LBJ Jaguars Top Cen-Tex Team

I had a chance to catch up with the Jags after their first game against the Poth Pirettes. LBJ one of the top teams in the area have great athleticism with a load of talented players.

GM Blackman Tournament Varsity Girls

Monday kicked off the first day of the annual GM Blackman Tournament in Bastrop, Texas.

The tournament featuring 16 teams from Central Texas along with a few State ranked teams proved to be one of the best tournaments to be a part of. The gym was full of intriguing prospects in the Cen-Tex area. 2010 F 5'9 Tamlasha Moore with the Bastrop Bears did a bang up job on the Hutto Hippos. Scoring 30 points and grabbing 10 rebounds Tamlasha proved to be on the top prospects in the area. 2011 5'7 G Hillari Raemsch did an excellent job of pushing the ball up the floor and getting her team easy baskets in transition. The Junior G has good ball handling, passing, and shooting skills with a desire to win.

Jackson ISD, (MS) Pepsi Tournament

Jackson Provine 10-28-16-23-77

Jackson Murrah 8-17-14-28-67

It's always fun watching D-1 players in their formative years. Today the gym is full of prospects here in Jackson, MS where my NBA friends say some of the best talent in the entire country plays in the Class of 2011. Both teams played tenacious man to man defense, with Provine prevailing 77-67. There were no shortage of athletic plays and there was close to double digit dunks.

Provine was led by 2011 SG 6'2" Jarren Mallory with 17 points, including 5 smooth jumpers from behind the arc. I really like his stroke..a smooth, consistent motion. The best player on the floor in terms of productivity was 2012 P 6'4" Roger Woods. He runs the floor extremely well and has a motor that doesn't stop. He had 16 points and a game high 14 rebounds.

For Murrah, 2010 G 5'11" Dundrecous Nelson (Ole Miss) showed mad hops, finishing an outrageous dunk off the break. He had 11 points. There's no doubt though who owns the town, as 2011 WG LaQuinton Ross (many people's pick for #1 in his class in the country) draws a buzz from the packed house everytime he touches the ball. What can you say about an athletic, cooordinated 6'8" player with nice touch on his shot, can handle it adequately and has big time court vision. He's a long kid who may grow more, but certainly will fill out and likely be a lottery pick in the summer of 2012.

Kerrville Tivy Tournament

The Kerrville Tivy tournament kicked off on Monday. The highlight of Day 1 was Jonathan Perry (pictured below with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors who went the length of the court splitting 4 Vista Ridge defenders for a buzzer beater v. Cedar Park Vista Ridge in a thrilling 49-47 Tivy win. Other Scores of Note:
Kererville Tivy 76 Corpus Christi King 36
Perry 26 for Tivy

San Antonio Sam Houston 78 Dripping Springs 58
2010 P Pier Gordon had 27 for Sam Houston

Austin Lake Travis 56 Austin St. Michael's 55
2010 Zac Karchewski 24 for Lake Travis while 2011 G Jake Kocher had 17 for St. Michael's

Lanier Viking Tournament

Kudos to Austin lanier Head Coach Matt Sandoval for putting together a pretty good field at his Viking Tournament being held at his high school. He's put together a pretty good field and has gone a long way to restoring basketball pride to Lanier and it's community. Austin Akins, A&M Consolidated, and State Ranked Bryan High make for a pretty competitive field. Not bad when you can attract one of the country's top players in Bryan's 2012 G J. Mychal Reese.

Below: Reese, shown as a 7th grader in ESPN The Magazine (as a Texas D-1 Ambassador). For several years he was the consensus #1 player in the country, and perhaps he still is. Regardless, he's a blue chipper being recruited by Texas, Kansas, USC, North Carolina and others despite only being a sophomore. Reese was 5A All State last year, the only freshman in Texas to earn that prestigious honor. Below: An unidentified Lanier Viking flushes one against Rockdale.

Round Up:

Austin Lanier 63 Rockdale 52

Franklin 18 for Lanier.

Austin Akins 57 A&M Consolidated 45

Kevin McFarlane 17 Malcolm Canada 17

Bryan 64 Georgetown 53

Reese 19 for Bryan, and Jaron Vierra (Ouchita Baptist) 15 for Georgetown

Austin Westlake 90 Arlington Martin 62 (Whataburger Classic)

Austin Westlake, my preseason favorite out of Region 4 in Texas 5A is continuing to build it's rep around the State. After narrowly losing the Championship of two major pre-Christmas Tournaments, Westlake smashed Arlington Martin in the opening game of the Dallas Whataburger Classic.

Westlake lost the championship of the Lonestar Invitational in San Antonio to Laredo United on a last second shot, and then lost a hard fought championship game in the last minute of the Houston McDonald's Invitational to the State's likely #1 team in 5A, Houston Bellaire.Above: 2010 PG Cody Doolin (San Francisco) scored 23 for the Chaps, while 2010 W 6'6" Conner Kemper led Westlake with 25. Kemper is one of the top unsigned 2010's in Texas, with near Ivy SAT scores and grades he will be a great get for an academic oriented D-1 school in the April signing period. Kemper has greatly inproved his aggressiveness and rebounding in addition to having one of the prettiest perimeter strokes around. D-1 coaches stop flirting, and make your move! Coach Max

Westlake should get a tern test today as they play one of California's top teams in Long Beach Poly today at 2PM

Baton Rouge Glen Oaks 85 Baton Rouge McKinley 48

Glen Oaks 18-27-24-16-85
McKinley 16-15-11-6-48

Below 2011 P 6'6" Tre Drye, shown here with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors is one of the top juniors in Louisiana. Showing improvement in his face up game, and with his first step to the bucket. Strong physically, he has excellent back to the basket fundamentals and is explosive. Tonight Drye had 17 points and 14 rebounds despite early foul trouble.2010 WG Brian Williams of Glen Oaks (Oklahoma State) shot the ball extremely well from the mid range. He dropped 20 points and showed his athleticism on the offensive booards as well as with his shot blocking/leaping ability.

2011 P 6'6" Erron Chesterfield of Glen Oaks shows flashes of rounding into a D-1 prospect. Lots of work ahead, but there's plenty of length and athleticism coupled with an aggressive attitude of "I'm gonna dunk on you". Chesterfield had 10 points in the blowout win.

2012 G Darryl Milburn of McKinley has already made a name for himself on the summer circuit and in national age group rankings. It's not hard to see why as he's got a great body, excellent balance and loves to catch and shoot with deadly accuracy given the slightest sliver of a look. His handles are solid.

Baton Rouge Istrouma 63 Baton Rouge Woodlawn 52

Istrouma 14-16-13-20-63
Woodlawn13-10-11-18-52

This was one of those games where the seeded favorite won, with little swing in the score during the entire game. Istrouma kept that magical 10 point lead throughout. Credit 2010 P 6'4" Braylon Lazare with keeping his team somewhat in the game as he finished with 11 points and 8 rebounds. If he could shoot free throws, he'd have had 20. He's the brother of former LSU star Darnell Lazare who is currently in the NBA's D League.

2010 P Terrance Williams led Woodlawn with 13 points.
2
01o G R.J. McGhee terrorized Woodlawn with 23 points and 5 assists, including one beautiful no look to 2010 P Steven Jackson.

2012 Istrouma G Darius Johnson had 11 for the Indians in their win. " Low Hanging Fruit " 2010 SG R.J. McGhee of Istrouma. Sure fire Mid Major D-1. Had close to 10 D-1 offers after playing this summer with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors. He had committed to University of New Orleans in the Sun Belt Conference. Just prior to the early November signing period, UNO because of a budget crunch has put a moratorium on scholarships and appear headed to D-3. McGhee is 6'5" and has as pretty a stroke as you'll find in a high school player. His range is DEEP! Lacks physical strength, but a good weight program will fix that.

One To Watch: 2012 G 6'3" Darius Johnson of Istrouma. Well built, physical player who is fearless getting to the rack. Persistent on the offensive boards which ups his value. I like his motor. He didn't shoot it a lot tonight, but he scored in avariety of ways including from the perimeter.

My Holiday Basketball Odyssey

Merry Christmas to all from Coach Max & Chip Ivany. I hope all your dreams come true and that 2010 is the most prosperous year ever.

I left San Antonio this morning (10AM) and am now in Baton Rouge, LA to cover a doubleheader at the East Baton Rouge Parrish Tournament. On Tuesday, I'll be in Jackson, MS covering the Jackson ISD Pepsi Shootout. Texas fans have no fear though as we've got our correspndents following Austin Westlake in Dallas at the Whataburger Classic, in Kerrville at the Tivy Classic, as well as in Austin at the Lanier Viking Tournament. Meanwhile my son, Chip left fo Utah this morning as UT-San Antonio is fixin' to take on the Utah Utes of the Mountain West Conference tomorrow (Tuesday) evening.God Bless and safe travels to all.

Coach Max

Garnica's Gone Wild

You can tell it's the holidays, because the D-1 guys were out watching high school games as most are on a few day Christmas break. I caught up with Stephen Baird (Liberty), Jonathan Landry (Coppin State), Travis Smith (Angelina JC) and of course my own son Chip Ivany (UT-San Antonio) was watching the games with me at Littleton.

San Antonio Lee 89 San Antonio Reagan 77


Below: Paul Garnica (shown hitting a three in the face of Memphis Magic's Adonis Thomas during a summer game with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors) continues his assault on the San Antonio scoring record books. He dropped 54 tonight to equal his career high set earlier last month vs. Boerne Champion. Ganica now stands within 91 points of taking the crown away from former San Antonio West Campus and former NBA player, Devin Brown. Garnica had some great help tonight as undersized P 2010 Mike McPherson really busted his tail on the boards and hustled his way to 21 points and 10 boards.



What Garnica is doing is transcending basketball. He's taking a group of underdog kids and leading them to bigger things, and he's rallying a community around him and his team mates. The Lee "Red Army" was out in force tonight as well as other curiousity seekers to see the sllightly built Garnica do his thing. At least four of Garnica's three pointers were from 28-30 feet out. Reagan players had no answer.



At half time a gentleman approached me (he'd sent me an email earlier this week) saying that his little boy used to want to wear Spur Manu Ginobili's number in his youth games but now wants to wear Paul Garnica's #3. Wow. I tell these kids all the time, that youngsters look up to them.. PROOF! Tonight was no day at the beach for the Reagan Rattlers. Thought ya'll might enjoy this photo of the Texas D-1 Ambassadors at Myrtle Beach after capturing the prestigious Atlantic Slam II, in South Carolina. Summer team mates from left to right: 2011 G Tre Demps who had 31 tonight for SA Reagan, 2011 P Mark Nwakamma of Leander, 2010 G Cody Doolin of Austin Westlake (San Francisco), 2010 G Jonathan Perry of Kerrville, Paul Garnica of Lee who had 54 tonight (Northern Colorado), 2010 W Conner Kemper of Austin Westlake, Daniel Alexander of Dripping Springs with hand raised (Texas A&M), 2011 Jake Kocher of St. Michael's who is currently leading the City of Austin in scoring at 28ppg, and last but not least D.J. Stephens of Killeen Harker Heights who is now with the Memphis Tigers. 2011 G Tre Demps (shown below at John Lucas' Camp this past summer) of San Antonio Reagan had 31 points and 5 assists tonight in an impressive performance for the Rattlers in their loss to Lee. Demps has improved his strength, balance, ability to get to the rim and has become a much more consistent three point threat. Reagan team mate Max Yon also had a great night for his squad with 26 points.
San Antonio Madison 38 San Antonio MacArthur 36

One of the better 2012 prospects in the San Antonio area is PG Matt Gramling of MacArthur. (Below) Playing in the backcourt with his brother, 2010 G Chris Gramling he scored 8 points tonight and is gaining confidence as his first varsity campaign unfolds. The other solid 2012 prospect, Madison's Christopher Campbell was no factor as he picked up fouls immediately and was never part of the flow.

This was a snoozer to watch, until the last few seconds when MacArthur inexplicably allowed a post to handle the ball twice, allowing Madison to first steal the ball to tie the score and then again at the buzzer, Madison's Jamaal John (Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo) threw up a runner from about 18 feet out at the buzzer for the Madison win. Johnson finished with a game high 15. Jonathan Landry's younger brother 2013 PG Trayvon Landry of Madison was not in uniform as he's nursing a strained groin. We wish him well and a speedy recovery from a very annoying injury.

Happy Holidays From Memphis

I received a warm holiday call a couple of days ago from Memphis Head Coach Josh Pastner. He's doing a great job with the Memphis Tigers in his first season, with only two heartbreaking losses to Kansas & UMass. The Tigers are still very talented, but are a little short in numbers after this past summer's recruiting class bolted to Kentucky, Kansas, etc. From our Family to His, we wish him the all the best.

Below: Memphis Tiger DJ Stephens is #30, third player from the right in the back row. For any of you who know Coach Pastner as I do, you won't find a more optimistic guy. He's a great young coach who really cares about his players...I mean REALLY cares. He wanted to let me know first hand how Texas D-1 Ambassador D.J. Stephens of Harker Heights HS was doing in his freshman campaign.

"Max, DJ has made a couple of starts for us and keeps getting better every day in practice through his hard work. He goes against a likely NBA lottery pick everyday in practice in Senior Elliot Williams who transferred from Duke. He's rebounding the ball well and night in and out is a crowd favorite (in front of almost 18,000 adoring fans). He's an elite level athlete who is only going to get better and better."

For all you aspiring players in Central/South Texas take heed of DJ's work ethic and unrelenting FAITH. Having received only one offer (San Francisco) after his junior summer, he elected to play his senior year unsigned with the D-1 Ambassadors. DJ did not commit to Memphis until late August of this summer and 4 days later was enrolled at school. Unbelieveable! I will chronicle his recruiting story in the inaugural issue of my Texas Basketball Inc. Magazine which will be published in late January.

Player Spotlight: 2011 SG Jake Kocher

Yesterday Pflugerville Connally soundly handled Austin St. Michael's 79-67. Despite the win, the Cougars were the latest victim to get stung by the scoring strikes from 2011 G 6'2" Jake Kocher. So many of my Texas Prep Reports this season have rightfully so been focused on Senior G Paul Garnica of San Antonio (and rightfully so) that we tend to overlook the scoring exploits 60 miles up I-35 in Austin, TX of the kid with the perpetual smile and rosy cheeks. Garnica & Kocher's common bond is their love of the game and that they were summer team mates on the Texas D-1 Ambassadors.

That's where the similarity stops. Kocher is a shoot first, score first player who can make you pay from the perimeter, in the midrange and while dipsy doodling in the paint.

(Below: Kocher in a summer tournament...hey, who's the good looking bald guy in the background???)
But wait, you say. "He's at a private school so, amassing points is no big deal." Hold on folks. First of all, St. Michael's has a pretty good team. Over the last two seasons they've won more than their share against Texas 4A & 5A schools. In fact, this year the Crusaders are 10-4 vs. The UIL. Kocher's overall scoring average is 27.5 ppg. ( He suffered a concussion against Westbury Christian in the 1st quarter vs the Houston powerhouse). Against public schools Kocher now is averaging 28 ppg while many times facing gimic defenses such as the box and one.

2011 SG Jake Kocher of Austin St. Michael's & the Texas D-1 Ambassadors

To date Kocher has lit the following UIL public schools up with these totals:

Pflugerville Connally 37, Liberty Hill 36, Austin Travis 30, Waco University 30 Copperas Cove 39.

I look for Kocher to really step it up in the summer of 2010 during his rising senior summer. Mid majors and high academic schools take note.....Coach Max

Corpus Christi John Paul II 55 Austin Hyde Park 52

I'm a little bit ticked at my photography in these pics. Not sure why they are fuzzy. However.....grrrrrrr

Below: 2011 WG Brooks Pawsat of Hyde Park stole the scoring show today v. Corpus Christi John Paul II. Pawsat is coming on super strong this campaign. As a soph he was a JV player. However, in addition to his natural growth, Pawsat has been working hard on his game this past off season ,attending the All American Prodigy Camp, playing for the D-1 Ambassadors, as well as working on his agility with TJ Garza at Speed Killz. That mixture, along with Pawsat's talent makes him one of the highest scoring varsity players in Austin this year. Today, he led Hyde Park with 34 points and 7 rebounds. Below: 2010 C 6'9" Triton "Tank" Mayberry of Corpus Christi John Paul registered an emphatic triple doublethis afternoon. What I love about Tank is he blocks shots with the old fashioned "Bill Russell Method". He doesn't jump and swat, he stands his ground and keeps balls in play, leading to fast break points the other way. Mayberry had 23 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 blocked shots!

2012 Ryan Roberts battled Big Tank all day and although he lost the battle, the youngster never backed down against the Big Fella. Roberts had 3 blocks of his own.

Veteran Coach Sam Odoms who led Corpus Christi Ray to State in the past, now heads up the young John Paul II program. Not too often I get to take in a game with TWO private schools involved. However, I made my way to Hyde Park's beautiful new campus in Austin this afternoon to watch an improved HP team which has some pretty good under class talent and to see my old friend, Triton "Tank" Mayberry of John Paul II. Tank was a member of the Texas D-1 Ambassadors back when he was just a man-child 7th grader before he eventually went on to play for his uncle's Team Genesis out of Houston, and now as a Senior at John Paul II.

I had a chance to speak with Tank before the game and was impressed with his maturity. We talked college. Right now he said, "Coach, I'm just living life and getting ready for the next level". I asked him who his leaders were at the moment, and he replied, "South Alabama & University of Houston" He's being recruited by two of my coaching favorites, Ronnie Arrow at USA (who coached my son, Chip) and Kevin "Ice" Lewis of the Cougars, who I first came to know back in the day when he was with Baylor. Tank's still got a long way to go but I was impressed with his first half conditioning. He played the entire half, including the last 10 minutes with 2 fouls on him....in fact, Big Tank did not end up resting for even one second this game. As noted above, Tank is a potent shot blocker and is on his way to reshaping his body. Once he gets in a college program and they really hit the weights and they scrutinize his nutrition he'll be a force to be reckoned with. After the game, he came over and shook my hand, and said "Coach, is this what you came to see?" "Yes Sir, young man...you are well on your way." Wow...It's seeing these kids become young men that makes being involved in basketball so rewarding for me.

For Hyde Park, I definitely like what I see from 2012 P 6'5" Ryan Roberts who shows nice athleticism and although he hasn't scored the ball, rebounds it well and shows a developing face up game which projects him to more of a three man in the future. HP's 2011 Brooks Pawsat is one of the leading scorers in the Austin area. Right now he's stuck between an identity of a two/three man. He shoots it well enough, now he just needs to tighten up his handles. I do like his anticpation defensively and his fearlessness when attacking the rim.

I also had a chance to visit pregame with ex Corpus Christi Ray Coach Sam Odoms who came out of retirement to coach at JohnPaul II, now in their 4th year as a school. He had some great teams at Ray and you could see during the course of the game he still has that fire to "coach'em up". Also at the scorer's table long time Hyde Park Head Man Kacy Benson shared with me his desire to preach the Gospel and be an Evangelist as his reason's for stepping away from the coaching game. Kudos to him!

Frosh G Damarcus Whittington of John Paul looked every bit the varsity player as a starter. Although he committed a few turnovers out of his youthfulness, he also was not shy about launching his perimeter shot or driving to the lane. He had 12 points, and hit three from beyond the arc. He'll be added to my Player Rankings in the Class of 2013

Hyde Park 13 10 12 17-52

John Paul II 15 17 11 12-55

Austin-San Antonio Round Up

With the weather turning colder and Christmas only a few days away, most of the tournaments have abated for the next few days in the Austin-San Antonio area. We're left without a smorgasbortd, but there were some key games, with key players participating in the area last night

Below: Cody Doolin of Austin Westlake and the Texas D-1 Ambassadors mauled contender/pretender Austin Reagan last night, calling off the dogs in the 3rd quarter. I expected Reagan to give Westlake a decent fight last night after the nice showing they had in the Chris Bosh Invitational in DFW a few days ago. Jack Parrish, who coaches many of the Reagan kids (including his own son, Alex) called me on Wednesday and said, "Reagan's playing the #1 team in the State". This was a reference to Westlake, and although I consider them #1 in Region 4 I never expected a beating of this magnitude. PG Doolin (San Francisco) led the way for the Chaps who are also playing for a State Championship in football this afternoon at San Antonio's Alamodome. Best of luck to them in 5A, and to Austin Lake Travis who are trying to capture their 3rd consecutive 4A State title in Waco, on the Baylor campus.

Leander's 2011 P Mark Nwakamma (below) inexplicably still playing with a painful stress fracture in his foot. He scored 17 Against Round Rock in a 43-36 loss. The Rock was led by 2010 W Kenneth Black (Texas A&M-Commerce) with 12.

In other action Coach Bruce Etheridge told me last week he'd have his Marble Falls Mustangs running and gunning. In what has to be considered an upset The Falls bumped a pretty good Austin High team 90-80. 2010 unsigned Bron Etheridge led the Ponies with 22, while 2011 PG Eric McClellan had 22 for the Maroons. Austin High just won the Lake Travis Tourny, so this was a surprise to me.

Austin Akins 49 Pflugerville Hendrickson 47

2011 PG Yolonzo Moore dropped 17 in the win, while nifty 2011 WG Jalen Washington had 21 for the Hawks.

Del Valle 65 Schertz Clemens 63

2011 P Karim York had 17 to lead the Cardinals.

Cedar Park Vista Ridge 60 Round Rock Stony Point 51

Stony Point finally has it's footballers back this week after their football team fell in the State Semifinals. Chris Clement (Princeton)had 16 in the loss.

Converse Judson 64 Pflugerville 59

Spoke to The Ville Coach Mike Murphy on the phone shortly after the loss. He had no excuses. "We didn's shoot the ball well, and Judson took care of business on their home court".

Austin LBJ 78 Dripping Springs 56

2011 G Robert Lee had 27 for the Jags in the win, and 2010 W Daniel Alexander (Texas A&M) had 16 for Drip.

Converse Wagner 98 Killeen Harker Heights 73

Wagner almost hung a "hunny" on Heights at Concordia University's new gym in Austin. They were led by 22 from 2010 W Andre Roberson and Jordan Clarkson (Tulsa) with 20.

Garnica Set To SMASH Devin Brown's Record

The most compelling story of this year's San Antonio High School basketball season has to be Paul Garnica of San Antonio Lee who started this year with a shot at becoming the All Time Scorer for Alamo City Preps. Garnica won't get the record, he'll OBLITERATE it. Last night he and his Lee mates turned back San Antonio O'Connor with another 40 plus performance. This time he notched 44. He's now only 165 points away from taking the crown. What most people don't realize is that Garnica is really more of a true point. Playing this summer for the Texas D-1 Ambassadors, Garnica rarely scored in double figures ...in points that is. His goal was to quarterback the team and rack up the assist count. As the old Oakland Raiders mantra used to be, Garnica's all about "just winning Baby". He's a coach on the floor and makes his team mates better. He's a scorer by accident, because he has to be.

It has been my pleasure to Coach Garnica in about 150 summer games on the National Exposure Circuit. He's a winner, and the University of Northern Colorado has gotten themselves a special player, and leader....Coach Max

I'd encourage all of San Antonio to get out and see this special player as he makes his run to the top of San Antonio's scoring heap!

San Antonio Wagner 50 Kerrville Tivy 42

The scoreboard says it all. San Antonio Wagner 50 Kerrville Tivy 42

Credit for the 1st three action photos goes to Mr. Todd Winters of Kerrville. Thank you !
Below: As a result of Wagner Coach Cliff Ellis' focus on denying Tivy leader Jonathan Perry few uncontested touches, something had to give. Tyler Kotson wore out the smaller Wagner defenders to the tune of 24 points, all cookie cutters of the point blank power layup pictured here. Perry was hounded everywhere he went, finishing with 4 shot attempts and only 2 points. Pictured below battling old friend Andre Roberson. Two of the Area's top unsigned bang heads, with Roberson and his group claiming the win on the night. Roberson's offensive rebounding was a highlight for Wagner. He's moving his way from low major to likely mid and possibly lower end Big XII status. He's a late bloomer who keeps working hard and improves every game I see him play. Mid majors and ABOVE take note.

Move in 2011 G Deron Belford has been a big help in the ball handling department for Tivy. I had Belford with 7 assists last night, most of them drawing the heat and dishing to Kotson down low. This is a heck of a 1st half here at Kerrville Tivy as the host Antlers are trying to prove that San Antonio Wagner is not invincible. Wagner's strength is in it's athleticism and depth but despite early foul trouble which has kept Tivy star Jonathan Perry scoreless and shackled to the bench they hold a 24-20 halftime lead over the defending State reps in 5A from Region 4. Tivy's 201o P 6'7" Tyler Kotson is the scoring story of the half as he has 16 points all from under the bucket. He's doing a nice job of sealing the smaller Wagner players down low.

Below: 2010 W 6'7" Andre Roberson. His spring recruitment is about to explode based on his play at Wagner. In the 3rd Q, Wagner turned up the D. They held Tivy to 6 points and didn't allow them to get into their offense. The pace of the game is now favoring Wagner. Clarkson had 10 in the quarter to lead the T Birds to the 38-30 lead. With 1:33 left Kotson has fouled out and Wagner leading 50-42. Wagner will wrap this one up with a hard fought 50-42 victory. Make no mistake, Wagner is still a very dangerous team, but not a lock like last year to get to State. Coach Ellis has to figure out how to replace injured leader Jordan Jones who brought a toughness and swagger to the team. (Can anyone replace a kid like that...He simply was a WINNER.) Jordan Clarkson (Tulsa) had 17 for Wagner and his sidekick, Andre Roberson had 17 points and 12 rebounds, many of them key to keep offensaive possessions alive. Kotson led Tivy with 24, with all points coming within 3 feet of the bucket as he constantly sealed down low for his points.

Below: Jordan Clarkson (Tulsa)Wagner 13 7 18 12-50

Tivy 10 14 6 12-42

San Antonio Taft's Dylan Elias To Northern Colorado

2011 G 6'0" Dylan Elias of San Antonio Taft, shown here with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors as he heads to the free throw line to seal the victory. Dylan has a lot more to smile about today as he has verballed to the University of Northern Colorado in the Big Sky Conference.

Northern Colorado Coach B.J. Hill came to town on Thursday to catch his recent signee, Paul Garnica of San Antonio Lee in action. Garnica did not disappoint as he recorded a triple double. Northern Colorado made it an efficient trip to The Alamo City as they also picked up a verbal commitment from San Antonio Taft's Dylan Elias. Elias projects to more of a point at the next level but is currently playing off the ball for Taft.

When I spoke to Dylan's Pops, Jesus this morning he attributed the comfort in the early decision being made to his son's 4 day stay at the Northern Colorado campus this past June. The Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Carter team attended the UNC team camp and he fell in love with the Greeley, CO campus.

I kiddingly told Coach Hill this morning that he could just sit in his rocking chair in Greeley, CO and make his recruiting life easy by signing D-1 Ambassadors players and not have to run around chasing kids on the circuit all summer long.

I texted Elias' new team mate to be, Paul Garnica to let him know the news. Paul responded with a hearty, "I like that! That's whaz up" He's excited to have Dylan as a team mate. Congratulations to Dylan from The Texas D-1 Ambassadors Family...Coach Max, Coach Chip, Coach Lance.

Dylan is the latest D-1 Ambassador from this past summer's teams (in alphabetical order) to make his D-1 basketball commitment:

2010 W Daniel Alexander Texas A&M

2010 W Matt Derenbecker Louisiana State

2010 G Cody Doolin San Francisco

2011 G Dylan Elias Northern Colorado

2010 G Paul Garnica Northern Colorado

2011 P David Hahn Texas State

2010 P Gus Leeper Arkansas-Little Rock

2010 G R.J. McGhee New Orleans (reopened his recruitment due to UNO's financial problems)

2010 W William Nelson Tulane (Baton Rouge JC)

2010 WG Demetris Smith Lamar

2010 D.J. Stephens Memphis

2010 WG Brian Williams Oklahoma State

Austin Reagan Report

Austin Reagan was in Dallas this past weekend at the Chris Bosh Hoopfest and put on a pretty good show. G Brandon Golden (Below) had an outstanding tournament. Reagan has several quality 2011 players, most notably in Golden, W 6'4" Jaquarius Daniels and P 6'4" Cornelius Cammock who is an undersized widebody who is both skilled and tough down low. Reagan beat highly touted Dallas Woodrow Wilson 64-49 with Daniels scoring 23 and Cammock 13. Then they had a battle with Dallas Lincoln and National recruit 2011 LeBryan Nash. Lincoln prevailed 65-55. Once again Daniels had 23, and Cammock 16 for the resurgent Raiders. I'm going out on a limb here and will predict that Austin LBJ's streak of 10 outright or shared District titles is about to end. This Austin Regan group is for real. They've got skill, size, shooters and are not INTIMIDATED by LBJ like past teams have been. Don't get me wrong, LBJ is no pussycat and Coach Freddie Roland will not let them go down easily. Get your seat at the Delco Center for the two district tussles between these two long time rivals after the New Year.

Hays Tournament Championship San Antonio Lee 79 Del Valle 77

Paul Garnica puts on another phenomenal show in the Championship Game of the Hays Tournament. 2011 W 6'8" Karim York of Del Valle oozes potential and reminds me of another past Del Valle star in current New Mexico Lobo, A.J. Hardeman.

My final stop on my 3 days smorgasbord of high school tournaments was at Hays HS where the favored Del Valle Cardinals took on San Antonio Lee for the hardware. I've coached over 700 games and likely easily viewed another 3000 over the years, watching high school prospects. Paul Garnica's latest game definitely belongs in the Top 5 performances I've ever witnessed.

A day after Northern Colorado Coach B.J. Hill saw Garnica post a triple double, I was on hand as Paul dropped 47 points on a talented Del Valle team. Although the sheer number in itself is impressive, it's how this kid keeps putting up numbers that amazes. Lee is full of undersized kids who scrap hard. They rally around Garnica and fully expect him to do the scoring, but at the same time he is not selfish and has the other kids believing in their role. They are currently 17-1.

Garnica scored 23 of his points from the free throw line. He also scored several triples from NBA range but the majority of his field goals came from getting to the rim, sometimes in transition and sometimes while being doubled. It really didn't matter. Three Del Valle players fouled out trying to guard him. He was doubled at all times while they attempted to deny him the ball.

Lee broke out to a big scoring second quarter which gave them a 51-31 lead at the half. By the middle of the 3rd Q, both of Lee's undersized posts had fouled out and Garnica was the biggest Lee Volunteer on the floor listed generously at 6'0" in the prgram, but more likely 5'11". Del Valle are no slouches and likely will have two D-1 players when the smoke clears in 2010 G 6'3" Braylon Thomas (brother to former Baylor Bear Curtis Jerrells) and 2011 W 6'8" Karim York who has mid to high major written all over him. Not to mention G Rodney Lee who is a cat quick D-1 football talent who hounded Garnica and traded good natured smack talk with him all game. Del Valle look like they would put Lee away when with 2:30 left in the game they led 76-71. With both team in the double bonus, Garnica willed his team to victory with 2 key steals the last one with 16 seonds left and Del Valle threatening to close it out.

In addition to Garnica's 47, 2010 G Braylon Thomas scored 21 and 2011 W York had 15 and double digit rebounds. I'll have an update later on Garnica's # needed to break Devin Brown's career scoring record for the City of San Antonio.