Monday January 14, 2008

Madison Square Garden
Nike Super 6 Stuff

Was really excited to head to my hometown of New York City for the Nike Super 6. Unfortunately my excitement to attend the game made me forget to fill up the gas tank in my imitation Bentley. So as soon as I arrived in NYC my car ran out of gas. But God was watching because I ran out right in front of a gas station.

After that it was all great! Games were very good. I loved the fact all teams that participated were well outfitted with great uniforms and matching sneakers, etc. I get so upset watching some schools playing games with uniforms from 1990 and older. But again in this case the outfits were sharp. Maybe it was because each gets gear from Nike or someone.

Great to see all the scouting services set up. Saw Seton Hall contengent with Blue SHU clothing on. Looked great. Too bad the SHU coaches did not do the same lol.

I was surprised to see both St. Raymond's and Patterson Catholic wearing Nike's. They both have been Adidas schools for many years. I guess Adidas is going in another direction.

Alot of coaches working the crowd. Some of local big guys were there including Bobby G, Dermon Player, and Scott Adabatto (sp) from SHU who was dressed with a nice leather jacket looking like he was going going on an audition for Scarface 2. What happened to the days where college coaches came out with the school colors and a sweater vest with the school logo attached? Saw Calipari with a dark suit on with no tie. Glenn B from St. Johns, a great great great guy was at the games but Rutgers had a game so I guess they could not have spared anyone. By the way, Roy Williams showed up with a Carolina Blue Sweater on even though he is the HC of the number 1 team in America. Guess he still does it the old fashioned way. Funny thing about Roy, as John Salvo, a very knowledgeable HS and College guy mentioned to me, he never forgets names and faces. It's no wonder he does a GREAT JOB!! Also in attendance was Clyde ?, ex Canisius star, and current St. Francis of Brooklyn Assistant. Also in the house was Julius Allen, Assistant at Binghampton University of the American east Conference. Amazing how NO locally gave Jules an opportunity. All 3 local BE teams could have used him!!!

We all knew Dexter Strickland was committing to North Carolina. But many thought it would be Thursday. But when his Mom showed up with a Carolina Blue warm-up (store purchased with no logos, etc.) and Dexter with a Carolina Blue hood type jacket. we knew it was a done deal. This kid (Dexter) is such a great pick up FOR ANY TEAM IN AMERICA!!! Not just because he plays good basketball, but because he seems like such a well rounded young man. I watched kid after kid brush off hello's from people they did not know or answer questions with one word answers. Than there is Dexter. One person asked him a question and he looked the person in the eye and warmly answered with a full sentence and thanked the person for his kind words. WINNER!!!!!! These are the type of kids that certain schools look for. Winners on and off the court. Now all Dexter has to do is become just a bit more assertive in the next season and a half. As John Cano said to me this morning, he is only a junior. A legit junior age wise if you know what I mean.

Dexter played well in the game I watched as St. Pats beat St. Rays. But Truck Bryant is soooooooooooooooo smooth and GOOD!! A great pick-up for West Virginia and the super star COACHES (thats plural lol) they have on the bench. You could tell he was good from how he warmed up. Believe it or not 80% of the time you can tell alot about players from how they warm up. But the Man was Quintell Thomas. He gets better every game. I am sure Roy Williams was wishing he had recruited Quintell. I once said he would fight for minutes at Kansas. How wrong I was!! This kid is a STUD! And he is just scratching the surface. I also want to say Kevin Boyle can COACH!!! I also want everyone to know his son. who starts as a Sophmore (correction by the famous SPK from SHU), is the real deal!! NO crap about his game. he is a coaches son who plays the game well and enjoys being on the court. I am going to predict that this kid, young Boyle, will be a high D1 player by his senior years. Just playing the comp he plays against in practice and national games will get him better. And being with his Dad every single day will not hurt. Lastly on St. Pats. What's the deal with Paris Bennett? We know he can play. But is he the lost man out offensively on a very good St. Pats team? Maybe he should have transferred to Newark Science in exchange for Quintell Thomas Transferring to St. Pats from Science.

Paterson Catholic has some great young players to go along with Jordan Theodore. By the way Jordan's wonderful mom came by to say hello and thank me for acknowledging her in past posts. Back to the players. Trevor Cummings needs to really work on his body. He is just a big kid out on the court with good potential. Playing at an elite basketball school helps him more than he helps Patterson Catholic. 7 points? Please! He looks like Terrel Biggs in HS without all the skills Terrell had. But he has potential and needs to get with the right people this summer. you If he attended Teaneck, Hackensack, or Englewood he would not be on the radar yet. Lance Brown is another story. He will be a star and it will be sooner than later. Another Teaneck area kid who would do well at any HS. Looks like PC has decent coaches in place. They just need to keep the ball in Theodore's hands the 4th quarter so he can distribute. They really should have won the game against Mount Vernon. And to the Patterson Catholic Coaches: What's the deal with the seven foot kid playing 3 minutes? Is he that bad? Where are his parents? He should have been snatched out and put in Bosco, St. Joe'a, BC, or anywhere else where he could get playing time. I did not see a front line so good he needed to ride the bench. Terrible!!! And he is a senior!! And did anyone see his little brother? Heck I would give him minutes just to get the young brother who might be taller than him in a few years. It was comical when John Salvo, who knows 150 college coaches, asked him where he was going next year (John wanted to tell some local mid major guys about him) and the kid half replied not even looking in his direction. Definately not a Dexter Strickland personility lolol.

Mount Vernon remains a program as opposed to a team because Bob Cammino runs his program year round and has some very good dedicated Assistant Coaches who he never fails to acknowledge. Kevin Jones??? He played his butt off in the 4th quarter comeback. The freshmen guard will be the next big-time player in the Mt. Vernon Program. I wonder if Mt. Vernon still plays home games at 4 in the afternoon? ummmmm!

St Benedict's finds a way to win because Danny Hurley takes it serious and takes no crap from anyone. He did not start Samuel's for some reason yet he still wins the game against Rice, who is pretty good. Danny remains one of my favorite coaches and I think he will be legendary if he stays in the HS game. I feel the same way about Boyle. But I really love what Danny does. Look for my Grandson Logan to be on his roster in 15 0r 16 years lol. But most likely he will be on the college level than. Coaches like Danny, Kevin Boyle, and Maurice Hicks of Rice could easily step into head coaching jobs at Maac, NEC, or even Colonial Athletic schools.

Back to Samuel's. He is OK!!!!! Great? Not sure. Good? YES!!!! Greg E, the young big guy? Looking at right schools academically. Not as good as Samuel's but has another year to get better. Big body and average game at this point to me. What makes St. Benedict's so good is the system and the fact they are a program and play team basketball. They seem to have used much of the St. Anthony Model For Success.

Rice just keeps going and going and going! Maurice Hicks is outstanding! His kids play hard all game. He subs his players as well as anyone in America and is always one move ahead as he anticipates just like a chess master. People need to know that Rice does not have a gym. The room they call a gym is like a big classroom. Despite this they remain a to 10 HS team nationally year in and year out. Rice has been great for many years but slumped slightly some years back. Maurice, and a guy named Lou Demello before him, worked to get Rice back on the map. Maurice would be an excellent college head coach at a low d1 school.

New Power in Westchester County

Look for Roosevelt HS of Yonkers to become a power on the basketball scene by next season. Head Coach Kenny Stevens is working hard and making the right connections. But the smartest thing he did was hire Evandar Ford, a great teacher and coach to assist him. It just so happens Evander was Kenny's Rucker League coach 20 years ago. This is exactly what I mean when I say a head coach needs to understand his limitations. Kenny realized he needed experience on his bench! Sad that many local high D1 coaches do not realize this. Roosevelt plays Mount Vernon late this week or next week and it will be a good indicator of where they are as a team.

Also like what happened at Campus Magnet (formerly Andrew Jackson) in Queens. They beat powerful Cardoza and colorful Head Coach Ron Neclerio a few weeks back. One of my best friends, Bobby Holford, is a volunteer assistant to legendary HC Chuck Granby at Campus Magnet. Even a legend can use good help. Bobby was national Junior College Coach of the year when his Hostos CC team was the first NY area team to win a National bball championship since CCNY did it years ago. He has coached at Providence, Hofstra, FDU, and been a head coach at NY Tech, and St. Thomas Aquinas in Rockland County. Now he is helping his old HS as a volunteer. What a great pick-up. The rematch is this week and the game will be showed on MSG network.

Rumors

Big East player who lives locally will transfer at the end of the season to Miami

Local Big East Recruit suspended from Prep School

Other Local national recruit close to not playing again this season for bad habits