by Alex Schwartz

Continuing on with my coverage of the 2011 Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions, below is a recruiting update on three class of 2013 standouts at the event. Although Josh Newkirk did not have his finest outing, he is a talented young guard, while Marcus Bryan and Teddy Graves are not as well-known, but showed they can certainly play some hoops.

Josh Newkirk, a 6'1 point guard out of Word of God Christian Academy (NC), was part of a Team United squad that won the U16 Select bracket at the event. Despite playing on a loaded Wor of God team, he was able to get his name out there and has looks from a number of high-major programs.

Newkirk, who was playing with the Team United U16 squad, said that he has already received scholarship offers from Arizona, Indiana and Appalachian State. In addition, he mentioned that North Carolina, Kentucky, North Carolina State, Georgetown, and Wake Forest are showing interest.

The rising junior said that he grew up a fan of the North Carolina Tar Heels and that the ACC program is his leader. In addition, UNC is the lone school he said he has visited thus far. Newkirk noted that he does not have any visits planned, but he certainly has time, as he does not plan to commit for a while.

"I'm just really taking it in right now," Newkirk said of his commitment timetable. "I'll probably wait until my senior year."

Considering he attends the Ravenscroft School (NC), 6'7 power forward Marcus Bryan likely felt quite at home at the Bob Gibbons TOC with his high school as the main site. Running with the high-powered Garner Road U16 team, Bryan was able to leave the TOC as a champion as his team won the National bracket.

Bryan's recruitment is still in the early stages, which makes sense considering he is still young. At this point, Elon, East Carolina and Virginia are the three schools that Bryan said have expressed interest, though none have offered a scholarship.

"Right now I like ECU the best," Bryan said, later adding that his dream school is "either UNC or [North Carolina] State."

In the first set of games of the event, the U16 Westchester Hawks faced a tough task going up against Bryan's Garner Road squad, as the boys from New York were without some key players. Nonetheless, 6'2 shooting guard Teddy Graves of Horace Greeley (NY) had a nice showing for the Hawks and fought hard until the end.

Graves is the son of the team's coach, Butch Graves, who is also one of the directors of the Westchester Hawks. His father said that in addition to being a standout on the hardwood, Teddy also makes some noise as a football player.

According to coach Graves, Teddy is receiving early interest from Ivy League programs. Coach Graves himself went to of one of the Ancient Eight schools, having attended Yale. He did not specifically state whether Yale is one of the schools recruiting his son.

Note- photo is of Josh Newkirk and is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/