budman0209

Simon Kenton has a young point guard that is going to be very impressive next year. Cody Chambers. I think he has the opportunity to be very special.

Coach Davis has loaded up this year! Congrats on winning the tournament! They are a HEAVY favorite to win the 16u state tournament. I don't know of any teams that can match up with that type of talent in Kentucky.

Add Mike Gabbard of Boone County to the list. I was amazed to see him play this last weekend and see how hard he has worked in the weight room. He is a STRONG young man!

I watched Phil Barner play with Charlotte Court this weekend. Is he also playing with KY Players? I also thought that the Rice kid from Holmes was playing with the Players as well. Is that no longer the case?

Normally during this point of the year players are playing in front of college coaches. The NCAA eliminated the April live recruiting period.

Real nice tournament in Nashville. http://stringmusicshowcase.com/contact.html And the King James is this weekend. http://www.neobasketball.com/Tournaments/KJSSC/Schedule.html

I really like Deonte Maddox game. He is a very talented young man.

Vanhoose is the coach of the 17's. I don't know how long he has been doing this but you can always count on him having a very good team. He does a great job with the 17u teams. I am not sure how long Coach Davis has been involved in AAU. He is an assistant coach at Simon Kenton High School. The coaching staffs for the Derek Smith All Stars and Shining Star Sports do a great job with their teams. You wouldn't believe the number of hours that go into coaching elite AAU teams that travel a great deal.

Just got word on two of the Shining Star Sports alumni. (Since you asked) Vee Sanford of Lexington Catholic and Shining Star Sports has committed to play basketball in the Big East. He has committed to play at Georgetown. Austin Hill of Holmes and Shining Star Sports has committed to play basketball at Illinios State next year. If you want the complete list: http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams/default.asp?u=SHININGSTARSPORTS&t=c&s=basketball&p=custom&pagename=Alumni%20at%20College

I appreciate Coach Davis because I know that he is all about the kids. He is not in this for himself. Coach Davis works hard for his kids and the kids want to play for him. To many times in AAU you see coaches in it for themselves. Coach Davis does not fall into that category.

Indiana Elite is the better program of the three. They are one of the top orginizations in the country. The list of players that have played with Indiana Elite is endless. Great program with top notch talent. I would put Derek Smith and Shining Star behind the Indiana Elite program. I do not think that Shining Star is second rate to Derek Smith. Recent history has proved that not to be true. They are the top two programs in Kentucky. The last three years have been a back and forth battle between these two programs. I think what may suprise you is the mutual respect that Derek Smith and Shining Star have for each other. They compete for wins and players but the coaching staffs know each other very well and communicate with one another. No one stated that these programs should get EVERY great player in the state of Kentucky. That will never happen. There is a lot of competition for players.

If I am correct Shanklin is playing 16u with Derek Smith. The Indy Elite team is a very good team and Harrison is a very good player. He had a fantastic game versus the Shining Star Sports team. Indy Elite was the only loss of the tourney by 3 points. Shining Star had a chance to tie on a 3 by Kyle King at the end of regulation. Very good game. You can play the IF game all you want but in the end the Shining Star Sports team won the championship. They finished 5 and 1 and beat some very good teams.

I posted the link to the Jody Demling article because the tournament was being discussed. I don't recall stating that I knew AAU basketball because I read his blog. Just sharing info with the posters. I also find it very interesting that you want to take shots at Shining Star Sports. The Shining Star Sports program has won the last 2 17u State Championships. They also won the 16u State Championship last year and finished runner up in the 15u. Why would you think that the Derek Smith All Stars would blast them? Shining Star beat them in the championship game of the state tourney at the 16u and 15u levels last year. With that being said I have also predicted the Derek Smith All Stars 16u team as the team that will win the 16u state tourney. They have a fantastic team that is flat out loaded. I also think that Coach Davis is one of the better AAU coaches in the state of Kentucky.

Lets be clear. I said nothing negative about the Bulldogs. I am not the one that made the previous posts concerning the bulldogs. Why would you think that I blast the Bulldogs? I have no problem with what the Bulldogs are doing. I am sure that it is a great group of kids and I am not questioning whether or not they are good or bad. I am saying that there are very distinct advantages for the top players to play with Derek Smith or Shining Star Sports right now. The Bulldogs may be the next Derek Smith or Shining Star but not with the current group they have. It takes a great deal of time to create a complete orginization that can offer the benefits of these two programs. I do know that a brand and a name does garner attention. If you don't think that D-1 Greyhounds, Indiana Elite, Derek Smith All Stars, Shining Star Sports, Atlanta Celtics, OBC, etc.. don't garner more attention from college coaches you would be wrong. I also never stated that just because a kid plays with one of these orginizations that they will play at the next level. These programs usually get the elite players and these players will play at the next level. The fact that these elite players are playing with these orginizations attracts attention from scouts and college coaches.

Jody Demling did some write ups on the tourney if anyone is interested. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/blog.html There were a lot of great players at the event this weekend.

You are way off base with this thought process in my opinion. If you look at the better orginizations in the state of Kentucky they are all very talented and deep rosters. This allows these teams to advance further into tournament brackets and allows them to receive more attention and be exposed more. College coaches and scouting services want to see players competing against top talent. If you cant compete with the top teams it doesnt serve your team well. You have to be able to advance in the brackets to get that opportunity. The better orginizations want you to think that it benefits you playing with them because it does benefit a player to play with them. The exposure is much greater with these teams and their orginizations. That is a fact!! Look at the number of kids playing college basketball that have played with Derek Smith, Shining Star Sports, Indiana Elite, etc.. You can't really believe that no one knows more than 3 players off of a roster because they are deep. I know that Jordan Gilbert, Scott Schuette, Kyle King, Jake Geisler, Neal Pawsatt, Kellen Smith are all being recruited and will have opportunities to play at the next level. They all play on the Shining Star Sports 16u roster that you mentioned. Any one that follows AAU basketball knows more than 3 players off of their roster. What about the Derek Smith 16u team. Do you really believe that no one knows more than 3 players on their roster or that it hurts them playing with a deep roster? Timmy Knipp, Jordan Shanklin, Donovan Kates, Remy Abbell, Robbie Stenzel, George Fant, Travis Purvis, etc.. They are loaded and it benefits every kid on that roster to play with Derek Smith. Teams like the Bulldogs have a hard time staying together because if they do have players that play at a high level they will choose to play with one of these orginizations at some point. I wouldnt be suprised to see Trammell or Stauffer play with Derek Smith or Shining Star Sports later this year or play their 17u season with them. It would only benefit them to do so. The fact that there are a number of kids being looked out helps the rest of the roster because they are followed and observed. The college coaches in this region keep a close eye on the Derek Smith, Indiana Elite, Shining Star Sports teams.

I was told that Purvis was playing with Derek Smith All Stars. Is that correct?

That is what I heard last year as well. They are very poorly coached during the summer.

Looking at all of the rosters that people have posted I think that we already have three leading candidates for the AAU State Championships. 17u Shining Star Sports-McFarland 16u Derek Smith 15u Hoop Dreams These three teams are stacked with talent and very good orginizations.

Horrible tournament!! Last year was a disaster!! The scheduling was screwed up, brackets and results were never posted, no communication, teams didn't show up, director was off coaching teams at other sites, etc.. I wouldn't recommend the Club Ohio tournament for anyone. There are a number of much better options for teams wanting to play this weekend.

Shining Star Sports has teams at both events this weekend.

Where are all of these teams playing this weekend?

Tregg Setty (D-1 Greyhounds)

I understand that they will be playing with the Queen City Prophets.

I thought that I read an article about Calapari saying that he does not let walk on players dress for games. He only uses them in practice settings. Is that correct?