Chris Paul Elite Guard Camp 2011

By Marcus Shockley

This year’s elite guard camp, organized by Chris Paul and Position Sports, featured several big college names in addition to top flight high school players. Here’s some notes from the 2011 camp:

High School Players

Shawn Lester (SG/SF, 6’3″, 2012) Bigger and stronger than a year ago, has good length and athleticism.

Rodney Purvis (PG, 6’4″, 2012) Now looks like his body is ready for college, explosive off of the dribble.

Bronson Koenig (PG, 6’2″, 2013) Has possibly the best looking shot of all of the high school players attending the camp. Needs strength, but is fluid and poised with the ball.

Tyler Lewis (PG, 5’11”, 2012) Flashy. Can handle the ball in traffic with ease and is able to get his shot off consistently.

Codi Miller-McIntyre (PG, 6’2″, 2012) Strong guard, runs the offense effectively and can score effectively. A guard to watch.

Marcus Bryan (SF/PF, 6’7″, 2013) Very fluid and with a shooting guard handle.

Elite 80 Recap & Carolina Challenge Recap 2011

The past weekend saw two significant events in the state of North Carolina, the Carolina Challege and the ScoutsFocus Elite 80.

The Carolina Challenge is held in Raleigh and ESPN has a write up here.

The Elite 80 Spring Showcase took place over the past weekend and there’s a full write up on the top players here.

There are several potential ACC targets playing in these events.

Clemson Lands Small Forward

Clemson has landed Kevin McDaniels (SF, 6’5″, 2011), a player from Birmingham, AL, and who committed to the Tigers just a few days after receiving an offer.

It was no secret that McDaniels favored Clemson, after his visit he said as much and said the visit had been the best so far. This is the third commitment for Clemson head coach Brad Brownell in the 2011 class.

Troy Williams Basketball Interview

BasketballElite.com has an interview with Troy Williams (SF, 6’7″, 2013), who has interest from Virginia, Virginia Tech and Georgetown. Williams is the nephew of Boo Williams, and he talks about what he’s working on his own game and what he thinks he will be able to bring to a college team.

Greg McClinton, ACC Basketball Target

Here’s some video of ACC target Greg McClinton (SG/SF, 6’6″, 2013), a high-flying player who has offers from Virginia Tech, Miami and Xavier, and is also considering Wake Forest. Watch what he does at the 1:10 mark. Wow.

Austin Rivers: A Player We’d Like To See In the ACC

It seemed like Austin Rivers was destined to stay near his home in Florida.

After he committed to the in-state Florida Gators, it seemed like a done deal. The Gators would get one of the best point guards in the 2011 class, Austin would stay close to home (Gainesville is relatively close to Winter Park, FL) and everything seemed settled.

But as Rivers continued to improve, he began to consider that he may have committed too early, and after mulling it over, eventually de-committed from the Gators and decided to weigh other offers. He still is considering Florida as a high possibility, but the full court press from other schools such as UNC and Duke is now in full effect.

Rivers, whose father is the famed ex-Atlanta Hawks PG, Doc Rivers, knows all about the world of basketball from his father’s current job as coach of the Boston Celtics, and an older brother who plays for Indiana:

“[Doc Rivers’] four kids like the idea of having a father who coaches in the NBA. Spencer loves shooting baskets at TD Garden before games. Austin Rivers is accustomed to seeing his father at a lot of his Winter Park High School games and fully understood that he had other responsibilities. Jeremiah Rivers will be a redshirt senior guard at Indiana.”

So where will Austin Rivers end up? Right now it’s still up in the air, but he is a special talent that we’d love to see in the ACC.

Desmond Hubert: Heavy ACC Interest

Desmond Hubert is one of the better big men available in the 2011 class, a pure post player who comes in at 6’9″ and plays his high school basketball in New Jersey.

Desmond has said he will probably land in the Big East or the ACC, and in our related story on BasketballElite.com, Alex Kline reports that he has offers and interest from plenty of those schools.

Desmond is a big man who “plays” big, meaning he’s not drifting outside to shoot from the perimeter and works hard to get garbage buckets, or be in the right position for a slashing guard to feed.

ACC Basketball Recruiting Profile: Jabari Brown

By Alex Kline

Image from MaxPreps

When Jabari Brown decided to leave national powerhouse Findlay Prep in January of 2010, critics believed it was the wrong decision. Brown, not only rose to the occasion, but jumped in the rankings and took his game to another level.

While the 6-foot-3 shooting guard (Class of 2011) returned to his hometown of Oakland, California, he would enroll at Oakland High School. The junior averaged over 23 points per contest as he helped lead his squad to a winning record. Through that and his jump in the world of AAU helped lift his recruiting to new levels.

Brown, who plays with the Oakland Soldiers, is part of one of the most talented teams in the country. The Soliders consist of players like Findlay Prep’s Nick Johnson and Jesuit’s Kyle Wiltjer, both top 50 players in the class of 2011. While playing in the top tournaments around the country this summer, Brown is attracting coaches’ eyes towards him.

The California golden boy currently has offers from Georgia Tech, Washington, Arizona State, California, Maryland, UNLV, Wake Forest and Next Mexico. Two ACC schools, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, were the most recent to offer Jabari. Another ACC squad, Maryland, has also become involved.

While the distance on paper from California to the East Coast doesn’t seem like one most players are willing to take, “distance is not a factor” for the sharp-shooter. Maryland appeals to Jabari due to their, “tradition, conference and Head Coach Gary Williams is a great coach.” He likes Georgia Tech because, “they have had so many good guards, their conference, and Head Coach Paul Hewitt.” Wake Forest is also a school he enjoys because of, “the feel that I have gotten from the new coaching staff, along with their style of play.” Despite the departure of Head Coach Dino Gaudio from Wake Forest, his replacement, Jeff Bzdelik of Colorado, has done an excellent job. “I think Coach Bzdelik is a good coach who would put me in the position to flourish from style of play,” said Brown. As of now, Brown has no favorites and is nowhere close to making a decision on where he will commit.

If you break down Jabari Brown’s game, it is simple, yet deadly. Jabari puts it best when he says, “I’m a guard that can score from anywhere on the court, as well as get my teammates involved.” He also said, “I’m a leader who hates losing.” He is simply deadly.

So far, Brown’s spring season of AAU with the Soldiers has gone well. They have been one of the top ranked teams in the country. Scout.com’s Evan Daniels even called them the best AAU team of the spring. Brown will take his talent to Chris Paul camp, Paul Pierce’s Skills Academy and LeBron’s Skills Academy.

Watch out for Jabari Brown this summer as he looks to explode onto the AAU scene even more. He has already been ranked as one of the top 15 players in the country by Scout.com and looks to go higher on the list. Just like his shot, this kid is nothing but net.

This article originally appeared on BasketballElite.com.

ACC Recruiting Roundup, Memorial Day 2010

Here’s a few tidbits in the ACC basketball recruiting world:

Jabari Brown (SG, 6’3″ ,2011) has offers from ACC schools including Maryland and Wake Forest. His list of offers also includes ASU, Cal, UNLV, & New Mexico. He is interested in Kansas as well, who is keeping up with Brown, although reportedly not offered yet.

Ryan Rhoomes (C, 6’8″, 2010) is probably headed to prep school but has recruiting interest from Georgia Tech, who recently missed out on big man transfer Justin Knox.

Terry Whisnant (SG, 6’3″, 2011) has committed to Florida State. The Seminoles have landed a sharpshooter with a high release from the state of North Carolina, one of the best jump shooters in the class. He will need to prove he can put the ball on the floor, but without question teams are going to have to close out on him on the perimeter.

Ryan Arcidiancono (PG, 6’3″, 2012) garnered a ton of interest at the 2010 Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions this past weekend and has interest from Wake Forest, as well as Notre Dame, Syracuse, Villanova and Penn State.

UNC Lands Justin Knox

The North Carolina Tar Heels post depth got a little relief yesterday as Justin Knox, the 6’9″ senior transfer from Alabama, decided to play his final year of eligibility in Chapel Hill next season.

Knox chose UNC after considering several options, including Georgia Tech. There were stipulations in his transfer from Alabama that prevented him from choosing schools in the SEC or in the state of Alabama, eliminating many schools that would have been viable options.

However, Knox and his family were excited to join the North Carolina program and are looking forward to next season. With the lack of big men on the UNC roster, Knox has a good shot at extended playing time.

Justin’s father told the Winston-Salem Journal:

“He’s still got a lot of work to do between now and when he gets to Chapel Hill,” Darien Knox said. “He has summer school coming up. He’s got to work out while he’s here in summer school, but he’s excited about the opportunity.”