by Alex Schwartz

The 2011 Nike Peach Jam/EYBL Finals was loaded with talent in each high school class from coast to coast. Northstar Basketball had the opportunity to catch up with a number of prospects while down in North Augusta, S.C. for the tournament.

Steve Taylor and Brice Johnson, both ranked in the Northstar Basketball Pre-July 2012 Top 100, both took the time to discuss their recruitment. So did Prince Ibeh, who will be ranked when the new rankings come out in August.

A 6'8 face-up power forward out of Simeon (IL), Steve Taylor was ranked #57 in the Pre-July Top 100. Taylor, who runs with the Mac Irvin Fire on the AAU circuit, said he holds scholarship offers from Missouri, Marquette, DePaul, Iowa, Xavier, Ohio U, and New Mexico.

In addition to those offers, Taylor (pictured on left) said he is hearing from Memphis, Texas and Ohio State. At this point he does not have any favorites and said all of the schools are coming after him equally hard.

Taylor, who said location will not be a factor in his decision, has already taken visits to Ohio U, Missouri and Marquette. He does not have any other trips planned at this point.

Ranked #88 in the Pre-July Top 100, 6'9 power forward Brice Johnson is due for a nice bump up the list after his extremely impressive showing at the Peach Jam. The Edisto (SC) star was fantastic for the CP3 All-Stars and seems to be taking his game to a new level.

Johnson said he holds offers from Florida, Clemson, South Carolina, Ohio State, Miami, Virginia Tech and others. Although he said "everybody [is] even" in his recruitment, Johnson noted that Florida and Clemson are the two schools coming after him the hardest.

To date, Johnson (pictured on right) said he has taken visits to Florida, Clemson and South Carolina. He has no other visits scheduled, though he plans to make his commitment "before the season" starts. Location will not be a factor, Johnson said.

Prince Ibeh, a 6'10 center out of Naaman Forest (TX), impressed with his play for the Texas Titans at Peach Jam. Although he is still raw, Ibeh listed offers from Texas, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Florida, Texas A&M, Baylor, Arkansas, "and a couple others."

Ibeh (pictured on left) said he does not have any favorites, but said of who is coming after him the hardest, "Probably Texas, Maryland and Vanderbilt."

On who he has visited, Ibeh remarked, "I've visited Texas [and] Maryland and [I also visited] Baylor two years ago."

Asked if he has any other trips planned, Ibeh responded, "I'm gonna take my officials, but I haven't decided exactly [to] which schools yet."

Note- photos of Steve Taylor and Brice Johnson are from http://scouthoops.scout.com/; photo of Prince Ibeh is from http://www.ny2lasports.com/default.aspx