Saturday, January 31, 2009

2009 SEBA Atlanta College Showcase Date Set

The 2009 Atlanta Spring College Showcase, presented by the Southeast Basketball Academy (SEBA), will be held March 21st on the campus of Oglethorpe University.

This Annual Event, now in its 5th year, is one of the South's most highly regarded spring basketball exposure camps for Unsigned Seniors (2009) aspiring to play college basketball. The camp is also open to Juniors from the Class of 2010, and Class of 2011 (Sophomores) who played varsity ball this season. Players not invited directly by the SEBA staff should have the recommendation of their high school or travel ball coach.

The Top NCAA Division II, III, NAIA, and JUCO College Programs throughout the South will be in attendance to evaluate prospects. Several recruiting publications will also be covering the event, including the Atlanta Roundball Report. Over 40 College coaches attended last year's camp, resulting in numerous college opportunities for the players in attendance. The Georgia College Basketball Coaches Association (GABCA) will be holding their annual Spring Meeting and Social in conjunction with this camp.

The event will consist 5-on5 Full Court Scrimmages (3 Game minimum), skills stations, Senior and Underclassman All-Star Games. All players with also receive a profile in the College Coaches Packet and receive SEBA Showcase T-Shirt.

Interested Players should visit the SEBA website for registration information

Link: www.SoutheastBasketballAcademy.com

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Poll Question: What was the best team from the past Decade?

The State of Georgia has produced many great teams and players over the past ten years. Each year, the Peach State seems to have at least one or two teams nationally ranked in the Top 25, multiple players ranked among the nation's top prospects, and an overall high quality of play.

Which leads us to our most recent Poll Question. "Who do you think is the top team over the past decade." Is it the 2004 State Champion South Gwinnett team led by Louis Williams? Or the following year's 2005 Wheeler squad which was the definition of "team chemistry" and dethroned South Gwinnett on the way to the Title? Maybe it is Dwight Howard's 2004 Southwest Atlanta Christian team which also had featured fellow NBA player Javaris Crittenton? Or the powerhouse 2007 Norcross team which featured Gani Lawal and Al-Farouq Aminu? Or maybe you feel it is one of the other tremendous state championship squads over the past 10 years?



Photo Credits: Doug Lipscomb (AJC); Dwight Howard (Slam Magazine Online); Louis Williams (NBA.com)
Poll Results:
According to our readers, the top high school team of the past decade was the 2005 Wheeler squad which earned 21% of all votes. A very close second place was the 2004 Southwest Atlanta Christian team featuring Dwight Howard (20% of votes). We had a tie for third place between the 2007 Norcross squad and the 2004 South Gwinnett State Champs (each with 13% of the votes).

Lassiter Earning Respect; Tops #6 Ranked Milton

Region 6-AAAAA is a beast. It is by far the most competitive region in Georgia High school hoops. When discussing the contenders, most pre-season talk centered around the perennially strong Wheeler program, as well as Centennial, Walton, Milton, and even Campbell. Few people considered the Lassiter Trojans to even be in the upper half of region. Coach Jeremy Morris' squad was content to stay under the radar and let their play on the court speak for them. And their play has spoken loudly thus far. After a big win against a hot Campbell squad this past weekend; the Trojans won another big Region matchup last night over Milton by the score of 64-59. Milton came into the game ranked #6 in State. The victory gave Lassiter a record of 14-3 and 4-1 in the Region.

Tuesday's night's game was one of momentum, as Milton stormed out to an double digit big lead. However, Lassiter responded with a nice run of their own, getting right back in the game behind a 15-1 run right before halftime. As he has done all season long, Senior Blaise White sparked the comeback with his outside shooting and hustling all around play. White knocked down a couple of treys and had several buckets in transition, and played good on ball defense. The 3rd Quarter was hard fought by both teams, trading baskets and the lead exchanging hands multiple times. However, Lassiter's 6' 5 Wing Alex Gilmore stepped up his play to give Lassiter a lead they would never relinquish. Gilmore attacked the rim, finishing with 15 points (13 of those scored in the 2nd half). Junior Guard Hutson Mason also contributed some big jumpers in the stretch on the way to a 13 point night. With Lassiter holding on to a two possesion lead throughout the final minutes of the game, Milton repeatedly put Lassiter on the foul line. The Trojans struggled at the charity stripe, leaving a window open for a Milton comeback. However, Milton failed to capitalize on these opportunities and the Trojans were finally able to close the door and secure the win with two converted free throws by White.
Blaise White was the game's leading scorer with 20 points and dishing out 6 assists. Highly regarded 2011 prospect Julian Royal (6' 8, Forward, 2011) led Milton with 19 points. Fellow 2011 prospect Dai Jon Parker (6' 3, SG, 2011) chipped in with 13 points.

Additional Game Notes:
  • Lassiter has demonstrated they are worthy of a Top 10 State ranking in Class AAAAA. They will certainly be in the State playoff mix come February.
  • Milton's 2011 trio of rising stars Julian Royal, Shannon Scott, and Dai Jon Parker are a special group of young players. While this game was not one of the trio's better overall performances, and all three have certain room for growth and development, there is certainly no denying the talent and potential present in all three players. Coach David Boyd has to be very excited about the potential success of his program over the next two seasons.
  • Blaise White is a baller. He doesn't have great size or overwhelming athleticism, but he is very skilled, has a quick first step, high basketball IQ, and most important to his game, plays with tremendous hustle and scrappiness.
  • Lassiter's Alex Gilmore struggled in the early season after making transition from the football field. However, he has played well of late and is a unsigned senior wing player with good upside.
  • With so much depth, Region 6 is producing good matchups almost every game night. An excellent one is on tap Friday evening as the State's #4 ranked team (Walton) will take on the top ranked Centennial Knights.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Metro Atlanta Holiday Tournament Results

There were a number of Holiday Tournaments being held in the Metro Area this past week. Here is a rundown of the results from some of the events we either attended or had affiliates present at:

Deep South Classic

Outcome: Brookwood beat Peachtree Ridge 54-47 in a all-Gwinnett Championship game matchup of the 8 team Deep South Classic. Brookwood rode the hot hand of Freshman Guard Chris Bolden, who scored 14 4th quarter points to win the title. Peachtree Ridge's Khalid Mutakkabir capped off a terrific tournament scoring 28 points in the losing effort.
All-Tournament Team:
Chris Bolden - Brookwood (MVP)
Khalid Mutakkabir - Peachtree Ridge
Cj Blackwell - Peachtree Ridge
Patrick Kelley - Brookwood
Trent Weideman- GAC
Derek Zittrauer - South Forsyth.

North Gwinett Powerade Festival

Outcome: Host School North Gwinnett capped off a string of 3 upsets wins on their way to a 66-60 Championship Game win over Richmond Academy. Junior Forward Alex Tiller led the way for the Bulldogs with a game high 20 points. Raston Brown scored 20 points for Richmond Academy. Newton County took 3rd place with a 64-56 win over Parkview. Soph Guard Derrick Henry led all scorers with 23 pts. in the game.

Campbell Holiday Classic

Outcome: Campbell defeated M.L. King 73-70 to take home the championship of their own Campbell Holiday Classic. Blake Walker led Campbell in scoring with 23 points and Turk Bridgeman chipped in with 18. Travis Wallace had 14 in Championship game and was named Tournament MVP.

Woodstock Invitational Christmas Tourney

Outcome: Sprayberry defeated Creekview 84-80 in OT to claim the Championship of the Woodstock Invitational Christmas Tournament. Sprayberry's Bradley Grayson led the Jackets in coring with 19 points and 4 assists. Roger Hubbard scored 12 points and dished out 7 assists. Creekview was led by Andy Oliver's 25 points and 10 boards. Woodstock knocked off Pope 59-54 to place 3rd in the event. Kent Emanuel scored 29 points (including 20 in the 1st Quarter) for Woodstock.