By Marcus Shockley
While the Mayans never actually predicted the end of the world (and even if they had, let’s be blunt – the Mayans couldn’t predict the collapse of their own society), there’s nothing stopping us from calling the inaugural Prep Roundball Rundown an “End of the World Edition”.
What the Prep Roundball Rundown is, in a nutshell, is a quick snapshot at what we at Basketball Elite are watching at the moment. It’s not intended to be a comprehensive nationwide report, nor is it a recruiting breakdown. So, with that downplayed disclaimer, let’s dive right in.
First, most high school basketball scouts this week are watching the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, FL, where some of the best teams in the nation are playing, including Paul VI (VA), Huntington Prep (WV), Monteverde Academy (FL) and Whitney Young (IL). The star attraction is Andrew Wiggins, the top player of 2013, and college coaches are also attending in heavy droves in order to see either Wiggins or one of the other talented players on hand.
Another solid tournament happening this week is the Chick-fil-a Classic in Columbia, SC. On Thursday, two of the top teams in the tournament lost – Christ School (NC) and Wesleyan Academy (NC) – if they had won, it would have set up a rematch of last week’s big game, but Christ School fell to Wheeler (GA) by 1 point while Wesleyan trailed most of the game and ultimately fell to St. John Bosco (CA) 67-59. Oh, but wait! Since both teams lost, they will be rematching today at 2:20 PM. Today’s action also includes the Miller School (VA), J.F. Webb (NC), which features UNC commit Isaiah Hicks, and Winston-Salem Prep (NC) vs Cardinal Newman (SC). You can watch the games streamed live here.
In Gastonia, NC, and Spartanburg, SC, the Upward Classic is a newer event also has some solid talent on hand – including Gaston Day (NC), Kennedy Charter(NC) and Oldsmar Christian Academy (FL). Several of the Spartanburg games will be streamed live on NetCastSports.com.
Next week, the holiday tournaments kick off…well, pretty much everywhere, so it’s impossible to cover even a fraction of them. Over the past four years we’ve dedicated our coverage to the Frank Spencer Holiday tournament in Winston-Salem, NC, but this year we are also covering the HighSchoolOT.com tournament in Raleigh. With the Gulf Shores Invitational being cancelled, which was expected to take place in Florida, several of the area’s top teams are left without games on their schedule, including Olympic HS and the aforementioned Wesleyan. We will also be looking at tournaments in Charlotte and South Carolina, as well as the Freedom tournament in Morganton, NC.
—
Want to know more? Follow Marcus Shockley on Twitter. You can also follow Basketball Elite on Twitter.