by Alex Schwartz

Better late than never! Sorry for the delay in this article on Day Five of the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando, Florida. The final day that I spent at the Milk House at Disney’s Wide World of Sports included U17 Gold and U17 Silver quarterfinals and semifinals, as well as a pair of made for TV affairs with some big-time squads. As the Las Vegas events wrapped up, numerous schools, included high-major head coaches, flocked to Orlando for the end of the AAU Super Showcase and then AAU Nationals. Some sleepers emerged on the day, and some stars cemented their status as elite prospects.

Victor Oladipo ’10, DeMatha (MD), DC Team Takeover: Indiana, Marquette, Pitt, Clemson, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Missouri, Maryland, George Mason, and James Madison
                                     Offers: All
                                     Favorites: “No, not yet really. I’m going to start narrowing [my list] towards the end of this month.”
                                  Notes- Oladipo informed me that are the main schools recruiting him, but added, “It’s all over.” He had previously stated that there are 50-60 schools involved, including both offers and just looks.

Jason Morris ’10, Hotchkiss School (CT), NY Gauchos: Clemson, Georgia Tech, Georgia, and Stanford (“[Those are the] four main schools I hear from on a consistent basis.”
                                  Offers: All (Morris added that he has “10 of 11 more offers, [but] hasn’t really heard from them.”)
                                  Favorites: “All of them, I like all of them.”
                                  Note- Morris, who is originally from Georgia, told me the following when I asked if he thought he would end up at one of the four aforementioned schools: “As of now, probably. I know there are others out there, but I haven’t really heard from them a lot.”

Rayvonte Rice ’10, Champaign Centennial (IL), Rising Stars Gold: Ohio, Kent State, Oregon State, Illinois State, Nevada, Eastern Illinois, Akron, Bradley, Miami (OH), St. Louis, Virginia Commonwealth, Western Michigan, Wichita State, DePaul, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Boston College
                                      Offers: Ohio, Kent State, Oregon State, Illinois State, Nevada, Eastern Illinois, Akron, Bradley, Miami (OH), St. Louis, Virginia Commonwealth, Western Michigan, Wichita State, and DePaul
                                       Favorites: “Not yet. I’m going to visit [a few] schools.”
                                       Notes- On whether or not location will be a factor, Rice said, “It doesn’t matter, [just] . . . wherever I feel like I will fit in.” Rayvonte has already visited Illinois State amd Eastern Illinois, and plans to go on some more visits. “I’m going to visit Nevada, Missouri, Ohio, and probably some more [from] . . . some [schools] I didn’t have looks from before.

Kaleb Clyburn ’10, Montverde Academy (FL), Each 1 Teach 1: Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Dartmouth, Princeton, Columbia, Florida State, Central Florida, Colgate, Boston University, Appalachian State, Loyola Marymount, and Lehigh
                                    Offers: Colgate and Boston University
                                    Favorite: “My favorite is Columbia. That’s my number one right now.”
                                    Note- Clayburn had a 3.7 GPA this year, and has a 3.8 through three years.

Dominic Lane ’10, Lakewood (FL), Each 1 Teach 1: Harvard, Navy, Lehigh, Miami, South Carolina, Princeton, Florida Atlantic, Stetson, Virginia Commonwealth, North Florida, and Jacksonville
                                    Offers: None
                                    Favorites. “I like Harvard and Miami. [Pause] South Carolina too.”
                                    Note- Lane, who has a 3.8 GPA and got a 1140 out of 1600 on the SAT, stated, “I like [the] Ivy [League].

Roosevelt Jones ’11, O’Fallon (IL), St. Louis Eagles: Albany, Iowa State, Wichita State, and St. Louis
                                         Offers: None
                                         Favorite: “I think I like St. Louis the most.”

Juwan Staten ’10, Oak Hill Academy (VA), All-Ohio Red, Dayton
Staten is leaving his school in home state of Ohio to go to Oak Hill Academy for his senior year “because of the competition. I want to be better prepared to step in and play right away [and] . . . I thought I’d have a better chance playing against the competition [at OHA].” Considering that Staten is leaving the Buckeye State, some thought he would be reopening his recruitment upon getting to OHA, but Juwan denied that. “I’m solid on my verbal. From the day I [committed], I never wavered [and] . . . if anything it’s grown stronger.” Have other schools tried to get involved with Staten? “No one’s really tried to get involved with me for the most part.”

Jordan Latham ’10, Baltimore City College HS (MD), Nike Baltimore Elite, Xavier
Latham was committed to Xavier before Sean Miller left for Arizona, when he then de-committed. What was his initial reaction upon hearing that news? “My immediate reaction was, ‘I’m going to  . . . commit to Arizona,’ . . . but, I opened my recruiting up to see what happened.” The second go-around he also considered Marquette, Arizona, Penn State, Virginia Tech, and Texas before pledging to the Musketeers again. I inquired as to why he selected the A-10 power again, and he replied, “[They have a] good coaching staff, [it is] very good education-wise. I still like the education. . . . [It was good] environment-wise [too].” How important was it that Chris Mack was promoted to head coach? “It was real important. I was real familiar with Coach Mack [and I] . . . heard that he did a good job.

Jordan Sibert ’10, Princeton (OH), All-Ohio Red, Ohio State
Sibert has been on the sideline since the championship game of the Boo Williams Invitational when he suffered a severe leg injury, but fortunately his recovery has gone very well. “It went great. I’m back up and running now. I’m just taking my time to come back.” While Jordan has watched from the bench, All-Ohio Red has really struggled, when one considers that the team lost three games over the past two years combined. How hard has it all been for Sibert? “[It has] been very difficult, especially when I know I could have been out there helping, [but] . . . right now I’m focused on cheering on my team.” Sibert, who considered Tennessee, West Virginia, and Xavier before pledging to OSU, remains “very firm” in his commitment to Thad Matta and Co. Two other class of 2010 All-Ohio Red ballers, Aaron Craft and Jared Sullinger, are also bound for Columbus, and Sibert is certainly excited about that. “[It is] just great. . . . They’re like my other brothers [and it is] . . . great to know who I’m sharing this experience with.”

Eli Macon ’12, Marin Franklin (OH), All-Ohio Red, West Virginia
Macon is, according to Scout and Rivals, one of just four players in the class of 2012 who have committed already. How did Eli decide on the Mountaineers? “My mom and I talked when I was driving down there and I told her I liked it because of the way they [were] talking to me [and] . . . she liked it because it’s [just] three hours away. . . . [Another reason] I liked it [was] because of the style they play and the coaches.” Prior to picking WVU, Macon told me he considered Oklahoma, UCLA, Kansas, Xavier, Ohio State, and Cincinnati. In fact, Eli stated that he was originally “trying to go to” UCLA, adding, “I wanted to go there at first, that was my goal.” If the Bruins were to offer, Macon said that he would not de-commit from WVU to go there, and informed me that he is still solid on his verbal. Some might wonder why Eli chose to commit so early, but he was easily able to explain why he did so. “I was planning on committing out of eighth grade year to West Virginia, [but I just] . . . waited to know the coaching staff [before I] committed.” What does Macon think is too young of an age to commit, if at all? “I don’t think there is one because you know where you want to go.”

ACC-Bound Philadelphia Guard Showdown
When Team NJABC took on Cuttino Mobley Team Pride (aka Philly Pride) in the early morning, it was more than just a basketball game. It was a matchup between arguably the top two players in the Philadelphia area, both of whom are guards that have committed to ACC schools. For Team NJABC it was 6’1 Tony Chennault ’10 of Neumann-Goretti (PA), who pledged to Wake Forest soon before his junior year started. Philly Pride’s ACC-commit was 6’3 Tyrone Garland ’10 of John Bartram (PA), who picked Virginia Tech in early July. Besides those two players, the game was filled with some talented players, including Frantz Massenat ’10 and Shaq Duncan ’10 of Team NJABC, as well as Tyree Johnson ’10 and Earl Brown ’11 of Philly Pride. The Silver Division sweet 16 game drew a number of head coaches, including Seth Greenberg (Virginia Tech), Tommy Dempsey (Rider), Mike Rice (Robert Morris), Pat Chambers (Boston University), John Giannini (La Salle), Bruiser Flint (Drexel), Joe Mihalich (Niagara), and Phil Martelli (St. Joseph’s), while Wake Forest, Colgate, St. Francis (PA), Iona, and LIU were on hand too.
Team NJABC jumped out to a 19-13 lead at the end of the first quarter, and pushed it up to 29-17 with 4:05 to go in the first half. The Garden State team was in control of the game for the first 12 minutes, but then the boys from the City of Brotherly Love took over. Philly Pride closed the half on a 19-6 run and actually took a 36-35 lead into the break. Tyrone Garland was completely unstoppable, pouring in 19 first half points, connecting on four treys and going 3/3 at the stripe. Markese Tucker ’10 led NJABC with 10 points, as Tony Chennault was unable to find his scoring touch in the first 16 minutes of the big-time matchup with Garland.
Chennault would turn it on once the second half started, as he and Tucker helped NJABC go on an 8-2 run to open the half, and from there on out he would maintain a higher level of play. Garland, though, was still on a whole other level from everyone else on the court. The future Hokie continued his dominance in the second half, helping Philly Pride fight back to take a 57-53 lead with 5+ minutes left. Tyree Johnson and Dequan Pelzer ’10 also chipped in with a number of treys. Philly Pride did a great job on the offensive boards and that, combined with the outside shooting, kept the team in the game from start to finish. Team NJABC go on to take a four point lead with 6.6 second left after two free throws from Harold Spears ’10, and a Philly Pride three would make the final score 72-71. Tyrone Garland showed why he is headed to the ACC, as he dropped in 33 points, hitting four threes. Tyree Johnson added 14 points on four threes. The Philly team hit 12 treys, while NJABC made none, but that was not enough. Markese Tucker led Team NJABC with 20 points, Tony Chennault chipped in 16, and Shaq Duncan and Frantz Massenat both had solid games.

Each 1 Teach 1 vs. Rising Stars Gold
This was one of the many great basketball games that I saw at the Milk House while in Orlando. Although Each 1 Teach 1 (aka Team STAT) was without two of its top three players in Villanova-commit James Bell ’10 (shin injury) and Brandon Knight ’10 (broken foot), the Sunshine State squad was still filled with talent. Led by Florida-bound Austin Rivers ’11—the son of Boston Celtics Head Coach Doc Rivers, who I actually sat next to while watching the game—E1T1 faced off against Rising Stars Gold out of Illinois in the U17 Gold division semifinals. Rising Stars featured Cal-pledge Alex Rossi ’10, Ohio State-commit Lenzelle Smith, future Iowa Hawkeye Ben Brust ’10, and Rayvonte Rice ’10. Rising Stars was coming off upsets wins over All-Ohio Red and Nike Baltimore Elite in bracket play and was riding a hot streak. Coaches from schools such as Duke, Iowa, Indiana, Rutgers, Oklahoma State, Illinois, Miami, Niagara, Howard, Boston University, Brown, and Iona, amongst others were in attendance for the showdown.
Trailing 22-12, Alex Rossi connected on the first of two buzzer beat treys in the game to make it 22-15 entering the second quarter. The IL team took that momentum and ran with it, turning the 10-point deficit into a 3-point lead, 32-39, at halftime. From there on out, the game was close and went back and forth. Rising Stars Gold’s trio of Rossi, Smith, and Rice carried the team all game, while it was Rivers and Kaleb Clyburn ’10 leading the way for Each 1 Teach 1 in Bell and Knight’s absence.
Trailing 52-49 with under 5:30 to play, E1T1 went on a 16-10 run over the next 5+ minutes and led 65-62 with 11.1 left. That’s when I sent a tweet that told the future: “65-62 Each 1 Teach 1 with 11.1 to go. Rising Stars Gold has the ball on its own baseline. Could be Alex Rossi time..” My next tweet, which came just two minutes later, revealed what had happened: “Alex Rossi for THREE! Headed to OT even at 65. That was a tough shot for the future Cal Golden Bear.” The sharpshooter had nailed a tough, tough trifecta and ended up on the ground as the ball sailed through, touching nothing but net. As the Rising Stars rejoiced, E1T1 looked on dismay as the game headed to OT even at 65 after Rossi’s second three at the buzzer.
The momentum swing was evident at the start of the overtime session, as Rising Stars took a 72-68 lead, despite Rossi fouling out with 2:14 on the clock. With 23.5 left, Rising Stars held a 73-72 advantage, and E1T1 went to its young superstar, and the future Florida Gator converted. Rivers hit a tough pull-up floater-like shot from about 9-feet with 7.3 left. Rising Stars got the ball over halfcourt and took a timeout with 4.5 left. Without Alex Rossi available it was unclear who would get the ball. It ended up in the hands of Rayvonte Rice who had a good look at a corner three, but the shot rimmed out and Each 1 Teach 1 advanced to the finals. Austin Rivers led all scorers with 32 points, hitting six threes and going 4/9 from the stripe. Kaleb Clyburn—low to mid-major school may want to check out this 5’9 guard—contributed 14 points, going 8/8 at the line, all in the fourth quarter. For Rising Stars, Alex Rossi dropped in 20, including five threes and 3/4 free throw shooting. Rayvonte Rice—a power guard with a shot to go the high-major route—scored 18, with one three and going 5/7 on free throws.

DC Team Takeover vs. Houston Hoops
The second U17 Gold division seemed to draw even more college coaches, including a great deal of big names. Boston College, Auburn, Virginia, Texas A&M (Mark Turgeon), Seton Hall, Maryland, Oklahoma (Jeff Capel), Arkansas (John Pelphrey), Indiana, Florida (Billy Donovan), Virginia Tech (Seth Greenberg), LSU, West Virginia, Pitt (Jamie Dixon), Drexel, Niagara (Joe Mihalich), George Mason, Howard, Quinnipiac (Tom Moore), Loyola MD, Temple (Fran Dunphy), TCU, and more were checking out a game filled with big-time prospects, especially underclassmen. For DC Team Takeover, it was Michael Gbinije ’11 that was the big name, while Victor Oladipo ’10, Jerian Grant ’10, and Eugene McCrory ’10 were other quality ballers. Houston Hoops featured two of the top rising sophomores in the nation in LJ Rose and J-Mychal Reese, along with Alex Kirk ’10, Bandon Peters ’10, Texas A&M-commit Tobi Oyedeji ’10, Texas-bound Julien Lewis ’11, and others on the deep squad. Though HOU Hoops may have had the bigger name and more big-time players, Takeover was one of the most consistent teams throughout the summer.
Houston Hoops seemed to have control of the affair, albeit by a small margin, entering the fourth quarter with a 48-42 lead. That’s when Eugene McCrory and Co. began to comeback. With 4:25 to play, it was a one-point game, as the two teams appeared set for a game that would rival that of E1T1/Rising Stars. The score was even at 54 with 3:00 to play, as Kene Anyigbo ’10, Darius Gardner ’10, and J-Mychal Reese countered the play of the well-rounded Team Takeover squad. From that point on though, the team from the nation’s capital took over, no pun intended. After a 10-2 run, it was 61-54 Team Takeover with 60 seconds to go. Although Houston Hoops tried to fight, it was too little too late, and DC Team Takeover advanced to the title game, where it would look to make it two championships for the program, as Caron Butler Team Takeover had won the U16 Gold crown. The final score was 63-58 in a well-played game at both ends.
As far as prospects go, J-Mychal Reese of Houston Hoops was the best on the floor. The young guard was outstanding and was probably his team’s best player. Fellow 2012 phenom guard LJ Rose did not play at the same level, but just like Reese, has a lot of time to improve. Alex Kirk struggles in this event, getting stuck between the stripes at times and not being overly productive at either end. He did, though, show an ability to score the ball in the post and has great size. Tobi Oyedeji is a nice get for Texas A&M, but he is by no means a finished product. In fact, Kene Anyigbo outplayed Oyedeji, and he looked deserving of mid-major interest, while another lesser-known player, Darius Garnder was great as well.
For DC Team Takeover, Michael Gbinije was not outstanding, as he was suffering from knee problems, but he is a big-time athlete who can score the rock. Jerian Grant and Victor Oladipo looked like good glue guys with talent. Eugene McCrory was very good, working hard in the post. DC Team Takeover is not as loaded with high-major prospects as other top-notch AAU teams, but the squad is flat-out great and the kids play the right way, which makes them all appealing to college coaches.

Team Final vs. Nike Baltimore Elite TV Game
The amount of coaches, including big name head men from high-major programs, that came out for the TV games was astounding. The following schools were amongst those on hand in a pack crowd for the first of two games that night being broadcast by ESPNU, which featured Team Final and Nike Baltimore Elite: Villanova (Jay Wright), North Carolina (Roy Williams) Indiana, UConn (Jim Calhoun), Pitt (Jamie Dixon), Duke, Syracuse (Jim Boeheim), West Virginia, Kentucky, Georgetown (John Thompson III), Cincinnati, Georgia, Clemson (Oliver Purnell), Seton Hall, Texas, Mississippi State, Rutgers, Providence, Memphis (Josh Pastner), Xavier, La Salle (John Giannini), Dayton (Brian Gregory), Howard, Fordham, St. Francis PA, Drexel, TCU, Radford, UMBC (Randy Monroe), Longwood, Mount St. Mary’s, North Florida, and SMU.
Needless to say after that list, there were a lot of talented ballers on display, including five that had already made up their mind for college, including three going to the same school: Nike Baltimore Elite’s Will Barton ’10 (Memphis), Baye Moussa Kieta ’10 (Syracuse), Jordan Latham ’10 (Xavier), CJ Fair ’10 (Syracuse), and Team Final’s Dion Waiters (Syracuse). Other big-name participants included Michael Gilchrist ’11, Trevor Cooney ’11, Tyreek Duren ’10, Rakeem Christmas ’11, and George Harper ’10 of Team Final and Jonathan Graham ’10 from Nike Baltimore Elite. Team Final had a disappointing and surprising end to its run in the AAU Super Showcased, falling to the NJ Celtics in the opening round, while Nike Baltimore Elite had lost earlier that day in the quarterfinals to Rising Stars Gold, so both squads were just playing for pride, fun, and exposure.
Tyreek Duren came out on fire, scoring the game’s first six points on two treys, and the 6’1 point guard remained Team Final’s best player from start to finish. The was not nearly as enjoyable as I expected, as the teams may well have been unmotivated due to being knocked out of the main tournament, and just a few players actually seemed to play up to their usual standards. Michael Cheetum ’10 played well for the team from Maryland, as others were quiet. Barton, Kieta, and Graham actually did play well, but that trio along with Cheetum was not enough. Team Final coasted over Bmore Elite for a 69-51 win behind Duren’s play, as the guard got support from Gilchrist, Cooney, and Harper.
For those who watched the game on TV, no, that is not the regular Michael Gilchrist. The 6’7 wing did not play as well in Orlando as he usually does, including a less than stellar performance in the TV game. I still do consider the 15-year old (yes, he does not even turn 16 until late September!) the top player and prospect in the nation. Rakeem Christmas was also not as good as he normally is. Take that game and players’ performance with a grain of salt though, as the ballers were not actually playing for anything. As for Tyreek Duren, it actually helped his stock a lot, as it did Michael Cheetum’s.

All-Ohio Red vs. CP3 All-Stars U17 Game
As boring as the first televised game was, the second was much better. The two teams, All-Ohio Red and the CP3 All-Stars both really underachieved in Orlando, as All-Ohio lost in the first round to Rising Stars Gold and CP3 did not even advance out of its pool. Many of the aforementioned schools and coaches were on hand for this one too, as well as other such as St. John’s (Roberts) and Michigan State (Izzo). Although it is hard to believe, this game actually had more high-major talent than the previous one, and also had a large group of committed players in All-Ohio’s Jared Sullinger ’10 (Ohio State), Aaron Craft ’10 (Ohio State), Eli Macon ’12 (West Virginia), Juwan Staten ’10 (Dayton), Jordan Sibert ’10 (Ohio State) who did not play due to injury, Courtney Avery ’10 (Michigan football), and CP3’s Reggie Bullock ’10 (North Carolina) and Melvin Tabb ’10 (Wake Forest). In addition, three of the participants have committed since the game, with CP3’s PJ Hairston ’11 pledging to North Carolina and Jay Canty ’10 picking Xavier along with JD Weatherspoon ’10 selecting Ohio State, joining three of his teammates. Interestingly, Xavier likely took Canty over Weatherspoon, who at one time was committed to the A-10 school and had told me just two days before this game that the Musketeers were his leader. Other talented players who came into the game uncommitted included Adreian Payne ’10 of All-Ohio Red and a plethora of North Carolinians, in Dezmine Wells ’11, Preston Ross ’10, Rodney Purvis ’13, Emanuel Chapman ’10, and Keith Armstrong ’11.
The game included some standout performances and some big-time dunks. Jay Canty turned in a big performance, as did Reggie Bullock and Melvin Tabb. For All-Ohio, Jared Sullinger, Aaron Craft, Juwan Staten, and Adreian Payne all played very well. Two of those player were the two ballers in Northstar Basketball’s Class of 2010 Terrific 35 playing AAU (#1 Brandon Knight was injured and #3 Harrison Barnes left the circuit). Frankly, a nice part the future of college basketball was on display in this exciting contest. Payne had the play of the day, as he caught a putback jam—one of his two—off of his own miss and threw it down. Tabb and Canty also had some nasty dunks.
After trailing early, All-Ohio Red took control in the second half, as Jared Sullinger took control in the low post, scoring at will. The big man uses his size to his advantage so well and is nearly impossible to guard on the blocks when he has the rock. Bullock had a segment when he nailed three treys in around 40 seconds, trying to help CP3 mount a late comeback. When the final buzzer sounded, All-Ohio Red had an 89-80 victory, ending its two-game losing streak.

St. Louis Eagles 16s Dominate in U17 Play
Brad Beal ’11 is the real deal. The 6’3 shooting guard out of Chaminade (MO) led his team, the St. Louis Eagles 16s, into the U17 Silver division finals on day five. With throngs of high-major coaches, including Kansas’ Bill Self, on hand to watch Beal play, he helped the team cruise past Team NJABC in the quarterfinals by nearly 30 and then knock off Showtime Ballers (aka Florida Assault) by about 15 in the semifinals later that night. That’s two quality U17 teams that this U16 squad defeated to make it to the championship. The team was actually without one of its top four players, Justin Miller ’11, for most of day five, as he went down with an injury. Although Beal led the way, two other players stepped up in Miller’s absence to complement him.
Roosevelt Jones ’11 was fantastic for the team from the Show Me State, scoring the basketball about as much as Beal did. Although he is not getting the same level of interest as Beal and is not the same caliber of player, Jones is a very good talent deserving of at least some high-major looks. The 2011 guard was great, as was another rising junior backcourt player, Shaq Boga. The St. Louis Eagles did not have much of a frontcourt, but the guard play was amazing. Boga was the floor leader, distributing the ball, and helping the team play its way into championship.
This is a squad that will make a lot of noise next year once it hits the big-time as a U17 group. One person even remarked to me that these Eagles would beat the program’s U17 squad, a team that was in the Gold division in U17 play and is solid to say the least. Beal, Miller, Jones, and Boga will be a quartet to watch out for down the road, especially Beal, who showed that he is deserving of national top five consideration in the class of 2011.

Note- from top to bottom, photos are of Alex Rossi, Adreian Payne, and Brad Beal; all are from http://scouthoops.scout.com/