SI.com - On the Recruiting Trail / Notes from LeBron's Skills Academy and Reebok U
By: Seth Davis - Hoop Thoughts...
I arrived at the University of Akron's Rhodes Arena on Monday morning just in time to hear the best basketball player on the planet deliver a brief lecture to a handful of collegians. "The key is, can you take what you've learned here, go home and make your teammates better," LeBron James said. "It's easy to do that when you've got good players around you. But when you've got a guy who can't break someone down, or can't make a three-pointer, it's still up to you to make that person better. That's what it's all about. That's all I've got to say."
James spoke those words on the final day of the first LeBron James Skills Academy, a summer recruiting event run by Nike. Over the last several years, Nike was locked in a bitter battle with Reebok's Sonny Vaccaro to lure the nation's top high school players to their respective camps. Most of the time, Vaccaro won that battle, but with Vaccaro out of the camp business (at least for now), and with James in it, Nike far outpaced Adidas and Reebok in assembling the top talent for the first week of the summer evaluation period.
From my vantage point, the best part about the Nike event was that it only included 89 players, less than half of the usual number. From the vantage point of those players, however, I imagine the best part was that James was there -- and not just there, but participating with enthusiasm. He played with them, he ate with them, he sat on the bench with them, he talked with them. That goes for the 17 college guys working as counselors as well. Unfortunately, I was only in Akron on the last day and didn't get to see James play, but from what I heard he was all business when he played against the high school campers and college counselors.
I enjoy getting out on the summer recruiting circuit because it gives me a chance to visit with coaches while catching my first glimpses of the next generation of college hoopsters. After spending the day in Akron on Monday, I hopped an early flight to Philadelphia on Tuesday to watch the final-day action at the Rbk U event at Philadelphia University. So for the benefit of my fellow Hoop Thinkers, allow me to flip open my notebook and pass along what I saw and heard:
• I got to Akron early on Monday specifically so I could watch the college counselors work out. The group included big-name players such as North Carolina's Tywon Lawson, Villanova's Scottie Reynolds and the Lopez twins from Stanford, but the best of the bunch was Memphis junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts. CDR, as he is called, looked plenty big out there (he was listed last season at 6-foot-6, 190 pounds, but I'd say he's considerably stronger than that). But what I liked about him most was his ability to get to the rim whenever he wanted. He played like he knew he was the best guy on the floor, which is why Memphis (along with North Carolina) will get much consideration to be the preseason No. 1.
Two other guys who looked good during the counselor workouts was Gonzaga guard Jeremy Pargo and Ohio State forward Othello Hunter. It was also interesting to see Hasheem Thabeet, UConn's 7-3 sophomore center, playing with confidence. Lots of people were disappointed in Thabeet's play last season, but you have to remember this will be just his fifth year of organized basketball. Thabeet has a long way to go before he's an impact scorer, but his moves were more polished than I expected.
One other name you should know: Jason Thompson, a 6-10 rising senior at Rider. I hadn't heard of him either until this week, but while he got pushed around a little bit under the boards, Thompson is a very good athlete who looks like a natural scorer. I also heard he did a respectable job going up against LeBron during a workout the day before.
• A few minutes with ... Tom Izzo. The Spartans coach was in Akron largely to watch Delvon Roe, the 6-7 swingman from Lakewood, Ohio, who has committed to Michigan State. (I suggested last week Roe might end up being the best frontcourt player Izzo has ever recruited, and nothing I saw in Akron changed my mind.) Izzo, like all college coaches, was not allowed to talk on the record about high school players, but he told me he expects his team to do a lot more fast-breaking than they have in the last couple of years. "We haven't had enough depth to really run lately, but next year we're going to get back to that," he said. Izzo also said forward Marquis Gray is finally healthy; that he expects incoming freshman Chris Allen to be a scorer ("He's a better athlete than I thought he was," Izzo said.); and that another incoming freshman, point guard Kalin Lucas, is "as fast as anyone I've ever coached."Here's a prospect I'd never seen before who caught my eye: Rodney Williams, a 6-5 wing from New Hope, Minn. Maybe it's because of his first name and the fact that he was wearing No. 10 on his jersey, but Williams reminded me a lot of former Memphis guard Rodney Carney. He's got that same slender build and bounciness. After Williams soared in for yet another slam, I looked over my shoulder and saw Saul Smith, whose father, Tubby, just hired him as an assistant at Minnesota. I'm guessing Saul was picturing Williams in a Gophers uniform the entire time.
• Two guys I had seen before who made good impressions: Demarcus Cousins, a 6-9 forward from Birmingham, and Scotty Hopson, a 6-5 wing from Hopkinsville, Ky., who has committed to Mississippi State. Cousins is really big, but he looked in much better control of his body than when I saw him two weeks ago at USA Basketball's Youth Development Festival. Hopson was one of the best players at the festival, and he again looked terrific in Akron. Besides being a great leaper with a nice shooting touch, Hopson really appears to enjoy playing defense, and I swear I have never seen him play a bad game.
• A few minutes with ... John Thompson III. When I asked the Georgetown coach how he got Roy Hibbert to come back to school, he smiled and said, "Everybody's been asking me that. I promise you it wasn't because we had a three-hour pow wow. I told Roy he'd probably be picked around five through eight, but he likes school. That's really it." As for the rest of the Hoyas squad, Thompson will begin the season with considerably more confidence in his perimeter players than he did last year. Thompson praised the play of unsung guard Jonathan Wallace, but he also has a talented true point guard coming in freshman Chris Wright. "We can play them both together," JT3 told me. "I'm sure we can figure it out."
• One of the highlights of the summer circuit is the eureka moment when you first lay eyes on a player you had never heard of before and just know he's special. That happened for me on Monday when I first spotted John Riek, a native of Sudan. Riek is a rising junior at Our Savior New American School in Centereach, N.Y. He came to the U.S. in the middle of his sophomore year and apparently doesn't speak English. Also, nobody seems to know how old Riek really is. (I tried to speak with him after one of his games but I was told that he was the only player at the event who wasn't speaking to the media, presumably because of the language barrier.) Riek was measured at 6-11 without shoes, but he looked all of 7-feet-plus on the court. His skills are a little raw, as you might expect, but he has incredible footwork and scoring instincts, and he fights for rebounds like the proverbial bull in a china shop, literally throwing guys out of his way in an effort to get the ball. Riek is actually just the third-tallest player on his high school team, behind 7-5 Ring Ayeul and 7-2 Marial Dhal. How'd you like to draw up the scouting report against that front line?
• Other thoughts on the top players at the Nike event: Louisville-bound forward Samardo Samuels did a better job throwing his weight around than when I saw him at the NBA Players Association Camp in Charlottesville, Va., last month. Greg Monroe, the 6-10 forward from Gretna, La., looked a little lackluster, which is not uncommon for him. Monroe is still probably the best player in the senior class, but keep in mind this is a relatively weak class. Another senior, 6-6 wing Demar DeRozan from Compton, Calif., is a strong, quick and ultra-aggressive player who has committed to USC. If O.J. Mayo leaves after one year as expected, DeRozan will surely help fill the void. And keep an eye on rapidly-improving Ralph Sampson, a 6-11 center from Duluth, Ga. Yes, he's Ralph Sampson's son, and this kid is just starting to grow into his body. He might bloom a little late in college, but once he does, look out.
• Other tidbits heard in the bleachers: Coaches are not allowed to watch their own players work out during the summer (one of the stupidest rules on the books), but Memphis coach John Calipari told me that his players have been raving about Shawn Taggart, a 6-10 transfer from Iowa State who didn't play last year because of a knee injury. Just what Memphis needs, another good player ... St. John's coach Norm Roberts said he's excited about the seven new players he has coming in next year. The one with the best chance to have an immediate impact will be forward Justin Burrell, while 5-9 Malik Boothe will challenge Eugene Lawrence for time at the point ... Arizona assistant Miles Simon told me that Kobe Bryant was so taken with Chase Budinger at the skills academy that bears Bryant's name, he invited Budinger to join him in a private workout at 5:30 a.m. Simon also predicted sophomore forward Jordan Hill will have a breakout year for U of A. And as you know, what Simon says ... LSU assistant Butch Pierre took his eyes off of Greg Monroe just long enough to tell me the Tigers' incoming juco transfer Marcus Thornton, a 6-4 guard, is a scoring machine who will have an immediate impact. Pierre also predicted Mississippi State would be a dark horse in the SEC, a reflection of how highly he thinks of Jamont Gordon.
• In honor of my hero Peter King, I herewith pass along this aggravating/annoying travel anecdote: I got to Philly a little later than planned because my US Airways flight out of Cleveland, originally scheduled for 7:30 a.m., was delayed two hours because the flight crew was late. This would have been much more disconcerting had I not been entertained by the obvious frustration evinced by one of my fellow passengers, Roy Williams. When the gate attendant let Roy know the flight was delayed, I was sure he was going to make her run wind sprints up and down Concourse A. There were several other assistant coaches on the flight, but here's the difference between a head coach and an assistant (not to mention a sportswriter): While the assistants were waiting at the baggage claim and the rental-car counter once we arrived, Roy was picked up by UNC assistant Joe Holladay and driven straight to Philly U. I have a feeling that will be the last time Roy flies commercial.
• Williams was already standing in the top row of the bleachers by the time I got to Philadelphia University. The first player I noticed was John Wall, a quick 6-4 guard from Raleigh who got an early breakaway dunk. Wall is not among the top 75 juniors as ranked by Rivals.com, but it seems to me he probably should be. Later in the day, one Pac-10 assistant told me that Wall improved his stock more than any player at the camp.
• Another junior who is both highly ranked and highly recruited is 6-2 Kenny Boynton from Pompano, Fla. This is the second setting in which I've seen Boynton play (the first was the NBAPA camp), and I have to say both times I've been underwhelmed. You have to be careful about drawing firm conclusions based on one or two sightings, but one head coach who had been at the Reebok camp for all four days told me he thought Boynton did not have a good week.
• This event was my first chance this summer to see Ohio State-bound William Buford, and let me tell you, this kid is all that and a bag of chips. Good size, really quick, excellent jumper, deadeye shooter. Buford's soon-to-be coach, Thad Matta, recently had back surgery and was walking around the camp with a cane. I'm sure watching Buford in action was a pretty good painkiller.
• A few minutes with ... Ben Howland. It's not enough that Howland has taken UCLA to two straight Final Fours. He has also put together two phenomenal recruiting classes. When 6-3 point guard Jrue Holiday opted for UCLA over Washington earlier this month, the Bruins virtually locked up the No. 1 class. (Howland has two other terrific guards, Jerime Anderson and Malcolm Lee, coming in, as well as a stud forward in 6-9 San Jose native Drew Gordon.) Howland, naturally, dismissed the idea of having the No. 1-ranked class. "None of the experts had Darren Collison or Luc Richard Mbah a Moute ranked very high, and they turned out to be pretty good," he said. Speaking of the Cameroonian prince, Howland said he expects to move Mbah a Moute from the 4 to the 3 next year, while Josh Shipp will go from the 3 to the 2. He also told me that sophomore forward James Keefe is making great strides and should get plenty of time up front. Ah, the optimism of July.
• All eyes in Philly were on Renardo Sidney, the well-traveled 6-10 center who last season spent his junior year at Lakewood High in Artesia, Calif. Sidney has long been rated as the top player in the Class of '09, but from what I heard in the bleachers he did not play so well last week. Sidney is big and moves well for someone his size, but it doesn't do much good to free yourself for a shot if you can't put the ball in the bucket. Even worse, Sidney launched way too many three-pointers, none of which went in while I was watching. Sometimes we scrutinize the hyped players too much, and as I said earlier, you should never make too much out of one or two performances, good or bad. But I'd still say Sidney has work to do.
• When a meaty 6-7 forward puts the ball on the deck, soars through the lane and monster slams over two defenders, even a dolt like me has to take notice. So after Brampton, Ontario, native Olu Ashaolu pulled off that feat on Tuesday, I locked in on him the rest of the day. He was well worth watching. Ashaolu, whose older brother, Sam, was one of the five players shot last fall at Duquesne, is an absolute beast in the lane. He plays hard, he's tough and smart, and he has excellent skills to boot. Ashaolu has given his verbal commitment to Rutgers, but there was some buzz at the event that he might re-open his recruitment. I was surprised to see Ashaolu wasn't ranked in Rivals' top 150 seniors, because based on what I saw I'd say he's at least top-30.
• Here's another sleeper in the Class of '08 who blew up at Rbk U: Oleg Czyz, a 6-8 native of Poland who currently lives in Reno, Nevada. Czyz is strong and really, really athletic. He runs and finishes well, and he even made a nifty behind-the-back pass on a fast break for a layup during the championship game.
• Other under-the-radar players I really liked: Jio Fontan, a 6-foot point guard from St. Anthony High in Jersey City, who's committed to Fordham; Maurice Creek, a 6-3 junior from Temple Hills, Md., who can really shoot it; and Renaldo Woolridge, a 6-8 forward from Sherman Oaks, Calif., who had been getting interest from Arizona State and Pepperdine but will be in higher demand thanks to his play last week. (He's Orlando Woolridge's son.) I should also note that lots of people raved about how Villanova recruit (and Philly native) Maalik Wayns played, but aside from the first half of the farcical All-Star game, I didn't get to see him play.
• Finally, a few minutes with ... Billy Gillispie. He was all smiles, as you might expect, in his first summer as Kentucky's coach. Gillispie, who already made waves on the recruiting trail last spring with late signings from Alex Legion and Patrick Patterson, told me that while he has already spent many hours watching tape of Kentucky's games last season, he has not yet taken the time to buy a house. For the time being, he's making like Rick Majerus and living out of a hotel suite in Lexington. Gillispie also told me that fewer than 20 hours passed between the moment he first heard Kentucky was interested and the moment he was introduced as UK's coach at a press conference. "That's just how fast things move nowadays," Gillispie said. Looks to me like he hasn't stopped moving.
I arrived at the University of Akron's Rhodes Arena on Monday morning just in time to hear the best basketball player on the planet deliver a brief lecture to a handful of collegians. "The key is, can you take what you've learned here, go home and make your teammates better," LeBron James said. "It's easy to do that when you've got good players around you. But when you've got a guy who can't break someone down, or can't make a three-pointer, it's still up to you to make that person better. That's what it's all about. That's all I've got to say."
James spoke those words on the final day of the first LeBron James Skills Academy, a summer recruiting event run by Nike. Over the last several years, Nike was locked in a bitter battle with Reebok's Sonny Vaccaro to lure the nation's top high school players to their respective camps. Most of the time, Vaccaro won that battle, but with Vaccaro out of the camp business (at least for now), and with James in it, Nike far outpaced Adidas and Reebok in assembling the top talent for the first week of the summer evaluation period.
From my vantage point, the best part about the Nike event was that it only included 89 players, less than half of the usual number. From the vantage point of those players, however, I imagine the best part was that James was there -- and not just there, but participating with enthusiasm. He played with them, he ate with them, he sat on the bench with them, he talked with them. That goes for the 17 college guys working as counselors as well. Unfortunately, I was only in Akron on the last day and didn't get to see James play, but from what I heard he was all business when he played against the high school campers and college counselors.
I enjoy getting out on the summer recruiting circuit because it gives me a chance to visit with coaches while catching my first glimpses of the next generation of college hoopsters. After spending the day in Akron on Monday, I hopped an early flight to Philadelphia on Tuesday to watch the final-day action at the Rbk U event at Philadelphia University. So for the benefit of my fellow Hoop Thinkers, allow me to flip open my notebook and pass along what I saw and heard:
• I got to Akron early on Monday specifically so I could watch the college counselors work out. The group included big-name players such as North Carolina's Tywon Lawson, Villanova's Scottie Reynolds and the Lopez twins from Stanford, but the best of the bunch was Memphis junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts. CDR, as he is called, looked plenty big out there (he was listed last season at 6-foot-6, 190 pounds, but I'd say he's considerably stronger than that). But what I liked about him most was his ability to get to the rim whenever he wanted. He played like he knew he was the best guy on the floor, which is why Memphis (along with North Carolina) will get much consideration to be the preseason No. 1.
Two other guys who looked good during the counselor workouts was Gonzaga guard Jeremy Pargo and Ohio State forward Othello Hunter. It was also interesting to see Hasheem Thabeet, UConn's 7-3 sophomore center, playing with confidence. Lots of people were disappointed in Thabeet's play last season, but you have to remember this will be just his fifth year of organized basketball. Thabeet has a long way to go before he's an impact scorer, but his moves were more polished than I expected.
One other name you should know: Jason Thompson, a 6-10 rising senior at Rider. I hadn't heard of him either until this week, but while he got pushed around a little bit under the boards, Thompson is a very good athlete who looks like a natural scorer. I also heard he did a respectable job going up against LeBron during a workout the day before.
• A few minutes with ... Tom Izzo. The Spartans coach was in Akron largely to watch Delvon Roe, the 6-7 swingman from Lakewood, Ohio, who has committed to Michigan State. (I suggested last week Roe might end up being the best frontcourt player Izzo has ever recruited, and nothing I saw in Akron changed my mind.) Izzo, like all college coaches, was not allowed to talk on the record about high school players, but he told me he expects his team to do a lot more fast-breaking than they have in the last couple of years. "We haven't had enough depth to really run lately, but next year we're going to get back to that," he said. Izzo also said forward Marquis Gray is finally healthy; that he expects incoming freshman Chris Allen to be a scorer ("He's a better athlete than I thought he was," Izzo said.); and that another incoming freshman, point guard Kalin Lucas, is "as fast as anyone I've ever coached."
