If you haven’t heard about the High Point, North Carolina native Deuce Bello I’m pretty sure you will very soon. This kid have been on ESPN top 10 more than once for crazy dunks doing high school basketball games. Thanks to MemphisRoar great interview with Deuce last year here is a better insight on a good up and coming basketball player.

Bello, a 6’3’’ guard, plays for Westchester Country Day School in High Point, North Carolina. He also plays on the D-One Sports AAU team coached by Brian Clifton. Despite coming from a relatively small town, Bello’s game is primed for the limelight. His uncanny ability to get to the basket, his monster dunks, and his breath-taking alley-oops have all become standard in Bello’s game.

Bello is starting to become one of the nation’s most coveted 2011 recruits, listing interest in Baylor, Clemson, Duke, High Point University, Maryland, Memphis, NC State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Wake Forest, UNC, UNC-Charlotte, and USC, according to various recruiting services. When asked if he had any leaders at this time, Bello respectfully declined to answer. In fact, Bello went as far to say. “I’m not considering anybody (right now).” Bello told MemphisRoar that his coach Brian Clifton and his trainer are handling the colleges right now as he focuses on his sophomore year.

With more college choices than one can count on two hands, it is easy to wonder what will factor into making his decision. When asked if distance would play a factor when making his college decision, Bello replied, “I don’t think it will. It just depends on the style of play that I like to play, and what the education is like.” And what style of play does Bello like? “I like to get up and down the floor,” he said.

Deuce had the opportunity last summer to play with one of the nation’s best 2009 high school players, John Wall, on their D-One Sports AAU team. “Just watching him play helps me a lot, and I learn a lot of stuff,” Bello said. “In the beginning of the season, I was not getting a lot of time for D-One Sports, and just watching him, I started to step up.” In addition to learning a lot from John Wall, Bello said his coaches have also helped in making him the player he is today, motivating him and telling him the things he needs to do.

When asked what he considered to be the most underrated part of his game, Bello said, “I don’t think I have any part that’s underrated; I think there’s just things I need to work on. I think I need to work on my shooting right now.”

Despite gaining the attention of numerous division one programs and being regarded as a top prospect for his class, Bello maintains a very humble attitude. “It’s a blessing. It’s just hard work that paid off,” Bello told MemphisRoar. Bello’s hard work is definitely paying off, as he was named to the 2009 NCISAA 2A Boys All-State Basketball Team for this season only a few days ago.

With Bello’s size (6’3’’ and 170 lbs.) and freakish athletic ability, Bello says he is unsure what position he will play in college. “I’m playing point guard right (for Westchester Country Day), but I believe I will probably play shooting guard.” Bello’s knack at getting to the basket gives the defense fits, and with the hard work he is putting in, it is getting harder and harder to find flaws in his game.

While Deuce Bello may not know where he wants to play college ball now, or even the position he will play once he gets there, one thing is certain with this young man—Bello will be a great addition to any college program.

Popularity: 2%

2010 Jordan Brand All-American Team Announced
Madison Square Garden to Host Nation’s Elite High School Basketball Players
The top 10 ESPNU-rated players headline star-filled roster

Jordan Brand, a division of NIKE, Inc., announced today during a special ESPNU Selection Show that the top 10 ranked ESPNU 100 players – No. 1 Harrison Barnes (Ames, IA/North Carolina), No. 2 Jared Sullinger (Columbus, OH/Ohio State), No. 3 Brandon Knight (Coral Springs, FL/Undecided), No. 4 Kyrie Irving (West Orange, NJ/Duke), No. 5 Tobias Harris (Dix Hills, NY/Tennessee), No. 6 Will Barton (Baltimore, MD/Memphis), No. 7 Josh Selby (Baltimore, MD/Undecided), No. 8 C.J. Leslie (Holly Springs, NC/Undecided), No. 9 Perry Jones (Duncanville, TX/Baylor) and No. 10 Tristan Thompson (Brampton, ONT/Texas) – will headline the nation’s best high school senior basketball players at the 2010 Jordan Brand Classic, presented by Foot Locker, at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday, April 17 at 8:00 p.m. EST. This year’s event will once again be televised nationally live on ESPN2.

The Jordan Brand Classic will also continue to include a Regional Game, showcasing the top prep players from the New York City metropolitan area in a City vs. Suburbs showdown. In its third year of the event, an International Game will feature 16 of the top 17-and-under players from around the world.

“As our preeminent basketball game, the Jordan Brand Classic strives to put the top talent on the floor each year and this year is no exception as we will have the top 10 ranked players in the class of 2010,” said Keith Houlemard, President of Jordan Brand. “We are thrilled to host the nation’s best at the World’s Most Famous Arena in the biggest city in the U.S.”

Also selected for this year’s event are No. 11 Joshua Smith (Kentwood, WA/UCLA), No. 12 DeShaun Thomas (Fort Wayne, IN/Ohio State), No. 13 Terrence Jones (Portland, OR/Undecided), No. 15 Dion Waiters (Philadelphia, PA/Syracuse), No. 16 Reggie Bullock (Kinston, NC/North Carolina), No. 21 Cory Joseph (Toronto, ONT/Undecided), No. 22 Kendall Marshall (Dumfries, VA/North Carolina), No. 25 Doron Lamb (Laurelton, NY/Undecided), No. 29 Roscoe Smith (Baltimore, MD/Connecticut) and No. 43 Jelan Kendrick (Marietta, GA/Memphis).

The head coaches this year will be Greg Wise of Yates High School (Houston, TX) for the East and Mike Peck of Findlay Prep (Henderson, NV) for the West. The East assistant coaches are Charles Smith of Peabody Magnet High School (Alexandria, LA) and Doug Lipscomb of Wheeler High School (Marietta, GA). The West assistant coaches include Pat Strickland of Jefferson High School (Portland, OR) and Mark Migiishi of the Iolani School (Iolani, HI).

2010 Jordan Brand All-American Team

East Team

Reggie Bullock G Kinston, NC North Carolina

Kyrie Irving G Elizabeth, NJ Duke

Perry Jones C Duncanville, TX Baylor

Jelan Kendrick F Marietta, GA Memphis

Brandon Knight G Fort Lauderdale, FL Undecided

C.J. Leslie F Raleigh, NC Undecided

Roscoe Smith F Mouth of Wilson, VA Connecticut

Jared Sullinger C Columbus, OH Ohio State

DeShaun Thomas F Fort Wayne, IN Ohio State

Dion Waiters G Philadelphia, PA Syracuse

Head Coach: Greg Wise, Yates High School (Houston, TX)

Assistant: Charles Smith, Peabody Magnet High School (Alexandria, LA)

Assistant: Doug Lipscomb, Wheeler High School (Marietta, GA)

West Team

Harrison Barnes F Ames, IA North Carolina

Will Barton G Wolfeboro, NH Memphis

Tobias Harris F Dix Hills, NY Tennessee

Terrence Jones F Portland, OR Undecided

Cory Joseph G Henderson, NV Undecided

Doron Lamb G Mouth of Wilson, VA Undecided

Kendall Marshall G Arlington, VA North Carolina

Josh Selby G Baltimore, MD Undecided

Joshua Smith C Covington, WA UCLA

Tristan Thompson F Henderson, NV Texas

Head Coach: Mike Peck, Findlay Prep (Henderson, NV)

Assistant: Pat Striclkand, Jefferson High School (Portland, OR)

Assistant: Mark Migiishi, Iolani School (Iolani, HI)

Popularity: 1%

Rob Taylor of the Buckeye Prep Report has an in-depth article on Nike Youth Basketball’s changes to their spring/summer circuit plans, announced last week in a meeting in Las Vegas.  Previously, Nike sponsored various traveling teams, tournaments for the traveling teams, and individual skills events and camps.

According to Taylor, Nike is planning on replacing the old standard travel team tournaments with the newly minted Nike Youth Basketball League.  Taylor states in the article that over four weekend, the 42 Nike sponsored travel teams will play in a league format in Virginia, Houston, Los Angeles, and South Carolina.  Each weekend will consist of 5-6 league games, culminating in a league championship.

Taylor’s report has the Nike Youth Basketball League schedule as follows:

• April 9 – 11 at the Boo Williams Invitational, Hampton Roads, VA
• April 30 – May 2nd, Houston, TX
• May 29 – 31, Los Angeles, CA
• July 12 – 15, Peach Jam at Augusta, South Carolina

The article states that positional “academies” and all-star events are still plan, without change.

Popularity: 1%

BallerCircuit.com announced that the 2010 Reebok Summer Championship, a long running summer grassroots basketball tournament was being suspended for this year.  The following is the press release from their website:

LAS VEGAS—Citing the loss of title sponsorship, ever-increasing facility costs and the general overall economic condition of the country, tournament officials announced today that they will no longer be able produce the annual Summer Championships, the nation’s most prestigious elite boy’s prep tournament held each July in Las Vegas for the last 3 years.

Featuring 300 teams from 44 states and three countries at its peak and 136 teams from 28 States last summer, the Rebook Summer Championships were produced in Las Vegas for the last three years by the same management team that produced the massive Big Time tournament locally from 1995 through 2006.

Building a series of summer events held annually during the special viewing period for college basketball coaches, the Summer Championships provided the template by which the National Collegiate Athletic Association developed and implemented the NCAA rules and regulations for sanctioning summer prep basketball tournaments.

“It’s hard to let go of something that we all worked so hard to develop, but we have exhausted all efforts to secure the sponsorship needed to offset the loss of our sponsors and without it, we cannot operate at the level that we developed that has become the standard for these summer prep basketball tournaments,” said Jim Allen, veteran Southern Nevada prep basketball coach who was a co-founder of these summer tournaments and director the last several years.

“We have a group of dedicated core workers of over 100 who contributed greatly to the success of these tournaments over the years and helped us to reach the stature we have, but without adequate sponsorship we cannot provide the quality experience for nearly 5,000 young athletes each year that we have and we will not produce an event if it is not up to the standards we have achieved. Because we so strongly believe in the value of this summer event and our commitment is so great, we will continue to seek sponsorship in an attempt to bring the event back in the summer of 2011.”

Using as many as 24 courts at 12 high schools in Southern Nevada and headquartered the last several years at Foothill HS in Henderson, Nev., the events have helped hundreds of high school athletes earn college scholarships.

Questions regarding the tournament may be directed to Jim Allen at 702.493.3689.

Popularity: 2%

With much of the basketball world focused on the horrible 2010 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Dar Tucker won the 2010 D-League Slam Dunk contest. Some hoop fans noted that the 2010 D-League Slam Dunk contest was more entertaining than the NBA version.

Dar Tucker beat Alonzo Gee to take the 2010 D-League Slam Dunk title. His winning dunk? The 6’4″ Dar Tucker dunked over 6’10″ teammate Brian Butch.

Here is the Dar Tucker 2010 D-League Slam Dunk Contest video.

Name: Dar Tucker

Age: 22

Hometown: Saginaw, Michigan

Height: 6-4

Weight: 210

Shoe size: 13

Position: Guard/Forward

My Home Court: Vets Park in Saginaw

Playing Experience: Arthur Hill High School, DePaul University

Current Team: Los Angeles D-Fenders

Favorite Sneakers: Jordan 1s

Favorite Player: Kevin Garnett. I model my work ethic and stuff off of him. The way he’s a leader on the court and gets the crowd into it, that’s how I play too.

Favorite Team: MJ and the Chicago Bulls

Go-to-Move: Either the in-and-out crossover, or pump fake and sweep through to the basket

I play: Because I love the game and it’s getting me to places that I would probably never see if I didn’t play

Coming up I admired: My brother. Back then, that’s who I used to watch all the time. Right now he’s at Robert Morris in Chicago. We played a little bit this summer when we went home.

My basketball moment: Winning the championship my junior year in high school. It was my first championship and my school’s first in like 50 years.

Popularity: 6%

Austin Rivers and Brandon Knight were teammates on the summer circuit but had never met during the high school season – that is until Friday. The pair of high profile players are known for their scoring touch and are considered two of the nation’s top players in their respective classes.

Brandon Knight is a senior from Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Pine Crestand and Austin Rivers is a Junior from Winter Park, Fla.

Their highly anticipated first encounter was nationally televised on Friday on ESPN2.

And what a game it was. Austin Rivers scored 41 points and helped the Winter Park’s boys basketball team to  an 87-76 victory against 2 time defending Class 3A state champion Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest and largely outplayed senior Brandon Knight.

Knight and Rivers played for Each One Teach One, a Central Florida club team. Rivers figures he’ll guard his friend throughout the game.

“You can’t guard him the whole game or you’ll be exhausted,” Rivers said. “I’m the best person to guard him, especially in the fourth quarter when the game could be on the line.

Brandon Knight who is closing in on Broward County’s all-time scoring mark? “He’s an aggressive player and a scorer,” Rivers said. “He likes to attack the glass and steps out to shoot the 3-ball.”

Knight has scored more than 3,300 career points, averaging 32 points, and has knocked down 86 3s this season. Pine Crest (19-4) entered Friday’s game having dropped a buzzer-beating 63-62 decision to Florida Air Academy, snapping a 30-game home win streak. Knight had 42 points with four 3-pointers.

Winter Park (Fla.) High School point guard Austin Rivers is one of the best prep players, pound-for-pound, in the country. HighSchoolHoop.com ranks the 6-4 junior fifth overall in its national Top 50. Rivers has been verbally committed to Florida for over a year, but this fall, decided to open things up and let Duke recruit him as well.

The younger son of Celtics coach Doc Rivers and younger brother of Indiana Hoosiers PG Jeremiah Rivers, Austin had a kill mentality in Friday night game against Pine Crestand School showing off why he is one of the top guards in class of 2011.

Popularity: 4%

GOOD Sports LLC have been invited to represent South Carolina in 4 major exposure grassroots basketball tournaments across the country.

On February 20, 2010 GOOD Sports LLC is holding a tryout looking for twelve of the top 13 and 14 year old basketball players in South Carolina. This will be an opportunity that has never been offer to grassroots basketball players in South Carolina.

We are asking all coaches to bring their best players to this tryout – workout not only to represent there school and city, but to represent South Carolina.

It doesn’t matter if your players are already playing for an AAU team, this is a team put together to represent South Carolina and to bring maximum exposure to the kids participating on these teams.

Exposure from Team GOOD:

• Film Documentary
• Website Spotlight on www.goodsportsworld.com
• Free Skill Practice
• Parent Grassroots Awareness
• Exposure Camp Opportunity

Team GOOD Tournaments:

Dates, Directions, and Contact Information:

Tryout-workout Date: Saturday, February 6, 2010

Tryout-workout Time: 10:00am – 12:30pm

Tryout-workout Location: Greenview Park, 6700 David Street, Columbia, SC 29203

If you have any questions please contact:

Robert Wylie                                    Anthony Timmons

(803) 530-0277                                   (803) 466-8813

dwylie@goodsportsworld.com atimmons@goodsportsworld.com

www.Goodsportsworld.com

Sponsored By:

Popularity: 2%