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Both the adidas ABCD Camp and the NIKE All-American Camp concluded yesterday and we’re in the process of putting it all together. However, we do already have all the statistics from both the senior and underclassmen all-star games at the adidas Camp, as well as our list of the top 25 scorers in camp. And there are some other things you need to know. The best player at NIKE from start to finish was 6’3 Jr Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI, who has been ranked as the #1 player in his class by the HOOP SCOOP since he was in 8th grade. The MVP at adidas, 6’3 Brett Nelson from St. Albans (H.S.) WV, who had eight assists in the all-star game, was also the runaway winner. The leading scorer early at the adidas was 6’5 Antione Whelchel from Gainesville (East Hall) GA, but he finished ranked #17 in the camp in scoring and never even got mentioned as one of the better players in camp, because he was an undersized power forward who got most of his points off cheap baskets in the paint. The leading scorer in camp was 6’7 LaVell Blanchard from Ann Arbor (Pioneer) MI, who averaged 16.8 ppg. The leading rebounder was 6’9 Andrew Gooden from El Cerrito (H.S.) CA. He grabbed 9.8 rpg. The assist leader was 6’0 Majestic Mapp from Bronx (St. Raymond’s) NY, who has 5.5 apg and was ranked #11 overall in camp. The player with the best field goal percentage was 6’3 Jovan Harris from El Cerrito (H.S.) CA, who hit 70% of his shots. The leading 3-point shooter in camp was 6’8 Jason Kapono from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, who hit 57% from beyond the arc. The leader in steals was 6’0 Brevin Knight from East Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ with 2.5 spg. Stevenson was the best free throw shooter in camp (89%)and 6’9 Abraham Keita from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT led the camp in blocked shots with 1.5 bpg. For all of our exclusive coverage from both camps, click on coverage.

Among the most interesting recruiting items we picked up this week involves 6’9 Matt Bonner from Durham (H.S.) NH. Apparently Duke is out, as the Blue Devils have withdrawn their scholarship offer. As a result, we are now projecting Virginia as the heavy favorite for both Bonner and 6’0 Todd Billet from Lincroft (Christian Brothers) NJ, who was not only one of the top five point guards at the adidas Camp, but also finished ranked among the top five in 3-point shooting.

[QUINCEY]

Our unanimous choice for the #1 player at the NIKE All-American Camp after the first afternoon of play was 6’9 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN. Jeffries can do it – block shots, handle the ball, shoot the three, active on the boards, and has amazing hands. As a matter of fact, he reminds Patrick Jira of the Recruiting Beat of Duke’s Shane Battier, but with a better jumper. And just like Battier, Jeffries has a tremendous understanding of the game. One of the other highlights of the this afternoon was watching the matchup between 6’1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY and 6’3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI, who are two of the premier point guards in the nation. Artie McLaughlin of the HOOP SCOOP gave Taylor the slight advantage, because he shoots it better. Taylor also has a quicker release and a nice shot. However, Cook drives to the basket better and is a better passer. Some of the other players who really impressed us this afternoon were 6’2 Ed Starks from Miam (Northwest Christian) FL 6’3 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, 6’4 Eugene Seals from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6’5 Luke Whitehead from San Francisco (St. Ignatius) CA, 6’9 Kwame Brown from Brunswick (H.S.) GA, 6’4 Jr Josh Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, 6’9 Arthur Johnson from Detroit (Pershing) MI, 6’2 Terrance Watkins from Rogersville (H.S.) AL, and 6’8 Brett Buscher from Chesterton (H.S.) IN. Just like yesterday at adidas, we will rank the top players from the first day at NIKE late tonight and post it in this section by noon tomorrow.

It has to be a record at a superstar oriented camp (like adidas or NIKE) where point guards are often more concerned about padding their own stats than making their teammates better. We already mentioned that 5’9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY had 11 assists in the opening session yesterday afternoon and last night he added 13 more to the total. However, that only partially tells the story, because, in our opinion, Barrett was also the most dominant player in camp yesterday, as he hit three’s, created havoc defensively, and made great decisions. Barrett also made his teammates better. If you don’t believe it, just ask Barrett’s teammate, 6’9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, who was ranked #2 in camp by the HOOP SCOOP at the conclusion of the opening day. The leading scoring camp averaging 29 ppg was 6’5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, but his first three options were me, myself, and I, so he’ll have to settle for a #3 ranking behind Barrett and Griffin. Another player who falls into that category was 6’0 Jr Jonathan Hargett from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC and, as a result, nobody on his team played well, which is why we snubbed him in our rankings of the top point guard in camp. Also playing extremely well and dominated the camp inside were the two big guys from Alabama – 6-9 Jr Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (Catholic) AL and 6’8 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL, both of whom are ranked among both the leading scorers and rebounders in camp. But the best player in camp from Alabama is 6’7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL, who redeemed himself in the night session with a 23 point effort (he only had six points yesterday afternoon) and he deserves a lot credit, because it would be easy to sit out with an injury and rest on your reputation. One player who is doing exactly that is 6’3 Tamir Goodman from Baltimore (Talmudical) MD. However, we never thought he was that good to begin with. One of the biggest surprises of the evening session was 6’9 Mauricio Branwell from Laurel (Paint Branch) MD, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Among the lesser name guy who impressed us in the evening session were 6’2 Jr Ernest Turner from Somerdale (Sterling) NJ, 6’4 A.J. Moye from East Point (Westlake) GA, 6’4 Ramell Ross fom Fairfax Station (Lake Broddock) VA, and 6’4 Antonio Hargrove from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC. We also liked a number of the foreign players, including 6’4 Aly Samabaly from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH via Mali, France, 7’0 Valimir Radinovic from Toronto (T.A. Blakelock) ON, and 6’9 Soph Alasane Kouyate from Medina (H.S.) OH. And how about 6’9 Frosh Major Wingate from Florence (Wilson) SC, who has now clearly established himself as the #1 freshman in America? We also were surprised by a number of the big guys, including 6’11 Jared Reiner from Tripp (Tripp-Delmont) SD and 6’11 John Godfrend from Grandforks (Red River) ND. For our complete list of rankings after the first day, click on adidas ABCD Camp.

[Anton123Participant]

Is G. Wallace the only one of the mentioned players who didn’t turn out to be a dissapointment?

[QUINCEY]

almost..josh childress turned out to be pretty good. im dont think anyone projected him as a all star

[QUINCEY]

actually i dont think many of them were because although good, alot of them werent greatly projected as nba players and the percentage of players making it to the nba out of each class is probably around 3percent or less

[QUINCEY]

After two days at the NIKE All-American Camp, we think it is safe to say that the race for top player honors is too close to call among 6’10 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN, 6’3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI, 6’6 Caron Butler from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6’9 Zach Randolph from Marion (H.S.) IN, 6’1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, and 6’2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ. As a result, whoever plays the best the last day and a half of camp will get our vote for best player honors in camp. Wouldn’t it be something if that honor went to Taylor, who right now is running a very close second behind Jeffries. If that happens, he would become the first player ever to win MVP honors at a superstar oriented camp, like NIKE or adidas, two consecutive years. That alone might be enough to get us to rank him #1 in the senior class nationally, which is kind of funny, because most scouts had dropped him, because he doesn’t play AAU ball and they’ve forgotten how good he was since they last saw him a year ago at NIKE or Five-Star Pitt IV. Instead, it appears he’s been home working on his game and it shows. Also interesting is that five of the top nine players on our list are point guards and only six wing guards rank among our top 50 players in camp. Obviously they are the best and worst positions in camp. Our Philadelphia Area Correspondent Allen Rubin checks in from the adidas ABCD Camp and he tells us that we missed the game of the year, which featured the Warriors with 6’9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA and 5’9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY against the Mavs with 6’7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL and 6’8 Marion Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL. He’s talking about four of the top five players in camp in a game that went overtime and was finally won when Barrett made a great pass to Griffin, who scored the game winning basket. In other key matchups yesterday Barrett outplayed 6’1 Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John’s Prep) NY and Wallace got the best of 6’5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC. However, the best still is yet to come, because today and tomorrow are the final days at NIKE and tonight the all-star games will be played at adidas. We should have finally results from both camps sometime tomorrow. But for now, you get our updated rankings of the top players from both camp by on adidas ABCD Camp and/or NIKE All-American Camp.

[OrangeJuiceJonesParticipant]

A lot of big time names there. I remember going to watch ABCD Camp back in ’06, and seeing O.J. Mayo blow past people at will and drain jumpers in peoples’ faces. Lil’ Romeo was there; he was clearly the worst player at camp, but he got invited to the underclassmen all-star game.

[QUINCEY]

Jerome Harper really let me down..i remeber playing against him in aau/summer leauge. he had the sickest crossover out of anyone int hat class and was fast. imagin johnn wall at 6’5 in hs and that was jerome

[OrangeJuiceJonesParticipant]

This Jerome Harper?

[QUINCEY]

yep…sad sad sad..before that it was grades and getting into trouble

[arman]

but the injury destroyed him….. he had 5 knee surgeries, doctors made mistake doing first so it got infected and after 5 surgeries they repaired his knee…. that destroyed him mentaly he could be nice player

[QUINCEY]

i dont know about great but he would have been good. i played against him at 5star and then he was on my team at the allstar game..he couldnt shoot worth a damn but was quick and had handles. in that game i had to check artest..at the time he was 240 wild and strong as an ox..i was the second leading scorer at the camp(25ppg) (behind vohon hunter and in front of troy murphy,edmond saunders,josh moore, brian brown and deshaun williams)..needless to say i only had 13 points against him

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