National AAU tournaments take a breather in June as the best of the best gear up for select events sponsored by adidas, Nike, Reebok, the NBA Players Association and USA Basketball.
The three-stripes run is headlined by two teams of 2010 and 2011 talent readying for the adidas Nations event at the end of the summer, which pits the two American teams against others from Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe and Latin America.
Nike will have its four position camps at the end of June, with the nation’s best point guards going for workouts with Deron Williams, the shooting guards with Paul Pierce, the swingmen with Vince Carter and the big men with Amare Stoudemire.
They will converge in early July at the LeBron James Skills Academy, with the chosen best from there going to the Nike Global Challenge in August.
Brandon Peters, Yates (Houston, Texas)
Photo by Jim Redman
The vector ran its Headliner Camps all across the country this past weekend and earlier this month, where they gathered the best from around the areas of Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Jacksonville, Houston, Boston and more, having them battle for invites to the Reebok All-American Camp in July.
The NBA Players Association will see a majority of the top high school talent gather under one roof in Virginia later this month at its Top 100 camp. This is one setting where all the country’s best are together regardless of shoe affiliations.
And USA Basketball will have its inaugural Under-16 National Team workouts this coming week, in preparation for the FIBA Americas U16 Championship later this month in Argentina.
College coaches will not be able to evaluate at any of these June events per NCAA regulations but all the players selected for these elite events have long been on Division I radar.
Staffs can bring some of the top targets on their campuses for unofficial visits this month, several by way of attending their elite camps held at the universities’ and colleges’ facilities.
It’s one way to get an early leg up on recruiting before moving into the big July period where the prospects finally get the opportunity to play in front of the college coaches that have been keeping tabs on them from a distance since the school season ended.
ALREADY ESTABLISHED
The latest on Gatorade National Player of the Year, 6-foot-3 point guard Brandon Knight of Pine Crest in Coral Springs, Fla., sees him listing Florida, Florida State, Miami, Syracuse, Connecticut, Duke, UCLA, Georgia Tech and Kentucky.
UP AND COMING
One of the fastest rising backcourt targets in the country is 6-1 combo guard Brandon Peters of Yates High School in Houston, Texas. Peters currently sits with offers from Memphis, Missouri and Oregon State and he heads to Memphis’ Elite Camp this weekend.
Another improving prospect is in New England with 6-10 power forward Carson Desrosiers of Central Catholic in Lawrence, Mass. Desrosiers has already visited Purdue, Marquette, Arizona State, Providence, Stanford, Syracuse and UNLV while drawing praise for his play this spring that will lead to more schools evaluating him in July.
FUTURE FLOOR GENERALS
The 2011 class of rising juniors has some point guards making waves this spring.
Kyan Anderson (5-11) of North Crowley in Fort Worth, Texas, helped pace the Dallas Heroes in their big spring splash with a run to the championship game of the Real Deal in the Rock. Anderson, the lone underclassman in the rotation, has UCLA, Baylor and SMU with early interest.
Shabazz Napier, a 5-10 guard from Lawrence Academy in Groton, Mass., of Groton, recently listed early interest from Memphis, Providence, Seton Hall, South Florida, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Alabama, Tulane and Virginia Commonwealth.
Christian Garrett, a 6-4 combo guard from Campbell Hall in North Hollywood, Calif., will be at Stanford’s Elite Camp this weekend and also has interest from USC, California, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Penn, Princeton, California-Santa Barbara, and Pepperdine.
Making a buzz since he stepped into high school with his flashy game has been 6-0 Cezar Guerrero of Workman High School in City of Industry, Calif. He plans to go to California's Elite Camp next weekend and USC’s later this month.
