by Alex Schwartz

Sunday was championship day at the Rumble in the Bronx. There were only a handful of game sets, with fewer teams playing at each time slot, but there was still a great deal of talent on display. You can view my Day One Rundown by clicking Here and my my Day Two Rundown can be seen Here.

I was able to watch programs such as Connecticut Basketball Club, New York Panthers, East Coast Elite DE Panthers, Pennsylvania Playaz 16s, New Heights 17s and 15s, Albany City Rocks 15s, and more. There were a number of players who preformed quite well, and I also had a chance to talk with a few of the ballers.

Have a look at the schools lists I collected while at Fordham University on the final day of the 2010 Rumble in the Bronx along with some player evaluations.

School Lists/Recruiting Updates

Tavon Allen ’11, Brewster Academy (NH), Connecticut Basketball Club: Fordham, Drexel, UMass, Rider, Siena, Rhode Island, Hofstra, Fairfield, and others
                         Offers: Drexel (the previous Hofstra staff offered as well)
                        Favorites: None
                        Note- Allen, who is taking a post-grad year at Brewster Academy after finishing high school at Hillhouse (CT), said that he is “waiting until the end of August to make visits” to colleges.

Malcolm Gilbert ’11, Academy of the New Church (PA), East Coast Elite Panthers: Georgetown, Ohio State, Penn State, Villanova, St. Joseph’s, Duke, Miami, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, La Salle, Drexel, Temple, Penn, Princeton, Harvard, and Cornell
                               Offers: Penn State and St. Joseph’s were the only offers that Gilbert knew of, but there are others as well
                               Favorites: Georgetown, Ohio State, Duke, and Penn
                               Notes-Gilbert, who has good grades in school and visited both Princeton andHarvard during the school year, said of when he plans to commit, “Thestart of my senior year or halfway through it.”

Jabril Trawick ’11, Abington Friends (PA), Playaz: La Salle, Temple, Richmond, Charlotte, George Washington, UMass, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, St. Joseph’s, St. Louis, Xavier, St. John’s, Drexel, Nebraska, Marist, Bowling Green, Iona, Quinnipiac, Texas A&M, Bucknell, Penn, Yale, Penn State, Georgia Tech, and Maryland
                            Offers: La Salle and Drexel
                            Favorite: “A good school I’d like to go to is Xavier. Schools can recruit me, but it doesn’t mean nothing if I don’t have the offer. At the end of the summer I should know [abut offers].”
                            Note- Trawick said of his long school list, “A lot are recently [starting to] recruit me. All of the schools contacted my uncle or my coaches.” Normally running with Team Phenom, Trawick was with the Playaz this weekend. “I still play with Team Phenom, but I’m gonna do some stuff with the Playaz too,” he said.

Chuck Oliver ’11, Scotch Plains-Fanwood (NJ), New York Panthers: Drexel, Northeastern, Temple, and Cincinnati (“That [is my list of] my top schools I’m hearing from the most,” Oliver said.)
                           Offers: Northeastern
                           Favorite: “Right now I like Drexel.”
                           Note- Oliver said he is “probably gonna wait until after the Live Period” to commit.

Player Notes

Much like a player discussed in my Day Two Rundown, Tavon Allen is a player with major length. A 6'7 wing, Allen looks like a big-time prospect and it is a surprise that he does not have more offers. Allen is pretty skilled and looks to be a guy who could become a solid player at the mid-major level.

Always tall and ultra-long, Maclolm Gilbert looks to have added some bulk to his 6'11 frame. He now also runs the floor well, and he has really made strides as a player over the past few years. With great shot blocking abilities, it is no surprise that Gilbert is being monitored by big-time programs. He does need to improve upon his offensive arsensal though.

Jabril Trawick once again showed his ridiculous athletic ability while at the Rumble in the Bronx. The 6'6 forward needs work on his overall, all-around skill set, specifically his jumpshot, but his hops are amazing. Trawick gets to the hoop, and though he sometimes tries to get too fancy with his dunks, he can be a ferocious finisher. His handle is solid and he has a sturdy frame. If he improves his jumper, Trawick could end up playing at a high-major Division I school.

See my Rumble in the Bronx- Day Two Rundown for my evaluation on the play of Chuck Oliver, a 6'1 combo guard.

Now, for a few guys that I did not talk to on Sunday, but did see play:

Nerlens Noel '12 of Everett (MA) was absolutely outstanding on Sunday for the BABC 16s. He was the key in the first half of his team's championship game victory over the Pennsylavnia Playaz, as he was nearly unstoppable on the offensive end, en route to helping BABC grab a huge lead. Noel, a 6'8 power forward, needs to add a fair amount of weight to his long frame, but he has a superb skill set and plays hard.

As good as Noel was in the championship Egi Gjikondi '12 of Malden (MA) was about that good in the BABC 16s' semifinal thrashing of the Metro Hawks (NY). A 6'8 power forward, Gjikondi also had a nice showing in the championship. He does almost all of his work around the post, where he uses his good size and solid fundamentals to score the ball.

Jordan Washington '13 is downright massive for a player merely entering his sophomore year of high school. A 6'7 power forward from Pathways Prep (NY), Washington did not have a particularly great game in the New Heights 15s' semifinal loss to the Albany City Rocks, but his vast potential was clear. Washington has a huge frame, yet still is able to move well. He has a chance to be a big-time player in the class of 2013.

Fordham-commit Jeffrey Short '11, a 6'3 shooting guard, had his ups and downs for the New York Panthers over the weekend. Currently a 2010 player at John F. Kennedy (NY), Short is expected to do a post-grad year before going to Fordham, which he committed to about a month ago. Short gets to the cup well and has a nice handle, but he really needs the ball in his hands in order to be productive on the offensive end, as he primarily creates off the bounce. Short needs to work on moving without the ball in order to become more productive on the offensive end. He is clearly a scorer though, which he tried to show during crunch time of his team's semifinal loss to CBC.

Ryan Arcidiacono '12 of Neshaminy (PA) did not have a great game of the spring in championship of the event, but the Pennsylvania Playaz star was certainly entitled to a lesser game, as he has been outstanding on the circuit thus far and has carried his team. Arcidiacono was not really able to get going in the first half, but he was then able to adjust and look to find his teammates, a good trait for a young player. He has a high basketball IQ, and despite his subpar game, it is clear that Arcidiacono is a big-time basketball player. This was the first time I have seem him not dominate a game of the several times I've seen him either this spring or previously with the PA Playaz. The player they call "Arch" has established himself as a high-major prospect, and one not great game will not change that.

Note- photo on the top left is of Nerlens Noel; the first and second photos are from http://scouthoops.scout.com/; the third photo is from http://www.nypost.com/