Posted: Thursday July 18, 2002 12:12 PM
Updated: Friday July 19, 2002 8:33 PM
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- Greetings from the Peach Jam, the 24-team, Nike-run AAU tournament which is unquestionably the best event of college basketball's July evaluation period. The games were energetic and competitive, the talent level was extremely high and, best of all, the Riverview Park Athletic Center was well air-conditioned. The summertime circus -- sorry, circuit -- resumes next week, with the most prominent events taking place in Las Vegas (adidas' Big Time Tournament, where over 350 teams will compete) and Orlando (the AAU nationals). By then, however, players and coaches alike will be interested in getting home more than anything else, which will be a stark contrast to the Peach Jam. Herewith, then, my thoughts and tidbits from the tourney:
As my colleague Mark Button reported, the consensus best player at the Peach Jam was 6-foot-9 forward Ndudi (pronounced "Indy") Ebi of the Houston Hoops, who reached the championship game before falling in overtime to All-Ohio Red. Besides Ebi, the Hoops also had possibly the second-best player in the tournament in 6-3 guard Daniel Gibson, a rising junior at Houston's Jesse Jones High School. Gibson is remarkably efficient and poised for such a young player, and he might be the best prospect in a class teeming with great players. Ebi and Gibson should also receive medals of valor for having to play with 5-11 senior Taurean "Tack" Minor, a Mateen Cleaves clone who is extremely explosive but would seemingly rather have his hands cut off than pass the ball to one of his teammates. Minor also did little to defuse chatter that he is petulant and hard-headed. Even so, Cincinnati and LSU continue to vie for his services.
Speaking of LSU, Tigers coach John Brady made a splash earlier this summer by locking up a verbal commitment from 6-8 Regis Koundjia, a native of the Central African Republic who is currently enrolled at the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina. However, word was buzzing around the Peach Jam that other schools, including at least one in the ACC, are still recruiting Koundjia in an effort to get him to change his mind. LSU also got a commitment from 6-7 Baton Rouge native Darnell Lazare, and if Brady can hold onto these two prospects and procure either Minor or Brandon Bass, a 6-8 muscle-bound forward who also hails from Baton Rouge, then the Tigers will be the major breakthrough story of the recruiting season.
For those pining for another great little player to fill the void left by Earl Boykins' graduation from Eastern Michigan four years ago, I am pleased to inform you that Andrew Lavender is ready for his closeup. The leading scorer at the Peach Jam, Lavender was listed on All-Ohio Red's roster at 5-10, which apparently is his height while wearing three-inch heels. Yet Lavender is an immensely entertaining player to watch, and I am convinced he will make a lot of coaches regret passing him up because of his size. A senior at Brookhaven High in Columbus, Lavender says he and 6-7 Brandon Foust, his high school and AAU teammate, have decided to be a package deal, which should only make Lavender a more attractive prospect. According to Lavender, the list of schools who have agreed to take both players includes Pittsburgh, Texas, Clemson, Oklahoma, Seton Hall and Ole Miss.
It was no surprise to hear coaches continue to caterwaul about the new NCAA rules restricting their contact with players, AAU coaches and parents. As I wrote last week in my report from the ABCD camp, the restrictions can seem pretty absurd in some instances. Recently, for example, Arizona assistant coach Josh Pastner was not allowed to speak with his father, Hal, because Hal runs the Houston Hoops program. That said, there is some inherent logic in the new rules and it would be refreshing to hear a coach -- any coach -- recognize that from time to time. The bottom line is, college basketball coaches have some dictator-like qualities and don't like to be told what to do.
One of the most intriguing big men at the camp was 6-11 Courtney Sims, who plays for the Boston Amateur Basketball Club (BABC) team coached by former bouncer-turned-NBA scout Leo Papile. Among Simms' most ardent pursuers was Providence coach Tim Welsh, who has also received a verbal commitment from 6-4 Baltimore native Gerald Brown, a talented but skinny guard cut from the Juan Dixon mold.
Two other studs from the vaunted class of 2004 also stood out: 6-9 Al Jefferson of the Jackson (Miss.) Tigers and 6-0 Darius Washington of the Tallahassee Wildcats. (The latter was obviously brimming with confidence after getting the best of Brooklyn's Sebastian Telfair last week at ABCD.) The best rising sophomore at the Peach Jam was 6-2 point guard Emmanuel Mayben from Troy, N.Y., who led the tourney in assists.
The player with the most famous pedigree was California Team Select guard Darryl Strawberry Jr., son of the troubled former baseball star. Strawberry's team grossly underperformed at the Peach Jam, but he is a legit prospect. Standing a sinewy 6-4, Strawberry exhibited a quick first step and surprising lift off the ground. He should have no trouble finding a spot in a major Division I program.
Newly minted DePaul coach Dave Leitao worked hard following around the Illinois Warriors, who featured two of Leitao's primary targets, 6-4 Colin Falls and 6-7 Marcus Heard, both of whom have visited DePaul's campus (for lack of a better word). Falls, in particular, was unstoppable in the Warriors' quarterfinal loss to Houston Hoops.
Here's another name you'll be hearing about: Stephen Verwers, a talented, 6-11 rising senior on Team Texas who does not play high school ball because he is being home schooled.
One high-end coach who did not make the trip to Augusta is Louisville's Rick Pitino. That's because Pitino was in Miami at a USA Basketball training camp that included 6-11 center David Padgett of Reno, Nev. Padgett is, in recruiting parlance, an "adidas kid," but he did not compete at ABCD last week so he could get ready for Miami. He is obviously Pitino's top recruiting priority.
Sports Illustrated staff writer Seth Davis covers college basketball for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
