St. Patrick’s (NJ), Roman Catholic (PA), North Mecklenburg (NC), Boys & Girls (NY), Prep Charter (PA), Neumann-Goretti (PA), and Academy of the New Church (PA) are some of the top high school basketball programs on the east coast. These seven schools and 63 others are the participants in the 2008 Hoop Group Elite Team Camp. The competition has some of America’s top ballers from the class of 2012 all the way up to post-grads. Here are the players who stood out to me on Wednesday:

Andre Wilburn ‘09, Archbishop Carroll (PA)
Benjamin Mingledough ‘10, Archbishop Carroll (PA)
Mike Payne ‘09, Archbishop Carroll (PA)
Ryan Washington ‘09, Bishop McNamara (MD)
Rashad Whack ‘09, Bishop McNamara (MD)
Brandon Coleman ‘10, Bishop McNamara (MD)
Fred Wilson ‘11, Hillhouse (CT)
Terrance McKiver ‘09, Hillhouse (CT)
Sam Prescott ‘09, Imhotep Charter (PA)
Will Adams ‘09, Imhotep Charter (PA)
Erik Copes ‘11, Imhotep Charter (PA)
Rakeem Brookins ‘10, Roman Catholic (PA)
Quasim Jones ‘10, Roman Catholic (PA)
Andre Gillette ‘09, Neumann-Goretti (PA)
Paris Bennett ‘09, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
Markus Kennedy ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
Kevin Boyle, Jr. ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
Chase Plummer ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
Dexter Strickland ‘09, St. Patrick’s (NJ)

St. Patrick’s has almost all of its players here, and being that the Celtics are one of the best teams in America, they entered the tournament as the favorite in many peoples’ minds. In addition to the five players listed about, Kevin Boyle’s team also has Derrick Gordon ‘11, Kyrie Irving ‘10, and Dean Kowlaski ‘09 amongst others. Irving, though, did not play in either game today due to a hip injury. Other pre-tournament favorites in the National Division were Roman Catholic (PA), Neumann-Goretti (PA), and Academy of the New Church (PA).

SCHOOL LISTS-

Shawn Lawrence ‘09 PG, Trinidad: None, as he is not at a school in the USA
                                    Favorites: None
                                    Note- Lawrence, who started playing basketball “three years ago,” has had a “nice experience” the past five days at TCNJ, with his favorite part of The Hoop Group Elite Camp being “stations.”

Paris Bennett: Rhode Island, Rider, Iona, Kent St., George Mason, LaSalle, and Providence
                     Favorites: None

Egheosa Edomwonyi ‘09, Hun (NJ): Delaware, Harvard, Fordham, Toledo, Vermont, Lafayette, Colgate, Siena, Davidson, UPenn, Princeton, Yale, Iona, Holy Cross, and Dartmouth
                                    Favorites: None, “I don’t have any favorites, [I am] . . . trying to have an open mind.”
                                    Note- his dream school is Wake Forest

Aaron Brown ‘11, Roman Catholic (PA): Villanova, Temple, Texas, Georgetown, Delaware, Virginia, and St. Joseph’s
                          Favorite: Villanova
                          Notes- Villanova, Temple, Texas, Georgetown, Delaware, and Virginia are the schools he is focusing on, with Villanova being “the main one” recruiting him

Rashad Whack: George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth, Richmond, James Madison, Colorado, Virginia Tech, Marquette, and Clemson
                       Favorites: None, “I couldn’t say right now.”
                       Notes- Whack, whose dream school “was Connecticut,” is “trying to go [to the] ACC or Big East.”

Will Adams: James Madison, Rider, Marquette, Providence, Rhode Island, Temple, Drexel, LaSalle, St. Joseph’s, St. Bonaventure, Loyola Chicago, Mt. St. Mary’s, Central Connecticut St., Robert Morris, George Washington, South Florida, Xavier, St. Peter’s, Towson, Ball St., St. Francis (NY)
                  Favorites: Rider, Marquette, Temple, Drexel, George Washington, and George Mason, with his top three being Marquette, Drexel, and George Mason

The top performers of the day were definitely Paris Bennett, Markus Kennedy, Andre Gillette, Will Adams, and Rashad Whack. These five guys represent four schools in three states. The best player on Wednesday was Bennett. The 6′6 rising senior from St. Patrick’s was the best player on the court in both of his team’s games, wins over Archbishop Carroll (PA) and Hillhouse (CT). Without Paris, there is a real chance that the Celtics would have had their championship hopes shot down already, as the team blew big leads in both games and almost let the contests get away. Bennett was there to do the dirty work down low, though, grabbing boards on both ends of the court, and scoring in bunches. The class of 2009 baller definitely raised his stock today in front if hundreds of college coaches. Speaking of college coaches, there were a number of well-known and highly-regarded head coaches in the building at TCNJ on Wednesday including Seth Greenberg of Virginia Tech, James “Bruiser” Flint of Drexel, and John Calipari of NCAA Runner-up Memphis.

The Elite Eight matchups in the National Division will be as follows:

Top Left Bracket- St. Patrick’s (NJ) vs. Roman Catholic (PA)
Bottom Left Bracket- Good Counsel (MD) vs. Bishop McNamara (MD)
Top Right Bracket- Boys & Girls (NY) vs. Middletown (OH)
Bottom Right Bracket- Neumann-Goretti (PA) vs. Academy of the New Church (PA)

No matter what, both Pennsylvania and Maryland will be represented in the National Division Final Four. To find out what ends up happening at the 2008 Hoop Group Elite Team Camp be sure to check back right here!