Sunday, July 10, 2011

Great American Shootout- Day 2 (Pool Play)

Ahhhh..great to be back home in Texas.  Just landed from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and looking forward to catching as much action as possible of the D1 Nation at the Great American Shootout in the Big D.  The D1 Nation has a total of 10 teams competing through the various divisions. The 4 elite level squads boast close to 30 D1 prospects in the Class of 2012 alone!

Texas D1 Ambassadors-San Antonio 67  Oregon D1 Ambassadors  38
In a "family feud" two D1 Nation teams were super pooled.  One showed up, while the Oregon kids were still jet lagged on West Coast time.  2012 G Uche Ofoegbu led the way with 17 points.  The ultra athletic Ofoegbu has also been rebounding like a demon in the tournament's first two games. 2012 Jeffrey Rodewald of San Antonio Alamo Heights also had 14 points as they breezed to the win.
2012 Uche Ofoegbu is leaving no doubt that he's a high major guard prospect
Texas Assault  64  Texas D1 Ambassadors-San Antonio 59
The folks at Texas Hoops billed it as the matchup of the day and apparently the Division 1 coaches must have received the memo as they were packed shoulder to shoulder (about 200 of them) for this clash of titans.  The gym itself was packed and the crowd riveted. The general public was out in force as the Dallas faithful came to worship favorite son, Marcus Smart of FlowerMound Marcus High School. 

These were matchups in past years that were shared between Houston an Dallas teams only, flexing their muscle for State bragging rights but those days are gone.  The Texas D1 Ambassadors have put their stamp on great basketball coming out of the Austin-San Antonio area and any mention of groups of D1 prospects has the D1 Ambassadors solidly lumped in with the DFW/Houston teams.

With the partisan Dallas fans whooping it up, Texas Assault three times built 10 point leads and lookd as if they were about to deliver the knockout punch.  Each time, Coach Paul Josephs Texas D1-San Antonio squad dug in and came back to tie the game.  With 1:30 left the Assault lead had been cut to two, and as Marcus Smart readied for a transition dunk he was fouled hard but fair by Uche Ofoegbu who was inexplicably called for an intentional foul.  It proved to be the deciding factor as Smart and Company sealed the win 64-59.

Anyone who doubts Smart's ability or thinks he's only a power guard is very much mistaken.  I've become a huge fan over the last couple of months.  The kid has the total package.  Texas D1 was led by 2012 Uche Ofoegbu of San Antonio Stevens who is pulling himself up the ladder to being a sure fire impact player at the high major level.  He competed hard against smart and put up 25 points of his own.

Texas D1 Ambasadors-Houston  71   Colorado Chaos Elite  70
With two high major forward commits to Cal and Colorado there is no question that the Colorado Chaos Elite are a handful.  The Texas D1 Ambassadors-Houston had a 4-10 point lead for most of the game but the Colorado kids kept competing and would not go away. 

Enter the D1 Ambassadors latest addition in 2012 6'3" G Darryl Milburn Jr. from Baton Rouge McKinley.  After a serious ankle injury in the spring he concentrated on his rehab and summer school commitments.  Last night was his first basketball game in two months.  It took a few minutes to shake the rust off but after that it was obvious why he's a Top 75 National Player in the Rivals.com rankings.  He's toting a few extra pounds until he gets back into shape but he still had an immediate impact.  He had 17 points, including his trademark DEEP three ball (3 of them) and was extremely physical on defense. Milburn had great support from fellow sharp shooter Devon Turk of Houston St Pius who dropped 16, including three from behind the arc.
Just another shooting day at the beach for 2012 sniper Devon Turk of Houston St. Pius had 16.
2012 G Darryl Milburn of Baton Rouge McKinley
Family First  79   Texas D1 Ambassadors-Houston 75
This was a see saw battle that wasn't decided until a couple of late free throws by Family First.  Made up predominantly of players from Arlington Grace Prep their roster includes a couple of future pros in 2014 Emmanuel Mundiay and 2012 7'2" Ike Austin the country's #2 ranked player.

Four D1 Ambassadors hit double figures in front of about 150 college coaches.  They included 2012 Joshua Hagins of Bossier City Airline (13, 5 rebounds, 5 assists), 2012 Aly Mohamed of Houston Trent International (12), Darryl Milburn of Baton Rouge McKinley (11) and 2012 Chase Brogna of Houston St. Thomas (11).

Texas D1 Ambassadors-Austin 72   San Antonio Legends  62
It was deja vu all over again as theD1 Ambassadors-Austin beat the San Antonio Legends for a second time in three days (also won in The Jumpoff Event).  Their interior defense reduced the other team to jump shooters while Texas D1 attacked the rim and got to the freethrow line at will were they went 32-37 from the charity stripe.

There was no answer for 2012 F 6'6" Allex Austin, th country's #1 high jumper (7'2") as he had 22 points.  Austn is quickly moving up the ranks to be a high major recruit.  He'll be a combo track man/hooper at the next level.  He's long, obviously athletic and has a nice shooting touch out to the three point line.  He got great help from 2012 PG Mike Hardge (17 and 5 assists) and 2013 G T.J. Williams with 10 and 4 assists.  A nice shout out goes to 2012 F Casey Heller of Georgetown as he battled and finished with 8 hard fought rebounds in the win.
2012 Allex Austin of San Marcos continues to emerge.
All three of the Texas D1 squads; San Antonio, Austin and Houston went 2-1 in their respective super pools and appear poised to go deep into NBA bracket play.

Texas D1 Ambssadors 2014  71  Houston Force 50  (NCAA)
It's hard for me to be everywhere at once but if you get a chance come look at the D1 Ambassadors 2014 crew.  Playing in the NCAA division they went 2-1, with their only loss a close one to Louisiana high school powerhouse, Alexandria Peabody.   2014 PG Chase Carlton of Austin Westlake had 19 in that contest.  Against the Houston Force, 2014 Matt Perry of Kerrville Tivy had 17 points, 2014 Trey Dilworth of Round Rock McNeil had 13, Aubrie King of Mumford had 12 and Carlton also added a dozen as they cruised to victory.

Texas D1 Ambassadors 2013-Morse 77  D Gib Hoops Elite 76  (NBA)
The 2013 D1 Ambassadors dug deep against a talented, more mature D Gib squad and eked out an exciting one point victory.  Another in the line of great Pflugerville guards led the way as 2013 Darrius Brooks had 21 points, while 2013 G Will Morse of Austin Westlake dropped 17 and added 7 assists.
2013 G Darrius Brooks of Pflugerville is an emerging star
Oregon D1 Ambassadors 2013 69  Ray Jackson's Rising Stars  51
2013 Jacob McGraw was unstoppable as he went off for 25 points, including 4 triples as Oregon D1 won going away and captured their pool in their first trip to Texas