If the Frontcourt Performs, Milton Academy Could Contend

MILTON, Mass. – Lamar Reddicks enters his third year at Milton Academy, the basketball team now established as not just a team of bright kids who have little ability on the hardwood. This year’s team isn’t loaded, but they have a few pieces and should be able to win more than their fair share of games, especially since there appears to be some leadership.

To that last point, the team’s floor leader is also the captain and unquestioned leader of the team, Travis Sheldon (5’10″ Sr. PG, Woodstock (NY)). Sheldon actually ran Sunday’s open gym from start to finish, competing all the time and showing how much of a vocal leader he is for this team. He has a good body and can get to the basket despite not being overly quick, and he passed well while hitting enough jumpers to look like his shot must be respected.

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New England Best 40 Brings Talent to Boston

ROXBURY, Mass. – The New England Best 40 Presented by Hoopville was held on Saturday at Roxbury Community College. The event brought some good prospects, a number of whom have been under the radar, together for a few hours to go through some drills and games. All high school classes were represented, although a good majority were underclassmen.

One of the instructors was former UMass standout Anthony Gurley, who recently completed his college career. A Newton North alum who grew up in the city, Gurley and fellow coach Deshawn Gibbons were once where these kids are. Gurley is now working on getting his Anthony Gurley Skills Academy off the ground, basing his work at his alma mater.

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Amidst Changes in Class AA, Tilton Tries to Reign Supreme Again

TILTON, N.H. – Last year, the old Class B in NEPSAC had a new look as it became Class AA. Among other things, it became much more competitive from top to bottom than before. But one thing that didn’t change was the team that came out on top, as the Tilton School took home their fourth straight title. If they make it five in a row this time around, that wouldn’t be a surprise.

Iowa State-bound Georges Niang (6’7″ Sr. PF, Methuen (MA)) has been around for all four of those titles and is primed for one more. His calling card is inside efficiency at both ends, as he battles inside and knows what he is. While he’s not trading those in for something else, he is expanding his game away from the basket and is moving better, and he also made a nice long lead pass on one play. Simply put, he does winning things for a team, and it shows in the results over his career both at the school and playing for the BABC program.

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Northfield Mount Hermon Still Has Size, Now More Guards

NORTHFIELD, Mass. – Northfield Mount Hermon always draws a good number of college coaches. Aiding that is the fact that the school is excellent academically and consistently has prospects who could play in the Ivy or Patriot League. This season, 11 alumni will be playing in the Ivy League, and already two more from this year’s team have committed to Ivy schools.

In recent years, the academics aren’t the only reason for the good college coach draws. The team has had plenty of size, and while this year’s team is no different, they will have more true guards on the roster. Last year, Aaron Cosby and Joe Sharkey were the only true guards they had.

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South Kent Has a Lot of Pieces to Work With

SOUTH KENT, Conn. – A day earlier, it was clear Brewster Academy was going to be a tough team to beat in NEPSAC Class AAA. If there’s a team that appears to have a chance at topping them on paper, it’s a team at the other end of New England in South Kent. There is size, depth and some star power, which means Kelvin Jefferson again has a lot to work with.

The star power starts on the perimeter, led by Chris Thomas (6’5″ Jr. SG-SF, Denver (CO)) and Ricardo Ledo (6’6″ Sr. SG-SF, Providence (RI)). Ledo has not yet made it to campus, but will soon, and when he does the Providence commit will give them a big-time scorer on the wing. Thomas had a wisdom tooth pulled earlier in the day, then was the best player on the floor in the team’s workout. A very athletic slasher who can be a showman at times, he has good range on his jump shot and can score all day, and Jefferson also expects to play him at the point from time to time.

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No Surprise: Brewster is Loaded Once Again

WOLFEBORO, N.H. – It’s gotten to the point where anyone paying attention to NEPSAC fully expects Brewster Academy to have the most talent in Class AAA. This year’s team looks to fit that description, and that was true even before a recent addition made them even stronger. That new addition also made a decision on Tuesday that had coach Jason Smith responding to a number of text messages.

As impressive as the team looks, the prospect with the most buzz wasn’t even playing on Tuesday as Mitch McGary (6’10″ Sr. PF, Porter (IN)) is nursing a minor left ankle injury. Still, he was very much present, as he was encouraging teammates from the sideline the entire time. McGary had a big off-season and is now ranked by most recruiting services as one of the top five players in the class of 2012.

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With No Stars, St. Andrew’s Should Still Compete

BARRINGTON, R.I. There seems to be something different about Mike Hart this time around. Although the St. Andrew’s head coach and athletic director got fired up a couple of times during a visit to the school, overall he seems more at ease than before about his team. He has a younger group and no studs like Michael Carter-Williams or Ricardo Ledo, who he had the past two years, but he seems fine with that. Instead, he has a team that might not pass the look test but doesn’t figure to be an easy out.

The senior leader will be Cedric Kuakumensah (6’8″ Sr. PF, Worcester (MA)). An excellent student who will likely wind up in either the Patriot or Ivy League, he has a solid body and looked like the good post presence he’s capable of being.

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Youth Movement Takes Shape at Worcester Academy

WORCESTER, Mass. – The youth movement is in full effect at Worcester Academy, in contrast to what the team used to look like. Long a home for seniors and post-graduates during its many years in the old Class A of NEPSAC, the Hilltoppers have been younger in recent years and enter their second season in Class AA with perhaps the youngest team they have had in years.

Part of the youth movement is the result of a coaching change. Long-time coach Ed Reilly stepped away and remains the athletic director, and he handed the reins over to long-time assistant Jamie Sullivan. Going with a young group was Sullivan’s strategy to put his own stamp on the program right away.

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New England Elite 75 Frosh/Soph Edition Moves to a New Location

MANSFIELD, Mass. – After being held at Boston University for the entirety of its existence, the New England Elite 75 Frosh/Soph Edition moved south to the Mansfield Sportsplex this year. Well over 200 players competed in the event, with freshmen playing in the morning session and sophomores in the afternoon.

The freshmen competed well during their time. Unfortunately, although the sophomores had better talent overall (owed in part to being more of a known quantity than the freshmen), they didn’t play as well. In one game, a number of possessions between the two teams saw two and three players not even attempting to get back on defense. To say they were making a mockery of the game would be generous.

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Cushing Academy is a Little Deeper

ASHBURNHAM, Mass. – Although it’s noticeable that Cushing Academy has had a nice influx of talent since last season, Barry Connors thinks his team isn’t very different at the top. Where the Cushing mentor sees the difference is in the depth he has after his starters and first reserve or two, and because of that they have a chance to contend in NEPSAC Class AA.

The prospect with the most upside might be floor leader Kaleb Joseph (6’2″ So. PG, Nashua (NH)), who had just scored an offer from Boston College. Already known for his passing ability, the baby-faced point guard looks more athletic and was attacking all day. His development as a scorer will only make him tougher to guard, especially as he continues to hit mid-range jumpers like he did on Thursday.

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Notre Dame Prep Has Plenty of Guards

FITCHBURG, Mass. – Ryan Hurd will shoot you straight about his team. If they’re not playing well, he’ll tell you as much, just like he’ll tell a player he needs to get off the court if the effort is lacking. And he wasn’t afraid to admit that his team’s workout on Thursday was not up to par, although he also figures it will prove to be an aberration.

Hurd will have two good guards to hang his hat on in Sam Cassell, Jr. (6’3″ Sr. PG-SG, Baltimore (MD)) and Myles Davis (6’2″ Sr. SG, Plainfield (NJ)). Both return for their second season at the school and give the Crusaders two dangerous shooters from behind the arc. While Davis’ credentials doing that have long been established, Cassell had a jumper that had to be respected but was far from deadly last season. Since returning to campus, Cassell has been playing about as well as any Crusader, and that remained the case on Thursday. While the Xavier-bound Davis still shot it well on the day, he also continues to be better off the dribble, although he’ll never be as good a scorer as he is a shooter.

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Winchendon Ready For a Better Season

WINCHENDON, Mass. – Matt Quinn’s first season leading the Winchendon School wasn’t exactly one for the books as far as the win-loss column was concerned. The team was not as stacked with talent as in previous years, in part because Quinn took over as head coach in July, by which point most prep-bound players have long chosen their destinations for the following year. They finished eighth in NEPSAC Class AAA and were promptly blown out in the quarterfinals by the top seed. But this season should be a little different at the school that has long been a NEPSAC powerhouse.

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St. Thomas More Marks Good Start to Open Gym Slate

OAKDALE, Conn. – Our first prep school open gym workout of 2011 was at the school that took home last season’s National Prep Championship.  St. Thomas More has one of the best prep coaches in Jere Quinn, one who has coached a number of future college stars.  In fact, when a colleague asked him on Monday to come up with his own all-time St. Thomas More team, suffice it to say that Quinn kept changing his mind on one player or another as worthy players kept coming back to mind.

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Is the NCAA Starting to “Get It” on Recruiting?

Could the NCAA be ready to turn over a new leaf? A recent news release about discussions among the Division I Leadership Council suggests it might be possible. As refreshing as that would be, however, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. Let’s remember that this is the NCAA that we’re talking about.

The NCAA has long wanted to regulate the world of grassroots basketball, and they have attained some measure of that in recent years. None of it has been good, though, and that’s true by just about any measure. They first took away the ability of Division I coaches to attend fall travel team events, then reduced the spring to only events sanctioned by state high school associations during the month of April. A couple of years ago, that went away, leaving coaches with just the month of July for seeing a large number of players in one setting. It wasn’t good for many coaches, and they weren’t alone.

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Paying Players Not Likely to Happen or Solve Problems

The subject of paying players in addition to the scholarships they receive is certainly not a new one. Questions have been asked about it for quite a while, with many feeling like players should be paid and for a litany of reasons from television contracts to coaches’ contracts to sales of player jerseys. And while the discussion seems poised to go to another level now that the NCAA is exploring the subject, two things remain true: pay for play will be very difficult to make reality, and if it ever becomes reality it’s not likely to solve the problem of NCAA violations that proponents think it will.

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2011 Boston Best 40 Another Success

WESTON, Mass. – The Rivers School was once again home to the Boston Best 40 on Saturday. The event brought together some top talent in the area in grades 6-9, with sixth and seventh graders starting the day and eighth and ninth graders following that. The event was run by Rivers coach Andrew Mirken with some assistance from ESkillz Academy.

The young players went through a series of drills before playing in games against one another. The eighth and ninth graders were also shown a more extensive set of drills that they can use to help improve their skill level.

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Powerade Hardtop Challenge Another Success in Boston

ROXBURY, Mass. – The Powerade Hardtop Challenge, formerly known as the “Sprite Tournament”, was held at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center this weekend. It’s part of an annual national tour run by Powerade with the help of people in the basketball community in each city.

The event featured competition in four boys and two girls age groups. While there were some teams that made the trip from out of town, including a couple from Pennsylvania and several from New York, the event had a decidedly Boston feel, especially when it came to the championships. This year, a handful of games were played on Friday night of the weekend, after having games only on Saturday and Sunday in the past. In part, that was to accommodate having two girls age groups that were added this year.

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Looking Back on Over 100 Games in 2010-11

It’s always a challenge to see so many games from a lot of standpoints. There are schedules, which make it difficult to see some teams at all, and there are logistics. This winter was not a fun one in much of New England with seemingly constant snow, and it made getting to some games difficult as one might imagine. In some ways, that made covering over 100 games for the third year in a row a little nicer this time around.

With that in mind, and with the 2011-12 season just another couple of months away, here is a look back at over 100 Division I games in the 2010-11 season.

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2011 Hall of Fame National Invitational – Sunday Player Evaluations

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – We take a look at some of the players we saw on the opening day of the Hall of Fame National Invitational.

Zach Auguste (6’9″ Sr. SF-PF, Marlborough (MA) New Hampton School) This maturing forward had his moments in two games, but all in all was just all right. He drove and dunked while getting fouled on one play, and didn’t look over-matched against Andre Drummond although that also reflected Drummond’s foul trouble in the game. His ball skills look better and he was active, but he also forced play a little much and didn’t shoot well. High-major minus prospect.

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2011 Reebok Breakout Challenge Evaluations

PHILADELPHIA – We take a look at some of the notable prospects we saw over the last couple of days of the Reebok Breakout Challenge.

Mike Aaman (6’8″ Sr. PF, Hazlet (NJ) Raritan HS) Lefty post player was solid and unspectacular, although he did bust out on the last day with 23 points on 10-17 shooting to go with seven rebounds, then a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. He showed that he can finish with the right hand and the effort is always there. Mid-major prospect has committed to Wagner, where he’ll at least be a good piece of the puzzle.

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