Anthony Jaskulski, Connecticut Recruiting

KING CITY CLASSIC REPORT: CHAMPIONSHIP REVIEW

Early this afternoon, the King City Classic came to a close on the Cleveland State campus with a championship contest between the teams called Connecticut and Memphis. It was a jam-packed day and a half of action with college coaches galore coming into Cleveland to get a look at the talent, which was immense up and down the camp roster.

In a nice moment following the camp finale, Myck Kabongo, a point guard out of St. Benedict’s in Newark (NJ) gave a great thank you address. The class of 2011 Texas-commit and native of Canada was very impressive as he thanked volunteers, parents and coaches for coming and wished everyone a safe journey home.

However, many are not headed home yet. Such is the craziness of the July evaluation period. Many of these players will be playing in Nike’s Peach Jam next week in North Augusta (GA) and in several other events between now and July 15th, before taking a one-week break and ending the month of July in much of the same way.

Let’s take a look at the outstanding players from the King City Championship game…

by ANTONY JASKULSKI

ROSTERS:

Connecticut………….…………………………Memphis
Phil Pressey………………………………………Andre Stringer
Nick Johnson……………………………………Jamal Branch
Myck Kabongo…………………………………Austin Rivers
Russell Byrd……………………………………..Will Barton
DeShaun Thomas……………………………Daniel Bejarano
Dwight Powell……………………………………James Bell
Bradley Beal………………………………………Gerard Coleman
Cameron Clark……………………………………CJ Leslie
Kevin Johnson……………………………………Johnny O’ Bryant
Quincy Miller………………………………………Markus Kennedy
Adreian Payne……………………………………Ashcroft Youcoubou

In the championship game of the King City Classic, Team Memphis, led by Will Barton and Florida-commit Austin Rivers stole the show in a 95-77 victory to take home the gold.

There were a lot of impressive performances to note, including some aggressive matchups including Phil Pressey vs. Andre Stringer and Johnny O’ Bryant vs. Dwight Powell.

Pressey took advantage of this matchup, getting straight into his original ways as a gameday dominator. He showed off some impressive skills, including a beautiful no look assist several times, including one from half court for the wide open layup from Thomas. Pressey forces a steal by tipping a pass headed the man he was guarding. Great behind-the-head pass to Johnson for the transition layup. Pressey’s impressive few days of work might have moved him to the top of Connecticut‘s list of recruits and it looks like Pressey will visit UConn at the first opportunity once the July evaluation period is over.

Quincy Miller wooed the coaches and guests in attendance with a quick thinking offensive rebound and put-back slam dunk. Seemed he was always on the seen with a big play in the paint today, drawing fouls or finishing the high percentage shots in traffic. Miller worked some great, finesse moves inside on his counterpart Johnny O’ Bryant, and even connected a few times on his mid-range jumper. His best move came late in the game, when he took a stutter step and drove two steps, worked a reverse pivot and dropped in the deuce.

Adreian Payne was as good as a finisher you’ll find in this camp. Seemed he was always getting the ball in the net when in the paint, and always making the right decisions underneath, even if that meant a solid screen to set up the ball handler with an open shot.

Dwight Powell made his name known these last two days as a vicious shot blocker, and today was no different, as the 6-10, 212 lb center stuffed three shots within the first 10 minutes of the game. He finished with five in the game, solidifying himself as the Hasheem Thabeet of this camp.

Kevin Johnson was in touch with the mid range jumper all game, but needed to find the paint a little more. When you’re 6-9, 250 lbs, the paint should be your home. But as it was, Johnson was looking more like a wing then anything today.

Ashcroft Youcoubou showed off some long range on the corner three ball. He had a couple of nice drive and finish layups on the transition as well.

Johnny O’ Bryant was somewhat quiet today, but showed off some moves and pulled down some clutch rebounds late in this game to secure the win for his team. His stutter step and drive to the lane for a two handed slam at the start of the second half was probably the highlight of the tournament for him.

James Bell , a Villanova-commit made a behind the back pass to a wide open Will Barton for the layup look easy. His long range game was on fire as well today, and he may be the best player in this tournament with a step back jumper.

DeShaun Thomas is one of the toughest kids underneath the basket. He uses his size to his advantage, and today, not too many people wanted to get around the big man when a rebound was in his sites.

Austin Rivers sett up some great passes, hitting the open cutter for easy layups all game. Perhaps his best attribute, however, is his beautiful off the dribble stroke from long range. He was consistent from beyond the arc this entire tournament.

Among the coaches on hand for the finale of the camp were Cincinnati assistant Tony Stubblefield, Bob Huggins, Bruce Weber, Johnny Dawkins, Billy Donovan, Thad Matta, asst Chris Davis, Pat Sandle (on the road guess because Jamie Dixon is out of the country), Tom Izzo with ex-asst Gregory and current asst DJ Stephens, Herb Sendek (representing Penn Hills Pa and Arizona State), Tubby Smith, Coach K and Wojo, John Thompson III, Tommy Amaker and UCLA asst Scott Duncan.