The Lexington ICE were very impressive at the 15U AAU Nationals this week. They won their pool and finished in the top 20. Their 2 losses were to: Conn. Bball Club (finished 3rd) by 7 and were down by 1 with 2 minutes; and to Upstate Elite (NY) by 3 points. Upstate beat the National Champion Memphis Stallions in pool play.

 

All that was with 6 players for 5 of the 6 games. They had one injury in game one and had 2 starters in FL with Henry Clay. Watch out for them next season as they will be travelling quite a bit more.

Just got home from a long 3 days in Morgantown. Here is my rundown from the finals action today.

DS showed a lot of grit in the first team against a talented team from Washington that beat DC Assault in the first game of tournament play.

DS was down as much as 8 before coming back behind Jonathan Ferguson and the stretch play of Andy Donovan, who in a tight game with about 3 mintues to go, hit a layup, a putback and a three inside of one minute to help the DS team pull away 103-89. Andy is one whose stock is going way up as he continues to show the ability to play inside and out and now has two d-1 offers on the table.

In the finals, a worn out DS team , playing their 7th game in 3 days, found themselves behind 18 points in the second half, with Evan Faulkner unable to play and Macon and Donovan banged up, the DS team was on the ropes When Ethan Faulkner decided he was tired of trailing, his defense dominated the last 15 minutes of the game. Barrett Meyer, after nursing a sore ankle all week, came off the bench to score about 15 points in a 6 minute stretch to get the DS team back in the game. Jon Bevins got dominating inside and Richie Phares and Leonard Macon made some huge plays to to somehow find a way to win 85-80. This team is now 32-10 against some of the toughest competition in the country and has learned that they can compete with anyone. They have been down many times only to get a spark from someone different every game. This is a special bunch of kids that are representing their schools and communities well. They leave for Vegas and Los Angeles on Monday. Member of the team are

Matt Clevenger Pikeville

Jon Bevins Logan

Richie Phares Scott County

Leonard Macon Taylor County

Jon Ferguson Elliot

Ethan and Evan Faulkner Elliot

Barrett Meyers Franklin County

Andy Donovan Franklin County

 

They are a coaches "dream":thumb:

(most of the time)

 

They have been a joy to watch this summer. Got to know all 9 of them from the 15 or so games I saw this summer and what a great bunch of basketball players and even better kids who represent themselves and their schools in an outstanding fashion. I wish them the best as they finish up in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. By the way, that coach of the team has brought them together as individuals and made them a special TEAM. And as Ms. Liberty said those "Elliott boys are TOUGH". Tough, gritty, and determined they are and they play their hearts out each and every time out. What I would give to coach these guys for just one game!!! They flat out get after it!!!

Good luck to DS out west. I am sure it will be an old west shootout, but they can hang with the best as they have proved all summer long.

One more note and I think the case has been proved. Kentucky's 2009 class is legit and is a continuation of Kentucky's talent going upward.

 

BG, I agree with you. I have read posts and blogs where 2009 talent is "down" from last year, and I just don't buy it. Now there may not be a Darius Miller or Scotty Hopson (and I am not sure I buy into the ranking services anyway all the time - perception/potential over performance), but below that there are a lot of players in this class that will have the opportunity to play D1 if they choose. They are just now being recognized.

 

Also, I agree....Phares is just fine. His stock is up in my book. He is on a team where any player can put up 30 and pretty much has at some point, including him.

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Schedules are out.

DS qualified for the Super Pool which means they automatically advance to championship round.

Tuesday 7:40 pm

 

Wednesday 2:20 pm

 

Wednesday 9:00 pm

 

 

 

Bracket is not posted yet.

 

 

 

Others in our pool: Team Oklahoma, Gateway Basketball Club, Grass Roots Canada Elite.

Just had a d-1 college coach tell me that Ferg was the best shooter he had seen this summer. Can't say that I disagree with him

Ferg has been RED HOT in July:thumb:

He can fill it up!!!!

I saw him play in Louisville!!!

Where are the Holmes boys playing this summer? Johnson bros. etc

Where are the Holmes boys playing this summer? Johnson bros. etc

 

Ricardo, JJ and Elijah play on the KY Players along with G'lawn Guyn(sp?) from Scott Co., Aaron Crosby, and some other local players from Holmes,Dixie,etc and as far as I've seen they've played in a lot of local tournaments (like at Sportsville in Florence and SportsPlus up in Cincinnati)

Shining Stars will be in the AAU Super Showcase and National Championship in Orlando over the next couple of weeks.

I think that it would be very cool to see the 2010 class in Northern Kentucky play together at some point. This is one of the stronger classes Northern Kentucky has had in a long time.

 

I think that you could put a really nice roster together.

 

Mike Gabbard

Jerimiah Johnson

Tate Nichols

Rico Johnson

Ryan Popp

Elijiah Pittman

Steven Kowolonek

Andy Earls

 

I think that you could win a lot of games with this group!!

I agree you could probably but together 2 or 3 teams from NKY from the class of 2010 besides these young men and be able to compete.

I think that it would be very cool to see the 2010 class in Northern Kentucky play together at some point. This is one of the stronger classes Northern Kentucky has had in a long time.

 

I think that you could put a really nice roster together.

 

Mike Gabbard

Jerimiah Johnson

Tate Nichols

Rico Johnson

Ryan Popp

Elijiah Pittman

Steven Kowolonek

Andy Earls

 

I think that you could win a lot of games with this group!!

 

 

Get some real depth by adding Blake Bryan, (Villa), Casey Sorrell (SK),Daniel O'Conner (Scott), and Jacob Rieger (Bishop Brossart). I am sure I am leaving off some quality players but just highlighting the depth in that class in Northern Kentucky!

I think that it would be very cool to see the 2010 class in Northern Kentucky play together at some point. This is one of the stronger classes Northern Kentucky has had in a long time.

 

I think that you could put a really nice roster together.

 

Mike Gabbard

Jerimiah Johnson

Tate Nichols

Rico Johnson

Ryan Popp

Elijiah Pittman

Steven Kowolonek

Andy Earls

 

I think that you could win a lot of games with this group!!

 

This could be one of the top AAU teams in the nation if it ever came together! Great athleticism, very talented big men, and great guards. I think every kid on this roster would have a legitimate shot to play on a full athletic scholarship after high school, with at least a couple at D1 schools.

 

The only thing the Shining Stars are missing is additional depth/height at the big men positions. When Nichols is healthy, he and Earls, along with Kowolonek can rebound, score, and play with the best of them, and the Johnson's and Pittman would give provide even a lot more size/athleticism.

 

I don't know if it would be possible to ever get this group together next year, but it would be a great team. Everybody on this list has shown they can play with the best in the nation, and I think you could put together a couple of other very competitive teams with about 8 players each as well.

 

To have the best results and chances of completing against elite teams from large metropolitan cities, I think Kentucky has to put the best players together from the state or areas of the state, especially the best bigs. Kentucky high school AAU teams regularly go up against teams from other states with 3 to 5 or more players ranging from 6'6" to 6'11".

Get some real depth by adding Blake Bryan, (Villa), Casey Sorrell (SK),Daniel O'Conner (Scott), and Jacob Rieger (Bishop Brossart). I am sure I am leaving off some quality players but just highlighting the depth in that class in Northern Kentucky!

O'Connor is improving a lot and getting taller and has a lot of size and upside. I think he would add good depth. A 3-point sharpshooter specialist or 2 would round it out nicely. Too many scorers or allstars not willing to play their role and do the dirty work (defense, rebounding, etc.) would not work. Can't have kids thinking "I'm going to get mine" if you want a good team that will accomplish a lot together. That's not to say there aren't also plenty of good players in other classes, but there is very much depth in N KY, KY as a whole, and nationwide in the 2010 class.