Also from SLAM comes a report from the adidas Nations event in Dallas. This was an event consisting of scrimmages between teams of current college ballplayers, and among them were a couple of familiar faces: Louisville's athletic wingman Terrence Williams and Tennessee freshman Scotty Hopson, both of whom made SLAM's top ten performers list. Below is what writer Aggrey Sam had to say about their showings in Dallas:
Scotty Hopson, 6-5 freshman wing, Tennessee: The only other true freshman in attendance wasn’t too shabby either, as Hopson’s versatile offensive game—the Kentucky native jumps out of the gym, has range for days and gets to the bucket with ease—gave defenders fits.
Terrence Williams, 6-6 senior small forward, Louisville: One of the best players at this event last year, Williams (who I personally thought would have tested the draft waters last year) was at a different level than the other players in Dallas, as he was either too strong, too quick, too skilled, too athletic or simply too good for other players to handle.
From SLAM comes a review for the documentary "More Than A Game," following LeBron James and his St.Vincent-St. Mary's teammates from their 1999 AAU National Championship game to their 2003 USA Today National Championship game, the last time they would take the court together.
The documentary is surprisingly not focused solely on the life of current NBA megastar LeBron James, but is apparently split evenly between the Irish's starting five and their families, as well as coach Dru Joyce Sr.
The documentary is expected to be available on DVD in around a year.
We have a very big announcement today as Bluegrass Hoops Report has become an official member of a great new sports blog community at SportsBlogNet.com. This is very exciting for us, as Sports Blog Net consists of 50 awesome sports blogs, feeding all of our content through their site and linking back to us here at BHR. SBN also sells advertising for all their blogs.
SportsBlogNet.com blogs reach approximately 200,000 unique visitors per month, a number which is growing every day. If you are an owner of your own sports blog and would like to increase your site's hits exponentially, please consider joining Sports Blog Net.
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Well folks, we have officially hit the wall as far as relevant news goes for the Bluegrass Hoops Report. The beginning of football season always marks a slow period in the prep basketball-news category. And since I know the lack of posts is just killing all of you loyal BHR readers out there, I decided to venture away from the Kentucky high school basketball stuff and do a little “State of the Program” for the top college programs from the state of Kentucky. We will do two a day, starting today with the big two.
KENTUCKY WILDCATS
’07-08 Record: 18-13
Returning Contributors: Jr. SG Jodie Meeks, So. PF Patrick Patterson, Jr. PF Perry Stevenson, Jr. SF Ramon Harris, So. PF A.J. Stewart, Jr. PG Michael Porter, Sr. C Jared Carter
Newcomers: Fr. SF Darius Miller, Fr. PG DeAndre Liggins, Jr. G/F Kevin Galloway, So. F/C Josh Harrellson
Recruiting Class of 2009: 4* G/F Jon Hood (Madisonville (KY) North Hopkins), 3* PG G.J. Vilarino (Mckinney (TX) Mckinney)
State of the program: Billy Gillespie seems to be the right man for the job. He orchestrated a phenomenal turnaround last season, bringing the team together during SEC play and leading them to surprise NCAA berth. Coach Clyde has also brought some much-needed momentum back to the UK recruiting machine, starting with the commitment of Patrick Patterson last year and continuing with commitments from 2009 Kentucky Mr. Basketball favorite Jon Hood, Class of 2012 California man-child Michael Avery, and Class of 2010 elite PF Dominique Ferguson, among others. Gillespie has also been going hard after 2009 PF Daniel Orton, a consensus top-20 prospect, and UK seems to be well in the lead. If Billy can keep this type of talent coming into Lexington, UK will be back at the top of the college basketball world in the next three years.
LOUISVILLE CARDINALS
’07-08 Record: 27-9
Returning Contributors: Sr. G/F Terrence Williams, Jr. SF Earl Clark, Jr. PG Edgar Sosa, Jr. SG Jerry Smith, Sr. PG Andre McGee, So. PG Preston Knowles, Sr. SG Will Scott
Newcomers: Fr. F/C Samardo Samuels, Fr. SF Jared Swopshire, Jr. SG Reginald Delk, Fr. PF Terrence Jennings, Fr. SF George Goode
Recruiting Class of 2009: 4* PF Rakeem Buckles (Miami, FL), 4* PG Peyton Siva (Seattle, WA), 3* SG Mike Marra (Northfield, MA)
State of the Program: Rick Pitino has the Cardinal program at arguably the strongest it has been since he arrived in Louisville. With an experienced and athletic group of returning starters (Clark, Williams, Sosa, Smith) and a highly-touted freshman in Samardo Samuels to fill the void left by the graduation of David Padgett, the Cards should be poised for a Big East title and a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Add to that the fact that next year’s recruiting class is even better than 2008, and it is quite evident that Ricky P has his program on the right track to compete with the best for years to come.
Louisville basketball Coach Rick Pitino has always been known as a great recruiter, and this past Sunday at the UofL vs. UK football game, Pitino brought an impressive group of young prospects along (only to see the Cards get embarassed 27-2).
Here is a list of the players in attendance to see the Cardinals, all of whom are rated as 4* or higher: Jeremy Tyler '10, Tobias Harris '10, Marquis Teague '11, Durand Scott '09, Doran Lamb '10, Josh Selby '10.
The Cards' football also had a long list of prospects visiting, including '09 football and basketball star from Louisville Central Ridge Wilson. After witnessing the UK victory wearing a UofL "Red Out" T-shirt, Wilson turned around and committed to UK on Monday. Rough weekend for the Cards.
Ty Proffitt, a former All-Stater and Mr. Basketball for South Laurel, has officially transferred from Notre Dame to Morehead State today. He will have to sit out this season but will return in 09-'10 to play for the Eagles.
Proffitt led South Laurel to the 2004-05 Kentucky state championship. He was named All-State three times, and was twice named to the All-State Tournament team. Ty averaged 16.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists his senior year.
He left Notre Dame citing lack of playing time.
The best of the Bluegrass did not fare too well in the recent release of the Rivals150 for the Class of 2010. In fact, the only prospect that made it from the state of Kentucky is Scott County point guard Ge'Lawn Guyn (photo), coming in at #122. Guyn is listed as a 3-star prospect, the # 31 PG overall, and is described as "a bouncy athlete with versatility."
Obviously Guyn will not be the only D-I product in the class of 2010. The Rivals150 usually is limited to those prospects earning a 5 to 3-star rating. Dakotah Euton's stock has dropped significantly since the high school season, as the UK signee is currently a 2-star. Look for him and teammates Chad Jackson and Guyn (along with c/o 2009 star Richie Phares) to make a run at the state title with Scott County this year. If they have as good a year as they could have, they could all be moving up in the Rivals rankings.
Madisonville North Hopkins High School - Madisonville, KY - 6'6" , 190 lbs. - AAU: Nashville Celtics - Verbally committed to the University of Kentucky
ESPN Evaluation: ESPN has Hood rated as the #25 shooting guard in the nation, giving him a scout's grade of 78. According to their grading scale, Hood's grade of 78 classifies him as a major/mid-major product, meaning he is worthy of a scholarship from a top D-I program or could go mid-major and start right away. Their most recent evaluation from June 2008 was this:
"Jon is a talented and skilled wing. He has good size for a combo wing. He can play either wing forward or scoring guard. Jon is talented, he has range on his jumper to 20 feet. He can also do some things off the bounce like slashing to the basket or creating his own shot. He will need to get stronger to be effective at the next level but he has the talent. He can sometimes be passive and unaggressive but that should change with added strength. He is a below average defender but hopefully more strength and a concerted effort should help alleviate that issue. He is an above average rebounder for his position."
Rivals Evaluation: Rivals gives Jon 4-stars, ranking him as the number seven shooting guard and number 32 overall in the Rivals150. Here is the evaluation from Jerry Meyer:
"Versatility is Hood's greatest attribute. Lanky and athletic, he has the all around skill base to effectively play every perimeter position. Very good at making plays off the bounc, Hood mainly needs to gain strength to improve his game."
Outlook for 08-09: Hood is going into his senior season as the consensus preseason Mr. Basketball favorite. After a great junior season which ended just short of a trip to the Sweet 16 with a loss in the regional finals to Christian Co., a state championship and Mr. Basketball award are both realistic goals for Jon in his final season of high school ball. Expect lots of coverage of Mr. Hood and his Madisonville squad this season from Bluegrass Hoops Report.
Bud Mackey, who led the Scott County Cardinals to a state championship in the 2007 Sweet 16 as a junior, is now facing a possible six months of jailtime after pleading guilty to an amended drug charge yesterday.
Bud was set to stand trial yesterday in Georgetown on a drug trafficking charge, which could carry a sentence of 5-10 years, but Commonwealth's Attorney Gordie Shaw made an offer to reduce the charge to first degree possession of a controlled substance, which carries a maximum five year sentence. Mr. Shaw recommended that Mackey serve six months in jail followed by five years of probation. He is free on bond for now until his sentencing set for October 6th.
Mackey was arrested at Scott County High School with 1.6 g of rock cocaine last September, hidden in his shoe.
Mike Melton of Basketball Spotlight News has done a report on the Hoops Dreams Showcase which took place recently in Kentucky, reviewing the top players from the competition. I don't know where this tournament was held or where any of these kids are going to high school next year, but it's worth a look.
Apparently Jaylen Beckham of Lexington was the most impressive out of the incoming freshmen in the tournament. Mike also mentions Chris Harrison of Louisville, whom I have seen a few times and agree that he is a solid point guard with the necessary swagger to lead his high school team to success. These are two names to remember for the future.
