Magnum Rolle had arguably one of the better basketball outings of any of the players in the 2010 NBA Summer League, which is why he made our Third Team All League for the event.

Magnum is a second round pick who looks like he has a shot to stick in the league.

James Blackburn had a quick conversation with Rolle during a break, where he talked about “the best dunk he ever had” which was over two seven footers in high school. Not only is that an impressive dunk, but playing against a high school team with two seven foot players on the roster is no joke, either.

As far as the adjustment to playing in the NBA from college, he says he is adjusting well, every day is another process and that he is in the summer league to learn. The coaching staff is really pleased with the rate he is working and moving into the pro game. Magnum says his goal is to “get better every day”.

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By Alex Kline

Raleigh (N.C.) rising sophomore Rodney Purvis was one of just four 2013 prospects to be invited to this year’s NBA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, but the fifteen year-old showed he’s got plenty of game for his age.

The 6-3, 185-pounder finished twelfth overall in scoring average at the event at 11.5 points per contest; besting the next-closest person in his class by over 70 spots. He continued his run in Orlando. Arguably the best guard in the class of 2013, Purvis was outstanding in leading his team to the U15 Gold championship. Rodney had a team high 23 points in the semifinal win over the Texas Titans, going 11/16 at the line, including 8/10 in the fourth quarter as CP3 mounted a major comeback. Purvis is athletic, handles the rock, passes well, shoots it from deep, attacks the basket, and plays hard. There is not much on the court that Purvis cannot do.

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While it’s still extremely early in his recruitment, Purvis is already picking up verbal scholarship offers. “Georgia Tech was the most recent school to offer me,” he said. “I’ve been offered by Xavier, Baylor, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina Central, Virginia Commonwealth, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest.” Purvis went to Virginia Tech for an unofficial visit about a month ago and has been so caught up with AAU that he has not had time for anything else.

This Fall, Purvis will be playing at Upper Room Christian Academy. Rodney has quite a few visits lined up. He says he will “definitely visit Duke and Carolina this Fall but I haven’t set a date yet.” Already scheduled are trips to “Miami, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Florida, and Alabama” for football games.

The sky is the limit for the 2013 prospect who has already became a star. Look for him to keep his solid reputation and comparison to Washington Wizards star John Wall.

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Derrick Favors, the number one pick of the New Jersey Nets, joined the team in summer league action as he began his life as a professional basketball player. Here’s our exclusive footage of Derrick as he talks about what he noticed in his first NBA action.

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By Marcus Shockley

ESPN has jumped onto the story of the underside of basketball recruiting, something we’ve written about quite often in the past. It’s actually surprising that it has taken this long for the top sports network in the country to start reporting on something that is so obvious and out of control.
In a new story by Dana O’Neil, she interviews college coaches on what’s wrong with summer recruiting:

Here’s the silver lining for college basketball: Virtually every coach thinks that the majority of Division I programs are not intentionally breaking major rules. Of the 20, only four said 25 percent or more of the programs were, in the words of one coach, “committing felonies.”

“I had a question about e-mailing a kid and I asked another coach,” someone explained. “He thought we could; I thought we couldn’t. We both called our compliance directors and got two different answers.”

This article is apparently just part of a larger series about this subject. But it barely scratches the surface of the issue. The real issue is that during the summer, young talented basketball players travel all over the country to try and play as much as possible. Most players do not have their parents travelling with them, and many of them come from poor neighborhoods, broken homes or similar situations. Regardless of tough exteriors and tattoos, most of these players are young, polite and impressionable, easily manipulated by world-wise adults who only see dollar signs.

This is the real problem. As long as there are adults who think they can profit from a basketball player, and basketball players who are not experienced in the game of life, there will manipulation, corruption, and yes, even money changing hands. It’s a serious issue, and for now, the NCAA seems to be more concerned with coaches than other people talking to the players.

The NCAA should be creating a program that guides players with free consulting on college, financial decisions, and life. But I seriously doubt that will happen, because that takes responsibility and ownership. It’s much easier for the NCAA to just hire more people to watch the coaches, an increasingly ineffectual tactic.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Arby’s. All opinions are 100% mine.

Sports leagues and teams, especially those leagues where the games rarely appear on television, are always looking for new ways to market. A great case study is Arby’s new campaign, where they ignite interactivity while at the same time promote a new offering. Arby’s has a new campaign where you can Create Your Own Personalized Arby’s Jr., which introduces, or, rather, re-introduces, the Arby’s Jr. Deluxe. Users can “juniorize” themselves by entering in text and creating an online message that will be spoken by an animated “Arby’s Jr.” character, with options for which type of voice to use and even a way to upload their own voice.

Here’s what sports marketers like Atlanta SEO Company | Web Chimpy can take from this: Arby’s has a new sandwich they want to promote. By creating an interactive ‘game’ that is fun for users, it hammers the marketing home and creates more than brand awareness. After a few minutes on site, users are more than familiar with specific new menu items that Arby’s is offering.

It also creates a fun familiarity with Arby’s and their new sandwich. Sports marketers could use something like this to promote game schedules or some other aspect of a team with an animated team mascot. Anyone who is looking for a clever way to communicate product (or, perhaps is hungry) should check out Arby’s new promotion.

Visit my sponsor: Create your own personalized Arby’s Jr.

By Marcus Shockley

Justin Manns, a 6’11” center for Kent State, dropped by the Triad Pro-Am in Winston-Salem to take in some basketball. Justin wasn’t going to play in the night’s games but since he’s from the area, having attended East Forsyth High School, he was back in his hometown, visiting his young niece and other family.

Justin expects next year’s team at Kent State to be young, after having lost six seniors. With three incoming JuCo players, he says they’ll be a much younger team all around, so it’s going to be a transition from last year. Many of the Kent State players are currently working together already and participating in a pro am event in Cleveland. Of course, that means that Justin, as a redshirt junior, will be one of the few upperclassmen and will likely need to shoulder a lot of the burden of transitioning a new set of players.

Justin says that when he looks to play in a Pro Am, it’s important to find one where you will be challenged, and he wants to try and always play against other talented players that will make him improve his own game.

Justin Manns

Lance Stephenson has been a known basketball phenom for many years, despite having his detractors. Drafted in the second round by the Indiana Pacers in this year’s NBA draft, he’s working to make the Pacers roster and had a solid summer league playing in front of Larry Bird in Orlando. Here’s some exclusive video of the Lance’s thoughts about playing in front of a legend, and the difference between playing in college and playing in the NBA:

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Sports fans have long enhanced their enjoyment of sporting events, but media outlets not familiar with the practice will almost always lump sports such as football and basketball along with horse racing, which takes a completely different type of knowledge. The skills to be successful at horse betting do not automatically translate over to other sports.

There are people who are exceptional at horse racing betting, often knowing who will win based on a horse’s previous track record (literally!) and the age of the horse, the competition, etc. It’s impressive.

By James Blackburn

James scouted the 2010 NBA Summer League games in Orlando, FL, and has compiled his list of the best players from all of the games played. This list represents just the play from the summer league games.

James’ Note: These teams and selections are based off of what I saw in the first 3 days of the League. There were 2 days, I was not there- Thursday and Friday- so I missed 2 games. I was able to see each player play in 3 games live. These, are in my mind the top players based on their performances. The stats beside each player are his accumulated statistics through the first 3 games.
Each team is composed of 2 guards, 2 forwards, and a center.
Eric Maynor Summer League

1st Team
G- Eric Maynor (Thunder)- 91 min, 15-29 FG, 3-6 3 pt, 10-14 FT, 3 rpg, 5 apg, 1 spg, 14.3 ppg
G- Jrue Holiday (76ers)- 97 min, 18-38 FG, 4-12 3pt, 18-28 FT, 2 rpg, 6 apg, 2 spg, 19 ppg
F- Terrence Williams (Nets)- 102 min, 24-56 FG, 2-6 3pt, 19-29 FT, 4 rpg, 7 apg, 1 spg, 23 ppg
F- Paul George ( Pacers)- 86 min, 12-31 FG, 2-14 3pt, 11-12 FT, 7 rpg, 2 apg, 3 spg, 12.3 ppg
C- Byron Mullens (Thunder)- 85 min, 15-30 FG, 22-33 FT, 5.3 rpg, 0.33 apg, 1 spg, 1 bpg, 17.3 ppg

2nd Team
G-Lance Stephenson ( Pacers)- 84 min, 21-28 FG, 13-19 FT, 3 rpg, 2 apg, 1 bpg, 18.3 ppg
G- Gerald Henderson (Bobcats)- 93 min, 14-33 FG, 2-7 3pt, 18-20 FT, 3.3 rpg, 3 apg, 1 spg, 16 ppg
F- Damion James (Nets)- 96 min, 21-48 FG, 4-10 3 pt, 16-28 FT, 6.3 rpg, 1 apg, 1 spg, 20.7 ppg
F- Derrick Brown (Bobcats)-93 min, 16-31 FG, 2-4 3pt, 12-17 FT, 6 rpg, 1 spg, 15.3 ppg
C- Marreese Speights (76ers)- 87 min, 15-42 FG, 8-9 FT, 9 rpg, 1 asp, 1 spg, 12.7 ppg

3rd Team
G-Jodie Meeks (76ers)- 87 min, 15-37 FG, 4-12 3pt, 18-21 FT, 4 rpg, 2 apg, 1 spg, 17.3 ppg
G-James Harden ( Thunder)- 101 min, 9-27 FG, 1-12 3 pt, 40-46 FT, 4.3 rpg, 2 apg, 2 spg, 1 bpg, 19.7 ppg
F- Luke Harangody (Celtics)- 79 min, 18-36 FG, 6-12 3pt, 7-8 FT, 6.3 rpg, 1 apg, 1 bpg, 16.3 ppg
F- Magnum Rolle (Pacers)- 78 min, 13-22 FG, 0-1 3pt, 6-9 FT, 5.3 rpg, 3 bpg, 10.7 ppg
C- Kosta Koufos (Jazz)- 72 min, 12-25 FG, 12-20 FT, 8.3 rpg, 2.5 bpg, 12 ppg

Players To Watch (Note-could not be selected to 1/2/3 teams to be eligible)
Best Undrafted Player
Jaycee Carroll (Celtics- PG undrafted out of Utah State)-82 min, 17-38 FG, 2-10 3pt, 4-7 FT, 3.7 rpg, 3 apg, 1 spg, 13.3 ppg

Best 2nd round draft pick
Jeremy Evans (Jazz)- 45 min, 4-8 FG, 2-3 FT, 2.7 rpg, 1 apg, 1 spg, 1 bpg, 3.3 ppg

A lot has been made in recent days about the NBA, collusion, college athletes and big up front payouts from agents. But there’s too much hand wringing about fans and their favorite sportsbook, and too much blame laid on the athletes and universities that come along after the infractions. It’s not about the casual fan and his online sportsbook, or his online sports betting, it’s about agents and their desire for a big payday. If you want to stop payouts to college athletes, punish the agents, and it will stop.