Hold’n Court: The HoopGroup Blogs

by Alex Schwartz

Day three of Session IV of The Hoop Group Elite Camp drew even more college coaches. Jamie Dixon of Pitt, Fred Hill of Rutgers, Jim Larranaga of George Mason, and Bob Huggins of West Virginia were just four of the dozens of NCAA head coaches in the building on Wednesday. With so many schools represented, it was a great day for players of all levels to get looks, and many players grabbed the spotlight. Here are the players who stood out to me: 

Devon Saddler ‘09, Aberdeen (MD)
Aaric Murray ‘09, Glen Mills (PA)
Will Wise ‘11, Abington Friends (PA)
Jason West ‘09, Florida Air Academy (FL)
Egheosa Edomwonyi ‘09, The Hun School (NJ)
Wayne Griffin ‘09, Harrisburg (PA)
Eli Gore ‘09, The Bullis School (MD)
Anthony Mayo ‘10, Roman Catholic (PA)
Calvin Newell ‘09, Strath Haven (PA)
Lamont McClaurin ‘11, Cardinal Dougherty (PA)
Austin Nichols ‘09, Catholic Central (MI)
Adam Johnson ‘09, City College HS (MD)
Joshua Heyliger ‘12, The Hill School (PA)
Kevin Janowski ‘09, New Egypt (NJ)
Corey Wood ‘09, Laurel (MD)
Andrew McCarthy ‘09, Northfield-Mt. Hermon School (MA)
Jermaine Peart ‘10, Paterson Catholic (NJ)
Julio Rosario ‘09, Cardinal McCarrick (NJ)
Eric Kindler ‘10, Trinity (PA)
Dominic Borelli ‘09, Westbrook (ME)
Adam Ahern ‘09, Avon Grove (PA)
Vaughn Gray ‘11, Don Bosco Prep (NJ)
Derrick Randall ‘11, TBD
Hamed Akanni ‘09, Fitchburg (MA)
Curtis Loving ‘09 PG, Wadleigh (NY)
Ron Giplaye ‘09, Elkton Christian (MD)
Allen Richardson ‘09, Harrisburg (PA)
Alex Francis ‘10, Holderness Prep (NH)
Dave Memmott ‘10, Peddie School (NJ)
Joey Gripper ‘11, Abington Friends (PA)
Jerry Coriolan ‘09 PG, The Nia School (NJ)
Michael Spence ‘09, APEX Academies (NJ)
Steve Rennard ‘10, St. Joseph’s Metuchen (NJ) 

Of these 33 guys, six of them really stood out to me on Wednesday. Adam Johnson again looked fantastic. He is an athletic specimen who can jump out of the gym. The Baltimore kid has easily been one of the most impressive players in camp thus far, yet does need to develop his game as a whole. Anthony Mayo was a beast on the boards. The rising junior is long and lanky and has to add bulk, and if he does so, could be phenomenal down the road at a mid-major level. Devon Saddler was his usual self, as he did everything well, but was not spectacular with any one aspect of his game. Will Wise is one of the young guns at The College of New Jersey who has performed quite well. The class of 2011 big man has a nice jumper from up to about 14 feet, and is solid down low on the blocks on both ends of the floor. Wise does need to bulk up a bit to reach his full potential though. Allen Richardson is not as well known as some of the other standouts from day three, but if he keeps playing the way he did on Wednesday that may change. He is a tenacious player on both ends of the floor and gets to the hole with ease. Curtis Loving was the other guy who was fantastic on day three. The New York product is a great athlete with superb hops and attacks the rim.

SCHOOL LISTS- 

Andrew McCarthy ‘09, Northfield-Mt. Hermon School (MA): Vermont, Albany, Drexel, Brown, Cornell, Princeton, and UPenn
                                Favorite: Princeton
                               

Eli Gore ‘09, The Bullis School (MD): Albany, Harvard, Holy Cross, Quinnipiac, George Mason, and Maryland
                   Favorites: Harvard, Holy Cross, and George Mason
                   Note- Gore said that he has about a “3.2″ GPA 

 

Devon Saddler ‘09, Aberdeen (MD): Central Florida, DePaul, Quinnipiac, TCU, Providence, Towson, and Drexel
                            Favorites: Central Florida, TCU, and Providence are his top three, with DePaul and Quinnipiac being the other schools in his top five.
Derrick Randall ‘11, TBD: Georgetown and Pitt
                             Favorites: n/a
                             Dream School: Georgetown, “I [have] always wanted to be a big man for Georgetown.”
                             Note- Randall is considering The Nia School (NJ), Life Center (NJ), Boys & Girls (NY), and The Winchendon School (MA) for next year, adding that “it’s undecided.” He also mentioned that there are other schools recruiting him that he does not know of. 

Michael Spence ‘09, APEX Academies (NJ): LIU, Farleigh Dickinson, and Philadelphia University
                            Favorite: Philadelphia University

Will Wise ‘11, Abington Friends (PA): St. Joseph’s
                    Favorite: n/a

Egheosa Edomwonyi ‘09, The Hun School (NJ): Howard, Toledo, Fordham, Delaware, Vermont, Lafayette, Robert Morris, New Hampshire, Colgate, Cleveland St., Holy Cross, Dartmouth, UPenn, Brown, Yale, Princeton, Rice, Davidson, Siena, Iona, Lehigh, Furman, Drexel, Bucknell, and Quinnipiac
                                     Favorite: None, “[I am] open minded on all schools right now.”
                                     Note- Edomwonyi has a 3.5 GPA, and got a 1660 on his SAT and a 23 on his ACT. 

Steve Rennard ‘10, St. Joseph’s Metuchen (NJ): Princeton, UPenn, Bucknell, Cornell, Lehigh, Lafayette, NJIT, Colgate, Vermont, Columbia, and Brown
Ron Giplaye ‘09, Elkton Christian (MD): George Washington, Providence, Duquesne, Kentucky, Boston College, UConn, and Rhode Island
                        Favorites: None, “I don’t have any favorites right now, . . . [I am] still waiting.”
Will Adams ‘09, Imhotep Charter (PA): George Mason: Drexel, LaSalle, Temple, St. Joseph’s, Rider, Towson, Xavier, Marquette, St. Peter’s, Robert Morris, St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island, Providence, Davidson, and James Madison
                       Favorites: Rider, Drexel, Towson, and George Mason are his top four in order
Tyshawn Bell ‘09, Caesar Rodney (DE): Marquette, Delaware, West Virginia, Virginia, UConn, and Quinnipiac
                          Favorite: None
Khalif Wyatt ‘09, Norristown Area (PA): Delaware, LaSalle, New Hampshire, Temple, James Madison, Niagara, Rider, and Siena
Jason West ‘09, Florida Air Academy (FL): Drake, Marshall, Michigan, South Florida, Florida St., George Washington, Mississippi St., Virginia Commonwealth, Florida Gulf Coast, and Arizona St.
                        Favorites: Drake and South Florida
                        Notes- West said that it seems like he is Drake’s “number one priority right now,” and added that he has contact with Drake, Michigan, and South Florida a lot. 

Jerry Coriolan ‘09 PG, The Nia School (NJ): Missouri and Towson
                                Favorite: Towson
Thursday may well be the best day of Session IV, as there will be the playoff games and All-Star games. There will be a Top 20, Senior, Underclass, NBA West, and NCAA All-star game, so that 100 of the top players in camp can be showcased to hundreds of college coaches. It will be a great opportunity for players to display their talents, get looks, and boost their stock. That’s exactly what these camps are for and it is exactly what The Hoop Group Elite Camp does! 

For more on the high school/AAU basketball world from Alex Schwartz, check out http://blog.northstarbball.com/.

by Alex Schwartz

Sydney Johnson of Princeton, Tommy Dempsey of Rider, Fran Dunphy of Temple, and Mike Rice of Robert Morris were a few of the NCAA Division I head coaches at The College of New Jersey on Tuesday for Session IV of The Hoop Group Elite Camp. The talent was aplenty for them, as there were kids from all of the country–and a few from outside the US–and of many different calibers. With the campers being split up into their teams on Monday, day two had the first sets of games. A number of guys took the opportunity to showcase their game in front of the throngs of coaches:

Ishmil Raymond ‘09, Scotch Plains Fanwood (NJ)
Devon Saddler ‘09, Aberdeen (MD)
Aaric Murray ‘09, Glen Mills (PA)
Billy Luther ‘10, Hampton (PA)
John Golden ‘10, Peddie School (NJ)
Sean Rooks ‘09, Bloomingdale Senior (FL)
Kenny Battle ‘09, Imhotep Charter (PA)
Will Wise ‘11, Abington Friends (PA)
Khalif Wyatt ‘09, Norristown Area (PA)
LaDante Berry-White ‘09, Rahway (NJ)
Anthony Mayo ‘10, Roman Catholic (PA)
Calvin Newell ‘09, Strath Haven (PA)
Tim McKinney ‘09 PG, Boston College HS (MA)
Sam Martin ‘09, Worcester Academy (MA)
Rayner Moquete ‘09, Our Savior New American (NY)
Adam Johnson ‘09, City College HS (MD)
Justin Harris ‘11, Paramus Catholic (NJ)
Brandon Romain ‘09 PG, Boys & Girls (NY)
Isaiah Philmore ‘09, John Carroll (MD)
Tanardro Bogues ‘09, Centennial (MD)

The best single performance of the day that I saw was that of Rayner Moquete. The rising senior, originally from the Dominican Republic, absolutely torched the opposition. Moquete, a combo guard, did it all in his team’s win during the early set of games. The 6′2 guard from Our Savior New American (NY) scored in every way. He drove to the rack repeatedly. Moquete was also nailing jumpers, and knocked down numerous three pointers. The intelligent, soft spoken star has looked like one of the best players in camp thus far.

SCHOOL LISTS-

Erique Gumbs ‘09, Caravel Academy (DE): George Mason, Providence, Towson, Pitt, Penn St., George Washington, St. Joseph’s, LaSalle, Temple, UPenn, Delaware, and Delaware St.
                            Favorites: George Mason, Providence, and Towson are his top three, while Pitt, Penn St., George Washington, and St. Joseph’s are his four through seven schools
                            Note- Gumbs said that “it’s really cut down to” George Mason, Providence, and Towson

Dave Coley ‘10, Thomas Jefferson (NY): Hofstra, St. John’s, Providence, Seton Hall, and Lehigh
                       Favorite: None, but Coley said Hofstra “can be one of [his] favorites.”

Andrew Madlinger ‘10, Ridge (NJ): Princeton and Rutgers
                                Favorite: n/a
                                Note- Madlinger said he said that he has “a 4.1″ GPA.

Rayner Moquete ‘09, Our Savior New American (NY): Davidson, Virginia Commonwealth, Fairfield, Manhattan, Princeton, Florida International, and Pitt
                               Favorites: None, “Right now I don’t have a favorite.”
                               Note- Moquete said that Davidson is the school that contacts him the most.

Calvin Newell ‘09, Strath Haven (PA): Siena, Robert Morris, Miami, Seton Hall, St. Francis (PA), Quinnipiac, and Providence
                         Favorites: Siena and Seton Hall

Isaiah Epps ‘10, Plainfield (NJ): Texas, Ohio St., UCLA, Marquette, Miami, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Pitt, and St. Joseph’s
                        Favorites: Maryland and Pitt
                        Note- Epps said that Texas, Ohio St., UCLA, Marquette, Miami, and Virginia Tech are the newest schools to get involved ini his recruitment

Kenny Battle ‘09, Imhotep Charter (PA): St. Francis (PA), East Stroudsburg, Seton Hall, Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, Central Connecticut, Stanford, and Holy Cross
                          Favorites: St. Francis (PA), Seton Hall, and Holy Cross are his top three

Brandon Romain ‘09 PG, Boys & Girls (NY): Rhode Island, Central Florida, St. Bonaventure, Duquesne, and South Florida
                                    Favorite: South Florida

Kellen Jones ‘09, Hotchkiss School (CT): Army, Fairfield, Binghamton, Brown, Virginia Tech, Florida St., Columbia, and Yale
                         Favorite: None
The Hoop Group Elite Camp is continuing to draw coaches from all different levels of NCAA basketball. There have been hundreds of coaches at TCNJ today, including high-major DI schools such as Michigan, Villanova, West Virginia, and South Florida. There were also a vast amount of coaches from DII and DIII schools, as this camp has players of all different levels. Check back tomorrow for more from The Hoop Group Elite Camp Session IV.

For more on the high school/AAU basketball world from Alex Schwartz, check out http://blog.northstarbball.com/.

by Alex Schwartz

Session IV of The Hoop Group Elite Camp got underway on Monday at The College of New Jersey. The school has been home to thousands of elite high school players for days at a time during the hectic July recruiting periods, and upwards of 500 are at TCNJ right now. Coaches from schools such as West Virginia, Villanova, and LaSalle have already made their way to the Garden State to observe the talent, which includes many high-major and/or big-name players. Here is a sampling of those talents:

Aaric Murray ‘09, Glen Mills (PA)
Isaiah Philmore ‘09, John Carroll (MD)
CJ Aiken ‘10, Abington (PA)
Will Adams ‘09, Imhotep Charter (PA)
Egheosa Edomwonyi ‘09, The Hun School (NJ)
Vaughn Gray ‘11, Don Bosco Prep (NJ)
Tyree Harris ‘09, Prep Charter (PA)
Isaiah Morton ‘11, St. Augustine’s (NJ)

The campers were split up into tryout teams in order to be evaluated for the Draft on Monday night. This was a great time for kids to get recognized by evaluators as players with potential, and some stepped up. A number of players caught my eye during the games today. Here is a list of the performers that I saw on Monday:

Julio Rosario ‘09, Cardinal McCarrick (NJ)
Daquan Allen ‘09, Boys & Girls (NY)
Peyton Mullings ‘09 PG, Far Rockaway (NY)
Mike Gittens ‘09, Montville (CT)
Boris Jeremic ‘09, Masters School (NY)
Josh Chojnacki ‘10, Mercyhurst Prep (PA)
Jamaal Gill ‘09, New Rochelle (NY)
Eric Brooks ‘09, Paramus Catholic (NJ)
Curtis Loving ‘09 PG, Wadleigh (NY)
Adam Ahern ‘09, Avon Grove (PA)
Lorenzo Christmas ‘09, Norristown Area (PA)
Craig Clark ‘09, Hodgson Vo-Tech (DE)
Adam Johnson ‘09, City College HS (MD)
Jhamir White ‘11, Paterson Catholic (NJ)
Corey Spence ‘10, Dunbar (MD)
Jermaine Peart ‘10, Paterson Catholic (NJ)
Will Wise ‘11, Abington Friends (PA)
CJ Aiken ‘10, Abington (PA)
Aaric Murray ‘09, Glen Mills (PA)

The two most impressive players that I saw Monday were Adam Johnson and Aaric Murray. Both are dominant players with great raw talent. Murray is beast down low and is certainly one of the premier players in camp. Johnson is not as big of a name as the highly-regarded Murray, but he was great on Monday. The rising senior is a flashy, great dunker, and a tremendous athlete. These two players should be watched during camp to see how they perform.

SCHOOL LISTS-

Vincent Council ‘09 PG, Lincoln (NY): Kent St., George Mason, and Central Florida
                                  Favorite: Kent St.
                                  Notes- Council said that he will be going to The Patterson School (NC) next year, and mentioned that he will “most likely” go to Kent St.

Julio Rosario ‘09, Cardinal McCarrick (NJ): Boston University, Quinnipiac, Manhattan, Monmouth, Central Connecticut, New Hampshire, St. Francis (PA), Niagara, High Point, and Binghamton
                         Favorite: Boston University “if they offer”

Jordan Robinson ‘09, Rutgers Prep (NJ): Boston University, Towson, Syracuse, Virginia, Princeton, and Central Connecticut
                               Favorite: “probably” Boston University

David Laury ‘09 PG, The Nia School (NJ): St. John’s, Seton Hall, Missouri, Providence, Niagara, Rider, and Monmouth
                             Favorite: St. John’s

Isaiah Philmore ‘09, John Carroll (MD): South Florida, Virginia Tech, UMass, St. Joseph’s, Providence, Central Florida, Kansas St., Michigan, Nebraska, Auburn, Towson, Temple, Rhode Island, Virginia, Delaware, Delaware St., Oklahoma St., Oklahoma, USC, Kansas, Texas, UConn, Kentucky, Florida, Florida St., Duke, and North Carolina
                             Favorites: South Florida, Virginia Tech, UMass, St. Joseph’s, and Providence are his top five
                             Notes- Philmore said that he is also “heavily considering” Oklahoma and Oklahoma St., and “wants to go visit” the schools. He mentioned that “pretty much all [of] the A-10″ is recruiting him, and that if tomorrow were signing day and he had to choose a school, he would “as of right now probably [pick] UMass.”

CJ Aiken ‘10, Abington (PA): St. Joseph’s, LaSalle, Xavier, West Virginia, Virginia, Clemson, Stanford, and Syracuse
                   Favorites: None, “Any of them, I don’t have any.”

                   Note- Aiken said that there are other schools recruiting him that he could not think of.

Boris Jeremic ‘09, Masters School (NY): Princeton, Yale, Brown, and Cornell
                          Favorite: Princeton
                          Note- “I think it was a 3.9,” said Jeremic of what his GPA is.

Curtis Loving ‘09 PG, Wadleigh (NY): St. John’s, Rhode Island, Hofstra, and Robert Morris
                               Favorites: St. John’s, Rhode Island, and Robert Morris
                               Notes- Loving, who will either go to Laurinburg (NC) or Mt. Zion (NC) next year as a post-grad, said that there are “a few other” schools recruiting him in addition to those four.

Cameron Badger ‘09, APEX Academies (NJ): VMI, Siena, and Rider
                               Favorite: Siena
                               Note- Badger said that all of his interest has come after attending Session II of The Hoop Group Elite Camp, and that he is “hoping to get more [interest] this time.”

Aaric Murray ‘09, Glen Mills (PA): Temple, LaSalle, Villanova, St. Joseph’s, West Virginia, St. John’s, Kentucky, Rutgers, UConn, Marquette, and Indiana
                         Favorites: None, “I don’t got [any] favorites.”
                         Note- Murray mentioned that there are other schools recruiting him, but that he “just [could not] think of the names right [that] moment.”

Jhamir White ‘11, Paterson Catholic (NJ): Tennessee, Stanford, North Carolina St., Farleigh Dickinson, and St. Francis (NY)
                          Favorite: “I like Tennessee.”

Adam Johnson ‘09, City College HS (MD): Texas A&M, Florida St., North Carolina St., and South Alabama
                            Favorite: Florida St.

The Hoop Group Elite Camp Draft is a great event. At the NBA Draft tonight the numerous top-notch players were not surprisingly taken near the top of their positions. The center, small forward, and point guard positions are the most stocked in camp, and had the biggest names at the number one spot. Here’s who went top two at each position according to Jay Gomes of http://njhoops.rivals.com/default.asp:

Centers: #1 Aaric Murray ‘09, Glen Mills (PA), #2 Erique Gumbs ‘09, Caravel Academy (DE)
Point Guards: #1 Isaiah Epps ‘10, Plainfield (NJ), #2 Kellen Cade-Jones ‘09, Hotchkiss School (CT)
Small Forwards: #1 Isaiah Philmore ‘09, John Carroll (MD), #2 Josh Turner ‘10, Sacred Heart (CT)
Power Forwards: #1 Koron Reed ‘09, Roman Catholic (PA), #2 Curtis Loving ‘09 PG, Wadleigh (NY)
Shooting Guards: #1 Devon Saddler ‘09, Aberdeen (MD), #2 Dion Waiters ‘10, South Kent

For more on the high school/AAU basketball world from Alex Schwartz, check out http://blog.northstarbball.com/

Hoop Group Academic Elite featured some of the best and brightest basketball players in the country this past week.  Over 250 student-athletes and over 100 college coaches from all over the country made their way to The College of New Jersey.  The competition was at a high level all session - here are the members of the All Star teams:

Top 20 Senior All Stars:

Shasha Brown, PG           Trinity Pawling (NY)

Quick, shifty point guard.  Gets in the lane at will.

Cory Stockmal, SG           Watertown HS (MA)

Very good in the open court.  Makes plays.

James Herring, SG           Riverdale Country School (NY)

Scored the ball with ease all week.  All Star Game MVP.

Kevin Mulquin, PF           Georgetown Prep (DC)

Skilled forward nailed 3’s and finished inside.

Kevin Janowski, PF/C     New Egypt (NJ)

Big man can score and has good touch.

Greg DeSantis, PG           Notre Dame (CT)

Tough PG – scores, leads, creates.

Isiah Wilkerson, SF          The Nia School (NJ)

Physical, powerful wing.

Michael Friedberg, SF    Pascack Hills (NJ)

Very skilled.  Nice stroke.

Russ Deremer, PF            St. Andrew’s (RI)

See Mulquin, Kevin.  Great week.

Eitan Chemerinski, PF    Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (MD)

Bouncy big man.  Good offensive skills.

Kenny Click, C                    Don Bosco (NJ)

Has back to the basket skills.

 

Mike Accaoui, PG             St. Andrew’s (RI)

Very good shooter at the PG position.

Malcolm Still, G                 APEX Academies (NJ)

Combo guard that can score and/or create.

Jon Perry, SG/SF              Life Center (NJ)

Tough scorer

Jeff Haus, F                         North Allegheny (PA)

Another inside-out forward

Dave Follis, C                      Clayton HS (NJ)

Long, mobile power forward

Jake Wolfin, PG                                Pascack Hills (NJ)

True PG – makes others better!

Greg Benjamin, G            Newark (DE)

End to end slasher

Mario Kmezovic, SF         St. Ignatius Prep (IL)

Versatile 3 man fills up a stat sheet.

Ryan Duffy, F                     Phillipsburg (NJ)

Combo forward can fill it up.

Peter Kaasila, C                 St. Mark’s (MA)

Camp MVP.  Great size, good finisher around the rim.

 

 

Senior All Stars
Dean Kowalski, PG          St. Patrick’s (NJ)

Jack Taylor, PG                  Black River Falls (WI)

Dylan Seelman, SG          Palm Beach Gardens (FL)

Brandon Beckford, SF    Don Bosco (NJ)

Josh Bloom, F                    St. Andrew’s (FL)

Nick Friedman, PG           Salisbury School (MA)

Dion Nesmith, G               Union (NJ)

Sean Gillooly, SF               Garnet Valley (PA)

Kyle Stockmal, SG            Watertown HS (MA)

Justin Turner, PF              Trumbull HS (CT)

George Adams, F             Xavier (NY)

 

Brian Boyle, PG                 Monsignor Bonner (PA)

Kyle Wehner, G                 Manasquan (NJ)

Dwayne Moffatt, G/F        Queen of Peace (NJ)

Chad Styer, SG                  Elizabethtown HS (PA)

Nicholas Rimsa, PF           Loomis Chaffee School (CT)

Garvin Brown, G               West Windsor Plainsboro (NJ)

Matt Schaffer, SG             Norfolk Collegiate (VA)

Robert Scott, G                 Conestoga HS (PA)

Nick Lenker, PF/C             Sparta HS (NJ)

Stefawn Ross, F                Liberty HS (VA)

Russ Thompson, PG         West Orange HS (NJ)

 

Underclassmen All Stars (juniors unless noted)

Kahlil Tate, G                      Northwestern HS (MD)

Dustin McGahee, G            East Lake HS (FL)

Matt Possanza, SF (10^th)    North Penn (PA)

Avyasa Smith, SG                DeMatha Catholic (MD)

Sheldon Earle, F (10^th)        Lake Region (FL)

Matt Lee, G                        Westtown School (PA)

Chris Rice, SG                    Triton (NJ)

Ryan Corrigan, SG              Bishop McDevitt (PA)

John Caprio, PF                  Seton Hall Prep (NJ)

Thomas Noonan, PF          Penn Charter (PA)

Dylan Bowman, G             The Hill School (PA)

 

Derek Retos, PG               Brimmer & May (MA)

Keith Eshleman, G            Penn Manor (PA)

Doug Spetalnick, G          Washington International (DC)

Matt Dean, G/F                Franklin HS (MA)

Jamie Stark, F                   Regis (NY)

Max Hedgepeth, PG        Blake HS (MD)

Mustafa Jones, PG           Neumann-Goretti (PA)

Matt Palazini, G/F            Franklin HS (MA)

Holden Collick, G/F          Lawrence Woodmere Academy (NY)

Matt Chiusano, C (10^th)  Shawnee HS (NJ)

Connor Merrill, F              Vergennes Union (VT)

Half way through July we at Hoop Group Skills Camp are having an excellent summer of basketball. The level of teaching has remained high from Shooting Skills Camp all the way through Skills Camp 2. Players are getting a day full of competitive games, constant skill development and a lot of fun.

Skills Camp just finished up Thursday and was one of our most fun, instructional, and competitive weeks so far this summer. Some stand out performers this week both on the court in games and in our intensive skill development.

Eatontown, NJ freshman Brian Blaney had a great week by winning the one on one final in the Big East. He also was one of the hardest workers at camp. Brian took the time to work on his game every shot he got.

Jack Cataldo, a 7th grader from Freehold played well for UNC all week while getting to every early bird workout and never taking a drill off during skill development.

It was good to see Andrew Ehinger back for a third straight summer and to see how far his game has come. The sophomore big man from Maplewood, NJ has become a great high post passer and continued to develop his skills. Teammate Austin Little also showed how far his game has come. Both guys were at each early bird workout and constantly improving throughout the week.

A group of Pleasantville, NY players were back again and like always added a ton of talent and hard workers to camp. 5th grader Jack Finnegan had a great week as did Greg Nicolai. Both guys were working hard every morning at 7:15 for the optional early bird workout.

Flemington, NJ was well represented as well as Zach Schreck proved to be one of the top PG’s in the Big East and John Osborne moved up to the NBA and still scored the ball in bunches.

The Irish campers and bus boys in attendance added a lot of excitement and talent to the group. There were too many to name them all but Aodha’n Hickey was one who really stood out. Hickey’s game is ahead of his age as he seems to always make the correct play. As a rising junior Hickey will be a player to look out for on the Irish national team in years to come. John Martin and David O’Leary also had great weeks. We look forward to seeing what the future has in hold for all of these great international players.

A few other guys that really separated themselves were Alex Haines from Northampton, PA, Matt Healey from Rumson, NJ, Jake Harris from Westfield, NJ, Tyler Veretto from South Windsor, CT, and Angel Ortiz from Niantic, CT. These guys were working hard and playing hard every chance they got.

Some other guys really stood out in games. Robbie Kaiser led his team to the championship in the NBA and really let him shooting ability carry his team all week. Marcus Howell was an 8th grader playing up a league in the Big East and still managed to be the league’s best player while leading his team to the title. Khyan Rayner proved his talent as he was also moved up to the Big East from the SEC. You never saw Khyan not on a basketball court working on his game whether it was 6 AM or 9 PM.

 Game of the Week: NBA Finals Lakers vs Wizards

 These two teams came into the finals as the #1 and #2 seeds with the Wizards on a hot streak. This was a hotly contested game throughout with the Wizards controlling the tempo and pace throughout. Down 7 with under a minute thiry seconds left Stroudsburg senior Robbie Kaiser took over for the Lakers. After hitting two consecutive 3’s to cut the lead to 1, Kaiser connected on 2 FT’s to give the Lakers a one point lead. The Wizards Marcus Mitchell hit on an AND-1 to give the Wizards a two point lead. The Lakers scored to tie the game up and send it to OT. In OT the Wizards failed to connect on one and one FT’s to open the door for the Lakers to come back from 4 points down with under a minute left. Brendan Donohue was fouled with no time left on the clock and connected on both FT’s to send the game into double OT. In the “first to 3″ double OT Zach Dorsey banked home a 15 footer to seal the victory for the Lakers. Congratulations to the Lakers and all of our team champions for the week.

Early Riser’s Club
(These guys were at all 4 mornings of Early Bird Workouts)

Jake Harris
Brian Blaney
James Bathon
Justin Cirello
Andrew Ehinger
Steven Pashuk
Justin Price
Jack Cataldo
Matt Healey
Khyan Rayner
Jack Finnegan
Joey Hartman
Max Parauda
Tyler Veretto
AJ Kelly
Alex Haines
Angel Ortiz
Austin Little

Great job to all the campers at HG Skills Camp 2. Everyone worked hard and really improved as the week went on. I hope to see everyone back again later this summer or again next year.

For more information on all Hoop Group Camps including our last two Skills Camps of July and all the August weeks please visit http://www.hoopgroup.com/hoopgroup/pibc.php

NBA East Top 20
Dalton Pepper	Pennsbury HS (PA)
Devon Saddler	Aberdeen HS (MD)
Antoine Allen	Notre Dame Prep (MA)
Khalil Murphy	Apex Academies (NJ)
Khalif Wyatt	Norristown Area HS (PA)
Kyrie Irving	St Patrick’s (NJ)
Ed Waite	Pine Crest HS (FL)
Khyle Marshall	Flanagan HS (FL)
Rakeem Christmas	North Catholic (PA)
Mouphtaou Yarou	Massanutten (VA)
Mike Burwell	South Kent (CT)
Justin Crosgile	DePaul HS (NY)
Mike McFadden	Technology HS (NY)
Daryl McCoy	Hartford HS (CT)
William Adams	Imhotep Charter (PA)
Chris Cantino	Northeast Prep (PA)
Lasan Kromah	Eleanor Roosevelt HS (MD)
Rakeem Brookins	Roman Catholic HS (PA)
Clayton Sterling	Boys & Girls HS (NY)
Ameer Weeks	Lincoln Park HS (IL)
Senior All Star Game
Shabazz Napier	Charlestown HS (MA)
Lance Brown	Paterson Catholic (NJ)
Steven Samuels	Windsor (CT)
Kyrie Sutton	Boys & Girls HS (NY)
Paul Bilbo	St Dominic’s HS (NY)
Kyle Gaillard	North Mecklenburg HS (NC)
Shawn Lawrence	Trinidad
Brendan Bald	Sevence Park (MD)
Adam Kemp	Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Central (NY)
Jamee Jackson	St Anthony (NJ)
Rasheem King	Xaverian (NY)
Shannon Givens	Academy of The New Church (PA)
Russell Braithwaite	St Mark’s Prep School (MA)
Egheosa Edomwonyi	The Hun School (NJ)
Jerry Cummings	Notre Dame Prep (MA)
Kevin Jones	Bishop O’Connell (VA)
Brian Freeman	The Potomac School (VA)
Ron Spencer	The Nia School (NJ)
Adam Marshall	Governor Dummer Academy (MA)
Kellen Cade	Hotchkiss School (CT)
Andre Marhold	North Mecklenburg HS (NC)
Diyaaldin Kelley	Mariana Bracetti School (PA)
Underclassmen All Star Game
Kyle Anderson	Paterson Catholic (NJ)
Jermaine Pert	Paterson Catholic (NJ)
Daniel Stewart	St John Neumann-Goretti (PA)
Markus Kennedy	St Patrick’s (NJ)
Tyreek Duran	St John Neumann-Goretti (PA)
Michael Terry	North Catholic (PA)
Derrick Wilson	Hotchkiss School (CT)
Ryan Rhoomes	St Benedicts (NJ)
Jermaine Sanders	Rice HS (NY)
Dominique Raney	Putnam City (OK)
Naufall Folahan	Massanutten (VA)
Hakeem Harris	Blair Academy (NJ)
Vaughn Gray	Don Bosco Prep (NJ)
Dominic Morris	Friends Central School (PA)
Corey Wright	Marinapolis Prep (CT)
Chase Plummer	St Patrick’s (NJ)
Elijah Carter	St Anthony’s (NJ)
Aaron Brown	Roman Catholic HS (PA)
Malcolm Gilbert	Academy of The New Church (PA)
CJ Aiken	Abington HS (PA)
Theodore Boyomo	The Kent School (CT)
Deon Jones	Sanford School (DE)
NBA West All Stars
Allen Stalp	Annandale HS (VA)
Jereme Wood	Jericho Christian Academy (MD)
Xavier Pollard	Suffield Academy (CT)
Ta-Quon Zimmerman	Holy Cross HS (CT)
Evan Croll	Vernon-Verona Sherrill Central (NY)
Nicolas Christensen	Denmark
Tarik Chbani	Georges Vanier HS (Canada)
Carl Yaffe	Walter Johnson HS (MD)
Wynton Bernard	Rancho Bernardo HS (CA)
Howard Douglas III	Edison Academy (NJ)
Jamil Ebo	Kingsford Oxwwod (CT)
Jordan Martinez	Episcopal HS (NY)
Justin Stone	Brunswick HS (MD)
Isaiah Salafia	Cromwell HS (CT)
John Pinone	Glastonbury HS (CT)
Spencer Noon	Farmington (CT)
Amos Clay	McCaskey (PA)
Richard Morrow	University (OH)
Jacob Robinson	The Wellington School (FL)
Chris Carroll	Arche Bishop Beck (UK)
James Collins	Scripps Ranch HS (CA)
NCAA All Stars
Chandler Fraser-Pauls	Pennington School (NJ)
Khalid Lewis El	Trenton Catholic Academy (NJ)
Lamin Fulton	St John Neumann-Goretti (PA)
Devin Coleman	Friends Central School (PA)
Jhamir White	Paterson Catholic (NJ)
Traveon Henry	Pine Crest School (FL)
Mark Coleman	Shore  Regional (NJ)
Phillip Walker	Winslow Township (NJ)
Tariq Carey	East Side HS (NJ)
Anthony Estes	Theodore Roosevelt HS (MD)
Tylon Smith	Kingswood Oxford (CT)
Dashawn Suber	Pomona MS (NY)
Isaiah Morton	St. Augustine’s (NJ)
Nikolas Brown	Paul VI (VA)
Tevin Hanner	Milford Mill Academy (MD)
Frankie Smalls	St John Neumann-Goretti (PA)
Michael Johnson	Friendly HS (MD)
Savon Goodman	Academy of The New Church (PA)
Brett Rosenthal	The Benjamin School (FL)
Alex Miller	Hotchkiss School (CT)

by Alex Schwartz

The final day of The Hoop Group Elite Camp Session 2 was certainly the best of the four. Tuesday’s action featured numerous top-notch player and team matchups, with it being playoff time. As well, the five All-Star games displayed 100 of the premiere players at the camp, from rising freshman all the way up to rising post-grads. These are the players that I felt stood out during the playoff games in the morning and early afternoon:

Rakeem Christmas ‘11, North Catholic (PA)
Keith Thomas ‘09, Gwynn Park (MD)
Devon Saddler ‘09, Aberdeen (MD)
Chase Plummer ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
Naufall Folahan ‘10, Massanutten (VA)
Jawaun Lockhart ‘09, Flint Hill School (VA)
Given Kalipinde ‘09, Episcopal Academy (VA)
Ajahmo Clarke ‘09 PG, TBD

Derrick Wilson ‘11, Hotchkiss School (CT)
Malcolm Gilbert ‘11, Academy of the New Church (PA)
Khyle Marshall ‘10, Flanagan (FL)
Deric Skeen ‘09, North Mecklenburg (NC)
James Stukes ‘09, Rice (NY)
Nash Oh ‘09, Walter Johnson (MD)
Ryan Rhoomes ‘10, Middletown (NY)
Brandon Coleman ‘10, Bishop McNamara (MD)
Blake Price ‘09, Archbishop Carroll (DC)
Diyaaldin Kelley ‘09 PG, Mariana Bracetti School (PA)
Tom Folliard ‘09, Deep Run (VA)
Christopher Hampton ‘10, Our Savior New American (NY)
Karon Abraham ‘09, Westfield (NJ)
Dalton Pepper ‘09, Pennsbury (PA)
Kyle Anderson ‘12, Paterson Catholic (NJ)
Jamee Jackson ‘09, St. Anthony’s (NJ)
DeOliver Davis ‘10, Hun (NJ)
Edward Hall ‘09, St. John’s College HS (DC)
Anthony Mayo ‘10, Roman Catholic (PA)
Kyrie Irving ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
Chris Pelcher ‘09, Albany Academy (NY)
Gary Gilliam ‘09, Milton-Hershey (PA)

There was a trio of phenomenal games on Tuesday. First off was the contest between Kyrie Irving’s squad and a group featuring Dominic Morris ‘10 of Friends Central School (PA). The game was well-played and the lead went back and forth from start to finish, with the score remaining close the whole time. The game was tied after regulation ended, and it seemed that Morris’ team, led by 6′1 rising senior Nash Oh, would come away with the win as they had the lead late in the overtime period. Kyrie Irving, though, had other ideas. The new St. Patrick’s Celtic took control of the game in the last minute, knocking down a long three to cut the lead to two late. After a made free throw at the other end, the ball was back in Kyrie’s hands. Irving went to almost the same spot on the floor, pulled up, and knocked it down to tie the game and send it to overtime. The first extra period, though, was not enough, and the game went to a first-to-five-points two-minute double overtime. Irving again led his team, scoring four points, including two free throws at the line to win the game for his team, with a double overtime score of 5-2. One of the final day’s other outstanding contests was Dalton Pepper’s team versus Rakeem Christmas, Devon Saddler, and Co. This affair had the top player picked in the NBA East Draft at the center position (Christmas), small forward spot (Pepper), and at the two-guard (Saddler). Thus, not surprisingly, the game was close throughout and came down to the wire. Besides those big three, a number of guys stepped up including Christopher Hampton and Diyaaldin Kelley for Pepper’s team and Keith Thomas for Christmas’ bunch. Kelley actually outplayed Rakeem Christmas, and had an outstanding game. It was Pepper, though, that would eventually steal the show. The chiseled and athletic wing missed two free throws late, with his team down a point, but made up for it with very little time to go. Dalton knocked down two free throws to redeem himself, and they would ultimately be the deciding factor in his team’s 71-70 win. The last outstanding game again involved Pepper’s team, with them facing a group that included Naufall Folahan and Derrick Wilson. Both squads had a great set of days and the matchup drew a large crowd. At first, though, the contest did not nearly live up to expectations, as Kyle Anderson pushed his team out to a 25-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, and then Dalton Pepper followed him up giving their team a commanding 40-25 lead at the halfway mark. The difference was as much as 20 points (34-14 with 4:30 left in the half), but Given Kalipinde and Derrick Wilson would not let their team go easily. The point differential was still 15 after three quarters, 52-37. In the final eight minutes of play, things got real interesting. Led by the youngster Derrick Wilson, the lead was cut all the way down to just five at one point late in the game. Dalton and Co. would not fall all the way, and held on to their lead just long enough to grab a 63-56 win to finish with a 6-2 record. The best part of this game was probably the battle of the bigs down low: Naufall Folahan and Diyaaldin Kelley. Both are 6′10, but Kelley is much bigger overall. Folahan’s bread and butter is defense, where he is a shot blocking machine, but he is also good around the hole on offense with putbacks. Kelley was dominant throughout the camp on the low post, where he was almost unstoppable. The duo fought it out, but it was not clear just which one was better, as both are quite talented and have a vast amount of potential.

SCHOOL LISTS-

Kelvin Amayo ‘10, Hillside (NJ): Towson, Delaware, and Rutgers
                          Favorites: Delaware and Rutgers

Diyaaldin Kelley: James Madison, Holy Family, and LaSalle
                        Favorite: LaSalle, “right now I’m liking LaSalle.”
                        Note- he was formerly committed to Holy Family, but has re-opened his recruitment, and he mentioned that he is “trying to go to a prep school” next year, with Hargrave Military Academy (VA) being one of the schools he listed

Daryl McCoy ‘09, Hartford (CT): St. Joseph’s, Temple, Rhode Island, Providence, Kentucky, LaSalle, and Drexel
                         Favorites: Temple, Providence, and Kentucky

Jermaine Peart ‘10, Paterson Catholic (NJ): Iona, Fordham, Farleigh Dickinson, Providence, and LaSalle
                            Favorite: Fordham, with part of teh reasoning being that his high school teammate Lance Brown ‘09 being committed there already

Steven Samuels ‘09, Windsor (CT): Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, Penn St., Fairfield, St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island, Providence, Rutgers, and Albany
                               Favorites: Providence and Rutgers

Aaron Brown ‘10, St. Benedict’s (NJ): UConn, Kentucky, Harvard, Miami, Florida, Providence, and UPenn
                          Favorites: None, “right now I don’t even have any favorites, . . . [I am] just looking at all the options.”

Given Kalipinde: Loyola Marymount, Boston University, George Mason, Richmond, and American
                       Favorites: Loyola Marymount, Boston University, and George Mason are his top three
                       Notes- as for other schools recruiting Kalipiinde, he said that “the rest of them are [for] soccer,” and added that “Loyola [Marymount] might consider . . . making me play soccer too.” Kalipinde said he is “going to visit [Loyola Marymount] . . . in a couple weeks.”

Markus Kennedy ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ): Rutgers, Rider, Virginia, Miami, UMass, Villanova, Penn St., Michigan St., Ohio St., Georgetown, Syracuse, Xavier, Seton Hall, Rhode Island, LaSalle, Temple, and Arizona
 

Dominic Morris ‘10, Friends Central School (PA): George Mason, Cincinnati, Seton Hall, Northeastern, and Pitt
                            Favorite: Cincinnati

Deon Jones ‘11, Sanford School (DE): Georgetown, Virginia Tech, Virginia, St. Joseph’s, Delaware, Georgia Tech, and Temple
Khalil Murphy ‘09, APEX Academies (NJ): Virginia Tech, Indiana, Penn St., Rider, Georgetown, Marquette, Arizona, Michigan, Ohio St., Fordham, NJIT, and Stony Brook
                          Favorites: n/a, did not want to say his favorites, but did say that “yeah” he does have some schools at the top of his list

Clayton Sterling ‘08 (Looking for a school for 2008-09), Boys & Girls (NY): Central Florida and Loyola Marmount
                                  Favorites: Central Florida and Loyola Marymount
                                  Notes- said that Loyola Marymount was “at a lot of [his] games,” and that he is “supposed to visit” Central Florida

After all the games were completed, it was time to honor some of the best and brightest stars at The Hoop Group Elite Camp. There were numerous awards given out, and many teams and players received some love. The champion of the NBA East featured rising post-grad Mike Burwell of South Kent (CT), rising senior Marcuss Damas of Bay Shore (NY), and rising senior Cameron Sutton of Kimball Union Academy (NH). The team ended the camp with a 8-0 record. Here is a list of some of the awards given out, and who the honors went to:

NBA East Co-Most Outstanding Player awards: 6′5 Dalton Pepper ‘09, Pennsbury (PA) and 6′10 Mouphtaou Yarou ‘09, Massanutten (VA)
NBA East Most Outstanding Prospect award: 6′1 Kyrie Irving ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
NCAA Most Outstanding Player award: 5′10 Traveon Henry ‘12, Pine Crest School (FL)
NBA East Top 20 All-Star Game Most Outstanding Player award: 6′9 Rakeem Christmas ‘11, North Catholic (PA)
NBA East Senior All-Star Game Most Outstanding Player award: Jamee Jackson ‘09, St. Anthony (NJ)
NBA East Underclassmen All-Star Game Most Outstanding Player award: 6′9 Markus Kennedy ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
NCAA All-Star Game Most Outstanding Player award: 6′5 Savon Goodman ‘12, Academy of the New Church (PA)

NBA East Underclassmen All-Star Game Top Performers:

6′2 Jermaine Peart ‘10, Paterson Catholic (NJ)
6′4 Dominique Raney ‘11, Putnam City (OK)
6′6 Dominic Morris ‘10, Friends Central School (PA)

NBA East Top 20 All-Star Game Top Performers:

6′10 Mouphtaou Yarou ‘09, Massanutten (VA)
6′5 Dalton Pepper ‘09, Pennsbury (PA)
6′9 Rakeem Christmas ‘11, North Catholic (PA)
6′2 Davon Saddler ‘09, Aberdeen (MD)
6′1 Kyrie Irving ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
5′10 Rakeem Brookins ‘10, Roman Catholic (PA)
6′0 Justin Crosgile ‘09, DePaul Catholic (NJ)
6′7 Chris Cantino ‘09 PG, Northeast Prep (PA)
6′1 Clayton Sterling ‘09 PG, Boys & Girls (NY)

Other NBA East Top 20 All-Star Game Standouts:

6′6 Khyle Marshall ‘10, Flanagan (FL)
6′1 Antonie Allen ‘09, Notre Dame Prep (MA)
6′7 Khalil Murphy ‘09, APEX Academies (NJ)
6′5 Lasan Kromah ‘09, Eleanor Roosevelt (NY)
6′6 Mike Burwell ‘09 PG, South Kent (CT)

All Other NBA East Top 20 All-Star Game Participants:

6′3 Khalif Wyatt ‘09, Norristown Area (PA)
6′5 Ed Waite ‘09, Pine Crest (FL)
6′4 William Adams ‘09, Imhotep Charter (PA)
6′8 Daryl McCoy ‘09, Hartford (CT)
6′1 Ameer Weeks ‘09, Lincoln Park (IL)
6′6 Mike McFadden ‘09, Technology (NJ)

The Hoop Group Elite Camp was a great event, and The Hoop Group will be running many more camps and tournaments this summer, including the Elite Team Camp on July 9th and 10th, the Reebok Summer Classic East on July 11th and 12th, and the Triple “S” Harley Davidson West Virginia Jam Fest from July 14th through 16th. Make sure you continue to check back for updates on these events!

For more info on Hoop Group Elite Camp, click here:  http://www.hoopgroup.com/hoopgroup/eibc_traditional.php

For more information on high school and AAU basketball from Alex Schwartz, check out http://northstarbasketball.blogspot.com/.

by Alex Schwartz

The 2008 Hoop Group Elite Camp continued rolling along today, as more colleges were represented and a number of players took advantage of the opportunity to showcase their skills. There was once again rain on and off throughout the day, but it barely altered the course of the day, and everyone still got to play their game. I got to see a handful of games today, and saw quite a few talented players. Here is a list of the guys who stood out to me:

Mouphtaou Yarou ‘09, Massanutten (VA)
Jayon James ‘10, Paterson Catholic (NJ)
Trevor Cooney ‘11, Sanford School (DE)
Brian Fitzpatrick ‘09 PG, Northfield Mt. Hermon (MA)
Khalif Wyatt ‘09, Norristown Area (PA)
Vaughn Gray ‘10, Don Bosco Prep (NJ)
Shawn Lawrence ‘09 PG, St. Augustine College HS (Trinidad)
Cameron Sutton ‘09, Kimball Union Academy (NH)
Mike Burwell ‘09 PG, South Kent (CT)
William Harrison ‘09 PG, Wadleigh (NY)
Jamee Jackson ‘09, St. Anthony’s (NJ)
Erik Copes ‘10, Imhotep Charter (PA)
William Kernan ‘09, Lawrenceville Prep (NJ)
Rayner Moquete ‘09, Our Savior New American (NY)
Kyrie Irving ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
Antoine Brown ‘09, Bishop Loughlin (NY)
Daniel DiVietri ‘09, Chaminade (NY)
David Johnson ‘09, St. Mark’s (MA)
Shabazz Napier ‘09, Charlestown (MA)
Ike Azotam ‘09, O’Bryant (MA)
Antoine Allen ‘09, Notre Dame Prep (MA)

Monday was the final day of “regular season” games, with Tuesday being the playoff rounds. There were a handful of great games today, including a game that went to overtime. As well, the contest between Kyrie Irving’s squad and Rayner Moquete’s group was a quality give-and-take battle. Moquete’s team, which also has William Kernan and Adrian Satchell ‘09 of Windsor (CT) had the lead at the half, but an 11-point swing in the third put Irving and Co. on top, and it would stay that way. Kyrie calmly knocked down all four of his free throws near the end of the affair to seal the deal.

SCHOOL LISTS-

Malcolm Gilbert ‘11, Academy of the New Church (PA): Villanova, Temple, St. Joseph’s, LaSalle, Rutgers, Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia, and Notre Dame
                             Offers: St. Joseph’s, LaSalle, Rutgers, Maryland, and Virginia
                             Favorites: the “Big Five [Philadelphia-area] schools,” which are Temple, St. Joseph’s, Villanova, UPenn, and LaSalle, all of which are recruiting him other than UPenn
                             Notes- He is re-classifying to the class of 2011. His coach at ANC, Kevin Givens, mentioned all the Philadelphia schools, Rutgers, Stanford, and Ivy League schools as those interested in him, and then let Malcolm take it away

Khyle Marshall ‘10, Flanagan (FL): Georgia Tech, Miami, Florida St., Florida, Tennessee, Kansas St., Missouri, Rice, and Texas A&M
                           Offers: None
                           Favorites: None

Kyrie Irving: LaSalle, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio St., Pitt, Marquette, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John’s, New Mexico St., Virginia Tech, Memphis, Villanova, Wake Forest, UMass, St. Joseph’s, and Rhode Island
                  Offers: Rutgers, Seton Hall, Memphis, and St. Joseph’s
                  Favorites: None, “I don’t have any favorites right now.”

Jayon James: Syracuse, Clemson, Providence, St. John’s, Xavier, Fordham, LaSalle, Rhode Island, Seton Hall, and Rutgers
                    Offers: Xavier, Fordham, LaSalle, Rhode Island, and Seton Hall
                    Favorites: “I don’t have any favorites.”

Mouphtaou Yarou: Villanova, UCLA, New Mexico St., Georgetown, and Maryland
                           Offers: None
                           Favorites: None
                           Note- he did not know all of the schools recruiting him, but did say that there are “many schools” that are involved

Shane Southwell ‘10, Rice (NY): Xavier, Marquette, Memphis, Miami, Clemson, South Carolina, and St. John’s
                               Offers: Xavier and St. John’s
                               Favorites: None, “I don’t really have one.”

Vaughn Gray: Rutgers, Villanova, Syracuse, Richmond, St. Joseph’s, Georgetown, and Cincinnati
                     Offers: Rutgers
                     Favorites: Rutgers and Villanova, “those are really about it, . . . those [are] my favorites, “I really like Rutgers,” and “I like Villanova.”

Jamee Jackson: Iona, Siena, South Carolina, Monmouth, Clemson, and Quinnipiac
                       Offers: None, “no offers.”
                       Favorites: n/a, “I don’t want to say any favorites,” he said, but also mentioned that, ”yeah,” he does have some

Tyreak Johnson ‘09, St. Raymond’s (NY): Cornell, Columbia, Holy Cross, Miami (OH), Vermont, Northeastern, Navy, Drexel, Hofstra, Bryant, and Fairfield
                              Offers: None, “no offers yet.”
                              Favorites: None, “right now it’s about everybody.”

Antoine Allen: Providence, Rutgers, Maryland, Towson, TCU, Auburn, George Mason, Robert Morris, and Rhode Island
                     Offers: Towson, TCU, Auburn, George Mason, Robert Morris, and Rhode Island
                     Favorites: Providence, Rutgers, Maryland, Towson, TCU, and Auburn are his top six
                     Note- he said that Providence, Rutgers, and Maryland are “about to offer” him a scholarship

Jayvvi Myvivulula ‘09, Paterson Catholic (NJ): Iona, NJIT, and Rhode Island
                               Offers: None
                               Favorites: None

Leonard Hayes ‘09, Lawrenceville Prep (NJ): St. Joseph’s, UAB, and Rider
                            Offers: None, “I don’t have any offers.”
                            Favorite: St. Joseph’s, “probably St. Joe’s”

Lasan Kromah ‘09, Eleanor Roosevelt (MD): George Washington, George Mason, Robert Morris, St. Joseph’s, and James Madison
                            Offers: George Washington and George Mason
                            Favorites: George Washington and George Mason

Frantz Massenat ‘10, Trenton Catholic (NJ): Xavier, Florida, Virginia Tech, Kent St., Princeton, LaSalle, Fordham, Iona, Robert Morris, and Rider
                               Offers: LaSalle, Fordham, Iona, Robert Morris, and Rider
                               Favorites: None, “I’m willing to play anywhere.”
                               Note- has around a “90 average” in school 

Austin Alecxih ‘09, Oak Hill Academy (VA): Rutgers, Siena, Seton Hall, St. John’s, St. Francis (PA), LaSalle, Towson, and Davidson
                           Offers: Rutgers and Siena
                           Favorites: Rutgers and Siena, “probably those two.”
                           Note- he said that Davidson is “probably the third” school on his list

Tuesday should be the best day of the camp. There will not only be playoff games, but all-star contests as well. There will be five of these: NCAA, NBA West, NBA East Top 20, NBA East Top 40, and NBA East Underclassmen. Many of the nation’s premiere players will be competing. The camp has so much talent, that a number of skilled players will likely be unable to be in any of the games. That just goes to show you how good of a camp The Hoop Group Elite Camp really is. Stay tuned for more information!

For more information on high school and AAU basketball from Alex Schwartz, check out http://northstarbasketball.blogspot.com/.

by Alex Schwartz 

Day two at The Hoop Group Elite Camp involved a nice blend of playing five-on-five games, drill work and instruction, and listening to a renowned guest speaker.  Rain yet again altered the setup of the day, but that was not nearly enough to keep away throngs of college coaches from schools such as Pitt, Rutgers, St. Joe’s, Temple, UMass and Providence. These six were amongst the THREE HUNDRED or so universities represented today at the camp. Here are the players that I saw who thrived under the spotlight and had nice showings:

Ishmael Kalilou ‘10, Windsor (CT)
LeBrent Walker ‘12, Lincoln (NY)
Prince Okoroh ‘11, Eleanor Roosevelt (NY)
Jimmy Louissaint ‘09, Robeson (NY)
Trevor Cooney ‘11, Sanford (DE)
Mario Monroe ‘10, North Cambridge Catholic (MA)
Kelvin Amayo ‘10, Hillside (NJ)
Rico Winston ‘09, Jericho Christian Academy (MD)
Aaron Brown ‘10, St. Benedict’s (NJ)
Zackary O’Brien ‘09, Watchung Hills (NJ)
Jay Bowie ‘10, Tampa Prep (FL)
Naufall Folahan ‘10, Massanutten (VA)
Given Kalipinde ‘09, Episcopal Academy (VA)
Derrick Wilson ‘11, Hotchkiss School (CT)
Markus Kennedy ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
Ed DiRugeris ‘09, Pennsbury (PA)
Diyaaldin Kelley ‘09 PG, Mariana Bracetti School (PA)
Ryan Hill ‘10, Steelton Highsprire (PA)
Dalton Pepper ‘09, Pennsbury (PA)
Kyle Anderson ‘12, Paterson Catholic (NJ)
Dondre Whitmore ‘10, Trenton Catholic (NJ)
Kamil Parzch ‘10, Lindenhurst (NY)
Josiah Woodruff ‘09, Jericho Christian Academy (MD)
Blake Bozeman ‘10, Paul VI (VA)
Justin Crosgile ‘09, DePaul Catholic (NJ)
Theo Boyomo ‘10, The Kent School (CT)
Omi Ogolo ‘09, James Madison (VA)
Marcus Hebron ‘09, Laurel (MD)
Stephen Spinella ‘09 PG, The Nia School (NJ)
Nick Goff ‘09, St. Francis DeSales (OH)
Kellen Cade ‘09, Hotchkiss School (CT)
Cameron Baker ‘09, Columbus Academy (OH)

The single most impressive one-game performance I saw today was easily that of 6′0 Justin Crosgile in his team’s win during the after set of games. Although official stats aren’t kept, Justin probably dropped around 20 or 25 points in a come-from-behind victory. The Saint Joseph’s commit almost single-handedly brought his team back into the game, against a quality squad featuring Trevor Cooney. Crosgile got it done on both sides of the ball, getting steals and boards on defense, while hitting jumpers, getting to the hole, rebounding, and getting his teammates involved. Crosgile is one of the best point guards in the class of 2009, and games like he had this afternoon are proof of just that.

Some of the young guns went to work today - giving everyone a preview of the talent in the classes of 2011 and 2012. LeBrent Walker, a 6′1 rising freshman had a solid showing in his squad’s final game of the day. Walker got to the basket with ease and had some tough finishes around the rim. LeBrent’s teammate, 6′3 rising sophomore Prince Okoroh also performed well in the team’s last game on day two. Prince showed off a nice all-around game and a knack for getting to the rack.  Another youngster who had a solid showing was 6′0 Derrick Wilson, a rising sophomore from out of The Hotchkiss School (CT). Despite not playing up to his potential for much of his team’s first game, Wilson came through when it mattered most. With his squad down one and only eight seconds to go, Derrick drove the length of the court for a layup to put his team out front 53-52, and it would stay that way after 6′4 Aaron Brown of St. Benedict’s missed a shot from about 14 feet out at the buzzer. Last but not least of the underclassmen who had impressive showings on Sunday was Kyle Anderson of Paterson Catholic (NJ), a 6′5 rising freshman. Anderson is one of the most highly-touted players in the class of 2012 nationally, and although he was not outstanding, Kyle more than held his own on the court. The Playaz (NJ) AAU program member showed nice court vision and stellar passing skills - his biggest asset is his fantastic basketball IQ.  If these five kids are any indication, the talent level at The Hoop Group Elite Camp will not be falling off any time soon, as there are some gems in younger classes.

SCHOOL LISTS-

Derrick Wilson: Xavier, Texas, Arizona, Duke, and Stanford
                      Offers: Xavier
                      Favorites: Texas, Arizona, and Duke; those are his top three
                      Note- Xavier, Texas, Arizona, and Duke are “highly interested” and “are the main schools” recruiting him

Zackary O’Brien: Central Florida, Stanford, Fordham, Penn St., Niagara, Rider, Auburn, Missouri, James Madison, and St. Joseph’s
                         Offers: Stanford, Fordham, Niagara, James Madison, and St. Joseph’s
                         Favorites: Central Florida, Stanford, Niagara, and St. Joseph’s
                         Note- he says that Rider is “going to offer in [around] two weeks.”

Dalton Pepper: West Virginia, Villanova, Temple, Wake Forest, and Miami
                       Offers: All five
                       Favorites: None, “I’m not sure yet.”

Myles Mack ‘11, Paterson Catholic (NJ): Florida and Georgetown
                       Offers: Georgetown
                       Favorite: Florida
                       Note- “That’s all I know right now,” he said of the schools recruiting him, indicating that there are likely more schools involved

Russ Smith ‘10, Archbishop Malloy (NY): Jacksonville, Arkansas, Louisville, George Mason, Ohio, Rutgers, Iona, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Wright St., Miami, St. John’s, Minnesota, Virginia, and South Carolina
                        Offers: Iona and Rhode Island
                        Favorites: n/a
                        Note- he said that “it looks like [Virginia and South Carolina] will offer” him a scholarship

Mike McFadden ‘09, Technology (NJ): Utah, Maryland, Providence, Penn St., LSU, and George Mason
                             Offers: Utah
                             Favorites: None, “not really”

Dondre Whitmore: Rider, Iona, Fordham, Robert Morris, St. John’s, and Kent St.
                           Offers: Rider, Iona, Fordham, and Robert Morris
                           Favorites: None, “I really don’t have any.”

DeOliver Davis ‘10, Hun (NJ): Dartmouth and Yale
                            Offers: None
                            Favorites: n/a
                            Notes- he is being recruited by “a lot of Ivy [League schools],” has a GPA of “about 3.6,” and said, “I like American, I like Lafayette, . . . I like the Patriot League.”

Trevor Cooney: Delaware, St. Joseph’s, Villanova, Rutgers, West Virginia, Virginia, Notre Dame, and Wake Forest
                       Offers: Delaware, St. Joseph’s, and Rutgers
                       Favorites: Delaware, St. Joseph’s, Rutgers, West Virginia, Notre Dame, and Wake Forest
                       Notes- on his top three, he said they are “probably the ones that have offered me [a scholarship], . . . [and] probably Notre Dame is up there too.” If signing day were tomorrow, he would sign with “Notre Dame maybe,” but of the schools that have offered, he would pick “probably Delaware.”

LeBrent Walker: Arizona, Tennessee, Baylor, Fordham, and St. John’s
                        Offers: None
                        Favorites: Kansas St., North Carolina, and UCLA
                        Note- his favorite of the schools that he has interest from is St. John’s

Prince Okoroh: UMBC, Hood College, and he visited a “small church school” in North Carolina
                      Offers: None
                      Favorite: UMBC, “I’d like to go to UMBC out of those ones.”

Sunday was a great day at The Hoop Group Elite Camp, and Monday should bring more of the same, so make sure you check back later for more information.

For more info on Hoop Group Elite Camp, including how to register for camp, please visit: http://www.hoopgroup.com/hoopgroup/eibc_traditional.php

For more info and updates on both this event and others from the world of high school and AAU basketball from Alex Schwartz, check out http://northstarbasketball.blogspot.com/.

 by Alex Schwartz 

The Hoop Group Elite Camp kicked off today with numerous high-DI prospects, as well as many other DI, DII, and DIII players in attendance. With slightly over 700 kids, this four day camp is the biggest that The Hoop Group has ever had. I was fortunate enough to be able to see quite a few of the top players in action, and a number of ballers were kind enough to chat with me. Without further ado, here’s the overview of the first day of the The Hoop Group Elite Camp. 

First off, here is a short sampling of the well-known and/or highly-regarded prospects at the event: 

Tyreak Johnson ‘09, St. Raymond’s (NY) 

Justin Crosgile ‘09, DePaul Catholic (NJ) 

Aaron Brown ‘10, Roman Catholic (PA) 

George Harper ‘10, Academy of the New Church (PA) 

Rakeem Christmas ‘11, North Catholic (PA) 

CJ Aiken ‘10, Abington (PA) 

Tyreek Duran ‘10, Neumnn-Goretti (PA) 

Adrian Satchell ‘09, Windsor (CT) 

Shannon Givens ‘09, Academy of the New Church (PA) 

Markus Kennedy ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ) 

Khalif Wyatt ‘09, Norristown Area (PA) 

Kyrie Irving ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ) 

Egheosa Edomwonyi ‘09, Hun (NJ) 

Andre Gillette ‘09, Neumann-Goretti (PA) 

Trevor Cooney ‘11, Sanford School (DE) 

Rakeem Brookins ‘10, Roman Catholic (PA) 

Jayon James ‘10, Paterson Catholic (NJ) 

In addition, there will be a few high-quality players who will be coming tomorrow, such as Dalton Pepper ‘09 of Pennsbury (PA) and Mike McFadden ‘09 of Technology (NJ). Despite the U-18 tryouts going on in Virginia and the Rbk U camp taking place in Pennsylvania, The Hoop Group Elite Camp is not lacking talent at all. 

  

As I walked around The College of New Jersey today surveying the games, I took the time to watch some particular players. Along the way, a handful of other kids caught my eye. Some of the top players that I saw on Saturday were the aforementioned Aaron Brown, Rakeem Christmas, Shannon Givens, Markus Kennedy, Khalif Wyatt, Rakeem Brookins, and Jayon James. The following guys also stood out to me: 

Julian Watson ‘09 PG, Arundel (MD)
Kellen Cade ‘09, Hotchkiss School (CT)
Karon Abraham ‘09, Paterson Eastside (NJ)
Azfar Kahn ‘09, East Meadow (NY)
DeOliver Davis ‘10, Hun (NJ)
Lasan Kromah ‘09, Eleanor Roosevelt (MD)
Hayden Palozej ‘09, Stafford (CT)
Reginald Lewis ‘09, Beford (OH)
Jevoy White ‘09, North Plainfield (NJ)
Paris Grant ‘09, Imhotep Charter (PA)
Chase Plummer ‘10, St. Patrick’s (NJ)
Bilal Kelly ‘09, Mariana Bracetti School (PA)
William Harrison ‘09 PG, Wadleigh (NY)
Kevin McGaughey ‘10, Broad Run (VA)
Rico Winston ‘09, Jericho Christian Academy (MD)
Aaron Brown ‘10, St. Benedict’s (NJ)
Keith Brown ‘09, Malboro (MA)
Devon Saddler ‘09, Aberdeen (MD) 

SCHOOL LISTS- 

William Harrison: George Mason, Binghamton, Marist, St. Joseph’s, and Stony Brook
                         Offers: None
                         Favorite: George Mason 

Shannon Givens: Seton Hall, Drexel, Harvard, Stanford, Quinnipiac, LaSalle, and Rutgers
                         Offers: Drexel, LaSalle, Rutgers
                         Favorite: None 

Bilal Kelly: Princeton, Rider, and UConn
               Offers: None
               Favorite: Rider
               Note- Kelly is considering transferring to “either ANC [Academy of the New Church] or Solesbury,” both of which are in Pennsylvania 

Rakeem Christmas: Memphis, Kansas, and Virginia
                            Offers: None
                            Favorite: Memphis 

Rico Winston: Rutgers, St. John’s, and Clemson
                     Offers: None
                     Favorite: None
                     Note- Winston said that he gets “a lot of letters from Clemson.” 

Khalif Wyatt: Temple, St. Joseph’s, Delaware, James Madison, New Hampshire, Siena, Niagara, and Rider
                    Offers: Delaware
                    Favorite: None, “I can’t say right now.” 

Rayner Moquette ‘09, Our Savior New American: Davidson, Virginia Commonwealth, Princeton, Holy Cross, Manhattan, NJIT, and Bucknell
                                Offers: None, but said that Davidson and VCU contacting him the most and are “about to” offer him a scholarship
                                 Favorites: Virginia Commonwealth and Davidson
                                 Note- has a “3.5″ GPA 

Reginald Lewis: Oregon St., Northwestern, Indiana, and Cleveland St.
                       Offers: None, “no one right now.”
                       Favorite: Oregon St. 

Devon Saddler: TCU, Quinnipiac, Towson, and Drexel
                       Offers: TCU
                       Favorite: TCU 

Rakeem Brookins: Georgetown, Texas, Virginia, Providence, Delaware, UPenn, Penn St., Clemson, St. Joseph’s, Temple, George Mason, George Washington, Princeton, Brown, and Buffalo
                           Offers: Delaware and UPenn
                           Favorites: Georgetown, Texas, Providence, and St. Joseph’s
                           Note- has a “3.5″ GPA 

Keith Brown: Yale, Bucknell, Lehigh, Brown, Army, Navy, Holy Cross, and Quinnipiac
                    Offers: None, “no one right now.”
                    Favorites: Navy and Quinnipiac, ”probably Navy or Quinnipiac.” 

Dominique Raney ‘11, Putnam City (OK): Wichita St. and a DII school in Oklahoma
                                Offers: None
                                Favorites: n/a 

The best part of the day came in the last set of games. Inclimate weather forced the NCAA (class of 2011 kids) into the main gym, where basically everyone was at that time. During one of the games, there was a roar from the far court . . . then another . . . and another . . . and so on. I made my way over to the court just in time to see Dominique Raney make a crossover, get to the hole, sky and jam. Apparently, Raney had been putting on a show. There was a massive crowd around all four sides of the court, and people were literally on that court as well as the one next to it. Raney’s display of athleticism and hops summed up the quality of this event. 

The NBA East Draft was a great event. The draft took about five hours total, and despite the length was an enjoyable part of the camp for those involved. Things began with the selection of centers. The top choice at this position was a kid playing up, Rakeem Christmas, a 6′9 rising sophomore from North Catholic (PA). Massanutten (MA) 6′10 rising senior Mouphtaou Yarou went second, and was followed up by 6′8 Daryl McCoy, a rising senior from Hartford (CT). After the centers came the point guards. Another Rakeem went first in this cateogry: 5′10 rising junior Rakeem Brookins of Roman Catholic (PA). After Brookins was Notre Dame Prep (MA) rising senior, 6′1 Antoine Allen. Shannon Givens, a 5′11 rising senior from Academy of the New Church (PA) went third. After the floor generals came the small forwards, and the top choice was never in doubt, as arguably the camp’s best player is a 3. Dalton Pepper, a 6′5 rising senior from Pennsbury (PA) was selected first. Bishop O’Connell (VA) 6′5 rising senior Kevin Jones was chosen after Pepper. Rounding out the top three at the 3 was 6′6 soon-to-be post-grad Mike Burwell from South Kent (CT). The power forwards were slated to go next, and 6′6 rising senior Mike McFadden of Technology (NJ) led the way. Jordan Allen, a 6′5 rising sophomore from Bay Shore (NY) was picked in the two spot. Jamee Jackson, a 6′7 rising senior at St. Anthony’s was chosen third amongst power forwards. Last but not least were the shooting guards. The two-guard is one of the most stacked positions at the event, and 6′2 rising senior Devon Saddler of Aberdeen (MD) was the first 2 picked. Shane Southewell, a 6′5 rising junior from Rice (NY) went second, and 6′2 rising junior Jermaine Pert of Paterson Catholic (NJ) went third. The NBA East Draft may have taken a while, but it turned out well. 

Stay tuned for more from The Hoop Group Elite Camp! 

For more info and updates on both this event and others from the world of high school and AAU basketball from Alex Schwartz, check out http://northstarbasketball.blogspot.com/.