by Alex Schwartz

Playoff Sunday at the Fall Jam Fest was eventful and full of comeback victories. There were some upsets, some spectacular performances, and eventually some champions crowned. While it certainly did not draw big name coaches like July events do—how could it?—there were college coaches in attendance both today and yesterday. Schools such as Felician, Delaware Valley, Assumption, St. Michael’s, Widener, and Rutgers- Camden all had coaches out and about. In addition, over the two days there were scouts from a number of services including Tom Konchalski of the HSBI Report, ESPN, and NJHoops.com. All said, it was a great event that gave a lot of athletes exposure. A number of ballers took advantage of the opportunity and shined today. Here is a list of some of those talented players:

Lorenzo Freeman ’09, Edison Academy (NJ), Edison Academy Blue
Travis Farrell ’09, Unknown, JJ Hoops (NJ)
Kyrie Irving ’10, St. Patrick’s (NJ), New Jersey Roadrunners
Shondell Stewart ’10, Kennedy (NJ), New Jersey Roadrunners
Andrew Nicholas ’11, Eastern York (PA), Jersey Shore Warriors
Omar Grier ’10, Episcopal Academy (PA), Jersey Shore Warriors
Wayne Newsom ’10, Piscataway (NJ), Team New Jersey ABC
Dondre Whitmore ’10, Trenton Cathoic (NJ), Team New Jersey ABC
Gansy Cruz ’09, Unknown, New England Playaz
Naadir Tharpe ’11, Brewster Academy (NH), New Engand Playaz
Rob Gagliardi ’09, Pickering (Ontario, CAN), Grassroots Canada
Fuquan Edwin ’10, Paterson Catholic (NJ), Playaz Red (NJ)
Aishon White ’10, Union (NJ), Playaz Red (NJ)
Antonio Jennifer ’10, McKinley Tech (DC), Team Assault (MD)

Five of these gifted players really put on a show. Lorenzo Freeman was dominant for Edison Academy Blue, helping to lead the squad to the Open Silver Bracket title. The 6’8 big man displayed athleticism and fantastic post player. Freeman had a number of monster dunks, at least two of which were right on top of defenders. Travis Farrell knocked down eight threes as his team was knocked out the Open Silver Bracket in the first round. Despite the loss, Farrell demonstrated an uncanny ability to knock down treys. Every time he shot the rock, you just expected it to go in. Kyrie Irving has been one of the best players in America this summer, regardless of class or position. Irving probably had the best showing in the event out of everyone. The 6’3 point guard was unstoppable, scoring and dishing the ball out at will. Irving dropped 27 and 25 in the Open Gold Bracket semifinals and finals respectively. Like Farrell, Gansy Cruz also played in just one game on Sunday, but he made the most of it. Although his squad was bounced in the first round of U-17 Gold Bracket play, the short and stocky point guard put on a show. Cruz was nearly impossible to contain, getting to the rack with ease en route to finishing the game with 20 points. You probably haven’t heard of the other major big-time performer from Sunday, but you will want to watch out for Rob Gagliardi in the future. The senior shooting guard had 29 points in the in the Open Gold Bracket quarterfinals . . . in the first half, that is. That’s right, Gagliardi had 29 points in a 16-minute half. He finished the game with 31 points, as he was on the bench for most of the second half in a blowout win.

SCHOOL LISTS

John Johnson ’11, Girard College HS (PA), Hunting Park Warriors (PA): LSU, Marquette, La Salle, Virginia Tech, St. Joseph’s, Villanova, and Notre Dame
                                 Offers: La Salle, Virginia Tech, and St. Joseph's
                                 Favorites: None
                                 Dream School: None

Chris Cantino ’09, Northeast Prep (PA), Sam Rines (PA): Houston, Seton Hall, UMass, and Binghamton
                                 Offers: None
                                 Favorite: UMass
                                 Dream School: None
                                 Note- Cantino said that he is “going to visit” both UMass and Seton Hall

Rob Gagliardi ’09, Pickering (Ontario, CAN), Grassroots Canada: Clemson, Virginia Tech, and St. Bonaventure
                                 Offers: None
                                 Favorite: n/a
                                 Dream School: St. Joseph’s
                                 Note- School list information is from Ro Russell, Gagliardi’s AAU coach with Grassroots Canada. Russell mentioned that Gagliardi was on the “Canadian Junior National team” this summer for the games in Argentina, and that Canada won a bronze medal.

JP Kambola ’10, St. Benedict’s (NJ), Grassroots Canada: Kansas, Arizona, Syracuse, Michigan, Louisville, Miami, Marquette, Minnesota, Virginia, and Louisiana Tech
                             Offers: Louisiana Tech
                             Favorite: Kansas
                             Dream School: “[It] was Georgetown, . . . [but] now I don’t have one.”
                             Note- School list information is from both Kombala and Ro Russell, the coach of Grassroots Canada.

Andrew Nicholas ’11, Eastern York (PA), Jersey Shore Warriors: Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Auburn, Syracuse, Davidson, Notre Dame, Villanova, Michigan, Michigan State, West Virginia, and Kentucky
                                        Offers: None
                                        Favorites: “Rutgers and Virginia Tech so far.”
                                        Dream School: Duke
                                        Note- Nicholas said that he has a “3.9” GPA.

Antonio Jennifer ’10, McKinley Tech (DC), Team Assault (MD): UMass
                                       Favorites: n/a
                                       Dream School: Michigan State

Donte Thomas ’10, Ballou (DC), Team Assault (MD): Georgetown, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, St. Mary’s, and Maryland
                                    Offers: None
                                    Favorite: Georgia Tech
                                    Dream School: Georgia Tech

Kyrie Irving ’10, St. Patrick’s (NJ), New Jersey Roadrunners: Kansas, Kansas State, Indiana, Villanova, Syracuse, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Rutgers, Providence, Pitt, Notre Dame, Marquette, Georgetown, UConn, Cincinnati, Tennessee, Memphis, Duke, USC, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Maryland, Wake Forest, Ohio State, Texas A&M, St. Joseph’s, Arizona, and George Washington
                            Offers: Kansas State, Villanova, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Pitt, Memphis, Virginia, Maryland, Texas A&M, St. Joseph's, George Wasington
                            Favorites: “I don’t have any favorites.”
                            Dream School: n/a

In the U-17 division, two top-notch squads squared off in the quarterfinals: Team New Jersey ABC and the New England Playaz. The boys from New England were without two of their best players, big men Nate Lubick ’10 and Jordan Williams ’09, both of whom injured their an ankle on Saturday. Austin Carroll ’09, Gansy Cruz ’09, and Nadir Tharpe ’11 were still in action, making the team still quite formidable. In the first half, the teams were neck and neck throughout, with the NE Playaz taking a one-point, 30-29 lead into the break. Markus Kennedy ’10 had 15 points for NJABC in the first 16 minutes of action, teaming with Wayne Newsom ’10 to keep the squad in the game. The Garden State boys raced out of the gate in the second half, quickly grabbing a lead, holding it, and stretching it out even further. Wayne Newsom and Dondre Whitmore ’10 led the charge for NJABC as Markus Kennedy was silent with just one point in the half. Gansy Cruz and Naadir Tharpe refused to give in, keeping the ultra-talented team within striking distance. The guard duo repeatedly got to the hole and got buckets in the paint. Just when it seemed like NJABC was pulling away, Cruz came up with a number of big buckets, but it was too little too late, and NJABC picked up the win. The squad was knocked out in the semifinals after blowing a lat 12-point lead against Team Assault (MD), who would end up with a seven-point win. In the other semifinal affair, the Jersey Shore Warriors knocked off Hoopdreamz Basketball (PA) to advance to the finals. Once there, Jersey Shore took control of the game early and never looked back. Team Assault led 5-0 to start things and the game was knotted up at 12 with 10:20 left in the half. Then, Andrew Nicholas ’11 banged in his third triple of the half to give the Warriors a three-point cushion. From there, it was all about the Warriors. The squad stretched its lead to seven, 25-18, with 3:10 in the half. It was in the second half though, that they really began to run away with it. The team led by 20 points, 50-30, with 10:30 to play, and was in full control of the game. The team, which featured Nicholas, Omar Grier ’10, Jesse Krasna ’10, and Jack O’Neill ’10, led 61-32 with eight minutes remaining, the equivalent of one quarter. There was not much scoring the rest of the way, and the Jersey Shore Warriors coasted to the U-17 Gold Bracket championship by a final score of 66-36. Omar Grier led the way with 17 points, with Andrew Nicholas adding 16, including four three-pointers. For Team Assault, Donte Thomas ’10 was the high scorer with 14 points. Antonio Jennifer ’10 had 10 points in his own right for the runner-up squad.

The Open Gold Bracket championship was one of the final games of the event. The participants, Grassroots Canada and the New Jersey Roadrunners, both had to get past superb teams in the semifinals. Grassroots Canada narrowly edged the Memorial Park Playas, a team that included David Laury ’09, Markens Charles ’09, and Jerry Coriolan ’09, in a game that came down to the wire. Many people probably didn’t expect the New Jersey Roadrunners to win their semifinal game against Playaz Red (NJ), but did just that, in dominant fashion. Kyrie Irving ’10 led the charge for the squad, scoring 19 points in the first half, as his team had a double-digit advantage heading into the intermission. For the Playaz, Aishon White ’10 was really the only one scoring, as Isaiah Epps ’10 was limited to just three points and Fuquan Edwin ’10 had only two. When it was all said and done, the Roadrunners walked away with a 20+ point victory, and Irving had 27 points. Fuquan Edwin used a strong second half to finish with 21 points for the Playaz, and Aishon White ended up with 14. In the championship, it was a tale of two halves. Grassroots Canada jumped out to a 16-3 lead just 4:40 into the affair, and controlled the first 16 minutes almost effortlessly. Although the Roadrunners were able to cut the lead to 19-12, they could not stay close for long. The boys from across the border led 34-17 with 5:40 remaining in the half, and it seemed as if the Open Division Gold Bracket championship game would be just as lopsided as the U-17 one was. The Roadrunners trailed 45-31 at the half and seemed somewhat dejected as head coach Sandy Pyonin tried to rally the troops. Whatever he said worked, as his team worked its way back into the game. With 11:40 to go the deficit was just seven points, 47-40. Then, a three-ball from Rob Gagliardi ’09 made it a double-digit cushion for the Canadian squad once again. Kyrie Irving—who had 10 points in the first half—and his teammates would not give in, dropping the lead down to four, 52-48, with 9:50 left. Gagliardi again nailed a three to stop the momentum. His trey led to his team going on a run to take a 64-52 lead with only 6:10 left for the Roadrunners to get back in it. Slowly but surely the team did exactly that. The team from the Garden State caught fire and surged right back into the game. A triple from Irving with 2:05 to go made it a one point game, 66-65, as the team was on a 13-2 run. Fifty seconds later things got even sweeter for Pyonin’s team, as Shondell Stewart ’10 got a steal at about halfcourt and converted it for an easy deuce and a 67-66 lead. With the Roadrunners having the momentum and Grassroots Canada falling apart, the game seemed headed for a Roadrunners win. The lead was all the way up to 73-66 with three seconds to go, as the squad was on an incredible 21-2 run over a 6:07 period, which included a 16-0 stretch for the last 3:47 of that. A buzzer beater from around half court made the final score 73-69. The Roadrunners got the win and the title. Kyrie Irving finished the game with 25 points, draining three treys. Shondell Stewart also played a key role in the win, ending the game with 16 points. Eddie Brown ’09 had 11 points, while Alex Rosenberg ’10 and Blaise Mbargorba ’11 had major contributions. Mbargorba will be a player to keep an eye on. He is currently a sophomore at St. Benedict’s (NJ), coming over from Cameroon recently. He is a big man with solid game, and displayed a lot of potential. In the Silver Bracket of the Open Division, the Edison Wildcats Blue (NJ) squad knocked off the Pennsylvania Blue Devils, a team featuring West Virginia-commit Dalton Pepper ’09.

The Fall Jam Fest was a nice event with a lot of talent. The event allowed for a preview of the upcoming high school and gave a number of players a chance to enter the scene. Both days featured great games, good competition, and gave the players a lot of exposure. Watching players ball with their AAU programs once again was a treat and seeing new faces emerge was just as interesting. With it all being said and done, it’s safe to say that the Fall Jam Fest was a success.

For more on the world of AAU and high school basketball from The Hoop Group, go to http://hoopgroup.com/hoopgroup/index.php.