest. He doesn’t have the best form (shoots off to the side), but is still affective. Jeremiah is a scoring point guard who loves the outside jumper, maybe even too much. He handles the ball pretty well too, but really didn’t attack enough in this contest. He is capable of driving in either direction when he does go at the rim. He did have a nice drive and dish play, but didn’t look to pass all that often. He did go quiet in the second half, but it was still a good evening for him. Jeremiah does play off the ball with this team a lot, but is definitely more suited for the point guard spot at the next level. He ended up with 12 points.

Tyreke Evans (considering Louisville, Villanova, UConn & Seton Hall in Big East)
Tyreke is one of the best players and scorers in the country. The big guard takes such long strides and can really get to the rim quickly. He simply glides through the lane. He struggled early to find his jumper, but improved as the contest wore on. Tyreke makes some terrific adjustments in traffic to score around the basket. Perhaps the most impressive feature of his game is his pull up mid range jumper. He can bury that over and over again. He can hit it off the dribble or even fading away. He showed a nice step back jumper too. What really got the crowd going though was a dunk over Samardo Samuels with a foul. Tyreke converted for a three point play. He can certainly score, but he does play a lot of one on one and fires up a ton of shots. He actually went just 1 for 12 from three, but still finished with 33 points. It’ll be interesting to see if Tyreke can fit into a team concept at the next level, depending on where he ends up.

Lamont “Momo” Jones (2009 Louisville Commitment)
Momo was the third part of the three headed American Christian attack. He really loves to shoot the ball and buried a number of three pointers, including pull ups. He can also attack off the dribble and finished pretty well around the hoop. He plays with a lot of swagger and confidence, much like you might expect out of a New York City kid. Sometimes that’s good, other times it’s not needed. While he is a talented scoring point guard, he does throw some bad shots up from time to time. After not getting the ball a few possessions in a row, he just fired up a deep three pointer early in the next possession. He can drive and dish some too, but is certainly more of a scoring point guard. Momo finished with 21 points.

Chester

Nasir Robinson (Pittsburgh Commitment)
Nasir hasn’t been great when I’ve caught him this year (not that he’s been terrible either). Over the weekend on the big stage, he really stepped his game up. The big and explosive guard was back to aggressive ways. He made a number of different plays. He crashed the offensive glass and scored that way. He attacked off the dribble and had some reverse lay-ups or hit floaters in the lane. Perhaps most impressive were some of the fine passes after breaking down the defense. The athletic guard also threw down a transition dunk. He still needs to improve his jumper as well as his free throw shooting, but he’s certainly entering into the perfect system for his aggressive nature. Nasir had a terrific all around game with 18 points, 18 rebounds, 6 assists and two steals.

Rahlir Jefferson
Rahlir was very solid in the Chester win. The athletic forward threw down an alley oop. He had a beautiful pass to a cutter through the lane. He also did his usual damage on the boards. He showed the ability to drive to the basket on one play and lay the ball in. He also hit a turnaround jumper in the low post. Rahlir is at his best cleaning up around the hoop, but he has the skill set to do more. The more that he shows away from the basket, the more he’ll be coveted.

Jeannette

Terrelle Pryor
The nation’s top quarterback can play on the hardwood too. Terrelle really stands out physically. He already has an NBA body, even though he’s not going that route. In addition to his size, he can really handle the ball and gets into the lane in a hurry. He scored in transition, on the offensive glass or by taking it to the hoop. He also dished out a couple assists and rebounded well. Terrelle really struggled with his outside jumper in this one. His hand was taped and I’m not sure if that contributed to his lack of perimeter shooting. While he did finish with 21 points and 9 rebounds it still seemed like a rather quiet night for this star.

Hotchkiss

Jason Morris
I only managed to catch a little over a quarter of this game, but this young sophomore was quite impressive. He’s already quite impressive physically. The big guard loves to attack off the dribble and use his size. Because of that style of play, he found himself at the foul line quite often. He also rebounded the ball well and blocked a shot. The youngster finished with 21 points and Player of the Game honors.

Derrick Wilson
Derrick was another impressive young player on this Hotchkiss team. He’s also well built and runs the floor well. He can handle the ball and get into the lane too. I didn’t get to watch him too closely in the limited viewing, but I am eager to see more.

Brian also evaluated several mid-major prospects from the event and those player notes can be found in his article, Primetime Shootout Day 1 at CAAInsider.com.