July AAU Preview - Team Power

During the next couple weeks, our area will be a major hub for the some of the best "grassroots/AAU" basketball in the country.  July is a key time for high school basketball players to be evaluated by college coaches.  There are only 21 days during the Spring and Summer periods when players can be evaluated, and 15 of those days are this month.  With the Nike Peach Jam, the country's premier youth basketball event, and the "Peach State" tournaments hosted in the Augusta area beginning tonight, I am excited about seeing our area's best players face some of the nation's best players and teams.  I observed the action during the Spring period.  Here I will preview four teams that feature area players I follow.  And I will be back throughout the next couple weeks to update you on their progress.

Here is my preview of Team Power:

Team Power features five of Augusta's best seven or eight players:  Christian Keeling (Laney), Demontrez Hawes (Westside), Madison Williams (Augusta Christian), San Antonio Brinson (Thomson), and Ricquail Smoot (Butler).  This group has played its Spring and Summer ball together for at least four years, maybe longer.  The team is not only Augusta's most talented AAU team.  It is one of the southeast's premier "independent," or non shoe companied sponsored, teams. In April, I saw the Power compete admirably with the Georgia Stars, a Nike sponsored team that I would not be surprised to see win this week's Peach Jam tournament.

Keeling, Hawes, and Williams always spring to mind when I think of Team Power.  The trio of athletic guards with good size and solid shooting strokes have long formed the foundation of the team.  All three are rising seniors and along with Laney's Zep Jasper, are probably Augusta's most proven guards.  See them in action against the Georgia Stars here:







Shortly after the AAU season began, coach Greg Williams gained a player I believe to be our area's best college prospect, Thomson's San Antonio Brinson.  Brinson played the last two seasons at Aquinas.  The 6'7" wing combines good athleticism, agility, and footwork with a solid shooting stroke.  I haven't seen him play with Team Power yet.  But I expect him to fit nicely with the talented core of players.  Here is San Antonio in action last season with Aquinas.







Smoot, a 6'7" post player with a decent shooting touch, impressed me during summer league action in June.  He attacked smaller players in the post and finished with either hand.







Team Power's first several games of the July period will be in the Peach State Select tournament at Paine College on the following dates and times:

Wednesday, July 8 - 7:40 PM
Thursday, July 9 - 1:00 PM
Thursday, July 9 - 6:20 PM
Friday, July 10 - 10:20 AM

July AAU Preview - Team AugBball

During the next couple weeks, our area will be a major hub for the some of the best "grassroots/AAU" basketball in the country.  July is a key time for high school basketball players to be evaluated by college coaches.  There are only 21 days during the Spring and Summer periods when players can be evaluated, and 15 of those days are this month.  With the Nike Peach Jam, the country's premier youth basketball event, and the "Peach State" tournaments hosted in the Augusta area beginning tonight, I am excited about seeing our area's best players face some of the nation's best players and teams.  I observed the action during the Spring period.  Here I will preview four teams that feature area players I follow.  And I will be back throughout the next couple weeks to update you on their progress.

Here is my preview of Team AugBball:

I haven't seen many AAU teams shoot and pass the ball as well as this group.  Alleluia's Ben Dresser and Greenbrier's Jakob Nelson are probably the area's best long range shooters.  Mac Mcbride (Alleluia), Moses Jones (Cross Creek), and Justen Hartfield are all capable of scoring and creating off the dribble and knocking down shots from deep.  And Hayden Hebert (Alleluia) is a skilled and athletic wing who impacts the game in many ways.

Dresser regularly strings together 6-8 threes in a game, many from distances rarely seen from a high school player. And he makes more than his fair share of important shots, the shots that win or seal games. And the rising junior is much more than only a shooter.  He handles and passes the ball well and he is mentally and physically tough.  In my preview of Team Power, I listed four players as being probably our area's best guards.  But the truth is I believe Ben belongs in that handful.  And he is only a junior.

I'm glad I've been involved with this group during the Spring because it has given me a chance to get to know Cross Creek's Moses Jones.  He is a fine young man and a very good player.  At times he has been the team's best all around player.  He creates opportunities for teammates with his penetration and willingness to find shooters.  He has a nice shooting touch and scores from deep, in the mid range, and at the rim.  He is a tough kid with a competitive spirit.

Greenbrier struggled last season.  But rising senior guards Justen Hartfield and Jakob Nelson have followed strong individual high school seasons with equally impressive AAU performances in the Spring.  The Wolfpack are in good hands next season.

Alleluia teammates Mac McBride and Hayden Hebert were very consistent throughout the Spring. McBride is a scrappy point guard who can score in all ways and has great instincts.  In addition to making shots from deep, breaking down defenses off the dribble, and creating opportunities for teammates, he does a good job of getting to the free throw line and converting.  Hebert is the team's best rebounder.  He has very good footwork around the basket and can knock down shots from deep as well.

Team AugBball's first several games of the July period will be in the Peach State Select tournament at Augusta Prep on the following dates and times:

Wednesday, July 8 - 6:20 PM
Thursday, July 9 - 10:20 AM
Thursday, July 9 - 2:20 PM
Thursday, July 9 - 7:40 PM
Friday, July 10 - 10:20 AM
Friday, July 10 - 6:20 PM

July AAU Preview - Southern Stampede (Zep Jasper)

During the next couple weeks, our area will be a major hub for the some of the best "grassroots/AAU" basketball in the country.  July is a key time for high school basketball players to be evaluated by college coaches.  There are only 21 days during the Spring and Summer periods when players can be evaluated, and 15 of those days are this month.  With the Nike Peach Jam, the country's premier youth basketball event, and the "Peach State" tournaments hosted in the Augusta area beginning tonight, I am excited about seeing our area's best players face some of the nation's best players and teams.  I observed the action during the Spring period.  Here I will preview four teams that feature area players I follow.  And I will be back throughout the next couple weeks to update you on their progress.

Here is my preview of the Southern Stampede:

My interest in the Southern Stampede, a Nike sponsored team consisting of many of the best players from around the southeast, is simply stated like this:  the team includes Laney's Zep Jasper.  Jasper is no stranger to followers of the area hoops scene and this blog.  See my latest post about Zep here. And see him in action with the Southern Stampede below.

The Stampede will be in our area July 15-19 playing in the Peach State Summer Showcase.  I'll be there!

Laney's Zep Jasper brought me back to the gym!

Zep Jasper (Laney):  2014-15 highlights

When the high school season ended, I told Laney point guard Zep Jasper I'd be happy to make a highlight video of him using clips from the Wildcats' historic season, which included a 29 game winning streak.  But after more than four months of reporting on my favorite area basketball stories, I realized I enjoyed the time away from the gym these past few months.  So as much as I wanted to make good on my promise, I couldn't get myself to do the work involved with finding and editing video footage and making a (hopefully) entertaining video.  But that all changed when I wondered into the Butler High School gym last month to see Laney play Josey in a summer league game...

As a coach, a player, and even a fan, I have never been one to say something like "oh, it's just summer league," or even "oh, it's just pick up ball."  I think if you play, you compete.  Seeing Zep take that approach to the game featured in my video below inspired me to get back into the gym following my favorite area basketball stories.  For that reason, I am glad I went to Butler that night. Another reason I am grateful I went is because it was the last time I saw my good friend Buck Harris on the sidelines with the Wildcats.  He and players like Zep and Christian Keeling have built something truly special.  As you'll hear in the video below, I hope to see Jasper and his buddies finish their high school playing days at Laney so they can finish the great thing they have started.

In the video below I explain why I so enjoyed seeing Zep play, even though it was "only a summer league game."  And I talk about why I hope he stays at Laney for his senior year.

Team AugBball

Last Sunday I posted the picture to the right on the AugBball Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts.  I have a long history with AAU basketball.  I have played for, coached, and sponsored teams on some of its biggest stages (Nike Peach Jam, 17u AAU National championship game, etc) with and against some of the game's most accomplished players and programs.  But lately I've only watched from afar.  Until now.

Sunday marked my return to AAU hoops with a program I'm calling Team AugBball.  The reason I return is is to support young men with similar goals and values as mine.  I believe the game is fun and that playing it at a highly competitive level can provide great life experiences.  As you can see in the picture, Team AugBball will play in solid AAU tournaments which all college basketball coaches are allowed to attend.

In addition to the tournament's listed, we will conduct workouts and games at Alleluia Community School on many Sundays (3PM) and Wednesdays (7PM).  The players who are invited to this Wednesday's 7PM workout know who they are.  I'll see them in the gym no later than 6:45.

PS - An added benefit to running and AAU program along with my good friends Dennis McBride and Keenan Mann is that I will be able to report on Augusta's AAU happenings.  Look for information very soon about the teams and players on my radar.

Lady Wildcats advance to state championship game

Texts between Paul Jones and me
about Laney's Aliyah Collier.

Monday's post was about Laney's boys and their state playoff semifinal loss to Morgan County. That splendid game was not the only basketball I watched Saturday.  On a happier note for Laney's fans, the Lady Wildcats that same day advanced to the state championship game with a 63-37 win over Decatur.

It is easy for me to understand why Saturday's semifinal game started somewhat sloppy.  The high stakes contest on Columbus State's court is an experience no coach can replicate for his players to rehearse before the day comes.  So jitters are likely partly to blame for the teams' trouble finishing seemingly easy opportunities around the basket.

But as you can see in the screen shots from texts traded between Paul Jones (a former player of mine who filmed the games in Columbus while I was in Clemson) and me, I would readily believe the activity exerted by Laney's Aliyah Collier (the #12 referred to in the text exchange) was as much the source of Decatur's inability to score as nerves were.

The Lady Wildcats head to Macon Saturday to compete for a state championship.  I expect Collier and her teammates will once again "leave it all on the floor," as they have all season long.

Game Report: Laney vs Morgan County (state tourney semifinals)

My blog post below may read like Morgan County's Tookie Brown was solely responsible for Saturday's win.  Not so.  Morgan County has a great team.  Laney too.  Hopefully my video report above does both teams justice.

A reader of this blog and I have been texting since Laney fell to Morgan County 68-62 Saturday in the semifinals of the state playoffs.  The question I have been asked is "how can one player beat a team like Laney?"  The answer is easy.  No matter what the upside projecting recruiting experts think, when it comes to winning basketball games, there is no better high school player in our state than Morgan County's Tookie Brown, especially when he has a second half like Saturday when he scored 32 points.  My good friend Keenan Mann's remark gives some insight into how impressive a feat that is:  "That is literally one bucket every minute for a whole half."  An unbelievable performance.

Before Saturday I believed the only just outcome for coach Harris's team would be a state championship.  It is no secret I am a huge fan of the program.  After watching the team's 29 game winning streak and the way the guys accomplished it with stunning class, I couldn't stomach the thought of the pain they would go through if they were to come up short.  And honestly it took a little while to get over the pain I felt thinking about the pain they were likely feeling after Saturday's loss.

Laney won 29 straight games against the toughest
schedule an area team has ever played.

But the text conversation with my friendly reader helped to clarify my thoughts.  I now understand there was always more than one "just outcome" for our beloved Wildcats.  And Saturday's outcome, the temporarily more painful one, is a true testament to the team's greatness that the only thing that could derail the Wildcats was what had to be the best performance ever by one of the greatest high school players our state has seen.

No matter that the final game of Laney's season was a loss.  I still believe this team is as great as any our area has ever seen.  And state title or not, there is only one other team I believe may have been as great.

The video above is obviously the last game report of the 2014-2015 season featuring Laney's boys team.  Congratulations to the Wildcats for having a historically great season.