by Alex Schwartz

Day three of The Hoop Group Elite Camp Session I was another success, as many coaches returned to see the action and a great deal of newschools were represented. Colleges such as Seton Hall, Virginia, Boston College, Old Dominion, Brown, Toledo, UMass, and Towson had coaches make thetrip to Albright College Tuesday. I saw 18 of the 38 NBA East teams play onMonday, and I watched 15 more of them—as well a few for the second time—Tuesday,and caught the other five in Wednesday’s action. Here are the players who stood out to me on Tuesday:

Ryan Adams ’10, Hun School (NJ)
Raphael Akpejiori ’10, Sunrise Christian Academy (KS)
Al Alzuphar ’11, Greenwich (CT)
Kelvin Amayo ’11, NIA Prep (NJ)
Scott Arias ’10, Rice (NY)
Ike Azotam ’10, Marianapolis Prep (CT)
Melsahn Basabe ’10, St. Mark’s (MA)
Aaron Bodie ’12, Newark Eastside (NJ)
Bruce Brittingham ’11, Trenton (NJ)
Da’Mon Brooks ’10, Hopewell (NC)
William Brown ’10, Penn Wood (PA)
Tariq Carey ’12, Newark Eastside (NJ)
Jate Chesul ’10, Holy Spirit (NJ)
Montray Clemons ’10, Poly (MD)
Armani Cotton ’10, Dalton School (NY)
Devante Cutler ’09, Boys & Girls (NY)
Shaq Duncan ’10, Frankford (PA)
Naofall Folahan ’10, Notre Dame Prep (MA)
Lamin Fulton ’11, Neumann-Goretti (PA)
Lionel Gomis ’11, Blair Academy (NJ)
Jerome Good ’10, Wilson (PA)
Derrick Gordon ’11, St. Patrick’s (NJ), Western Kentucky
Dennis Green ’12, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
Kendall Groom ’10, Hyde Leadership School (CT)
Cameron Gunter ’10, Ridley (PA)
Jimi Hayawaka ’10, South Kent (CT)
Al-Shabazz Jabateh ’10, Milton Hershey (PA)
Jayon James ’11, prep school
Deon Jones ’11, undecided
Hakeem Jones ’09, Glasgow (DE)
Mustafa Jones ’10, Neumann-Goretti (PA)
Evan Kelley ’10, Norwalk (CT)
Ryan Kolb ’10, Holy Cross (CT)
Matthew Lee ’10, Westtown School (PA)
Chris Lewis ’11, Trenton Catholic (NJ)
Kyle Loadholt ’10, Canarsie (NY)
Roy Mabrey ’10, Christian Brothers Academy (NJ)
Frantz Massenat ’10, Trenton Catholic (NJ)
Cleveland Melvin ’10, Notre Dame Prep (MA)
Mario Monroe ’10, North Cambridge Catholic (MA)
David Naves ’10, DeMatha (MD)
DeMarcus Owens ’10, St. Anthony’s (NJ)
Marcus Pilgrim ’10, Bishop McNamara (MD)
Chase Plummer ’10, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
Matt Porter ’10, St. Peter’s Prep (NJ)
Noel Powell ’09, APEX Academies (NJ)
Ryan Romich ’10, Groton Dunstable (MA)
David Samuels ’10, Blessed Sacrament (NY)
Derrick Stewart ’12, Neumann-Goretti (PA)
Mike Taylor ’11, Boys & Girls (NY)
Cahli Thomas ’11, Gonzaga (DC)
Kareem Thomas ’10, Christ the King (NY)
Robert Thurston ’10, Benedictine (VA)
Montel Walcott ’10, Hyde Leadership School (CT)
Aishon White ’10, NIA Prep (NJ)
Bakari White ’11, The Shipley School (PA)
Tafari Whittingham ’12, Avon Old Farms (CT)
Matt Wholey ’10, Summit (NJ)
Corey Wright ’10, Marianapolis Prep (CT)

As always, a few of the players were the cream of the crop,and on this day all of them were big man. The number one performer on the daymay well have been Melsahn Basabe. A bruising big man, Basabe is slightlyundersized at 6’7, but he sure does make up for it with his toughness. The lowpost player rebounds the ball very well and scores consistently and frequently aroundthe rim. Two of the other players were centers who are African natives thatcame to America late in their high school careers, and were matched up with oneanother this evening. Raphael Akpejiori is making his trip from Kansas worthwhile,as he has begun to show that he is a very good player. The 6’9 big man had twogreat blocks this evening, and is an overall quality defender. Offensively, hehas some nice moves and can score the ball. Naofall Folahan’s game has reallyimproved since last summer, when he was an Underclass All-Star at Hoop GroupElite Camp. Still long and lanky, the 6’10 Folahan has developed some very nicelow posts moved that he uses to free himself in the paint. Despite his frame,Folahan is a stellar athlete, and has a lot of room to get even better as aplayer. It was great to see Akepjiori and Folahan go at it. For the second timein three days, Ike Azotam was one of the elite performers that I saw. He isjust so tough and takes the ball to bucket with ease. Azotam has really looked greathere at Albright. Lionel Gomis matched up with one of the best big men in campin Theo Boyomo, and not only was he not intimidated, but he outplayed his morewell-known foe. At both ends of the floor, Gomis was very good, using his bodyto stop the opposition when on D, and working hard in the post when he has therock. Gomis can also rebound the basketball.

In between many of the games, I had a chance to catch upwith some of the ballers and take down their school lists.

Deon Jones ’11, undecided: Boston College,Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Niagara, Drexel, Virginia, Texas, and PennState
                              Offers: None
                              Favorites:None
                              DreamSchool: North Carolina or Tennessee
                              Note- Deon, whose olderbrother Jeff Jones plays at Virginia, said he will either attend the school hewas at his freshman year, Sanford School (DE), Neumann-Goretti (PA), or JohnCarroll (MD) next year.

Dashaun Wiggins ’10, Wings Academy (NY): Marquette,St. John’s, Seton Hall, Arkansas, South Carolina, Florida State, Hofstra,Binghamton, and LIU
                                           Offers: Hofstra, Binghamton, and LIU
                                           Favorites: None
                                           Dream School: “I don’t have one. Ijust want to go to a school where the guards [play] free.”

Frantz Massenat ’10, Trenton Catholic (NJ): Rider,Iona, La Salle, Robert Morris, Drexel, William & Mary, Boston University,Fordham, Northeastern, St. Bonaventure, Penn State, Niagara, Lehigh, Princeton,Brown, Quinnipiac, UMass, Houston, Northern Iowa, Vermont, and North CarolinaA&T
                                         Offers: Rider, Iona, La Salle, Robert Morris, Drexel, William & Mary, Boston University, and Fordham
                                         Favorites: None
                                         Dream School: None

Durand Johnson ’10, Parkville (MD): UConn, Maryland,Xavier, Delaware, Drexel, Missouri, and North Carolina State
                                         Offers: Delaware
                                         Favorites: “I like UConn and Xavierthe most right now, and Missouri.”
                                         Dream School: None

David Samuels ’10, Blessed Sacrament (NY): Loyola(MD), St. John’s, Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, South Carolina, Drexel, andFairfield
                                      Offers: Loyola(MD), Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, South Carolina, Drexel, andFairfield
                                      Favorites: Loyola (MD), Robert Morris,and Fairfield
                                      Dream School: “Syracuse. When I wasyounger I always wanted to go to Syracuse.”

Da’Mon Brooks ’10, Hopewell (NC): Wright State,Cornell, Colgate, George Mason, Clemson, Mount St. Mary’s, Navy, and WesternCarolina
                                        Offers: Colgate, Navy, and Western Carolina
                                        Favorites:None
                                        Dream School: “Villanova or somewherein the Big East.”

Lionel Gomis ’11, Blair Academy (NJ): Stanford,Davidson, Princeton, and Delaware
                                  Offers: None
                                  Favorite: Davidson
                                  Dream School: Virginia
                                  Note- Gomis, a native of Senegal, came to theUSA in July of 2008 and has been playing basketball since 2006.

Ryan Romich ’10, Groton Dunstable (MA): Colgate,Albany, Holy Cross, Bucknell, Princeton, Brown, Army, and Boston University
                                    Offers: Colgate
                                    Favorites: None
                                    Dream School: None
                                    Note- Romich did not know all of the schoolrecruiting him off the top of his head, but said that they are mainly from theAmerica East, Patriot League, Ivy League, and Atlantic-10.

Raphael Akpejiori ’10, Sunrise Christian Academy (KS):Oklahoma State, Wichita State, and New Mexico State
                                           Offers: None
                                            Favorites: None
                                            Dream School: Duke
                                            Note- Akpejiori, who is fromSenegal and came to the USA in April of 2008, was in the 2008 Jordan BrandClassic International Game, but has yet to play a high school game in America,as he missed his junior season due to injury.

Cleveland Melvin ’10, Notre Dame Prep (MA): UConn,Maryland, Missouri, Pitt, Xavier, Cincinnati, St. John’s, VirginiaCommonwealth, Towson, George Mason, James Madison, and Rutgers
                                          Offers: Maryland, Missouri, Cincinnati, Virginia Commonwealth, James Madison, and Rutgers
                                           Favorite: UConn
                                           Dream School: Missouri

There is still one day of Session One at Albright left togo, and it should be the best one yet! Wednesday brings the playoffs, all-stargames, and awards. Daily recaps will be posted right here, and you can alsofollow the action on Twitter through TheHoopGroup and NorthstarBball. Be sureto stay tuned!

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