It’s that time again – Registration for the 3rd annual Basketball Elite Southeast Summer Showcase is now live at http://events.BasketballElite.com, and the event will be held on June 2, 2013. This is one of the premier individual showcases on the East coast, and last year we were at full capacity – I love the success rate we’ve had at finding players who will play at the college level, but it’s a lot of planning and preparation in order to make it happen. We have to coordinate our coaches (several have won state basketball titles), and the overall schedule to make sure that players get a full day of solid instruction and play. Our goal for the showcase is the same every year:

“Walk out of the gym a better player.”

Over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to see some of the best basketball coaches, players and world class instructors on the planet. I love the fact that our staff is able to bring those same drills, experience and knowledge to players at all levels.

The results have been phenomenal. We’ve had a huge percentage of alumni who have gone on to play in college – just yesterday, TyQuan Bitting, an alumni from last summer, committed to play for Charleston Southern. On Saturday, our reigning dunk champion Craig Hinton competed on CBS for the National High School Dunk championship. Craig’s committed to VMI, by the way.

This year, I wanted to expand on the overall experience for players and parents who attend – so we’ll be adding new content and information before the event even happens. Registration for the event is not yet available – it will be soon – but if you want the free info we’ll be giving out beforehand, be sure to register – and sign up on the events email list so you can get the inside track on future announcements – at this link.

By Marcus Shockley

The 3rd annual Basketball Elite Southeast Summer Showcase is coming, June 2, 2013. This is one of the premier individual showcases on the East coast, and last year we were at full capacity – I love the success rate we’ve had at finding players who will play at the college level, but it’s a lot of planning and preparation in order to make it happen. We have to coordinate our coaches (several have won state basketball titles), and the overall schedule to make sure that players get a full day of solid instruction and play. Our goal for the showcase is the same every year:

“Walk out of the gym a better player.”

Over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to see some of the best basketball coaches, players and world class instructors on the planet. I love the fact that our staff is able to bring those same drills, experience and knowledge to players at all levels.

The results have been phenomenal. We’ve had a huge percentage of alumni who have gone on to play in college – just yesterday, TyQuan Bitting, an alumni from last summer, committed to play for Charleston Southern. On Saturday, our reigning dunk champion Craig Hinton competed on CBS for the National High School Dunk championship. Craig’s committed to VMI, by the way.

This year, I wanted to expand on the overall experience for players and parents who attend – so we’ll be adding new content and information before the event even happens. Registration for the event is not yet available – it will be soon – but if you want the free info we’ll be giving out beforehand, be sure to sign up on the events email list at this link.

It’s also the best way to keep up with what’s going on with registration.

So stay tuned, and sign up for the mailing list, because if the event sells out, the people on the list will be the first who have the opportunity to get a spot.

This time of year many colleges are looking for players who are still available in the senior class that can play at the college level; At the same time, some players who can play at the Division I level are looking to see if they’ll need to find a Junior College for a year or so to get their classes ready for college. Here’s a current list of some unsigned players and JuCo prospects.

Quinton Ray (PG, 6′, 2013) Middle Creek HS (NC) – True PG who reads the defense extremely well and exploits its weakness. He always finds the open man and loves to run to the floor. He’s very explosive on offense and defense. Incredibly high motor.

Charis Fitzgerald (PG/SG, 6’2″, 2013) West Gadsden HS (FL) – Athletic point guard with a deadly first step and an ability to score from inside or out. Plays above the rim – good change of speed and is effective in the half court or in the transition. Multi positional but will play primarily the PG spot at the college level.

TyQuan Bitting (C, 6’8″, 2013) Mt. Tabor HS (NC) – Long shot blocker who can run the floor. Loads of potential. Improving by leaps and bounds and has become an offensive factor, still has upside. Good hands.

Raekwon Harney (PG, 5’10″, 2013) Winston-Salem Prep (NC) – Elite ballhandler with a ball-on-a-string control who can penetrate the defense and break a press on his own.

JuCo/Postgrad

The following players may be available for JuCo or Postgrad, depending on their situation:

Trey Mitchell (SG/SF, 6’5″, 2013) Olympic HS (NC)

Nate Long (SF, 6’5″, 2013) Mt. Tabor HS (NC)

Deriece Parks (SG/SF, 6’5″, 2013) Olympic HS (NC)

Jaquon Brownridge (G, 6’2″, 2013) Word of God

Mitron Terry (PG, 6’2″, 2014) Webb HS (NC) is a player we’ve mentioned multiple times over the past year, and a player that colleges should be actively recruiting. This past season Terry was more known for playing with UNC commit Isaiah Hicks, but Terry is a solid player in his own right, and has bulked up over the past year. Here’s some junior season highlights.

At showcase events, it’s not easy to make a full assessment of a player. The Phenom 150, organized by Rick Lewis of the Phenom Hoop Report, is one of the best organized individual showcase events in the country. Here are some of our notes from the Spring event.

Most notable players

Ricky Council (SG, 6’4″, 2014). Dynamic guard who can make a lot of good things happen in transition, Council has great court awareness and uses spacing to create mismatches on the break. Can score from outside or in the paint, plays hard and full speed. Agile. Quick hands. Has offers from Gardner-Webb and Radford.

Curtis Jones (SG, 6’3″, 2016) Surprise player of the camp. Best freshman of the camp. Excellent athlete who tremendous bounce. Has a low release on shot. High ceiling as player. Attacks the basket well. Already has several D1 schools in VA interested. High motor, explosive. Elite speed end-to-end.

Luke Maye (PF, 6’7″, 2015) Maye suffered a bruised knee in the previous day’s Carolina Challenge and wasn’t able to go for long at this event. In his few minutes he showed exactly why people are keeping an eye on him; he can score from anywhere with his shot – not just a deep range but mid range as well; and he’s not shy about using it. Can’t really complain about a great shooting big man who likes to get buckets. Also very strong already.

Greg Williams (PG, 6’4″, 2016) Solid prospect w/ length. Plays under control and can handle the ball. Has great size for a point guard but looks like he could become a wing with more size. Already has athleticism needed to be a college prospect.

Gabe Devoe (PG, 6’4″, 2014) Great size and a dynamic, stong guard, Devoe continues to show why he’s a player with Division I offers and a rising profile. Aggressive in transition, he also is effective in the half court and looks to score or find the right teammate with the pass. Always looking to attack and is a solid athlete. Plays solid defense and takes it seriously. Can defend smaller guards and shut them down.

Other standouts

Ashton Brown (SG, 6’3″, 2014) Great body control, crafty and slick, he finds ways to get off clean shots or pass to others for a better look. Great looking deep shot.

Zach Bruns (CG, 6’1″, 2013) Bruns is a pure deep shooter who will get buckets from the perimeter; can pull up on the move, in transition, or in the half court and his shot is always bottom-of-the-net pure. Showed and ability to find breaking players with the deep look ahead pass. More scoring guard than point at this point, but active, aware and high basketball IQ.

Daryl Myers (PG, 5’8″, 2016) Myers is a highlight-reel ballhandler who plays with a flash that is uncommon; coached in this event by NC State point guard Tyler Lewis, who was a flashy point guard in his own right, Myers is crafty and is a wizard with no-look passes. His size is what colleges are no doubt paying attention to, but he’s a lot of fun to watch and has a swagger to his game that frankly reminds of Brandon Jennings.

Taylor Hatfield & Austin Hatfield (G, 6′, 2014) – We always try to scout the Hatfields independently, but the positives in their games are consistent with both guys; Fundamentally sound, they are more combo guards than pure points. Both are excellent deep shooters and passers. Austin tends to play more PG, while Taylor often plays from the SG or SF spot effectively. Both players looked like they have improved and are used to playing against high level competition; both have learned to score inside against bigger players with acrobatic finishes.

Zane Waterman (PF, 6’7″, 2014) Waterman is a player who has improved across the board over the past year – tracking higher across all scouting reports, he’s arrived as a solid post prospect with a great first step from the four and a bit of a nasty streak; in other words, he can beat big men off of the dribble and likes to dunk on you. Strong and bangs in the paint, he has a high motor and plays hard.

Tyler Creammer (C, 6’10″, 2015) Creammer is a testament to how fast a post player can rise with hard work. The first thing about Creammer’s game is that he works hard on the court, every play, from the first tip to the final buzzer. Considering that Creammer had played six games in two days, including three at the Dave Telep Carolina Challenge, the fact that he never slowed down shows how much he wants to compete. Creammer is a back-to-the-basket pure post player who fights in the paint and will be a force as he continues to add muscle and refine his offensive post moves.

Cory Hanes (SF, 6’5″, 2015) Hanes is a very strong small forward who plays above the rim and likes to get out and run in transition. He’s completed the transition from an undersized post player to a true wing and Division I colleges should definitely be looking at him.

Colton Bishop (PG, 6’2″, 2014) Forsyth Country Day (NC) Lock-down defender who is a smooth and crafty/ scorer. Being a scoring PG who is unselfish and makes the other players better by giving them open shots. Excellent 3-point shooter. Holds Division I offers and gym rat mentality has produced results.

Larry Curry III (PG, 6’3″, 2014) – strong PG with good speed and athleticism. Showed an improved ability to hit the 3 today as well.

Will Tibbs (SF, 6’5″, 2014) Has good length and has become a solid wing with a good looking deep shot. Great form and high release.

Austin Collins (G, 6’2″, 2014) Solid all around guard with good awareness and good vision, knows how to find teammates and also knows where he is supposed to be on the floor.

Hakeem Coney (PG, 6’2″, 2014) True point guard with solid physique- already has the build of a college guard. Directs the offense- throws excellent wrap around passes. Leader on the floor. Tough nosed defender. Solid scorer. Competes on both ends. Low release on his jumper and he tends to reach a little too much.

Benjamin Bennett (SF, 6’4″, 2015) Solid athlete who has a lot of the basic tools needed, still a little raw offensively. Has good elevation on jump shot and needs to work on overall consistency, but overall one to keep an eye on. Runs floor really well and looks to get involved.

Ibrahima Diallo (C, 6’10″, 2014) Much stronger showing from the big man this time around, finishing inside consistently and really showing his mobility. Legitimate big man that colleges should be checking out.

Jaron Withers (G, 6’3″, 2014) Attacks the basket hard every time. Very aggressive lefty who is a big time athlete.

Chris Freeman (SG, 6’3″ 2016) Fluid player who can shoot from deep, passes very well and makes an impact in a lot of ways. Has a good handle at the off guard spot and good size/length. High release on his jump shot and can hit the 3 consistently.

Nathan Williams Jr (PF/C, 6’8″, 2015) – Good length- solid offensive rebounder- needs to improve defensive rebounding. Shot needs to get better- no rotation. Has good second bounce and definitely a player who colleges should be monitoring.

JuWuan Wright (SF, 6’4″, 2015) Good length- stood out on several plays and showed good activity. Good athlete.

Final notepad

DeSean Murray (G, 6’3″, 2014) Solid athleticism

Stephen Misenheimer (SG/SF, 6’4″, 2016) A player w/ length who has a nice shooting stroke.

Jeffrey McIlwain (C, 6’8″, 2015) Strong shouldered big who should be able to continue to become a serious post presence. Good rebounder with good hands.

Brandon Gulley (C, 6’7″, 2015) Has good size and plays back-to-the-basket, decent hands and rebounding timing – needs to be more aggressive and polish post game.

Johnathon Pickler (PG, 5’10″, 2015) Can hit the deep shot, knows where to be on the floor, finds teammates consistently with wrap around passes. Release is consistent but low.

Tristan Reese (PG, 5’11″, 2016) Fluid, good change of speed, has grown two inches since last seen and runs the offense eyes-ahead.

James Chavis (SF, 6’5″, 2013) Very good offensive rebounder. High motor- always cleaning up plays.

James Scott (PF, 6’6″, 2014) Finishes well inside.

Kwinton Hinton (SG/SF, 6’5″, 2015 ) Good explosiveness – gets in on a lot of plays on both ends.

Vaughn Johnson (CG, 6′, 2015) Good scorer, deep shooter, can hit mid range.

Ashley Williams (SF, 2014, 6’5″) long player w/ solid athleticism.

Hunter Seacat (PF/C, 6’8″, 2015) Good hands, size, most effective in halfcourt at this time. Needs to increase explosiveness and be more aggressive finishing over other post players. Can get shot off against other bigs but still working on finishing.

Camryn Fort (SG/SF, 6’4″, 2014) Good athlete, can get above the rim, showed a lot of different things worth taking notice of.

RJ Hunt (G, 6′, 2015) Good looking deep shot, consistent, high release.

Douglas Elks (SG, 6′, 2017) Although a middle schooler, showed ability to get to the bucket and good slashing ability against high school players.

Chris Wray of Shelby snags a rebound in his team’s 84-46 win over Smoky Mountain

By Marcus Shockley

Scouting notes from the North Carolina High School basketball 2-A regional matchups, March 5, 2013:

Shelby HS

Chris Wray (SF, 6’6″, 2013) – Lengthy small forward who can handle and slash from the wing and has good size at 6’6″. A couple of times, beat his man off of the dribble from the perimeter in a halfcourt set and handled the ball extensively in the second half. Should be able to play some SG at the college level. Wray had a solid overall game, with 13 points and 12 rebounds, but also registered 6 blocks and grabbed 2 steals. He also had multiple deflections which caused havok as Smoky Mountain attempted to push the ball in transition. Agile and slender, he will need to add quite a bit of bulk but a solid player. Committed to St. Mary’s.

Gave Devoe (CG, 6’3″, 2014) – Strong combo guard who is a solid passer and vocal leader on the floor. Squares up well on his shot and can finish with contact. Solid ballhandler and passer, and should be considered a true combo guard. Physically strong; good in transition and moves well without the ball in the halfcourt. Can use either hand with the dribble but has slightly less control with his left hand. Offered by several Division I programs, including UNCG, who offered after this game.

Donte Falls (SF, 6’5″, 2013) – active athlete with a soft touch and high release. Struggled with consistency in the first half but really became productive in the second half – led all scorers with 20 pts for the game and grabbed 8 rebounds. Falls is a great free throw shooter, athletic and long. Squares up well on his shot and is poised. Definitely a college prospect with gaining interest from several schools.

Notes: Shelby HC Aubrey Hollified says that all three players have been big all season, and when one of them isn’t having a good game, the other two have been able to step up. Shelby won this game 84-46 and will face Cuthbertson in the Regional finals on Saturday, March 9

Smoky Mountain HS

Jayce Wolf (PG, 5’9″, 2016) Wolf is undersized but very quick. He has a very good hesitation dribble and a solid handle. Had 6 assists to 3 TO’s in this game. Size is an issue at this point, but has an ability to get off a floater in the lane over bigger defenders.

Cuthbertson HS

Shelton Mitchell (PG, 6’3″, 2014) Dynamic guard with an elite handle in traffic and ability to beat multiple defenders off of the dribble. Size, poise and length makes him a matchup problem for smaller guards. Was consistent from outside in this game – shot 2 of 3 from deep- but made his living at the line in a game where opponent stalled for most of the second half. Shot 12-16 from the line. There’s a lot to like about Mitchell and his game; he has a high basketball IQ and awareness; an ability to score and run the point; poise. The biggest knock on Mitchell’s game continues to be his shot form, which is a slingshot style – this will be an issue against bigger guards with length at the college level. However, Mitchell is a high major player without question. Committed to Wake Forest.

Lucious McMillon (SF, 6’5″, 2013) Solid athlete with bounce and good quickness. Moves well without the ball and has the athleticism to potentially play at the college level. Definitely looks like he could play and defend the 3 spot. Division II colleges should take a look.

Isaiah Cureton (SF, 6’4″, 2013) Another solid athlete who has a good build and can play the wing. Free throw shot form looks good and stuck with his man against a very disciplined motion attack from Trinity HS. Division II colleges should be looking.

Trinity HS

Jarrod Rogers (PG, 5’10″, 2014) Slender, but true point guard with really good quickness and passing. Very poised and can hit the deep shot. Commits on defense. Right now tracking as a Division III prospect, but with more strength could rise.

Daniel Newcomer (SG, 6’0″, 2014) Scoring guard with tenacious defense and solid ability to score. Undersized and slight of build, but still showed an ability to beat his man and score against the solid athletes of Cuthbertson. I am tracking Newcomer as a Division III prospect at this time.

Wake Forest commmit Shelton Mitchell of Cuthbertson addresses the media following his team’s 46-30 defeat of Trinity HS.

–

Want to know more? You can follow Marcus Shockley on Twitter, right this second.

Top recruit Isaac Copeland and the Adidas-sponsored Garner Road Bulldogs will be in attendance.

One of the biggest myths in college recruiting is that in order to get exposure, you should play AAU basketball, and that will automatically get you “seen” by college coaches and scouts. But the reality is that not all AAU events are created equally. Some are valid, big time events with many college coaches and scouts in attendance. Others are held in empty gyms with little competition and do little to impact players’ recruitment.

Finding quality AAU events is not always easy, and AAU teams are constantly looking for good places to travel which will not only have good competition but hopefully some exposure as well.

This is one of the events that accomplishes both of those things.

The inaugural Basketball Elite Early Bird Review AAU Tournament will be held at the J.D. Lewis Center in Raleigh, NC on March 15-17, 2013.  Cost to enter the tournament is a mere $200 and several high profile teams will be in a attendance. Not only that, but it’s the same weekend as the North Carolina High School state championships – also held in Raleigh – which means that the college coaches who descend on those games will be able to hop over and catch as many recruits as they can in one weekend.

In addition, Basketball Elite will have multiple scouts covering all courts at the event – looking for players who colleges should be recruiting and tracking. We will have more scouts at this event than any event we’ve ever covered in the past.

Even better, NetCastSports.com will be broadcasting this tournament live as well. NCSN has broadcast high profile high school and AAU including nationally ranked teams such as Oak Hill and Wesleyan, and brings high definition broadcasting into the gym, giving the players even more visibility.  This is not just a fuzzy camera phone catching some action (usually with someone’s head in the way), but a full HD broadcast with play by play, multiple camera angles and color commentary.

You can sign up your AAU team for the tournament at this link, which shows all of the upcoming tournaments at Garner Road, or contact:

Byron Solomon
Cell: (919) 395-6243
Email: grbasketballclub@yahoo.com

Sign up today! The deadline to get in on this is fast approaching!

Tickets for the sold-out rematch between Greensboro Day and Wesleyan will be impossible to come by, but you can still see the game. NetCast Sports Network will be broadcasting the game online at this link. This game will feature several future collegiate players as well as some of the top basketball prospects in the nation, including Christian Hairston (SF, 6’7, ’13) of Greensboro Day who has signed with Furman and his teammate Reggie Dillard (SG, 6’3, ’13) who has signed with Presbyterian. Greensboro Day has several other solid collegiate recruits such as Reed Lucas (SG, 6’4, 2013) which helped them remain undefeated until last week’s loss to Shannon Hale-led Christ School.

Wesleyan has guard JaQuel Richmond (PG, 6’1, ’14) who has offers from Indiana and Ohio State, Theo Pinson (SG/SF, 6’6, ’14) who has offers from North Carolina and Duke, Donovan Gilmore (SF/PF, 6’7, ’14) who has offers from several schools including College of Charleston, Trey Mitchell (SF, 6’7, 2013), a VMI commit and one of the top freshman in the nation, Harry Giles (SF, 6’8′, ’16) who has interest from Duke, UNC, NC State and Wake Forest.

Watch the game at this link, game time is 7 PM ET on February 5.

NetCast Sports broadcasts multiple games during the high school and AAU season, and while monthly subscribers will automatically have access to the game, NCSN has made available ‘day passes’ at a discounted price of $1.99.

Paul White, L.J. Peak and Whitney Young have hit the top 5 across several polls. Photo Source: MaxPreps

By Marcus Shockley

This national high school basketball ranking combines multiple available polls for a period of time into a single poll, and creates a ranking for each team based on their average ranking, number of times they are ranked in the various polls, the highest ranking that teams has in those polls and the average ranking. Read more about today’s cumulative ranking below.

Notes: This week’s poll includes four sources: Hoopniks, ESPN, USA Today and PrepNation. MaxPreps also released polls during this period but I haven’t included them, due to the fact that they segment private academies from public high schools. I am not sure how, or if, I will incorporate their rankings back into the cumulative rankings.

The top two in the poll remain the same, although all polls have Montverde Academy at #1, with the exception of USA Today, which has Findlay Prep at the top spot. However, movement in the rest of the rankings, as polls vary widely on schools such as Prime Prep, Huntington Prep and St. Anthony. Once again I’m listing the top 30.

Finally: In the poll listing, the ‘high’ value represents the highest ranking in any poll that team received during the ranking period.
‘Qty’ represents how many polls they were ranked in. ‘AVG’ represents their average ranking in all polls where they were ranked.

–

Want to know more? You can follow Marcus Shockley on Twitter.

–

TrueRank is ™ and © 2013 Neptune Media Group, LLC.

Kennedy Meeks, who recently committed to play his collegiate basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels, talks about how he sees himself fitting in at UNC, and how he approaches the game.