We have arrived in Las Vegas for all the youth basketball tournaments as the college recruiting window come close to ending on July 31st.
There are five tournaments we'll be covering, several have both boys and girls divisions. We'll be at the adidas 64, the Las Vegas Fab 48, Bigfoot Hoops Las Vegas Live as well as two JUCO events, the JUCO 100 and the JUCO Showcase.
The adidas Sper 64, Fab 48 and Bigfoot Hoops events are all very impressive. The Las Vegas Fab 48 made its debut last summer drawing 172 teams and 300-plus college coaches and media to Bishop Gorman High School.
The Oakland CA-based Drew Gooden Soldiers were crowned the champions in the presence of LeBron James as James stayed for most of the Soldiers' 86-66 victory over the Iowa Barnstormers to win the Invitational Division in front of 1,500 spectators. Oregon-bound Jabari Brown was named the tournament MVP following the conclusion of the game. Arizona-bound Nick Johnson and Kentucky-bound Kyle Wiltjer added 16 points each for the Soldiers while Seth Tuttle led Iowa with 16 points.
Led by Nick Emery's19 points, Salt Lake Metro Black won the 17 Open championship by defeating Southwest Elite Black (TX), 68-48. Savon Goodman had 24 points and Brandon Taylor added 20 as the Team Philly 16s beat the Oakland Soldiers 16s, 81-47, to win the 16-under Division championship.
This year the event's elite division will again consist of 48 national-caliber squads with all games for all 48 top teams at just ONE gym site (Bishop Gorman's 3 court facility) -- making it very easy for college coaches to evaluate a multitude of prospects.
The Las Vegas Live event has 329 teams and the tournament is loaded with talent in all age groups on both the boys' and girls' sides. Some of the big men at the tournament include:
* Cameron Smythe- 7'0, 2012, Tupper HS, playing with Basketball BC (Canada)
* Braxston Bunce- 6'10, 2012, Kelowna Secondary, also playing with Basketball BC (Canada)
* Kenneth Monture- 6'9, 2012, Caledonia, playing with DRIVE Basketball (Canada)
* Cody Belter- 7'0, 2014, Shelby Valley HS, playing with Central Kentucky Storm
* Darien Nelson-Henry- 6'11, 2012, Lake Washington, FOH Seattle
* Cole Walton- 6'11, 2012, Bellevue, FOH Seattle
* Mitch Brewe- 6'8 2011 Seattle Prep, FOH Seattle
* Nathan Anderson- 6'10, 2012, Round Rock Stoney Point, ATX Farley
* Jerred Kite- 6'10, 2012, Antonian College Prep, Team Texas O'Dell
* Andrew Poulter- 6'11, 2012, New Braunfels Canyon, Team Texas O'Dell
* Along with numerous other players from the USA and Canada in the 6'9 range
There are numerous mid-major prospects and high-major talent that have not yet been discovered, such as James Thompson -- 6'9, 2014, Parkview Baptist, Louisiana Future -- who is getting ready to breakout nationwide as one of the top players in the country, yet is a virtual unknown.
Talented teams in the younger divisions, such as Team Bibby, Oakland Soldiers, Chauncey Billups Elite, D-Gib Hoops, California Supreme, Utah Select, and many more will be in the house. On the girls' side, teams such as Team Concept out of Oregon, BNL from Indiana, Colorado Eclipse, Basketball BC from Canada, and several teams from Hawaii, will make this an excellent evaluation tournament for the women's coaches, as well.
Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and can be followed on twitter here, NetScouts Basketball can be followed on twitter here.