by Alex Schwartz

The July Live Evaluation period has officially begun, andDivision I coaches were out at Albright College in throngs Monday. All coachescounted—DI, DII, DIII, etc.—there were about 200 coaches at the camp, but itfelt like a whole lot more with the way they packed the gyms. Five Big East schoolswere represented: Georgetown, Pitt, Rutgers, St. John’s, and Villanova. Infact, St. John’s Head Coach Norm Roberts was in the building, as were otherhead coaches, such as Siena’s Fran McCaffery, Robert Morris’ Mike Rice, andHoward’s Gil Jackson. Other DI institutions with coaches at camp includedMemphis, Drexel, St. Bonaventure, George Mason, Cornell, Niagara, and St.Joseph’s, amongst many others. With the coaches on hand, a number of players onthe 18 teams—there are 38 in the NBA East—I saw today took  advantage of the opportunity to showcase theirskills, a few of whom were the day’s standout performers:

David Abraham ’10, Eleanor Roosevelt (MD)
Mike Accaoui ’10, Winchendon School (MA)
Vaughn Allen ’10, prep school
Kelvin Amayo ’11, NIA Prep (NJ)
Ike Azotam ’10, Marianapolis Prep (CT)
Antonio Barton ’10, Notre Dame Prep (MA), Memphis
Stephen Battle ’10, Thomas Stone (MD)
Brad Bolen ’10, Sherwood (MD)
Lovell Brooks ’10, Friendship Collegiate Academy (MD)
Omar Calhoun ’12, Christ the King (NY)
Chris Carroll ’09, Rougheorough University (UK)
Eli Carter ’10, St. Anthony’s (NJ)
Armani Cotton ’10, Dalton School (NY)
Gabriel Dos Santos ’11, Coral Springs (FL)
Maurice Eastwood ’11, Weaver (CT)
Jamel Fuentes ’09, Xaverian (NY)
Derrick Gordon ’11, St. Patrick’s (NJ), Western Kentucky
Winston Graham ’10, Lee Academy (ME)
Jamir Hanner ’10, South Philly (PA)
Jay Harris ’10, Paul Robeson (PA)
Jimi Hayawaka ’10, South Kent (CT)
Durand Johnson ’10, Parkville (MD)
Marques Jones ’10, Milford (DE)
JP Koury ’10, Christian Brothers Academy (NJ)
Chad LaBove ’10, St. John’s (MA)
Jarrel Lane '11, St. Patrick's (NJ)
Raheem May-Thompson ’10, Towson Catholic (MD)
Harold McBride ’10, prep school
Thomas McInerney ’10, York Suburban (PA)
Tom McKeefery ’10, Lower Cape May (NJ)
Jaymes Miller ’10, Abington (PA)
Louis Montes ’09, Brockton (MA)
Cleveland Melvin ’10, Notre Dame Prep (MA)
Pat Moore ’10, Notre Dame (NY)
Joe Nardi ’10, St. Joseph’s Prep (PA)
Wayne Newsom ’10, Piscataway (NJ)
Shawn Oakman ’11, Penn Wood (PA)
Pat O’Connell ’10, Middletown South (NJ)
Ishaq Pitt ’10, Ride (NJ)
Mike Poole ’10, St. Benedict’s (NJ)
Matt Rista ’10, St. Anthony’s (NJ)
Mamadou Sakho ’11, Blue Ridge (VA)
Lamount Samuel ’09, Boys & Girls (NY)
Shane Southwell ’10, Rice (NY)
Anthony Taylor ’10, Egg Harbor Township (NJ)
Quincy Taylor ’09, Wichita Collegiate (KS)
Lamont Tillery ’10, Pocono Mountain East (PA)
Reynaldo Walters ’10, Cardozo (NY)
David Wishon ’10, First Assembly Christian (NC)

Out of these players, a few truly shined the brightest onthe first day of the 09 July Live period. One of those was a kid from one ofthe nation’s top high school programs; St. Anthony’s (NJ), in 6’1 point guardEli Carter. This is a kid who has drastically improved over the past year andcan now shoot and also get to the hole and finish. Carter also plays defenseand passes the ball well. Armani Cotton is from the hoops hotbed that is theEmpire State, but he is not a huge name. On this day, though, the 6’5 wingshowed that he can flat-out play basketball though. A player with great lengthand a high basketball IQ, Cotton was one of the players who stood out on thedefensive end of the court Monday. That is not to say he did not show what hecan do with the ball though, as he certainly did that too. Winston Graham cameinto camp with a reputation as one of the best point guards here, and he surebacked it up in the game I watched him play this evening. Graham, who stands 6’1,was not only distributing the rock as a true floor general, but he was gettingto the cup with ease and scoring the ball too. Graham’s matchup with Carter wasa great one, and it came down to the wire, with Graham’s squad winning by one. JamirHanner was another baller with a big reputation to uphold here, and his firstgame at camp—the 6’7 power forward was a late arrival—he did just that. Hannerran the floor well and scored around the rim, in addition to rebounding thebasketball. He is one of the top bigs in camp. Louis Montes is one of thoseunknowns who make a name for himself at a camp like this. A 6’4 wing, the highschool graduate was fantastic when I watched him. Montes got to the rack andscoring like it was his job. His big frame helped him body past defenders, andhe was nearly unstoppable. Still searching for a prep school to attend, ifMontes keeps playing like this, he should have some nice suitors.

Throughout the course of the day, I spoke with seven playersto get school lists and see where their recruitment stands.

Ike Azotam ’10, Marianapolis Prep (CT): Drexel, JamesMadison, St. Peter’s, LIU, Central Connecticut State, Delaware, Marist, andSacred Heart
                                Offers: St. Peter's, LIU, and Sacred Heart
                                Favoriterexel
                                DreamSchool: “Not really, [but] . . . I want to play at a school in Florida maybe,nice weather.”

Louis Montes ’09, Brockton (MA): Sacred Heart, NewHampshire, Bryant, Adelphi (DII), Delaware, Albany
                                   Offers: None
                                    Favorites: None
                                    Dream School: “I’d like to play in the BigEast, [and] if not, the Atlantic-10.”
                                    Note- Montes was planning to go toMarianapolis Prep (CT) next year, but that fell through, and told me, “If I can’tget into a prep school, I’m going to go to a JuCo.” Montes’ AAU Coach BillWashington of YABC (MA) helped out with the school list, and is assisting Montes is hissearch for a school.

Theo Boyomo ’10, Kent School (CT): Indiana, TexasA&M, Rhode Island, UMass, Northeastern, Yale, Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown,Quinnipiac, Stony Brook, and Canisius
                                     Offers: Canisius
                                     Favorites: None
                                     DreamSchool: “I just want to go to a school where I can play. . . . I’m looking fora middle DI [school].”
                                     Note- Boyomo, a one-time Canisius-commit, came over to the USA from Cameroon in October of 2007, and has been playing basketball for four years.

Deshon “Biggie” Minnis ’10, South Philly (PA): LaSalle, Temple, St. Bonaventure, Binghamton, Oregon State, Army, and Drexel
                                                        Offers: La Salle and St. Bonaventure
                                                       Favorite: La Salle
                                                        Dream School: “I’d love to go to Oklahoma.”

Vaughn Allen ’10, prep school: St. Peter’s, Marist,and Kansas State
                                    Offers: None
                                    Favorite: Kansas State
                                    Dream School: “I’d like to go to Kansas ifit’s possible.”
                                    Note-Allen, a graduate of Mt. Vernon (NY) who told me he has "opened back up my recruiting process," said he is definitely going to a prepschool, and is considering Notre Dame Prep (MA) and Ocean Shore (NJ).

Blake Vedder ’10, Impact Basketball Academy (NV):Texas-Arlington, Michigan State, Montana State, and Texas
                                    Offers: Texas-Arlington
                                    Favorite: Michigan State
                                    DreamSchool: Michigan State
                                    Note- Vedder graduated from a public schoolin Ohio, and said “that [it is a] definite” that he will be at ImpactBasketball Academy next year.

Reynaldo Walters ’10, Cardozo (NY): Penn State, UTEP,Stony Brook, Hofstra, Delaware, Marist, Iona, Army, Navy, St. John’s, SetonHall, LIU, Farleigh Dickinson, and Siena
                                          Offers: None
                                           Favorites: Penn State and UTEP
                                           Dream School: None

We are halfway done with Hoop Group Elite Camp Session Ihere at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, but we are just one day intothe always important July Live Evaluation period. There is still much moregreat basketball to played in the coming days and weeks!

Today should feature even more great action here at AlbrightCollege, the new home of The Hoop Group Elite Camp! Daily recaps will be postedright here, and you can also follow it on Twitter through TheHoopGroup andNorthstarBball. Be sure to stay tuned!

For more from The Hoop Group, the leader in grassroots basketball events, check out http://hoopgroup.com/hoopgroup/index.php.