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TEANECK, N.J. -- A roundup of news and notes out of the adidas ABCD Camp on Tuesday:
Six-foot rising senior point guard Maureece Rice (Strawberry Mansion H.S./Philadelphia), who is expected to pass Wilt Chamberlain as the most prolific scorer
in Philadelphia high school history, has left camp after the first day. Allegedly, Rice was upset that he had only taken three shots in his team's first five possessions. His teammates were glad to see him go. Go figure.
There are two Tyler Smiths at the ABCD camp. The first is a 6-2 point guard who will be a post-graduate at West Nottingham Prep (Colora, Md.). The other is a rising 6-6, 210-pound junior power forward from Giles County H.S. in Pulaski, Tennessee. Both Tyler Smiths are very talented prospects.
Injury report: 6-2 rising senior point guard Jamual Warren (Holyoke H.S./Holyoke, Mass.) has injured his ankle and isn't expected to play anymore at ABCD. ... Brian Butch (West H.S./Appleton, Wis.), the talented 6-11 smooth shooting center, is hobbled with an injured ankle.
Who Looked Good
Granted, there were other outstanding performances on Tuesday, but here are a few we couldn't ignore:
6-10 rising senior Kendrick Perkins (Ozen H.S./Beaumont, Texas) looked NBA good. He's a solid 265-pounds of muscle and he's not afraid to dish out
the contact in the paint. Coupled with good footwork, he put on his own
version of a clinic Tuesday.
6-10, 305-pound rising senior James Lang is showing off why we labeled him as a top 10 player in our pre-summer rankings. The Alabama (Central Park
Christian H.S./Birmingham) strongman has been playing strong and playing hard. He's a real handful and nearly unstoppable when he gets the ball down low. He's a bruiser,
both on offense and defense.
6-3 rising senior point guard Mustafa Shakur (Friends Central H.S./Philadelphia) has been getting lots of accolades for his point
guard play in camp. He's very skilled, athletic, but best of all, he makes excellent decisions. Shakur can score when it's there, but he's also a great
passer. His matchup on Tuesday with heralded New York City rising junior, 5'11 Sebastian Telfair (Lincoln H.S./Brooklyn, N.Y.) was called a draw by
some, while others gave the nod to Telfair.
A sleeper who is fast becoming a national name is 6-3 rising junior shooting guard Mathew Barrow, Jr. (Central H.S./Baton Rouge, La.). This kid has been
sensational in camp and he's scoring pretty much any way possible. He's a top 50 talent in the Class of 2004.
Another new name to know is 6-11, 220-pound postman Malick Badiane from Senegal, who arrived at adidas ABCD Camp on Tuesday after playing in the
Global Games in Dallas for his home country. The native of Thies, Senegral, from a distance, would remind many of Kevin Garnett, who is an idol of many
young African players. Badiane looked sensational in making an NBA move from the wing, jabbing his man, jab-stepping him again, created some space with the defender
backing up and knocking down a sweet 3-pointer. And the athletic Badiane is
tough, attacking the basket.
The best dunk of the day came from 6-8 rising senior Tyrone Nelson (Hempstead H.S./Hempstead, Texas) who flew in from the wing and went airborne. That part
of the dunk was pretty eye-catching, but he finished the dunk by holding on to the rim, lost control of the rim with his legs parallel to the ground and took
a nasty-looking fall. Nelson did get up on his own and should be ready to play today. Still, it was quite an spectacular dunk.
Who Didn't Look Good
Six-foot junior point guard Courtney Nelson (Bloomfield Tech H.S./Bloomfield, N.J.) and his teammate, 6-2 off guard Jamar Nutter (Seton Hall Prep H.S./West
Orange, N.J.) have both caught a severe case of "Me-itis". Nelson definitely has a fascination with dribbling the basketball, staying on the ball for interminably long periods of time before putting up some junk or, passing to Nutter. It's almost as if he has never touched a ball before and loves the tactile sensation of the rock. Nutter is trying to break the unofficial camp record for most shots taken per touch, per minute, per quarter, per game, and for the camp total. This makes their team very ugly to watch, and the buzz, buzz, buzz, starting to come from the college coaches is one of concern as to Nutter's ability to play within any team structure.
5-11 rising sophomore point guard Dwain Williams (San Joaquin Memorial H.S./Fresno, Calif.) is struggling. Though he's playing the point, he doesn't
seem to understand the point guard position. Williams doesn't know how to make entry passes to the wing or recognize matchups, and has taken several
ill-advised shots. Despite not dropping many shots, he does have promise as a scorer. The good news for Williams is he still has three years of high school left, plenty
of time to figure it out.
David Benezra and Mark Mayemura cover the national college basketball recruiting scene. E-mail at: hoopsusa@mindspring.com or call (818) 783-2244 or (818) 783-2212 for subscription information.
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