Hold’n Court: The HoopGroup Blogs

In a fifteen day period, the National Recruiting Report covered The Hoop Group Tip-Off Classic at Seton Hall University, the Washington Examiner Tip-Off Classic at Good Counsel HS in Wheaton MD, The Showdown In Hagerstown at St Maria Goretti HS in Hagerstown MD, The Towson Catholic Tip-Off at Towson Catholic HS in Baltimore MD, the Chester Tip-Off in Chester PA, the Philly High School Basketball Invitational at Philadelphia University in Philadelphia PA, Boys Club of New York 2006 Academic All Star Holiday Classic at Fordham University, and the DC Classic at Gonzaga HS in Washington DC. When it was all said and done, we rated 217 players.

Of all the events the most talent and diversification was at The Hoop Group Tip-Off Classic. This ten game event over two days was packed with close games and outstanding individual performances. As with many of these events the lesser known players were the ones who pushed their stock up the most. The event opened with Don Bosco Prep beating Neptune 76-56 as Don Bosco’s George Milligan was their MVP and showed he is a junior that can at least be on the radar of Low division I programs. Neptune’s Tashaun Williams was their MVP and will be a rebounding star for at least a good Division III program. Next, St Raymond’s of New York had to go overtime to beat Bloomfield Tech 63-60. Drexel bound Gerald Colds was the Ravens MVP and he will continue the great guard play that we are seeing from the Dragons. Wes Jenkins was Bloomfield Tech’s MVP and proved again that he will be a good addition to St Peter’s College. The third game of the day was another overtime contest as Linden stopped Paterson Catholic 74-71. Linden’s Darrell Lampley was the event’s leading scoring as he finished with 33 points and hit a 23 footer at the buzzer to win the game. He may be small but he can score and is making us move him up the ladder. Paterson Catholic’s Jordan Theodore showed why he is one of the best guards in the loaded junior class in New Jersey. The fourth game saw Winchendon Prep hold off St Benedict’s Prep 69-66. Villanova bound Malcolm Grant was outstanding for Winchendon and St Benedict’s Prep’s Chris Smith proved he is the top unsigned off guard in the state of New Jersey. The last game of the day had St Anthony showing off all of Coach Bob Hurley’s talents as they bested a determined and talented Plainfield squad 66-55. St Anthony MVP Mike Rosario again showed that he is the best of all the great guards in the Jersey Junior class. Plainfield’s Jerrell Thompson, headed for Sacred Heart, demonstrated the talent to keep Sacred Heart going in the right direction.

The second day of games saw St Joe’s of Montvale beat Elizabeth 69-56 as St Joe’s Noru Agho proved to us again that he is a Low division I shooter. Elizabeth’s Jim Frazier is a Sophomore who has bounce and the potential to keep your eyes on. The next game had national power St Patrick’s dismantle Atlantic City 68-42. Villanova bound Corey Fisher was MVP and showed that he and Malcom Grant will not let the great guard play at Villanova slip in the future. Although Atlantic City got pounded, they have a group of good Sophomores and burly Senior Darnell Davis is a rebounding presence inside who should be a Division II top priority. In the third game of the day, St Benedict’s High School handled Newark Eastside 68-43 and showed they have as much talent as any high school in the country. Benedict’s Samardo Samuels captured the MVP award and he is one of the very best prospects in the class of ’08 in the country. Corey Chandler, headed to Rutgers, showed he will bring plenty of scoring punch to the Scarlot Knights basketball program. The fourth game had American Christian of PA stop The Hun School 71-54. Mike Glover of American Christian, and headed to Seton Hall, is a rebounders dream and goes after the ball like a rabid dog. Lance Goulbourne of The Hun School grabbed their MVP honors and has enough size and versatility to get the attention of high majors. The last game had Seton Hall Prep beating outmanned Columbia 53-38 in a game much closer than the final score. Seton Hall Prep was lead by their outstanding junior guard Ashton Gibbs, while Columbia was lead by their up and coming junior star Jameel Grace.

We would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Holiday…

The fast start to the University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball program is not the fact that any of those student-athletes were McDonald’s All-Americans, or they attended the major shoe company camps such as Nike All-American, Reebok ABCD, or Adidas Superstar Camp. Most of the roster at Pitt were not even invited to any of the shoe company camps but attended The Hoop Group’s (”The worlwide leader in basketball instruction”) Eastern Invitational Basketball Clinics and made a name for themselves. Eastern Invitational is a camp where their motto is “Where Stars Are Born”. This statement holds true and now they are proving to people that they are one of the best teams in the country.

Pitt has eleven players on their roster that are Hoop Group alumni. Starting with pre-season Big East player of the year Aaron Gray who received his tutelage at Specialized Position Camp (Big Man) from former Eastern Invitational Director and current Pitt assistant coach Mike Rice. Mike Rice was the camp’s director for three years before he moved on to St. Joseph’s University. Sam Young was MVP of the camp during the 2004 summer. Antonio Graves was an unknown before attending camp in the summer of 2003. He was on his way to prep school before Pitt saw him at Eastern. Those are only a few of the success stories from the Pitt program. Levance Fields, Tyrell Biggs, Mike Cook, Keith Benjamin, Ronald Ramon, Austin Wallace, Gilbert Brown, and Geoff Rizk round out the hoop group alumni.

These current Pitt Panthers could have given up when they didn’t get a chance to go to the shoe company camps but they made the best of their situation and proved to people they are on the same level. Their hardwork, dedication, and toughness at Eastern has translated to the team you see at the University of Pittsburgh.

As always, NJ’s high school basketball season got off to a great start with The Hoop Group Tip-Off Classic at Seton Hall. With 3 of the top 6 teams in the USA Today Top 25, North Jersey will be the center of attention for high school basketball this year not only in the metropolitan area, but nationally. All 10 games over the 2 days featured top teams, coaches and players on the state, regional and national scenes. For complete coverage and results of each of the games, checkout www.hoopgroup.com

For 3 weeks around our office, I’ve been asking everyone how St Anthony is the 3rd ranked NJ team at the national level. This is to take nothing away from St. Pat’s or St. Benedict’s. They are both great teams and their national rankings reflect that. The only problem is that neither of them is better than St Anthony right now. They proved that everytime that they stepped on the floor as a team this summer, starting with their title at the Metro region of the HBC in June. While some of the early national rankings are based more on players than teams, St Anthony is all about team. Even with a number of high major players, their strength is clearly their collective talent, quickness, defense and depth. Any team that has Miles Beatty (GW) and Travon Woodall (High major Jr) coming off the bench is special. They showed that Saturday night when they handled a very good Plainfield team, which has the ability to go deep in the state tournament. Even with a subpar game from Woodall, the Friar’s depth was just too much. They never allow you to catch your breath and get comfortable. They defend like nobody’s business, are really pushing the pace in transition, and just keep running fresh legs at you. And to make matters worse for opposing teams, they have the nation’s best HS coach pushing his players every second. To me, they are the favorites in Jersey, no matter what the national rankings say.

Weekend news and notes:

*While Mike Rosario was named game MVP with his 19 points, AJ Rogers was the unsung hero for St Anthony. If he can give them an inside presence on both ends, the Friars will be hard to beat.

*Mike Rosario continues to impress every time we see him play. It is no surprise that his recruitment continues to rise.

*As always, there were a ton of college coaches at Seton Hall both days. 4 Big East head coaches get the perfect attendance award for being there both days. Bobby Gonzalez, Fred Hill, Norm Roberts and Jay Wright were able to keep tabs on a number of their top recruits over the 2 days.

*In case you missed it, Bob Hurley’s impending retirement has been put on hold. Late last year, Coach Hurley said that he was going to retire after next season. Knowing Coach well I was surprised. Now he says he is reenergized and looking forward to coaching the Friars for another 5-6 years, which will mean that he will pass the 1,000 win mark. That is great for the tiny school in Jersey City as well as all of high school basketball. He is a Hall of Fame coach who belongs not only on the sidelines, but in Springfield as well.

*Winchendon’s Chris Turner was one of the guys who really helped his recruitment this weekend. He showed that he can REALLY shoot the ball. Once he really buys in on the defensive end, the reclassified Jr from North Carolina will be one of Mike Byrnes’ best.

*Linden has to have the best under 5′10″ backcourt in NJ. Desmond Wade and Darrell Lampley can really go. Good luck trying to keep those 2 out of the lane. Lampley’s 3 at the buzzer in OT, his 33rd points on the night, spoiled a terrific effort from Paterson Catholic under 1st year head coach Damon Wright.

*Corey Fisher and Jeff Robinson showed why they are NJ’s best 1-2 Sr combo. Fisher was game MVP in St. Pat’s easy win over Atlantic City, while Jeff Robinson continues his consistently fine play. Robinson has backed up his terrific summer (MVP at EIBC 5) with a solid Fall and preseason. Memphis assistant Chuckie Martin had to like what he saw from the future Tiger.

*St. Benedict’s size on the front line is imposing. Corey Stokes, Gregory Echenique and Samardo Samuels are men amongst boys!

*Tony Bergeron’s American Christian team is one of the most talented in the country. It will take some time for everyone to get on the same page, but when they do, they will be hard to beat in late January and February. I am really looking forward to their matchup with St. Pat’s at the Lehigh Vally Hoop Festival Jan 28th.

*Finally, kudos to Pete Kirschner who ran a great tournment. Pete, who also runs the AAU tournament division for The Hoop Group, is a tireless worker who is a rising star in the basketball business.

Atlantic City Head Coach Eugene Allen brought his schedule up a few notches this season with early season games against north jersey powers St. Patrick’s, St. Anthony’s and a mid-season tussle with CBA. Unfortunately for the Vikings, they ran into a buzzsaw on Sunday afternoon at Seton Hall University in the Hoop Group Tip-Off Classic. That buzzsaw was national power and defending Tournament of Champions winner St. Patrick’s. St. Pat’s two seniors 6-foot-2 Villanova bound Corey Fisher and 6-foot-6 Memphis bound Jeff Robinson got it going from the tip combining for 14 first quarter points as the Celtics were ahead 20-7 after one period and were never headed.

Fisher set the tempo early with 4 assists and 2 steals in the opening stanza. St. Pat’s also got a solid contribution from 5-foot-10 Union transfer Jermel Jenkins who stepped into a starting role and finished with 12 points. NJ Hoops #1 sophomore Dexter Strickland showed his smooth all around game with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals.

One day after St. Anthony’s looked like the team to beat and a few hours before St. Benedict’s strutted their stuff, Coach Kevin Boyle’s St. Pat’s team made sure that any discussion of the top team in the state would have to include his team. The two senior stars, Fisher and Robinson have been through the wars and are battle tested.

Group 4 state power Atlantic City, ranked in NJ Hoops pre-season top 10 in the state, will be better off for the contest. They won’t see the kind of pressure St. Pat’s throws at them in south jersey. We will see how they respond in the short term as the contest with St. Anthony’s is set for the week after Christmas.

Atlantic City has some experience of their own as they start four solid seniors, 6-foot-6 Darnell Davis, 6-foot-4 Dante Bailey, 6-foot-3 Jamal Edwards and 6-foot-3 John White. A couple of losses early in the season may hurt the Vikings seed in the south jersey Group 4 state playoff bracket, but may help them later if they meet the North Jersey champ. Two of the toughest teams in the state, Linden and Plainfield are expected to fight for that title. They are ranked by NJ Hoops as the top two public schools in the state, in the #4 and #5 spots.

Go to www.njhoops.com for complete coverage of NJ high school basketball

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