shooterx3

http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/blog.html Probally the shot of the tournament

Here is a link on the next opponent http://tulsaceltics.blogspot.com/2008/07/team-oklahoma-summer-2008-aau.html That Hall of Fame Coach looks like a tough matchup

Wow, what a game tonight for the DS team. In front of about 60 college coaches, including Billy Donovan and Rick Barnes, Duke, Maryland, etc the Ds team started out slow and was down 45-29 at half. After a "serious discussion", the boys decided that maybe they could play a little better, of course they were playing against 6 high major recruits, and a projected one and done Thompson kid who some has as the #1 prospect in the class of 2010. The Ds team cut it to 58-54 before the Canadian team ran it back out to 13. It was an 11 point game when the DS team got a sense of "urgency". Matt Clevenger hit a big three, Jon Bevins made some big shots, Richie Phares got hot, and Andy Donovan hit a big 3 to tie it with about 30 seconds to go. The Canadians went for one shot to win it but Phares knocked it loose and Evan Faulkner came up with it with 4.6 seconds to go under the Canadian basket. After a time out, he inbounded it to his brother who calmly went the lenght of the floor and put a three pointer in at the buzzer for his 5th game winner of the season. DS outscored the Canadians 52-33 in the second half after probally playing their worse half of the month in the first half. Very exciting game, but to tell you the truth, I'm not sure how we won and the Canadian coach couldn't tell you either, but they know who the Derek Smith All Stars are now:thumb:

Bluegrass Preps is as live as it gets lol The tournament website is adidassuper64.com I'll be back with the results after the game but the kids are excited about playing on this stage. Biggest opportunity of the year, and all their games are at the main gym which is a big boost to exposure. They were also placed in the "super pool" which is where all the top teams play each other and are guaranteed a spot in the championship bracket. I just came from our gym and there were over 70 coaches there to watch Indiana Elite and Altantic Celtics play. Will be interesting to compare our turnout to that one.

DS All stars first game in Vegas is tonight at 10.40 against Grass Roots Canada Elite, who won the Pittsburgh Jam Fest. Canada is loaded with several high major recruiting prospects from Schools like Texas, Louisville, Pitt, and Xavier. Will be a tough test for DS, but is exactly why we are here. Great opportunity

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:

adidassuper64.com 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.

I wouldn't describe a kid who is going to have several d-1 offers on the table by November as a kid whose "stock is dropping". Richie is one of the premier talents in his class who is also a great team player who is willing to share the spotlight with whoever can help his team win. Richie's play ranges from solid to spectacular, and if he increases his time spent in the spectacular range, the sky is the limit for this kid who can play inside and out, put the ball on the floor, shoot the three, bang inside, and is still growing. He is a "blue chipper":thumb:

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)

He was not the most impressive guard on the floor last night, but he was impressive enough as a sophomore to get offers from WVU, Florida, and Marshall according to Rivals and had interest from Kentucky

DS did play their best game of the tournament tonight as Ethan Faulkner was matched against the #11 rated point guard in the country Noah Cottrill who has already verballed to wvu. Cottrill had a few more points (14-9) but Ethan was all over the floor with several picks and about 10 assists, constantly setting up Evan and Ferg who ended with 19 apiece and 5 3's apiece. I guess that makes Ethan the #10 point guard IN THE COUNTRY! Most of their scoring was in the first half as DS just blitzed the WVA team from the tip. Leonard Macon was playing above the rim with several thunder dunks and as the 6'10 kid who has verballed with WVU was no match for Leonard's speed at this stage of his career.Richie Phares also had some big time plays in a total team effort. DS moves on to the semi finals of the Bronze division and I believe they are the only Kentucky team still playing on Wednesday. Although Kentucky has been well represented in this tournament from all the Kentucky teams:thumb:

DS 17'S LOST 60-51 to Lebrun James and Dru Joyce's club out of Ohio. DS hung tough but King James had a little too much length to go along with their athleticism although DS wasted several opportunities to make it interesting in the end. Next up is the Wva Rush, which has two wvu recruits and a kid out of South Point named Mayo that should generate some interest. Will be fun playing against a Mayo again. DS is now in the "bronze" tournament which is all the pool winners who made it to the final 16. No easy games at this point, but that is what gets the college guys to watch.

DS had a tough game against a team out of Philly. DS was down 8 at halftime and came back behind Jonathan Ferguson and 6 three's. Andy Donovan did a great job defending a 6'10 kid that is being recruited by Michigan and the rest of the big ten. Richie Phares and the twins also had some big plays as DS pulls out a tough one 72-67. Play the King James program out of of Akron in the final round of 16 at 4.40 as the competition is indeed getting tougher. Ferguson really opened some eyes with his play in this one

DS 16's and Shining Stars 17's also won their pools. Tournament play starts today and the competition increases.

Ds All Stars won their pool today at the Morgantown Jamfest, Beating the North Carolina Gators and the Lynchburg Hoops. High total of the day went to Evan Faulkner with 26 points. The Elliot County boys continue to play solid as do the Franklin County Boys, and when you add in solid play from Pikeville, Taylor County and Scott County, you have a solid squad:thumb: DS advances to tournament play tomorrow against a team from New York. Shining Stars and Kentucky Gators also won their first game at the Jamfest, don't know how they ended up in their pools. Very good tournament with about 200 college coaches on hand watching. I counted about 16 colleges represented at each of the DS first two games. Great exposure that you just can't get anywhere else

Who is on the Hoopstars? Haven't heard much about them this season. How are they doing?

Mcfarland looks like he is going to be coaching at a very high level one day:thumb:

DS won the Adidas 3 stripes classic over the Higher Level out of Louisville 75-62. Their next event is the Morgantown Jamfest starting next monday. I heard the Kentucky Gators were 2-0 at the Hoopfest. Any other teams playing at the Hoopfest?

DS went 3-0 yesterday in pool play at Addidas 3 Stripe in Louisville. Competition not near as strong as Cincinnatti. Plays today at 11.15 and 1.45 at Mid American in Louisville. Had about 10 dunks in the last game from Bevins, Macon, and Phares (Faulkners didn't have any)

July is the biggest month of the year for college recruiting. Several Kentucky teams will be traveling this month competing against some of the top talent around the country. Derek Smith All Stars, Shining Stars, Team Kentucky, and others are all out there competing. Lets use this thread to keep track on how the Kentucky kids are competing against the national competition. I know most of these teams will be in Louisville starting today at Adidas 3 Stripes tournament or the Kentucky Hoopfest. Next week will be the Morgantown Jamfest. How's your team doing? What colleges are calling?

DS All Stars Lost to the New Orleans Jazz this morning on a buzzer beater, 56-54 in another tough 8am game. DS didn't shoot as well as normal and it cost them in this game. Probally the coaching in this one. DS moves on to Louisville wednesday and thursday for the Adidas 3 stipes classic at mid-amercan. First game is at 3pm Wednesday.

Another big win for DS All Stars, Ferguson was indeed 'special" in this game with a 6'5 athletic defender chasing him the whole game, he was still able to get his shots off at will! The other hero in the game was Andy Donovan. The mustangs best player was a post player who was dominating the other teams they had played. Donovan and Jon Bevins combined to hold him to 2 points for the game and Donovan also had a huge 3 late to stop a Mustang run! The whole team is contributing as DS advances to the elite 8 of the gold division. There is not a big name coach missing at this event:thumb:

DS All stars beat Club Ohio this morning 74-64, Leonard Macon and Jon Ferguson had big games for the DS team. DS plays Michigan Mustangs at 5.20 tonight.

DS All Stars had a tough loss against the Las Vegas Prospects today, losing 69-67 in a game that could have gone either way. Evan Faulkner had quite a matchup against Anthony Marshall, who is the 29th rated 2 guard in the country and has offers from Miami, Gonzaga, Virginia and interest from even bigger schools like Kentucky and UCLA. Evan probally earned a d-1 scholarship today with his performance against Marshall. Outscoring him in the second half and picking his pocket twice. Evan went head to head with him the entire second half and more than held his own. Jon Ferguson also had a big game and made several big baskets. All the big schools are at this event and it is great exposure for all the kids. Leonard Macon, Richie Phares, and Andy Donovan are doing a solid job battling against some really talented post players. DS All stars advance into the Gold Division of the tournament tomorrow at 9.20 against Club Ohio.

TYPICAL 8AM GAME Not sure if anyone was really "ready" to play, but DS did have about 6 kids in double figures and had Bevins back playing although Barret Meyer was out with ankle injury. Not sure if Sanford and Penny are really a part of Shining Stars program, or were just on rental for the state aau, but their absence didn't help the Shining Stars. Still a lot of basketball to be played, in front of all the big programs in the country. Great Exposure for all the kids. Las Vegas Prospects are a tough team with a lot of d-1 recruits on it coming up at 4 this afternoon.