by Alex Schwartz

With just three age groups—U-15, U-16, and U-17—competing in the 2009 Southern Hoop Group Jam Fest and almost all U-17 games played at the same site, the Boo Williams Sportsplex, it was easy to get around and check out a number of different players. There were countless top-notch players in attendance, and here's a rundown of some of the big name ballers who were at the event:

Name 'YR, High School (State), AAU Team, College Commitment (if applicable)
Justin Anderson '12, Montrose Christian (MD), Boo Williams
Dimitri Batton '10, Heritage (VA), Boo Williams, Old Dominion
Kendall Marshall '10, Bishop O'Connell (VA), Boo Williams, North Carolina
Travis McKie '10, John Marshall (VA), Boo Williams, Wake Forest
Andre Dawkins '10, Atlantic Shores Christian (VA), Boo Williams, Duke
James McAdoo '11, Norfolk Christian (VA), Boo Williams
Antonio Barton '10, Lake Clifton (MD), Cecil Kirk
Chris Coleman '11, Mt. Zion Christian Academy (NC), Charlotte Jayhawks
PJ Hairston '11, Dudley (NC), CP3 All Stars
Melvin Tabb '10, Enloe (NC), CP3 All Stars, Wake Forest
Reggie Bullock '10, Kinston (NC), CP3 All Stars, North Carolina
Bishop Daniels '11, Word of God (NC), D-One Sports
Quddus "Deuce" Bello '11, Westchester County (NC), D-One Sports
JT Terrell '10, Cummings (NC), D-One Sports, Wake Forest
Quincy Miller '11, Quality Education Academy (NC), D-One Sports
Cedrick Lindsay '10, Gonzaga (DC), DC Assault Gold
Eric Atkins '10, Mount St. Joseph (MD), DC Assault Gold, Notre Dame
Tyler Thornton '10, Gonzaga (DC), DC Assault Gold, Duke
Maxie Esho '10, Wise (MD), DC Assault Gold, UMass
Josh Hairston '10, Courtland (VA), DC Assault Gold, Duke
Mychal Parker '10, Terracais Christian (DC), Squires Richmond Foundation
Tyreek Duran '10, Neumann-Goretti (PA), Team Final
Trevor Conney '11, Sanford School (DE), Team Final
Markus Kennedy '10, Living Faith (NJ), Team Final, Villanova
Daryus Quarles '10, Life Center Academy (NJ), Team Final, St. Joseph's
Rakeem Christmas '11, North Catholic (PA), Team Final 16s
Savon Goodman '12, Academy of the New Church (PA), Team Final 16s
Quinn Cook '11, DeMatha (MD), DC Assault Gold 16s

There were also some other talented players at the event who are not quite big-time names, but are still well-known players:

Name 'YR, High School (State), AAU Team, College Commitment (if applicable)
Wayne Sparrow '10, St. Frances (MD), Baltimore Assault, Richmond
John Manning '11, Chantilly (VA), Boo Williams
Antonio Jennifer '10, McKinley Tech (MD), God's Glory
Donte Thomas '10, Ballou (MD), God's Glory
George Harper '10, Phoenixville (PA), Team Final
Shaq Duncan '10, Frankford (PA), Team NJABC
Justin Burrell '10, Potomac (VA), VA Assault, Mount St. Mary's
DJ Irving '10, Archbishop Carroll (PA), Youth Interlock
Daniel Stewart '10, Neumann-Goretti (PA), Youth Interlock
Maurice Nelson '11, Chester (PA), Youth Interlock
Aaron Brown '11, Penn Wood (PA), Team Final 16s

Along with these players, there were some others who made a name for themselves at the Southern Jam Fest. The main one of those was Justin Coleman '10 of Henrico (VA), who was running with Pestersburg Elite. The 6'5 Coleman was the talk of the Boo Williams Sportsplex, and had people raving about his game. He is definitely a kid that scouting services and coaches will be tracking this summer. Some other players who don't have huge names but had quality performances and/or looked like they had the makings of quality prospects included Frantz Massenat '10 of Trenton Catholic (NJ), who was running with Team NJABC, Jordan Goodman '11 who was with the U-16 DC Assault Gold, Deon Jones '11 of the Team Final U-16 squad, Anthony Goode '10 of Milford Mill Academy (MD), who was running with Baltimore Assault, and Wesley Tisdale '10 of Cherokee (NJ), who was with Nexxt Level Sports. Massenat was fantastic all weekend for Team NJABC and almost single-handedly led his team to victory over Baltimore Assault. He was great in getting to the rack and also hit some treys. The Baltimore Assault team relied on Anthony Goode to compliment Richmond-bound Wayne Sparrow, and it was almost enough to take down Team NJABC in pool play. Goode hit a number of treys and was solid from start to finish. The NJABC/Bmore Assault contest was one of the few games I was able to see in its entirety. Jordan Goodman has the makings of a major player. At 6'7 ot 6'8 and only a sophomore with a good frame on him, Goodman teamed with Quinn Cook to lead DC Assault Gold 16s to a great run. Deon Jones was great for Team Final's U-16 squad, a group I was able to see a lot of. The athletic guard helped his team eek out a victory in the first round of the Gold Bracket over Team NJABC, despite the team's star player, Rakeem Christmas, fouling out with 4:44 to go and the team trailing by four after some free throws. Wesley Tisdale's Nexxt Level Sports team did not have a great weekend, but that did not stop the Garden State product from having a fine showing himself. He displayed some nice athleticism, an ability to get to the cup, and a knack to get to the charity stripe.

In the U-17 age group, the CP3 All Stars took home the crown, making it back-to-back championships for the CP3 U-17 team at this event. The team was once again led by North Carolina-pledge Reggie Bullock—he won the U-17 MVP last year, despite playing up a year—who has the makings of a future superstar. The team from the Tar Heel State beat home team Boo
Williams—who was without Luke Cothron '10—by 20+ in the finals. BWSL knocked off DC Assault Gold in the semis, while CP3 defeated a surprising Cecil Kirk team to reach the title game. The real shock of the U-17 division was that D-One Sports, despite having four high-major players on its roster, could not get out of the round of the Gold Bracket, losing by five to PAL of DE.

At the U-16 level, Team Final fought through a number of tough games, including those against Team NJABC, Carolina Flight, and DC Assault Gold in the finals. Despite being without 6'10 Malcolm Gilbert '11 of Academy of the New Church (PA) due to injury, the Philly-based team took the crown nonetheless.

In the U-15 division, Team Philly was another City of Brotherly Love squad that went home victorious. At the age group, DC Assault also lost in the championship, so the top-notch program had all three of its A teams in the semis, two of which made the finals, but was unable to leave with a first place trophy.

Note- photo is of Justin Coleman and is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/