by Alex Schwartz

I spent the final two days of the first cycle of the July Live Evaluation period in Morgantown, West Virginia for the Triple S Harley Davidson Hoop Group Jam Fest, and I will be staying for at least part of the final day today, as the semifinals and finals have yet to be played. A number of big-time players (Kyrie Irving '10, Noah Cottrill '10, Mychal Parker '10, Nate Lubick '10, Antonio Barton '10, Rod Odom '10, DaJuan Coleman '12, Amile Jefferson '12, Ryan Arcidiacono '12, and Jaylen Beckham '12 to name a few) were in attendance, as were some top-notch AAU programs. The event drew coaches from major Division I schools such as Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Duke, Oklahoma State, Memphis, North Carolina, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Seton Hall, South Florida, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Villanova, Auburn, Virginia, Mississippi State, Indiana, Georgetown Pitt, Providence, Iowa State, Penn State, Boston College and more. Over the course of the first two days, I had the opportunity to catch up with a handful of players to get school lists, and some of those programs were mentioned.

Leon Sampson '09, Montgomery Blair (MD), Mid Atlantic Select: Coppin State and Virginia Union (DII)
                                     Offers: None
                                     Favorites: None
                                     Note- Sampson, who will be attending Guilford Tech, a JuCo in North Carolina, for a year in order to gain exposure, said that he has a few more schools looking at him that his coaches knew, but he did not.

Dakotah Euton '10, Scott County (KY), Ohio Basketball Club: Akron, Oregon State, High Point, Nevada, and Eastern Kentucky
                             Offers: Akron, Oregon State, High Point, and Eastern Kentucky
                             Favorites: "No, not right now. [I am] just trying to weigh my options [and I've] just gotto check them out and stuff."
                             Note- Euton, a one-time Kentucky commit, said that the Wildcats are no longer recruiting him.

Derrick Williams '10, St. Anthony's (NJ), Sports University: Virginia, Richmond, Rhode Island, Penn State, Miami, Boston College, Drexel, James Madison, Kansas State, William & Mary, La Salle, and Temple
                                       Offers: Virginia, Richmond, Rhode Island, Penn State, Miami, Drexel, James Madison, La Salle, and Temple
                                       Favorites: Virginia is #1, Richmond is #2, Rhode Island is #3, and then Penn State and Miami (no order) round out his top five
                                       Notes- Williams said that high school and AAU teammate Eli Carter's decision would not impact him (Carter's favorite is Richmond), nor would Will Regan's commitment to Virginia. Derrick told me that he plans to commit "before my [high school] season starts."

Josh Elbaum '10, Northfield Mt. Hermon (MA), Expressions Elite: Yale, Brown, Lehigh, Western Michigan, and Navy
                                Offers: Lehigh, Western Michigan, and Navy
                                Favorites: None
                                Note- Elbaum, who will do a PG year at NMH after graduating from St. John the Baptist (NY), is re-opening his recruitment.

Dockery Walker '10, Westtown School (PA), Westtown: Holy Cross, Boston University, St. Francis (PA), UPenn, Columbia, Fairfield, Vermont, Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, and Robert Morris
                                     Offers: Boston University, St. Francis (PA), UPenn, Columbia, and Fairfield
                                     Favorites: "Not right now."
                                     Note- Walker, who transferred to Westtown from Dover (DE) this past year, said he has a 3.0 GPA at a school that he labeled "very rigorous."

Nick Kellogg '10, Columbus DeSales (OH), Ohio Basketball Club: Ohio, Akron, Miami (OH), Wright State, Northwestern, Indiana, Iowa, Dayton, and James Madison
                               Offers: Ohio, Akron, Miami (OH), Wright State, and James Madison
                               Favorite: "Probably Ohio, just because my brother is going there. He was at Providence [and] . . . he will redhsir this year and he will have two years [of eligibility] after that."
                               Notes- Kellogg, who said he is "planning to visit Northwestern in a couple weeks or so," is the son of NCAA basketball Clark Kellogg—he was here today actually—said the following on whether he ever feels any pressure because of that when he plays: "Not really, I just try to go out and play my game. . . . I get a lot of advice from him, but] . . . I'm Nick, I'm not him." He said that despite his major connection to Ohio, he "not sure" that he will definitely go there, as he is "hoping to get some more schools" recruiting him. Kellogg added that he will probably narrow down his list after Las Vegas.

Maurice Walker '10, Brewster Academy (NH), Team Takeover Canada: Georgetown, Pitt, Texas A&M, Memphis, Kentucky, Villanova, Nebraska, DePaul, Buffalo, and Virginia Tech
                                     Offers: Georgetown, Texas A&M, DePaul, and Virginia Tech
                                     Favorites: "Georgetown, Texas A&M, and Pitt."
                                     Note- Walker previously attended high school in Canada, but will be doing a PG year at Brewster Academy.

Taevaunn Prince '10, Proctor Academy (NH), Team Takeover Canada: UW-Green Bay, St. Bonaventure, Virginia Tech, Baylor, St. Joseph's, and Duquesne
                                       Offers: UW-Green Bay and St. Bonaventure
                                       Favorite: "I'm liking UW-Green Bay. They're showing me the most love right now."

Grandy Glaze '11, St. John's Catholic Prep (DC), Team Takeover Canada: West Virginia, Xavier, Maryland, Georgetown, Florida, Villanova, Ohio State, UNLV, UCLA, St. John's, and Rutgers
                                 Offers: West Virginia, Xavier, Maryland, UNLV, and UCLA
                                 Favorites: "No, not yet. Not right now."
                                 Note- Glaze, who is from Canada, stated that "pretty much the whole ACC [and] Big East" is recruiting him.

Devin Coleman '11, Friends Central (PA), Team Phenom: Temple, La Salle, Drexel, St. Joseph's, Delaware, and Siena
                                     Offers: Temple, La Salle, Drexel, St. Joseph's, and Delaware
                                     Favorites: "Probably Temple or Siena."

Maurice Watson '12, Boys' Latin (PA), R.A.I.D.E.R.S: Temple, La Salle, St. Joseph's, UPenn, Detroit, and Drexel
                                      Offers: None
                                      Favorites: "It would be St. Joe's. It would be between St. Joe's and Temple, out of those two."

Two of the sleepers that I saw today were ballers that I got school lists from. At 6'8 and 210 pounds, Leon Sampson '09 looks like a quality prospect. He is not a big-time scorer, but has a good frame, can play in long stretches, runs the floor and has long arms. After a year in JuCo, Sampson should have some mid-major schools checking him out. The other sleeper is a player that coaches seem to already know about, but the general basketball public has less knowledge of, likely because he went to high school above the border. Maurice Walker is gigantic, standing 6'10 and checking in at around 300 pounds. Although he is not overly skilled or athletic, Walker rebounds the ball and is just massive, and his frame can actually get even better. He did not seem intimidated in his matchup with all-everything rising sophomore DaJuan Coleman of the Westchester Hawks in the quarterfinals.

All of the semifinals and championships will be played today, and although it is not live, there will still be some quality ballers in action.

U17 Gold Bracket: Team Jersey Elite vs. God's Glory (DC)     &     Team Takeover Canada vs. Ohio Basketball Club
U17 Silver Bracket: Central Kentucky Storm vs. CT Elite     &     Bucks County Hawks (PA) vs. NE Playaz
U16 Gold Bracket: Team Takeover Canada vs. Team NJABC     &     WV Wildcats vs. Crusader Nation (MD)
U16 Silver Bracket: Friends 4 Life (OH) vs. Westchester Hawks (NY)     &     LI Pythons (NY) vs. Team CBIZ(OH)
U15 Gold Bracket: North Pitt BB Club vs. Hoop Dreams (KY)     &     Team Takeover Canada vs. Hoop Heaven Heat (NJ)
U15 Silver Bracket: Team Melo (MD) vs. Mid Ohio Panthers     &     Club Ohio Basketball vs. Ohio Basketball Club

Here's a list of some of the most highly-touted players still remaining:

Tyrone Johnson '11, Plainfield (NJ), Team Jersey Elite U17
Western Kentucky-commit Derrick Gordon '11, St. Patrick's (NJ), Team Jersey Elite U17
Donte Thomas '10, Ballou (DC), God's Glory U17
Melvin Ejim '10, Brewster Academy (NH), Team Takeover Canada U17
West Virginia-commit Noah Cottrill '10, Mountain State Academy (WV), Ohio Basketball Club U17
Mychal Parker '10, The Miller School (VA), Ohio Basketball Club U17
Georgetown-commit Nate Lubick '10, St. Mark's (MA), NE Playaz U17
Naadir Tharpe '11, Brewster Academy (NH), NE Playaz U17
Grandy Glaze '11, St. John's College HS (DC), Team Takeover Canada U16
Jaylen Beckham '12, Lexington Catholic (KY), Hoop Dreams U15

The last set of games tonight was the best set of games I've seen yet this summer. The four U17 Gold Bracket quarterfinal games were going on at the same time in the same four court gym, and three of them were absolute nail biters. Yours truly was watching Team Takeover Canada against Westchester Hawks (NY) on Court #3 primarily, but I glanced over at Court #1 and #4 at the end of those games, and it's a good thing I did. All at one time, Ohio Basketball Club and Brehm Prep (IL) were entering OT, while Team Jersey Elite and Cecil Kirk (MD) were in a neck and neck battle, and the game with likely the most fans and team supporters, the one I was watching, was very intense.

OBC and Brehm Prep went into OT and neither team could come up with the deciding play to win it, so it went to 2OT tied at 64. Cottrill went 4/4 at the line, and then Dakotah Euton '10 hit two in the final few seconds to make it a six-point game. A Brehm Prep dunk made the final score 70-66, and the local favorite moved on to the semis. In the game on the far court, Team Jersey Elite used a tip-in from Kelvin Amayo '11 to tie the game at the buzzer and send it into OT. Amayo was then the hero yet again, as he had another tip-in, this one in overtime, to win the game for the Garden State squad. Meanwhile, on my court, Team Takeover Canada and the Westchester Hawks were in a back-and-forth duel all game that saw each team going up 8 or 9 points and the blow the lead. The younger squad(s) from each program were on hand to watch, and it was very noisy after just about anything happened. Finally, at the end of the game, Westchester took a 71-70 lead and appeared to have the win when Takeover CAN point guard Ashton Khan '10 lost the ball, but he regained possession of it, took a tough shot from about seven feet and missed. As the ball l was leaving the cylinder—there was some question as to whether it was offensive goaltending—the ball was tipped in, and Team Takeover Canada advanced. The squad rushed the court along with some of its younger players in the program, and as the Westchester Hawks coaches talked to the ref about offensive goaltending, a mini-scuffle with some pushing broke out. There was some jawing back and forth for a few minutes, but it was nothing major, and the teams shook hands. God's Glory defeated Shining Star (KY) in the other quarterfinal matchup.

All said, it has been a very good two days here in Morgantown, and the first live cycle has come to a close. After a few more games tomorrow, it will be time for a break before the craziness resumes!