D-1 AMBASSADORS COMPETE WELL IN CALIFORNIA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Texas D-1 Ambassadors Flagship

The Texas D1 Ambassadors--Team James returned from California this week with smiles on their faces. The talented group competed in Micheal T White's National Tourney  in Los Angeles, CA. Playing their first game against the Hampton Heat (VA),  the D1 Ambassadors showed that Texas girls can play. The girls came out attacking from the tip. 2011 F 5'10 Monique Mc Elveen did damage on the boards. The junior from Del Valle has great footwork around the basket. 2013 W 5'11 Kiara Etheridge is improving daily. The young freshman who is the daughter of Marble Falls (Boys) Head Coach Bruce Etheridge will be a high D-1 prospect in the coming years. Kiara has nice range on her shot and works hard at attacking the basket.

2011 F 5'10 Monique Mc Elveen

2013 W 5'11 Kiara Etheridge

2011 W 5'10 Kathryn can shoot with the best of them. Kat has great range on her shot & will burn you from deep. The 5'11 W knocked down six threes against a great D.C Elite team& has been offered by UT Dallas & the University of San Diego is hot on her trail. Kathryn is one of the top prospects coming out of the Cen-Tex area.

2011 W 5'10 Kathryn

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Texas D-1 Ambassadors 54

Hampton Elite 32

Won Twice

Texas D-1 Ambassadors 55

D.C Elite 36

Texas D-1 Ambassadors 55

Tree of Hope Elite 62

Texas D-1 Ambassadors 47

Utah Premier 36

2011 G 5'5 Megan Bauer a nice point guard from Belton shot the Utah Premier's lights out. The junior scored 20 for the game to help D-1 take a commanding lead.

2011 G 5'4 Vanessa Winston continues to be a great distributor. Vanessa plays very good team ball and will score big time if you sleep on her.

2011 F Julie Direzo has nice size with good ball handling skills. Julie is a nice prospect in the class of 2011.

Desert Duel/Desert Invitational: Day 2

Sorry for the delay.  Laptop issues!

Texas D-1 Ambassadors 75  Houston Franchize-The Life 73  (Desert Duel Exhibition)

Losing close games can be a real frustration, but winning close ones runs the other end of the emotional scale.  Down 73-70 with 12 seconds remaining, 2011 W Jalen Washington of Pflugerville Hendrickson hit a driving layup to cut the score to one.  Timeout was called and with 2 seconds on the clock, the inbounds pass was stolen at center court by 2011 PG Josiah Monroe of Bastrop.  Monroe, who defends as hard as anybody launched his three pointer from 45 feet and found nothing but net as the buzzer sounded.

2011 WG Jonathan Perry had perhaps his best game of the summer as he scored 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 assists. He threw in a couple of blocks for good measure and countless hustle plays that just don't show up in the box scores.  2011 Max Yon of San Antonio Reagan brought his boundless energy to the gym as always and today his shots fell as he had 13 points, impressing SMU Head Coach Matt Doherty as he watched.

2011 W Jalen Washington has turned it up a notch in this event as once again his work on the boards was instrumental in the win.  He also chipped in with 10 points.  2011 combo guard Dylan Cox of Cedar Park tossed in 9.

2011 WG Joanathan Perry (left) and 2011 W Jalen Washington both had strong summers.

Illinois Wolves  65  Texas D-1 Ambassadors 60   (Desert Duel)

Any time you face one of Mike Mullin's Illinois Wolves teams you knwo you're in for a battle as he typically has a roster of the Chicago area's best suburban players.  This one was back and forth all the way & wasn;t decided until with 10 seconds left, the Wolves iced it with free throws.

2011 WG Jonathan Perry of Kerrville Tivy/Fork Union (VA) led the way with 13 points & Jalen Washington continued his inspired play by adding 7 points and a game high 10 boards.

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Texas D-1 Ambassadors 78   San Diego Magic 71   (Desert Invitational Semi Final)

The San Diego Magic came out slinging three pointers in the first half, for a double digit early lead but when the smoke cleared the Texas D-1 Ambassadors had earned a hard fought 78-71 win.  2011 W Adam Whitlock dropped threes of his own to finish with 18 points, but the 2nd half comeback was keyed by 2012 G Paul Baxter of Austin Bowie as his inspired defense and aggressive moves to the basket were too much for the Magic players.   Baxter finished with a game leading 20 points and 5 rebounds.

2011 P Ansley Benjamin had 8 points and 8 rebounds as he controlled the boards when he was in the game with his strength and work ethic.

2012 Paul Baxter (left) & 2011 Ansley Benjamin were a powerful duo

Minnesota Net Gain Sports (MN)  77   Texas D-1 Ambassadors  76  (Desert Duel)

In a game where neither team held more than a 5 point lead the Texas D-1 Ambassadors fell just short on a buzzer beating layup in overtime, falling 77-76 to Net Gain Sports (MN).  2011 PG Josiah Monroe played hard right to the final buzzer of the last "live" event in his summer career, tallying a team leading 17 points.  Jake Kocher also had 13 points, Max Yon scored 11, and potent guard Deon Mitchell had 10.

2011 PG Josiah Monroe will be a great addition to a college team as he can score from the perimeter, fearlessly goes to the rack and defends with the best of them.

2011 PG Deon Mitchell of Pflugerville picked up an offer from Elite 8, Northern Iowa.

Texas D-1 Ambassadors 71  Compton Magic 63  (Desert Invitational Gold Championship)

After losing their first game of the tournament, the Texas D-1 Ambassadors ran the table and won the Gold Championship at the Desert Invitational.  They downed the Compton Magic 71-63.  Sharp shooting wing Adam Whitlock led all scorers with 14 points & 5 rebounds.  2011 P Ansley Benjamin of San Antonio Clark continued his hard work on the boards as he finished with 8 points and 12 rebounds, while 2013 Travon Landry scored 8 points and dished out 5 assists.

It's hard to believe that the 2010 NCAA "live" period has now come to a close for these players. 

Adam Whitlock (left) should have an outstanding senior year at Austin St. Michael's  while talented 2013 PG Travon Landry (right) will make his new home in Bryan forming a potent underclass backcourt with 2012 J. Mychal Reese.

Desert Duel/Desert Invitational : Day 1

Arizona Magic Pump N Run  83  Texas D-1 Ambassadors  70     (Desert Invitational)

Super balanced scoring didn't count for squat as Arizona Pump N Run shot the lights out in an 83-70 win over the Texas D-1 Ambassadors in the Desert Invitational. This group featured many of our future 2012 players.   2012 G Paul Baxter of Austin Bowie looked good in his debut with Texas D-1 as he scored 9 points and looked in synch with his fellow 2012 backcourt mate Michael Hardge of Georgetown.  Incidentally, Hardge also received his first offer as Texas State pulled the trigger.  The first of many, I am sure.  Congrats, Mike!

2011 W Ansley Benjamin of San Antonio Clark also added 9 points and 6 rebounds, 2011 Adam Whitlock of Austin St. Michael's had 9, as did 2011 Brooks Pawsat of Austin Hyde Park.

Texas D-1 Ambassadors 72    Arizona Rebels 56  (Desert Invitational)

2012 P Drew Wikelius of Austin Westlake went to work with 14 points, and Ansley Benjamin swept the boards clean as he tallied 11 rebounds, and 2011 P Clark Lammert also added 11 points in the win.   2013 PG Travon Landry of Bryan did an excellent job of penetrating and setting up team mates for easy buckets.

2011 Clark Lammert of San Antonio Churchill (l) sports his new tough guy look as he had a tooth knocked out in Las Vegas but that didn't keep him from competing alongside summer team mate  2011 Ansley Benjamin (r) of San Antonio Clark in Phoenix.

Spiece Mo-Kan 55   Texas D-1 Ambassadors 53  (Desert Duel)

This one was definitely a heartbreaker as both teams defended with intensity.  There were few easy points available as the game went back and forth.  Up by 2 points and a minute and a half left we missed a breakaway layup to likely ice the game and then missed two other layups at the buzzer, failing to knot the score.

2011 G Deon Mitchell of Pflugerville led all scorers with 10 points and 6 assists.  2011 W Jalen Washington of Pflugerville Hendrickson added 8 points and 8 rebounds against the much bigger Mo-Kan squad. 2011 W Jaleel Williams of Killeen Ellison had 8 points and 4 blocks.

From left to right: Jaleel Williams, Jalen Washington & Jonathan Perry did a great job of defending 6'9" and above posts today in back to back games.

Texas D-1 Ambassadors 55   Team New Jersey  44  (Desert Duel)

The New Jersey squad fielded a front line of 6'11", 6'10" & 6'9" but as the game wore on they couldn't match up with our speed and constant trapping. Once again, Jalen Washington did an incredible job on the boards as he snagged 12 and added 5 points.  2011 Dylan Cox of Cedar Park had 7 points and also chipped in with 6 boards.

Joe Ward All Stars (AZ)  73  Texas D-1 Ambassadors 71  (Desert Duel Exhibition)

When asked by the tournament organizers if we'd like an additional exhibition game we jumped at the opportunity to play in front of about 20 late staying coaches in the final game of the night.  The Arizona State staff, including Head Coach Herb Sendek was on hand to evaluate Deon Mitchell.  He did not disappoint as he scored 16 points as the Sun Devils looked on.

2011 W Max Yon put his game on display for Colgate (who have already offered) and he led all scorers with 19.  Jalen Washington showed another facet of his game as he dropped 7 dimes. 

Deon Mitchell (left) and Max Yon (right) led the D-1 Ambassadors in scoring

Desert Duel Memorial Preview

The most anticipated grassroots event of the summer begins tomorrow as 36 of the Nation's top programs strap it on in The Desert Duel, held in beautiful (but hot) Phoenix, AZ.  It has been the D-1 Ambassadors pleasure to have been invited to the Duel for all three years of it's existence.  This tournament is special in many ways, not the least of which is that it's to raise money for the Crawford Foundation. 

Tonight's welcome dinner was incredible.  Along with the great food and entertainment, former NBA great Eddie Johnson (who played 17 years in the League and scored over 19,000 career points) gave a great talk about loving the game and working hard.  That was followed up by Boston Celtics Assistant & Nike LeBron Camp Director, Coach Kevin Eastman speaking about goal setting and what it takes to get to the top in basketball, business & life.  If you didn't leave there motivated then you just don't have a pulse!

The Texas D-1 Ambassadors will tip off the tournament's first game on the main court v. Spiece Mo-Kan (MO).  Our roster for this event is as follows:

2011 PG  6'0"  Deon Mitchell           Pflugerville

2011 PG  5'9"  Josiah Monroe          Bastrop

2011 SG  6'4"  Dylan Cox                  Cedar Park

2011 SG  6'3"  Jake Kocher              Austin St. Michael's

2011 PG  6'4"  Eric McClellan         Austin High

2011 W    6'6"  Jaleel Williams         Killeen Ellison

2011 W    6'5"  Jalen Washington     Pflugerville Hendrickson

2011 W    6'5"  Max Yon                   San Antonio Reagan

2011 SG   6'4"  Jonathan Perry        Fork Union (VA)

Desert Invitational Preview

The Texas D-1 Ambassadors are traveling today from Las Vegas NV,  Richmond VA & Kansas City MO and will meet up to combine rosters from all four of their Texas teams down to two groups for the two season ending Phoenix tournaments which begin tomorrow in the Valley of the Sun.

One group, which will feature some of our outstanding younger players, mixed in with 2011's will compete at Chandler High School in Chad Groth's Desert Invitational.  This is an inaugural event, with my friend Groth showing great business savvy in coat tailing the country's top grassroots event, the Phoenix Desert Duel.  And why not?  With almost every D-1 program in the country in attendance at the Duel, you have to figure a good portion of the guys will head 15 minutes down the street to catch additional prospects.

Desert Invitational Roster

2013     PG   6'0"    Travon Landry            Bryan
2012     PG   5'11"  Michael Hardge          Georgetown
2012     PG   6'0"    Paul Baxter                 Austin Bowie
2012     P      6'7"    Drew Wikelius            Austin Westlake
2011     W     6'4"    Brooks Pawsat            Austin Hyde Park
2011     F      6'6"    Clark Lammert           San Antonio Churchill
2011     F      6'4"    Ansley Benjamin         San Antonio Clark
2011     F      6'7"    Austin Jenkins             Austin Hyde Park
2011     G     6'3"    Jacob Palacios              San Antonio Clark
2011     W     6'3"   Adam Whitlock            Austin St. Michael's
2011     W     6'4"   Allante Faust                Harker Heights

Schedule:  Tuesday  4:50PM  v  Arizona Magic Pump N Run
                   Tuesday  9:30PM v   Arizona Rebels

Virginia Slam Report

While most of the organization was in the super heated las Vegas atmosphere, the Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Cress headed to the East Coast.  It was hard to turn down an invitation to Jeff Schneider's Virginia Slam Invitational held on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University.  Team Cress played on the main court all 4 games and did not disappoint the nice collection of college coaches in attendance.

Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Cress  59  Dillon Intimidators (SC)  30

A plane ride halfway across the country didn't seem to affect the players as they soundly trounced their first opponent.  Jaleel Williams led the scoring parade with 23, Jake Kocher had 13, Mark Nwakamma posted a double double with 10 points and 12 rebounds & 2011 hard charging wing Austin Jenkins of Austin Hyde Park had 9.

2011 P 6'6" Mark Nwakamma of Leander continues his strong showing.  Coming off a broken foot, Nwakamma is slowly but surely regaining his explosiveness while upping his skill set.

                       

Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Cress 62  North Carolina Cobras (NC)  52

2011 G Jake Kocher of Austin St. Michael's, a scoring machine put up 19 points to lead D-1 in scoring.  2011 G Eric McClellan of Austin High also added 10 points and 8 assists while 2011 P Mark Nwakamma of Leander had 13 points and double digit boards.

2011 SG Jake Kocher of Austin St. Michael's

Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Cress  61  Broward Bobcats (FL)   56   (Semi Final)

Eric McClellan continues to position himself as as mid major on up recruit.  The lanky combo guard has caught the eye of the Tulsa staff and could become the next player out of the Austin-San Antonio area to head north to play for the Golden Hurricane.  They'll be watching him carefully in Phoenix tomorrow at the Desert Duel.  McClellan finished with 16 points, while Jake Kocher and Jaleel Williams chipped in with 13 a piece.

North Carolina Elite 74  Texas D-1 Ambassadors--Team Cress  71 (Championship)

High major W 2011 Jaleel Williams of Killeen Ellison continues to impress as his summer comes to the home stretch.  He scored 17 points in the championship game loss to the North Carolina Elite.  2011 W Brooks Pawsat of Austin Hyde Park added 14 points & 2011 G Eric McClellan added 13.  Playing with only 7 players, we just lacked a little bit of steam and got hurt on the boards in the last 5 minutes of an intense back and forth contest.

2011 W 6'6" Jaleel Williams of Killeen Ellison

Las Vegas: Day 4 Recaps

New Jersey Play 59  New Orleans D-1 Ambassadors Elite 55   (Las Vegas Fab 48)

Every great ride comes to an end.  After falling behind by 19 points in the first 7 minutes of the game, the New Orleans D-1 Ambassadors Elite scratched and clawed their way back to narrowly lose to the New Jersey Playaz in the Elite 8 of the Las Vegas Fab 48.

2012 6'7" Ricardo Gathers continued to wow high majors as he had 14 points and 12 rebounds in his performance in front of most every high major from the East Coast as well as the SEC.  Gathers has already been offered by USC, California, Virginia and of course, LSU.  LSU head man, Trent Johnson was on hand for 4 of the New Orleans D-1 games as he's courting both Gathers and his 2012 mate, Javan Felix.

Old school & new school: Coach Rod Felix & 2012 PG Javan Felix

Two generations of New Orleans St. Augustine PG's as Pops Rod, now coaches his son with the New Orleans D-1 Ambassadors Elite.  Coach Rod has State and National Championships in his pocket so one of young Javan's goals is to lead St. Aug to a Louisiana State Title this coming season.

Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Josephs 69  Colorado Shining Stars 52  (Adidas Super 64)

The D-1 guards went off with outstanding shooting performances by Jacob Palacios, Adam Perez & Tommy Senioris.  Ansley Benjamin and Clark Lammert controlled the boards as they rolled to an easy victory.

TS Microsoft Zune (CA) 66Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Josephs  65 

Texas D-1 raced out to a 12-2 lead on hot early shooting from 2012 PG Adam Perez.  They led at the half, 34-28 but foul trouble has thinned the ranks with 2011 Clark Lammert picking up his 5th foul and having to sit with 13:00 to play. Both teams are in severe foul trouble.

2011 P 6'7" Sterling Smoak of San Antonio Brandeis came off the bench and had several productive minutes pulling down 3 key boards and a block to push the D-1 lead back up to 10 with 5:30 remaining and both teams in the double bonus. To this point D-1 is 11-23 from the free throw line so I'm not so sure that's a good thing.

At the buzzer, the Fresno, CA team hits a winning tip lay in to complete their comeback.  Hard to win when you shoot an unbelieveable 12-29 from the free throw line.  It's on to Phoenix.

Adam Perez  12

Jacob Palacios 11, 5 Assists

Clark Lammert 13, 6 rebounds

Ansley Benjamin 8, 8 rebounds

Las Vegas: Day 3 Recap

I Can Academy (CA) 99  Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Hardge 91  OT     (Las Vegas Fab 48)

For the 2nd consecutive game, a 10 point half time lead was frittered away and Team Hardge is done in Las Vegas.  There was no lack of effort, but certainly decision making and game management was in question as they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.  

2011 G Deon Mitchell (below) was virtually unstoppable in the 1st half as he went off for 20 points, finishing with a game high 27 and 8 assists.  With National media watching their game, Mitchell caught the eye of Scout.com's Dave Telep who loved his game.  Expect Mitchell to make a recruiting decision sooner rather than later.  I will link Scout.com's story later. 

2011 PG Josiah Monroe scored 14 points, 2011 G Dylan Cox dropped 12 & 2011 W Allante Faust added 10.  The Texas D-1 squad now heads to Phoenix to compete in the Desert Duel and the Desert Invitational.

New Orleans D-1 Ambassadors Elite 58  Dallas Mustangs Blue (TX) 56    (Las Vegas Fab 48)

2012 PG Javan Felix scored 17 and dropped 8 dimes to lead New Orleans D-1 Ambassadors Elite to a thrilling 2 point win over the Dallas Mustangs Blue in the opening bracket game of the Fab 48.  After leading by 12 at the half, D-1 Elite had to withstand the charge from the 'Stangs.  Down by 5 with 3 minutes left, Felix took the team on his back hitting a key three pointer and then closing out with free throws to secure the win.  The Mustangs missed a 3 pointer at the buzzer to try and steal the win.

2011 PG Zavieral Jackson (below), who shares the backcourt with Felix also added 8 points for New Orleans D-1.  He's a super quick guard, who will get into your jersey on D, shoots the three and will punch on you at the rim given the chance.

New Orleans D-1 Ambassadors Elite 78  Team Loaded (VA) 67

It was too much Ricardo Gathers all the time as New Orleans D-1 never trailed against a truly "loaded" Virginia crew.  Gathers had 16 points and 11 rebounds as he bullied the longer Team Loaded on the glass.  A slew of high majors are following D-1 and salivating over their high major 2012 kids, along with the talented 2011's.   PG Javan Felix had 18, 6 assists and was perfect from the free throw line going 6-6 down the stretch when Team Loaded attempted to foul to get back into the game.

2011 P Trevante Drye who is a big favorite of SMU's Head Coach Matt Doherty also added 15 points.  Drye, the nephew of former LSU and Kansas great Lester Earl has a common bond with the SMU coach as he recruited Uncle Lester to Kansas back in the day. By the way, Coach Doherty seems intent on changing SMU's "preppie" image by sporting the Dan Haggerty style beard.  We kidded that he was about to open a hunting and fishing camp near the SMU campus off of Mockingbird Lane in upscale Dallas.

Below:  Left:  2012  6'7" Ricardo Gathers, and Right: 2011 6'10" Jernard Jarrou who along with 2011 P 6'7" Trevante Drye form up the New Orleans "Chairmen of the Boards" as each average near double doubles every game and are ultra tough on the glass.

Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Josephs 60  Mass Rivals (MA) 50  (Las Vegas Super 64)

In the opening bracket game, Texas D-1 were led by 2011 6'6" Clark Lammert of San Antonio Churchill as he dropped 14 points in the win.

Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Josephs 63  Nor Cal Pump N Run 55

You've got to love the job Coach Josephs has done with this group of very solid kids who for the most part are undersized.  However, they play with great chemistry and hang around and hit shots to pick up victories.  After withstanding an early run from the Nor Cal Pump N Run crew, D-1 settled down to methodically pick them apart.  2011 W Ansley Benjamin continues to be a beast on the boards at only 6'4".  If he grows another inch or two (his NBA Pops, Benoit Benjamin was a footer) then his recruitment will shoot through the roof. 

Benjamin finished with a workmanlike 16 points and 11 rebounds while 2011 W/P Clark Lammert had 9 points and 6 rebounds with most of them coming down the stretch.  Crafty 2012 PG Adam Perez had 7 points, 4 assists and 4 steals as he ran the team alsmost flawlessly.

Las Vegas: Day Two Recap

Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Josephs 85  Virginia Elite 73  (Adidas Super 64)

Team Josephs made up of kids from SA Churchill, SA Clark, SA Central Catholic & SA Antonian seem to be hitting their stride as they finish pool play 2-1 with a solid win over a talented Virginia Elite team.  2011 W Ansley Benjamin (below) controlled the boards and added 18 points to lead a balanced attack.  Team Josephs has made the Gold Bracket at the Super 64.

Iowa Barnstormers 92  Texas D-1 Ambassadors 83 (Fab 48)

Team Hardge couldn't hold an 8 point second half lead as the Iowa kids shot the lights out. They were led by 6'9" Seth Tuttle (Norther Iowa commit) & 6'8" Jarrod Uthoff (Wisconsin commit).  Team Hardge was happy to have 2011 G Deon Mitchell back from his bout with migraines as he had 24 points and 6 assists.  Additional scoring was balanced with 2011 Adam Whitlock of Austin St. Michel's with 11, 2011 Josiah Monroe with 10, 2011 Dylan Cox of Cedar Park with 10  & 2011 Max Yon of San Antonio Reagan with 10.   The Iowa team was too big on the boards. They have the personnel to reall advance through bracket play.

Left: 2011 Adam Whitlock continues to show his smooth perimeter stroke, while 2011 Dylan Cox brings his all around strong game to the table every game he plays.

New Orleans D-1 Ambassadors Elite 69  Derek Smith All Stars (KY)

The Big Easy D-1 group shot out of the gate and never looked back as they thumped Derek Smith All Stars from Kentucky.  They led 32-23 at the half and were too quick and too big.  2012 W Sadie London led with 12 points and 6 assists.  2012 PG deluxe, Javan Felix had 11 points and 6 assists, 2011 P Trevante Drye had 11 points and 9 rebounds & 2012 Ricardo Gathers added 9 points and 11 rebounds.  They'll enter the ultra competitive Invitational Division playoffs after having gone 3-0 in pool play where their first opponent will be our old friends, Dallas Mustangs Blue.

2012 W Sydie London of New Orleans St. Augustine

Texas D-1 Ambassadors -Team Morse 2013 (Swoosh Tournament)  

Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Morse has gone through pool play like a hot knife through butter and heads into championship bracket play with a head of steam.

Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Morse 55  Elite Basketball Academy 37

2013 PG Will Morse (below) led D-1 with 12 points & 7 assists. 2013 P Mick Melvin had 8 points and pulled in 6 rebounds.

Las Vegas Day One: New Orleans D-1 Ambassadors Elite

With New Orleans D-1 Ambassadors Elite Head Coach Greg Holmes back in the Big Easy along with 2014 6'8" Craig Victor (#3 Nationally) and 2011 and 6'6" unsigned senior Antoine Tobias who could not make their flight you might think that the D-1 Ambassadors might be at a severe disadvantage as they rolled into Sin City.  Throw in the fact that 4 of their key players are also 2012 guys and you'd think that the chips were really stacked against them.

Not so.  With six other players at 6'7" and above they had plenty of firepower and the 2012 guys play like they're old hands.

New Orleans D-1 Ambassadors 79  Poly Nation (CA) 50

With 17 points, 12 rebounds & 5 blocks Top 10 National Player 6'7" Ricardo Gathers of Riverside, LA dominated the California team.  The word "beast" can be overused at times, but not when it is applied to this 16 year old man-child in the Class of 2012.

2012 Ricardo Gathers

2011 P 6'7" Trevante Drye was also busy adding 18 points, 8 rebounds & 6 assists.  Drye has added range to his face up game this year and continues to grow.  He's got a bullseye on his chest as his Pops, Louis Earl played for LSU and his uncle Lester Earl a former McDonald's All American who also played for LSU & Kansas are legends back home in Baton Rouge.  None of this bothers the hard working Drye who also sports a 4.2 GPA.

Which Tre Drye do you prefer?  This year's version with the New Orleans D-1 Ambassadors (below left) , or last year's version in black and orange as he suited up with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors (below right).

2011 PG Zavieral Jackson of New Orleans St. Thomas Aquinas is a jet.  He added 10 points, 5 assists and a monster reverse jam.

New Orleans D-1 Ambassadors 73  Compton Magic Red 71

With the game tied at 71, 6'7" Ricardo Gathers broke the press with a behind the back dribble and then floated an ally to Trevante Drye for the oop and the win against a sharpshooting Compton Magic squad.   2011 W 6'10" Jernard Jarrou had 14 points and 8 rebounds, following up an 11 point effort in the opener against Poly Nation.  Jarrou is wafer thin but extremely agile and skillled. He's grown from 6'5" to 6'10" and is learning to be a big man.  Look for him to develop into something special.

Trevante Drye had 22 points and 6 rebounds, while Gathers had 8 points and 10 boards.  Gathers has now dunked the ball 4 different times with such force it looks like the rim is going to come down.  He's scary powerful.

2011 W/P 6'10" Jernard Jarrou of New Orleans McDonough

Lots more to come on the New Orleans players in tomorrow's report.