Hold’n Court: The HoopGroup Blogs

Back in the November NJ Hoops Newsletter we selected all the state, county and league champions. In depth previews for the top 50 teams was also included in the much sought after Pre-Season Newsletter. With the state Tournament just underway, we thought it was a good opportunity to look at the state tournament and examine what our selections would be today. First we start with our selections from November before even the first shot was taken this season:
Parochial A

Seton Hall Prep over CBA

Parochial B

St. Patrick’s over Wildwood Catholic

Group 4

Linden over Atlantic City

Group 3

Shawnee over Shabazz

Group 2

Westwood over Collingswood

Group 1

Bloomfield Tech over Burlington City

We also picked all the sectional winners.

How we see it now:

Parochial A

We’ll stay with our original picks. Seton Hall Prep, coming off the Essex County championship has the experience and expert guidance from Coach Bob Farrell to win a stong north bracket. Junior guard Ashton Gibbs can score and he has plenty of support. CBA has the experience and know how to emerge from the south

Parochial B

St. Pat’s despite a loss Saturday in the Union County final, may be the team to beat in the state. Seniors Corey Fisher and Jeff Robinson are next to impossible to stop. The game of the year will be St. Patrick’s versus St. Anthony’s at the RAC on March 7. Expect a huge crowd and a tense defensive battle that should go down to the wire. A second round matchup in south jersey with the 2 seed Cardinal McCarrick and 3 seed Wildwood Catholic would feature two of the most exciting and highest scorers in the state with FDU bound Vince Rosario of Cardinal McCarrick and Albany bound Anthony Raffa of Wildwood Catholic

GROUP 4

Linden is still the pick, although they are in the toughest sectional bracket in the state with 5 teams in NJ Hoops Top 25. Central and South Jersey are also tough brackets and Atlantic City which had the toughest schedule by far of any teams in south jersey reamins the pick. Freehold Township will give A/C a run for their money however.
GROUP 3

Shawnee with only one loss all season remains our pick. We missed in north jersey as Shabazz struggled all season in the toughest league in the state the Watchung Conference and did not make the state tournament. The pick now up north is Teaneck with veteran Coach Curtis March and a top player in 6-foot-4 Khairique Irick.

Group 2

Morris County champ Chatham may emerge from North Jersey although Lincoln from Jersey City will be a tough match-up. The south should be highly competitive with Collingswood, Sterling and Haddonfield. We’ll stay with our pre-season pick of Collingswood

Group 1

The real Group 1 state championship will be in the Group 2 sectional as Bloomfield Tech and Science are easily the top two small schools in the state. Both are ranked in the top 10 in the state by NJ Hoops. Burlington City, a 4 seed, was the south pick, and in a wide open bracket could still come out of there.

Go to njhoops.com for complete coverage of NJ Basketball all year round

HERE’S THE DEAL

After stating last week that everyone should be expecting more shake-ups in “The Deal or No Deal Top 26”, for the first time in the poll, we have decided to keep everyone in their exact order. Only three of our Top 26 lost and they all lost to higher rated teams. Boys and Girls lost the rubber match with Lincoln by only one point in the Brooklyn Boro Championship game, so it looks like , for know we have them in their perfect positions. Christ the King lost to Rice and that was just as we expected. Montrose Christian lost to Oak Hill and there is no disgrace in that. It felt like the natural thing to do to keep everyone in the same order and see what happens next.

We want to take a moment to express our sadness with the passing of Burt Beagle, the famous New York City high school and college statistician, who passed away very recently at the age of 73. Burt was the official statistician for the CHSAA Boys Basketball League in New York City. He always took time out to give anyone information he had on any of the thousands of games he kept box scores on over the last forty some years. We all have our reasons for why we follow and work in the world of high school and college basketball. Few do it purely for the love of the game. Burt Beagle did it for the love of the game.

“How Quickly the World Changes.” Those were the words from Camden Catholic High School Coach Jim Crawford about the news that star senior guard Anthony Jeune was hospitalized after a serious automobile accident early Saturday morning. Jeune is one of the top players in south jersey who was averaging 17 ppg and had accepted a scholarship to play hoops next season at Division 1 Fairleigh Dickinson University.

According to Burlington County law enforcement officials, Jeune, who lives in Westampton, was traveling on Irick Road near Woodlane Road between 5 and 5:30 a.m. when his Ford Expedition veered off the road and crashed into a tree.

If not for the tree, Jeune’s truck would have gone into Irick Lake, authorities said.
Jeune was discovered at about 6:45 a.m., after area residents reported hearing the crash. He was not wearing a seat belt when he was found, authorities said.

Rescue workers stabilized Jeune and he was flown to Cooper Hospital with multiple internal injuries. He has Irish basketball coach Jim Crawford said Jeune suffered a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain. Doctors induced a coma, he said.

He showed encouraging signs yesterday morning at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, Irish coach Jim Crawford said.

Relaying information he had received from Jeune’s mother, Crawford said that, after much prodding from a doctor, the player gave the “thumbs-up” sign.

According to Crawford, Jeune wasn’t responding as his mother rubbed his arm and hand with a nurse by her side.

“She said she was holding his hand and talking to him and getting no response,” Crawford said, “and just then a doctor walked in the room. And the doctor shook his [Jeune’s] shoulders and raised his voice to try to stimulate him, and he said to him, ‘If you’re in there, put your thumbs up if you can hear me’ - and he put his thumbs up.”

Crawford said Jeune fractured his skull and suffered blood on the brain in the accident, which occurred near his home in Westampton, Burlington County. Principal Tom Kiely said Sunday that Jeune’s mother told him her son fell asleep at the wheel and hit a tree.

The coach said that a blood clot on the brain remained the same size as when Jeune entered the hospital, but that doctors said the cranium pressure had dropped significantly. “And that’s a good sign,” the coach said.

Jeune has been breathing with the help of a ventilator. “They’re trying to wean him off of it,” Crawford said, adding that the swelling in the player’s face has gone down.

The hoop dreams of a Division 1 career may be closed down. Who knows at this point? Things can change in an instant. Jeune’s prognosis to play again is not known at this time. You can ask former NJ stars like Dajuan Wagner, Jason Williams and Bobby Hurley about how things can change in a flash. All three former NJ stars had their promising NBA careers cut very short via an unfortunate accident or illness.

Make the most out of every day, every practice and every time you step out on the court. Enjoy it!

To Anthony:  Best wishes for a complete and speedy recovery.

Parts of this story are from the Camden Courier Post and Philadelphia Inquirer

For more coverage on high school basketball go to NJHoops.com

It is playoff time. County and Shore Conference Tournaments are nearing an end.  Of the 7 NJ Teams that played at The Battle on the Boardwalk, 5 still remain in their respective tournaments.  Tonight, Rumson will play Neptune, and Red Bank Catholic will play St John Vianney.  Then, on Saturday, Malcolm X Shabazz will play for the Essex County Championship against University High School.  When tomorrow comes around there will be 2 left standing in the Shore Conference Tournament and will both be teams that competed at The Battle on the Boardwalk.  Of the five teams still playing that were there, they are all ranked in the state Top 25; Shabazz(#1), Rumson (#7), Red Bank Catholic (#8), St John Vianney (#15), and Neptune (#16). 

Get ready for the state tournament…it is going to be an exciting one! I want to wish all the teams still playing the best of luck the rest of the way through. We will see you on the court!

With the basketball regular season coming to an end and the grassroots spring/summer circuit just around the corner, I wanted to highlight the success that the University of Pittsburgh, University of Virginia and West Virginia University men’s teams are having. Barring a string of bad losses, they all should end up in the NCAA tournament this year. All three have signature wins against teams currently ranked in the top 25 and all are ranked in the top half of their respective conferences. Although Pitt is the only one that would be considered a likely final four candidate, West Virginia and Virgina are both built to slay, not only the Goliaths of their conferences, but to knock off top seeds come tournament time.
Another trend synonymous with the three schools is that they all are hosts to Hoop Group amateur tournaments. Each of their rosters feature some players whose grassroots programs are staples of The Hoop Group Amateur Tournaments…The New York Gauchos’ Levance Fields and Ronald Ramon (Univ. of Pittsburgh) along with the Rhode Island Breakers’ Joe Mazzulla (West Virginia University) all grew up at the Providence Jam Fest. Aaron Gray (Univ. of Pittsburgh) played for the Jersey Shore Warriors grassroots program who participate in the Fall Jam Fest, Providence Jam Fest and Southern Invitational tournaments. Sam Young (Univ. of Pittsburgh) and Mamadi Diane (University of Virginia) are products of Anthony Lewis’ Cecil Kirk program who have been a regular at the Providence Jam Fest, Southern Invitational, Reebok Summer Classic, and Triple “S” Harley Davidson Jam Fest. University of Virginia’s JR Reynolds (Boo Williams), Laurynas Mikalauskas (Boo Williams), and Sean Singletary (Tim Thomas Playaz) all played for grassroots programs who have been the feature teams of all seven Southern Invitational tournaments. West Virginia University’s Wellington Smith (Tim Thomas Playaz) and Da’Sean Butler (Team Jersey Elite) fine tuned their games playing for teams who participated in all of The Hoop Group Amateur Tournaments.
I wish the University of Pittsburgh, University of Virginia, West Virginia University and their athletes the best of luck through March and hopefully into April. As for the grassroots coaches looking for tournaments to participate in, the Providence Jam Fest, Pittsburgh Jam Fest, Southern Invitational, and Triple “S” Harley Davidson Jam Fest are shaping up to be tremendous events with winning basketball institutions as their backdrops.

HERE’S THE DEAL

This week was clearly Pennsylvania’s week to shine. Pittsburgh Schenley continues to move up the ladder and they pounded Dematha as Dejuan Blair went for 30 points and 22 rebounds. Harrisburg went out and defeated Christ the King of NY. Roman Catholic upended Montrose Christian of MD. All three Pennsylvania victories came against teams, not only in “The Deal”, but also highly nationally ranked. Also this week St John Neumann-Goretti handled St Augustine of NJ with ease. Pennsbury slips into “The Deal” on the strength of a thirteen game winning streak. All toll, the Keystone State leads with SEVEN teams in the Deal or No Deal Top 26.

We are now getting to the end of the regular season and the stakes are getting higher as teams will begin to go into their district and state play-offs. Look for more shake-ups in the coming weeks.

And now onto the teams in question….Deal or No Deal.

Most scouts and analysts agree the top guards in the Class of 2008 are 6-foot-5 Tyreke Evans of American Christian in Pennsylvania and Brandon Jennings from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson Virginia. Hoop Scoop has Jennings ranked #1 in the class and Evans #2. Rivals.com has Evans #4 and Jennings #7. I have seen Evans many times over the years and before this weekend, the only time I had seen Jennings was this summer at the ABCD Camp.

I got to see them both twice this weekend at the Prime Time Shootout. On Friday night at Villanova University, Evans was good in a loss to Linden. He finished with 26 points. Jennings was even better in an easy win over Prep Charter PA. He finished with 29 points, 7 assists and 3 treys. I drove home that night thinking, that as hard as it was for me to believe, Jennings may be the better player.

On Saturday night at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton their teams went head to head although they spent little time guarding one another. We have seen Evans break down defenders many times with his array of crossover and spin moves, but he took things to a new level on Saturday. Being defended by the exceptional defensive guards of Oak Hill, and particularly Nolan Smith, at times Evans made them look like grammar school players. One move was played over and over again on the giant replay screen overhead the court. The crowd was oohing and aahing more and more every time it was played. Evans finished with 23 points, 3 3’s, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Jennings tallied 17 points and 2 dimes. Powerful Oak Hill scratched out a one point win.
Evans has terrific size and an insanely quick first step. Jennings is as quick as they come and sees the floor very well. Evans may have more range but Jennings may be a more consistent shooter. As a pro prospect Evans size give him a decided advantage but at this time it may be to close to call.

To get some more opinions we went to the experts. Billy Hahn the Director of Eastern Invitational Camps was at the Prime Time Shootout all weekend and has over 30 years experience coaching at the D-1 level. Hahn adds: “They are two different kinds of players. Jennings is more of a prototype point. He is a great passer who creates easy baskets for his teammates. Evans is more of a scoring guard who still has ability to make great passes. His mentality is that he is going to score. Both players are special because they do little things that normal players can’t do. Some things they do are unexplainable.”
Norm Eavenson has rated players for Bob Gibbons All Star Sports for over twenty years and he contributes these thoughts: “It is really close, practically even. Both belong somewhere in the top 10 in the class. Jennings comes across as a 1-2, and Evans is more of a 2-1. Both can get to wherever they want to on the floor. Both can break down defenders. They both had similar weekends. Jennings might have have wowed the crowd more on Friday, but Evans did on Saturday.”

Who’s better? Let’s not worry about that. Let’s just enjoy watching them play.

This past week has been a week of milestones for both coaches and players.  First, there have been players that have reached the milestone of 1000 points.  The first player was Kelsey Gallagher, Junior from East Stroudsburg South, PA.  Then came Junior Guard Nicole Capurso, St John Villa Academy, in Staten Island, then was Kristina Danella junior from Red Bank Catholic in NJ.  Lastly, was this weekend at The Mainland Regional Shootout, Tiffany Crews from Willingboro in NJ.  I was at 2 of the 4 games and it is very interesting to see how each is celebrated.  For some it is a major accomplishment and it is celebrated highly, for others it is no big deal.  Scoring a 1000 points has some merit to it and it should be celebrated, it is a major accomplishment.  I would like to say congratulations to each of the players that have gotten to their 1000 points mark.

In addition to the players accomplishments this past week, there were some coaches that reached some very important milestones.  Coach Bob Mackey, the head coach from Christ the King High Shool, NY has reached his 200th victory this past Saturday.  Also on Saturday, George Sourlis, the head coach from Rumson Fair Haven High School, NJ won his 450th game this past weekend.  I know both coaches very well and I have to say it could not of happened to nicer people.  Both Coach Mackey and Coach Sourlis are two very classy men and I wish them all the best in the future. 

 Milestones are important in some peoples careers and others do not care about it.  It is not right or wrong to celebrate it.  What is important is the people that reach their milestones are able to put them in to prespective according to where they are on the grand scheme of things.  All the people that  I have mentioned, understand what the milestones mean to them personally and also know that the season is not over and there are still big things to come for both of them and their respective teams.

HERE’S THE DEAL

New Jersey continues to be the place to be for high school basketball this season as three of the top four teams in our poll are from the Garden State. Looking at the top three, it is almost too close to call. We have gone with undefeated St Anthony as they have tremendous depth and their usual outstanding coaching. However, when they meet St Patrick’s in the Parochial “B” North Final, that game will also be too close to call. We notice, in several national polls, that the Friars are ranked quite low and would encourage these pollsters to learn a little more about their roster, and remember who is working the sidelines for St Anthony.

St Anthony defeated a talented Linden squad 54-47 earlier this week, and the good performance by Linden allowed them to get a spot in “The Deal”, even with a loss, when both Chester and Hillhouse were upset. Highland Spring gets the last spot as their losses are both to Benedictine by two points each. They are the top team in the talented Capital District in Central Virginia.

And now onto the teams in question….Deal or No Deal.

Eastern Invitational Camp alum achieve success at all levels. The glory is not only found at the Division 1 level. 6-foot-8 Christian Burns of Philadelphia University is having a terrific career at the D-2 level. Burns was a sleeper before attending Eastern Invitational Camp the summer before his senior season. Burns was only 6-foot-5 back then and did not play for a top high school or AAU program. Burns attended Hamilton West High School outside Trenton, NJ.  One thing that was evident back at camp however was that Burns had some major hops. He would put on a dunking show after lunch at Eastern when a couple hundred campers would surround the court before assembly and the top athletes would show their stuff. Burns was getting a lot of love from the crowd.

Burns committed to Division 1 Quinnipiac but after two seasons there he transferred to Division 2 Philadelphia University. Now a strong 6-foot-8 Burns is killing people at that level. He is on pace for an All American season and over 1,000 points in his two seasons at Philly U. Expect him to get some looks from NBA scouts as well.

Independent NBA Scout Jim Clibanoff has seen Burns play a few times. “He is intriguing as a NBA prospect. He has a good skill set for his size. He is very fast for a player built like a football player. But he is so far under the radar. That will hurt him a little. He has NBA size as far his strength is concerned.” Clibanoff thinks Burns should get an invite to one of the pre-season camps. “I wrote in my report that it’s a no brainer that you need to see this kid at Portsmouth. We need to see him against better competition.”
Burns is averaging 23.3 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 2.3 bpg, while shooting 57.3% from the floor. He is ranked nationally in all three categories. He the leading rebounder in the country, is 10th in scoring, 17th in blocks and 46th in fg%, His high this season is 38 points and he has grabbed 17 boards in a game three times. He has been named Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Player of the Week four time already this season.

To make his career even more special. He was instrumental in helping his Coach, Herb Magee becoming the winningest Coach in Division 2 basketball history this past week.

The moral of the story, if there is one, is there are players at every level, who can ball and can have great careers. Those that dominate at their level will get opportunities to play somewhere after college if they are good enough.