By Alex Kline

Justin Anderson basketball recruiting

Justin Anderson is the next big name in the state of Maryland for high school basketball.

With Quinn Cook leaving DeMatha for Oak Hill, the rising junior becomes one of premier prospects to come out of the state. Anderson takes it in stride and is very humble about his role at national powerhouse Montrose Christian. Currently, he is playing the U17 American National team overseas in Germany and fairing quite well. This is just one of many accomplishments to add to Justin’s resume.

Anderson is extremely proud to be a part of the American squad. “We’re doing good,” he said. “This is a great opportunity I have playing with the best players in the grade ahead of me.” Anderson is only sixteen and is the youngest player on the team by a couple of months. “I’ve gotten learn a lot from my teammates,” stated Justin. While they are thriving and going for gold, Justin continues to play his game and play his role.

His game is exciting to watch. He is energetic and lively on the court as he is a defensive presense. Anderson slashes to the basket, as well. He is an excellent scorer and very versatile. The only part of his game that hurts his versatility is his ball handling skills. The 6-foot-5 small forward needs to gain a handle in order to take his game to the next level. However, his game is great. At one point he was a top fifteen player in the class of 2012. Now he is in the top forty.

Currently, Justin’s recruitment is steady and he is drawing interest from tons of big name schools. “Right now, the five schools who are recruiting me the hardest are Maryland, Virginia, Duke, Texas and Oklahoma,” he said. “I would say that is my top five in no specific order.” However, one school has to stand out to Anderson as they are the only ones to offer. Maryland is the only school to give Justin a scholarship at the moment. Along with that, they are very close to him with his school being in Maryland. One of his former teammates, Terrence Ross, was once committed to the Terps.

Once he gets back to America, Justin will run with his Boo Williams AAU squad into the Nike Peach Jam in Georgia and AAU Nationals in Florida. As he plays some more AAU in the live period against some of the top players in the country, coaches will notice who he is and why they want him. Look for the rest of July to be a real eye opener for colleges on Justin Anderson.

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Adonis Thomas basketball
Adonis Thomas – interested in UNC?

We continue our coverage of the 2010 Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions with James Blackburn’s scouting reports on the Class of 2011:

Willy Kouassi (C, 6’10”, 220)
Life Skills Center
Miami, FL
AAU Team- Team Alabama

Scouting Report
Shot blocker and rebounder- runs the floor well

College Interest
Marquette, Georgetown, UAB

Interview
Is going to work on getting quicker this summer and his post moves. Likes to watch Dwight Howard and learn from him

Chris Jones (PG, 5’8″, 170)
Melrose HS
Memphis, TN
AAU team- Memphis Magic Elite

Scouting Report
Quick, good ball handler, scorer, hit a tough 3 at top of key to put game into OT against Connecticut Basketball Club.

College Interest
Committed to Tennessee

Sterling Gibbs (PG, 6’1″, 170)
Seton Hall Prep
Scotch Plains, NY
AAU team- New York Panthers

Scouting Report
Very quick, deceptive with the ball. Can break man down off dribble.

College Interest
Committed to Maryland

Quinn Cook (PG, 5’11”, 155)
Player Highlights
Dematha Catholic HS
Hyattsville, MD
AAU team- DC Assault

Scouting Report
Pass first point guard, ball handling, finishing moves

College Interest
Duke, Georgetown, Kansas State, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio State, Tennessee, Villanova

Interview
He has visited UNC, Villanova, Wake Forest, and Georgetown. He said he needs to work on his leadership skills and he likes to pattern his game after Chris Paul and Raymond Felton.

Cezar Guerrero (PG, 6’0″, 170)
Player Highlights
St. John Bosco
Bellflower, CA
AAU team- Belmont Shore

Scouting Report
Plays defense with his feet, very quick guard who can get to the lane at will and finish with creative and acrobatic finishes. Good court vision who has the ball on a string when he dribbles.

College Interest
UTEP, Auburn, Arizona, Washington, Washington St., and Marquette

Interview
He played AAU with Brandon Jennings when he was a freshman- you can see a lot of Jennings in him as far as his flare and finesse in his game. He said he does not fear anyone when going to the hoop no matter how big they are. He said, “he likes to play for his race and show what Mexicans can do on the court”. He said he is going to work on becoming a better floor general, his jumping ability, and getting teammates involved. He said he has to score more for his high school team but in AAU he has so many teammates who can finish, that he just has to distribute the ball. Very professional in interview.

Norvel Pelle (PF, 6’9″, 190)
Player Highlights
Price HS
Los Angeles, CA
AAU team- Belmont Shore

Scouting Report
Very athletic- tries to dunk everything- good finisher- runs the court like a deer- does a good job of blocking/influencing shots.

College Interest
Received offers from most Pac-10 schools including Arizona St. and Cal. Has also received interest from UNC. Has been offered by a number of other schools including Miami, Texas, and Kansas.

Interview
Does not have a particular favorite right now as far as schools are concerned. Wants to continue to work on his ball handling and his work ethic. He models his game after Kevin Garnett. Has the athleticism and length like KG in HS. High major player.

PJ Hairston (SG, 6’5″, 215)
Dudley HS
Greensboro, NC
AAU- CP3 All-Stars

Scouting Report
Great size, great scorer, long 3 point range

College Interest
Committed to North Carolina

Jordan Goodman (PF, 6’8″, 200)
Progressive Christian Academy
Temple Hills, MD
AAU team- DC Assault

Scouting Report
Long, athletic, and has a solid perimeter game, 3 point range

College Interest
Rutgers, Georgetown, Kansas State, Maryland, UNLV

Dezmine Wells (SG/SF, 6’4″, 190)
Word Of God Christian Academy
Raleigh, NC
AAU team- CP3 All- Stars

Scouting Report
Defender, hustler, penetration, rebounding

College Interest
Committed to Xavier

Jacob Lawson (PF, 6’8″, 225)
Oak Ridge Military Academy
Oak Ridge, NC
AAU team- CP3 All-Stars

Scouting Report
Quick off his feet, runs the floor well, solid shot blocker

College Interest
Seton Hall, NC State, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Florida, Miami, among others

Marquis Rankin (PG, 6’0″, 160)
Zebulon B Vance HS
Charlotte, NC
AAU team- CP3 All- Stars

Scouting Report
Gets the ball up the floor, penetrates well, pressures the ball on defense

College Interest
Committed to Virginia Tech

Isaiah Battle (F, 6’7″, 270)
Blue Ridge School
Dyke, VA
AAU team- Long Island Lightning

Scouting Report
Player who can fill up the stat sheet and shoot the 3

College Interest
Also plays football for Blue Ridge- has full scholarship offers from ACC, MAC, and Conference USA schools for football- plays OL/DL

Isaac Freeman (C, 7’0″, 225)
Osbourne HS
Manassas, VA
AAU team- Virginia Assault- Gold
Scouting Report
long, good fundamentals, good shooting stroke to 15’, shades well on screens for 7’, establishes good post position, influences/blocks shots

College Interest
Ohio, Texas, Umass, Virginia Tech

Interview
Says his favorite school so far is VTech- he likes Seth Greenberg. He is going to go to some exposure camps this summer, namely the invite only camp @ George Mason. He said he is going to work out daily and try to get stronger.

Adonis Thomas (SF, 6’6″, 215)
Player Highlights
Melrose HS
Memphis, TN
AAU team- Memphis Magic Elite

Scouting Report
Athletic with good footwork, very dangerous in transition, good midrange game, solid scorer who can break you down off the dribble and finish over 7 footers.

College Interest
Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Memphis, Ohio St., Oklahoma, Tennessee- all of these schools have offered

Interview
5 star player, was in high demand for interviews. Has not made any campus visits, nor does he have any favorites, but he sounded like in the interview that he wanted to go to UNC, though they are one of the only schools showing interest who have not offered. He said he is going to work on extending his range and getting a consistent 3 pt. shot so he can make the transition to the 2 Guard in college. Patterns his game after Kevin Durrant. In my opinion, he plays more like a young version of Vince Carter.

Nino Johnson (F, 6’7″, 230)
White Station HS
Memphis, TN
AAU team- Memphis Magic Elite

Scouting Report
Very nice post up game- best I saw in tournament. Good hook shot, good court vision.

College Interest
Memphis, Tennessee, V. Tech.

Interview
He said he plans to visit Ole. Miss., Alabama, Tenn., and Memphis. He is going to work on extending his range so he can make the move from PF to SF when he gets to college and he plans to work on his dribbling. He models his game after Amare Stoudemire and Kevin Garnett.