Many of the top prep players in the country -- many of whom are being recruited by UConn -- will be in Springfield, Mass. this weekend for a pair of BasketBull, LLC tournaments.
Today, the inaugural First Eight tourney will pit the best 17u and 16u travel teams not only from New England but around North America, including Canada.
Here's a small sampling of some of the 17u players who will be in action July 10th. Grassroots Canada Top Players: Tristan Thompson, 6'10 PF, Findlay Prep '10 (committed to Texas; #1 PF in 2010 Scout.com); Myck Kabonga, 6'2 PG, St. Benedict's Prep '11 (committed to Texas; #3 PG in 2011 Scout.com); Dwight Powell, 6'10 PF, IMG Academy '10 (Harvard, Stanford, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Virginia); Cory Joseph, 6'3 PG, Findlay Prep '10 (Ohio St., Georgetown. among others; #7 PG in 2010 Scout.com);
JP Kambola, 6'9 PF, St. Benedict's Prep '10 (UConn, Kansas, Rutgers, among others) New England Playaz Top Players: Nate Lubick, 6'8 WF, St. Mark's School '10, (committed to Georgetown; #11 PF ESPN.com); Austin Carroll, 6'4 '10, Brewster Academy '10 (Davidson, Washington St, Fordham, among others);
Naadir Tharpe, 6'1 PG, Brewster Academy '11 (Arizona, BC, UConn, Purdue, among others); Dajuan Coleman, 6'9 F/C, Jamesville-Dewitt '12 (Syracuse, UConn; #1 Player in 2012 ESPN.com); Denzel Brito, 6'1 PG, Lawrence Academy '10 (UConn, Stanford, Providence, among others) Mass Rivals Top Players: Carson Desroisers, 6'11 C, Central Catholic HS '10 (Pitt, Syracuse, Stanford, BC; #8 C ESPN.com); Evan Smotrycz, 6'9 F, New Hampton School, '10 (committed to Michigan; #12 PF ESPN.com); Matt Brown, 6'3 Combo Guard, Northfield Mount Hermon '10, (Providence, George Mason, among others); Jordan Laguerre, 6'0 PG, Trinity HS '10, (Patriot League, A-10's) Connecticut Basketball Club Top Players:
Majok Majok (Ater's cousin), 6'8 PF, South Kent School '10 (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Providence, among others); Danny Lawhorn, 5'10 PG, Hartford Public HS '10 (committed to: Boston College); Chris Evans, 6'1 G, Taft School '10, (America East, NEC schools); Dominque Langston, 6'3 SG, St. Thomas Moore '10 (Penn St, Rutgers, Quinnipiac, among others New Heights (NY) Top Players:
Devon Collier, 6'7 PF, St. Anthony's HS '10, (Memphis, St. John's, UConn, Villanova, among others); Ashton Pankey, 6'7 PF, St. Anthony's HS '10, (Seton Hall, St. John's, Rice, among others); Jayvaughn Pinkston, 6'5 SF, Bishop Laughlin '10, (Louisville, Tennessee, Florida, Memphis, among others); Corey Edwards, 6'0 PG, Christ the King HS '11, (Kentucky, Villanova, St. John's, among others); Hakeem Harris, 6'1 PG, Blair Academy '10, (Davidson, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Harvard, among others); Derrick Williams, 6'6 PF, St. Anthony's HS '10, (Fordham, Miami (FL), Seton Hall, among others) Florida Rams Top Players:
Fabricio de Melo, 7'0 F/C, Sagemont HS '10, (UConn, Syracuse, Louisville;
#4 C in 2010 ESPN.com); Damien Leonard, 6'4 SG, JL Mann HS '11, (Wake Forest, Clemson, Florida, among others); Tim Hardaway Jr., 6'4 SG, Miami Palmetto HS '10, (Michigan, Minnesota, Florida, among others); Josh Langford, 6'6 WF, J.O. Johnson HS '10, (committed to: Louisville); William Sheehay, 6'5 SG, South Fork HS '10, (Auburn, Stanford, Northeastern, among others); Khyle Marshall, 6'7 F, Flanagan HS '10, (Auburn, Miami (FL), Kansas St., among others) Expressions Elite (MA) Top Players: Billy Baron, 6'2 Combo Guard, Worcester Academy '10, (Rhode Island, A-10's and Patriot League); Tyler Olander, 6'9 F, Worcester Academy '11, (Providence, Vanderbilt, La Salle, and Fairfield); Kaleb Tarczewski, 6'10 C, St. Mark's School '12, (Boston College, Providence, among others) Team Philly Top Players: Tony Chenault, 6'1 PG, Nueman-Goretti '10, (Committed to: Wake Forest); Daniel Stewart, 6'6 WF, Nueman-Goretti '10, (Rutgers. Delaware, St. Joe's, among others); Keith Coleman, 6'8 F, Cheltenham HS '10, (Marquette, Nebraska, among others); Tyrone Garland, 6'0 PG, Bartram John HS '10, (Butler, Temple, Drexel, Nebraska, among others) For further details on the First Eight Tournament, to view the schedule and list of committed teams please follow this link to the tournament webpage:
http://www.basketbull.org/tournaments/26/First-Eight.phpOn Saturday and Sunday, the National Invitational will feature over 100 teams from all over the country in what's being called the strongest tournament in the northeast during the NCAA "live" period. National programs such as Florida Rams, Grassroots Canada, New Heights, Team Philly, New England Playaz, Hunting Park, Long Island Lightning and many others will converge on the birthplace of basketball for a chance to showcase their skills. Some notable players (17 & Under) participating in the event include:
*
Fab Melo (ACC/BIG EAST)* Josh Langford (Louisville) of the Florida Rams
* Tristan Thompson (Texas)
* Myck Kabongo (Texas)
* Dwight Powell (ACC/BIG EAST) of Grassroots Canada
* Nate Lubick (Georgetown)
*
DaJaun Coleman (ACC/BIG EAST)* Austin Carroll (A-10/BIG EAST)
*
Nadir Tharpe (PAC-10/ACC) of NE Playaz* Tony Chennault (Wake Forest) of Team Philly
* Evan Smotrycz (Michigan)
* Carson Desrosiers (BIG EAST) of Mass Rivals
* Majok Majok (A-10/BIG EAST)
*
Andre Drummond (ACC/BIG EAST) of CBC* Devon Collier (BIG EAST/ACC)
* Jayvaughn Pinkston (BIG EAST)
* Derrick Williams (BIG EAST/A-10) of New Heights
* Billy Baron (A-10) of Expressions
* Tyler Olander (A-10) of Expressions
For further details on the National Invitational and to view the list of committed teams please follow this link to the tournament webpage:
http://www.basketbull.org/tournaments/18/Hall-of-Fame-National-Invitatio nal.php
Labels: Fab de Melo
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Here's a decent piece sent to me by Patrick Crawley, managing editor of the Basketball Fiend blog. He lists the top 10 collegiate programs in terms of sending players to the NBA, and UConn checks in at No. 1, with 12 players currently in the league (13 with Hasheem Thabeet, and maybe 14 with A.J. Price) and 14 cumulative All-Star appearances. The blog entry was written shortly before the 2009 NBA draft.
