Renardo Sidney (Fairfax, CA) Picks Southern California

Renardo Sidney (Fairfax, CA)

The afternoon press conference that was set-up for Renardo Sidney to make his announcement on where he will play college ball next year had no surprises. After earlier in the week when UCLA dropped out of his recruitment, it was a no-brainer that he would end up at cross-town rival USC.

Now the only thing holding Renardo Sidney from finalizing the committment is get a qualifying SAT score when he takes the test March 16, 2009.

He has had an outstanding senior campaign posting big numbers and leading his team to a 24-3 record thus far. He is avgeraging 24.0 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.

Renardo Sidney (Fairfax, CA) Announcing College Decision Sunday

Renardo Sidney

Renardo Sidney a 6’10/255 power forward is planning on ending his recruitment this Sunday, when he will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. PDT. Renardo is a top ten player in the class of 2009; the schools in the running for his services include UCLA, USC, UNLV, Virginia, Mississippi State, Texas and UConn.

Renardo still needs to take the SAT and qualify to gain NCAA eligibility for next season. The rumors going around the west coast are that he is a done deal to UCLA if he can qualify.

Renardo Sidney is having a very impressive senior campaign averaging 26.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.6 blocks per game.

Tristan Thompson (2010) Power Forward Finds New Home

Tristan Thompson

Tristan Thompson a consensus top five prospect in the class of 2010 who was dismissed from St. Benedict’s Prep (NJ) team last week for public insubordination has found a new school. The talented forward who is verbally committed to (Texas) has decided to finish his year at Findlay Prep (NV) which is ranked #3 in the ESPN Rise Top 50 rankings.

Tristan has been granted eligibility and started to practice with the team, he will suit up for Findlay Prep (NV) this Friday when they travel to Dallas, TX to take on Duncanville (TX). Findlay Prep is currently undefeated with a record of 28-0. At Findlay Prep (NV) Tristan joins fellow Canadian in Corey Joseph along with fellow Texas commit Avery Bradley.

This is a huge pick up for such an already talent heavy team, it will be interesting to see how he gels with his new teammates. The team has a high level of chemistry so it will take him some time to figure out what his role will be with them. There is no denying the tremendous amount of talent that Tristan has along with his huge upside.

Findlay Prep (NV) has been invited to participate in the inaugural ESPN Rise National High School Invitational tournament being held in Bethesda, MD at Georgetown Prep on April 3-5^th.

2009 Nike Hoops Summit USA Roster

The 12^th annual Nike Hoops Summit will take place on April 11^th at the Rose Garden in Portland, OR for the second year in a row. The game will match up some of the elite high school ball players in the USA against the top international prospect under the age of 19. This all-star game is very unique in the fact the players will be playing as representatives for the home countries. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. (PDT).

Some of the past stars in this game include Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics), Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks), Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs), Josh Smith (Atlanta Hawks), Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City), Al Jefferson (Minnesota Timberwolves), Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls), O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies), Michael Beasley (Miami Heat), Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves), Andrea Bargnani (Toronto Raptors) and many others.

USA Junior National Select Roster:

Derrick Favors (South Atlanta, GA) (C) Georgia Tech

John Henson (Sickles, FL) (PF) UNC

DeMarcus Cousins (LeFlore, AL) (PF) Undecided

Mason Plumlee (Christ School, NC) (PF) Duke

Mike Moser (Grant, OR) (SF) UCLA

Xavier Henry (Putnam City, OK) (SG) Memphis

Avery Bradley (Findlay Prep, NV) (SG) Texas

Leslie McDonald (Briarcrest, TN) (SG) UNC

John Wall (Word of God, NC) (PG) Undecided

Abdul Gaddy (Bellarmine Prep, WA) (PG) Washington

2009 McDonald’s All-American Game Rosters

The 2009 contest will take place in the sunshine state at the University of Miami’s Bank United Center on April 1. This is the most prestigious All-American game that is held on the high school level and is comprised of 24 elite players from the East and West coast. The game will be aired on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET.

East Roster:

Derrick Favors (South Atlanta, GA) (C) Georgia Tech

Alex Oriakhi (Tilton School, NH) (C) UConn

Ryan Kelly (Ravenscroft School, NC) (PF) Duke

Milton Jennings (Pinewood Prep, SC) (PF) Clemson

Dante Taylor (National Christian Academy, MD) (PF) Pittsburgh

DeMarcus Cousins (LeFlore, AL) (PF) Undecided

Lance Stephenson (Lincoln, NY) (SG) Undecided

Kenny Boynton (American Heritage, FL) (SG) Florida

Dominic Cheek (St. Anthony, NJ) (SG) Villanova

Dexter Strickland (St. Patrick, NJ) (PG) UNC

Maalik Wayns (Roman Catholic, PA) (PG) Villanova

Peyton Silva (Franklin, WA) (PG) Louisville

West Roster:

Keith “Tiny” Gallon (Oak Hill Academy, VA) (C) Oklahoma

John Henson (Sickles, FL) (PF) UNC

Wally Judge (Arlington Country Day, FL) (PF) Kansas State

David Wear (Mater Dei, CA) (PF) UNC

Travis Wear (Mater Dei, CA) (PF) UNC

Renardo Sidney (Fairfax, CA) (PF) Undecided

Mason Plumlee (Christ School, NC) (PF) Duke

Xavier Henry (Putnam City, OK) (SG) Memphis

Avery Bradley (Findlay Prep, NV) (SG) Texas

Michael Snear (Rancho Verde, CA) (SG) Florida State

Abdual Gaddy (Bellarmine Prep, WA) (PG) Washington

Tommy Mason-Griffin (Madison, TX) (PG) Oklahoma

John Wall (Word of God, NC) and Jordan Hamilton (Dominguez, CA) were both ineligible for this game.

The top three Universities represented in this game are UNC (4), Undecided (3) and Duke, Oklahoma and Villanova each had (2). The top rated player left off the rosters was Mouphtaou Yarou (Montrose Christian, MD).

Duke Blue Devils Getting A Surprise Visit For UNC Rivarly Game

Harrison Barnes (Ames, IA)

North Carolina vs. Duke is the number one rivalry in college sports and it takes place tonight at “Cameron Indoor Stadium”. This is a huge night for recruits to be on campus to watch one of the biggest games of the season.

Duke has a few players coming on campus who have already verbally committed to play in “Cameron Indoor Stadium” which are Josh Hairston (Courtland, VA) and Tyler Thornton (Gonzaga, DC) of the class of 2010.

The big surprise of the night is that Harrison Barnes (Ames, IA) a consensus top five player is making the trip half way across the country for an unofficial visit. This will be his second unofficial visit to Duke University which could make some people think they could be his leader. He has also visited Kansas on two unofficial visits this season along with going to Iowa State home games this year.

St. Bendict’s Prep (NJ) Loses Star Tristan Thompson (2010)

Tristan Thompson

Tristan Thompson a 6′9 combo forward from Canada who has been playing his high school basketball at St. Benedict’s Prep (NJ) and verbally committed to Texas, has been kicked off the team. Tristan Thompson was leading St. Benedict’s Prep (NJ) with 19.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.

This is a huge loss for St. Benedict’s Prep (NJ) who is 20-2 on the season. Tristan Thompson is a consensus top five player in the country for the class of 2010. He combines the ability to play on the wing and inside. He has a ton of upside to his game, where he continues to become even more polished on the perimeter along with his great leaping ability and solid job on the boards.

It will be interesting to see if sophomore and fellow Canadian Myck Kabongo will follow Tristan Thompson to whatever school he lands at for next season. Myck Kabongo who has also verbally committed to the University of Texas is considered a top five point guard prospect in the class of 2011.

St. Benedict’s Prep (NJ) plays on Saturday afternoon in Trenton, NJ at the Primetime Shootout event against Mountain State Academy (WV). The game tips off at 4:30 p.m.

2009 Jordan Brand All-American Rosters Announced

The Jordan Brand All-American game announced the rosters for the game held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This year’s event tripleheader will begin with an International Game at 3:30 p.m. followed by the Regional Game at 5:30 p.m., and the All-American Game at 8:00 p.m. The International and regional rosters will be announced at a later date. The All-American game will be aired on ESPN2.

The biggest surprise of the team selected was the omission of “NYC Standout” Lance Stephenson (Lincoln, NY) and “Jersey Star” Dexter Strickland (St. Patrick, NJ). Each of these players deserves to play in this game both are ranked in the top ten players in the country. There has been a rumor going around that the reason Lance Stephenson was left off of the roster has to do with him test-wearing Under Armour gear for (Lincoln, NY).

The Jordan Brand selection committee really dropped the ball on this decision leaving off the top player in New York for an All-American being held in the Madison Square Garden.

Tickets are now on sale at all Ticketmaster locations, the Madison Square Garden box office, online at ticketmaster.com or by calling 212-307-7171. For more information, please visit the official web site, www.JordanBrandClassic.com. Live webcasts of the Regional and International games, produced by the High School Basketball Network, are also available at www.JordanBrandClassic.TV.

The roster for the game includes:

John Wall (Word of God, NC) (PG) Undecided

Lamont “MoMo” Jones (Oak Hill Academy, VA) (PG) Virginia Tech

Tommy Mason-Griffin (Madison, TX) (PG) Oklahoma

Abdul Gaddy (Bellarmine Prep, MA) (PG) Washington

Kenny Boynton (American Heritage, FL) (SG) Florida

Avery Bradley (Findlay Prep, NV) (SG) Texas

Xavier Henry (Putnam City, OK) (SG) Memphis

Dominic Cheek (St. Anthony’s, NJ) (SG) Villanova

Durand Scott (Rice, NY) (SG) Miami

Royce White (Hopkins, MN) (SF) Minnesota

Jordan Hamilton (Dominguez, CA) (SF) Texas

Renardo Sidney (Fairfax, CA) (PF) Undecided

Derrick Favors (South Atlanta, GA) (PF) Georgia Tech

Mason Plumlee (Christ School, NC) (PF) Duke

John Henson (Sickles, FL) (PF) UNC

Wally Judge (Arlington Country Day, FL) (PF) Kansas State

DeMarcus Cousins (LeFlore, AL) (C) Undecided

Alex Oriakhi (Tilton School, NH) (C) UConn

Keith “Tiny” Gallon (Oak Hill Academy, VA) (C) Oklahoma

Daniel Orton (Bishop McGuiness, OK) (C) Kentucky

Lance Stephenson, DeMarcus Cousins, Terrell Vinson & Others Recruiting Update

Lance Stephenson (Lincoln, NY)

Recruiting Update: February 6, 2009

DeMarcus Cousins (LeFlore, AL) Class of 2009

DeMarcus Cousins has narrowed his list down to a final five which include Memphis, Rice, Washington, N.C. State and Kansas State. He also said that if Coach Mike Davis of UAB was to be hired at another school that university would be added to his list of schools.

Lance Stephenson (Lincoln, NY) Class of 2009

Lance Stephenson has updated his list of schools which now includes Maryland, USC, St. John’s and Kansas. That means that Memphis has been eliminated from his schools of interest. He also said he plans on making his announcement in March, hopefully after the PSAL AA championship at Madison Square Garden on the 21^st.

Kyle Irving (St. Patrick, NJ) Class of 2010

Kyle Irving holds scholarship offers from Villanova, Duke, Memphis, St. John’s, Rutgers, Seton Hall, West Virginia, Virginia, Virginia Tech, UConn, Florida, Providence and many others. He said after the season he is going to narrow it down to 10 then narrow it down to 5 sometime before next season.

#5 St. Patrick (NJ) Vs. #3 St. Benedict’s (NJ) Final 88-62

Dexter Strickland (St. Patrick, NJ)

In one of the most highly anticipated games of the season two national powers met last night at the “RAC” on Rutgers campus.

This game was between # 3 St. Benedict’s (NJ) and # 5 St. Patrick (NJ) each team boost numerous division one players across their rosters. Some of these talented players include Dexter Strickland (2009/UNC/St. Patrick), Michael Gilchrist (2011/St. Patrick), Kyle Irving (2010/St. Patrick) and Paris Bennet (2009/GM/St. Patrick) from St. Patrick, NJ. The standout players from St. Benedict’s, NJ are Tristan Thompson (2010/Texas/St. Benedict’s), Myck Kabongo (2011/Texas/St. Benedict’s), Tamir Jackson (2009/Rice/St. Benedict’s) and Lamar Patterson (2009/Pitt/St. Benedict’s).

The game ended up drawing in some of the area’s top college coaches and staff, coaches in attendance included Rutgers head coach Fred Hill, Seton Hall head coach Bobby Gonzalez and staff, UConn assistant Andre LaFleur, St. John’s assistant Fred Quartlebaum and Penn assistant Mike Martin.

At the beginning of the game it looked like this one would live up to the hype with each team going back and forth at each other in the first quarter with St. Patrick holding a slim 21-17 lead over St. Benedict’s. Kyle Irving had 10 points in the opening period for St. Patrick and Tristan Thompson led St. Benedict’s with 9 points.

St. Patrick blew a close game wide open in the second quarter outscoring St. Benedict’s 24-8 in the period. They went into the half with a 45-25 lead and never looked back from then on cruising to a blowout victory 88-62.

It seemed like after the first quarter when St. Benedict’s was getting the ball inside to Thompson and scoring buckets they went away from that. It also seemed like they just didn’t come to play last night and were disinterested in the game.

This was a big-time statement game for St. Patrick, NJ who is predicted to win the Tournament of Champions of New Jersey. They showed everyone in the state that when there at full strength they are a team to be wrecking with when it comes playoff time.

The leading scorers for St. Patrick, NJ were senior Dexter Strickland 21 points and junior Kyle Irving 21 points. Super sophomore Michael Gilchrist chipped in 8 points.

The leading scorers for St. Benedict’s, NJ were junior Tristan Thompson 13, sophomore Myck Kabongo 13 points and senior Tamir Jackson added 10 points.

Each of these teams has big-time match-ups coming up in the next week. St. Benedict’s takes on undefeated and #1 team in the country Mater Dei (CA) at the Nike Extravaganza this Saturday February 7^th at 12:00 a.m. eastern time on ESPNU. St. Patrick faces NYC powerhouse Lincoln on Friday February 13^th at 7:00 p.m. eastern time on ESPN 2.