Thursday, July 14, 2011

Best of the Midwest-Day 2

Another long day in the gym is in the books for me. Many teams and coaches are bringing the 10-day evaluation period to a close as they get knocked out of bracket play, tomorrow marks the final day of the first period. I began my day at the Noblesville Boys and Girls Club for a couple of games, then moved to the Fishers Fieldhouse. Here is the breakdown of the games I watched today.

Indiana Elite South vs. Predators-Ali
Final: 74-48 IE South
This game was a blowout from the beginning. Even with only six guys, and missing star Sophomore-to-be Troy Spears, IE South dominated the game from the opening tip. 6'0'' Point Guard Nick Crays of North Daviess (2013) was very impressive, draining 5 3's on the way to a game high 17 points. Blake Simmons added 13 points. Two interesting tidbits of random information from this game...I had a great conversation with IUPUI assistant coach Matt Whinrey, who by his own admission can't watch basketball without eating popcorn. Come to find out, Oral Roberts has some of the best popcorn one can come by. Also, with about 2 minutes remaining in the game, Indiana Elite coach Dan Dakich left the sidelines, leaving his team without a coach, to go do his radio show.

Eric Gordon All Stars 2014 vs. Spiece KY Gators
Final: 61-54 EG10
I saw EG10 2014 twice today, so I will go ahead and combine their first tournament game into this recap.
Eric Gordon All Stars 2014 vs. Spiece Hoosier Hoops
Final: 76-47 EG10
I was very impressed with 6'2'' Point Guard Jalen Coleman today. He is just a Freshman-to-be who will attend Cathedral High School. Jalen is a good ball handler and passer. Also, he is a great athlete, but really needs to work out his outside shooting. As he continues to develop he should become a star, and one of the top players in his class. Sean Sellers continued to shoot the ball well, going for 16 points on 4 3's in game 2. Coleman had 14, and 6'7'' Forward Perry Poindexter added 8. Point Guard Taylor Persons of Kokomo had a couple good games today, he is very good going to the basket and finishing through contact. Probably had around 30 points combined in the 2 games.

Indiana Select 2012 vs. Team Southern Indiana 2012 Red
Final: 67-55 Select
J.T. Yoho showcased an all-around offensive game, dropping 22 points to lead his team to victory. Blue River forward Kyle Gross added 10 points. I like the athleticism of Gross and he plays with a high basketball IQ, will be a good NAIA player.

Besides these games that I watched in full, I spent some time roaming the courts just checking in on certain players. Here is a rundown of a few guys who stood out, not including guys that I have written about everyday for the past 8 or so. This will be a list of guys that I had not had in my database before.
Joe Fagan: 6'2'' Shooting Guard, Chatard H.S. 2013 (Indiana Elite Stars)
Paul Furlin: 6'0'' Point Guard, Hamilton Southeastern H.S. 2013 (Indiana Elite Stars)
Greg Spina: 6'3'' Shooting Guard, Martinsville H.S. 2013 (Indiana Elite Stars)
Garret Hall: Cathedral H.S. 2013 (Indiana Select)
Sean Howard: Lawrence North H.S. 2013 (Indiana Select)
Michael Morris: New Palestine H.S. 2013 (Indiana Select)

I also had a chance to check the end of the Indiana Select 2013 vs. Eric Gordon 2013 game. Quite a crowd of both fans and college coaches surrounded the court for this one, as the game was tightly contested throughout. Select had the ball with 2 seconds to go in regulation and a chance to win the game, but their inbounds attempt was stolen by Zak Irvin. In overtime, Indiana University commit Collin Hartman threw down a baseline dunk and drew a foul to give EG10 a 3 point advantage early in the extra frame, and they never looked back. Final score: EG10 79 Select 74. V.J. Beachem lead with 18 points, and Devin Davis and Zak Irvin had 14 a piece.

I have yet to decide if I will be going back over to Fishers in the morning, so I may be done with the first 10-day period. It was certainly a whirlwind, but very enjoyable. By my tally I have watched 43 games since it began on July 6th. For all your recruiting coverage, as well as updated rankings that will come soon, be sure to follow the Indiana Recruiting Guide on Twitter @INrecruitguide. Even during the "dead period" I will be staying active with stories and reports.

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