|
LAS VEGAS -- Lots of talent. Lots of college coaches in the stands. Lots of lights at night. Welcome to the 344-team adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas.
Here is a roundup of Monday's action:
The most impressive win of the day was by Ken Harris' Alabama Ice, which beat Tim Thomas' Playaz Gold 89-66. Simply a case of too much 6-foot-9 rising senior small forward Travis Outlaw, 6-11 rising senior center James Lang, 6-8 rising sophomore Joey Cameron and 6-3 rising senior combo guard Jai
Miller for the Playaz Gold, who are also loaded with high-major recruits (6-11
rising senior Darryl Watkins, 6-8 Will Sheridan, 6-7 Terrence Roberts, 6-4
Marquis Webb and 6-5 Earl Smith.) With the victory, the Ice should to be
considered one of the strong favorites for the Big Time title.
Word coming from college coaches is that USC has received two verbals from
the Stewart twins, the high-flying brothers from Rainier Beach High in Seattle. Lefty Lodrick and righty Rodrick, 6-5 guards, should be able to play two seasons in Southern California with the Craven twins, Errick and Derrick. And no, 6-8 power forward Nick Stiggers (Montclair Prep/Van Nuys, Calif.) has not verballed to USC as has been reported elsewhere. But, the Trojans are in the lead big time for the native of Memphis.
Green Valley High School in Las Vegas is not only one of the co-hosts of the Big Time (the open division pool play is being held at both Green Valley and Durango High School campuses), but it's also the school of 6-10 rising senior Mitch Platt. Having lost considerable weight in the past year and upgraded his conditioning, Platt was very impressive on Monday and his recruiting is gathered plenty of steam.
Everyone knows that 6-5 rising senior Olu Famutini (Northwestern H.S./Flint, Mich.) can play, but he's took it to another level on Monday. When you're a long, smooth athlete like Famutimi, it often looks like you're cruising, but on Monday, he was really bringing it. He was playing hard on both ends of the court. In one two-minute sequence, we saw Famutini make three steals on three consecutive possessions. He picked the ball from a ballhandler on one play, used his long arms to deflect a pass on
the next possession, and then used his cat-like quickness to take a drop step
and make a passing lane steal (he swiped a bounce pass on the bounce), which
led to one of his high-flying dunks in transition. He's always had offense,
but when Famutini decides to bring it, he can be dominating.
Marquise Kately, who just finished his senior year at Riodan High in San Francisco, was impressive for the Oakland Slam N Jam Soldiers. Kately, a 6-5, 220-pound
small forward, is one of the most explosive athletes in the tournament. He
threw down several ferocious dunks. He's headed to Maine Central Institute
(MCI) in Pittsfield, Maine for at least one year of prep school. The word we
heard on Monday was that he's more likely going to need two years of MCI. He
made a verbal to Cal and it'll be interesting to see where he finally ends up
after his tenure in the Northeast.
Drawing a big crowd to any of their games are the Juice All-Stars of New York City, which features 5-11 rising junior Sebastian Telfair (Lincoln H.S./Brooklyn, N.Y.), 6-3 rising senior combo guard Ramell Bradley (Park West H.S./New York, N.Y.), 6-10 rising senior center Chris Taft (Xaverian H.S./Brooklyn, N.Y.) and 6-6 rising senior swingman Elliah Karron Clark (Winchendon Prep/Winchendon, Mass.).
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.
| |
|
