Top 50 Showcase- Day 1 Recap

There was plenty of talents to fill the courts at Hughes HS for the first day of action at CPHR and The Cincinnati Herald's Top 50 Spring Showcase. College coaches were intrigued by several senior prospects such as Kairo Cannon, who's motor never stopped as he made plays on both ends all day long, CJ Taylor, Ryan Glass, and more. At the younger ages we saw several standout performances from big guys Garrett Maybelen, Isaiah Johnson, Chris Connell, Devin Williams, Trent Donald and more; while guards like Tim Coleman, Kevin Johnson, Kenny Kauffman, Willy Moore, Corey Wise, and Monty Boykins all stood out.

The highlight of the day was the final game in which the much anticipated match-up of Aaron Thomas and Semaj Christon finally occurred. The game was an impromptu matchup of player selected teams and was a battle from start to finish, with Semaj's team getting the 82-80 win. When the dust had settled Thomas had 47 points and Christon 39. Both of these guys hit tough shot after tough shots and showed their competitive sides in the match-up. CPHR has full video of the game and highlights will be coming very soon!

Top Performers:

12^th Grade-

• 

  Adam Gigax

  Aaron Thomas- Withrow SG                      
• Semaj Christon- Winton Woods PG
• Mike Boyd- Lakota East PG
• Kairo Cannon- Shroder SF
• CJ Taylor- Clark SG
• Ryan Glass- Summit PF
• Adimu Hunter Woodard- Seven Hills SG

11^th Grade-

• Willy Moore- Aiken SG
• Rozelle Nix- Withrow C
• Michael Van Kleunen- Mason PF
• Chris Connell- Woodward PF
• Darrell Bullock- West High PG
• Malcolm Smith- Princeton SG
• Alex Woelk- Mason SF
• Kendall Beamon- Withrow PG

Grant Benzinger

10^th Grade-           

• Devin Williams- Withrow PF
• Trent Donald- Woodward PF
• Kevin Johnson- Summit PG
• Corey Wise- Hamilton SG

• Monty Boykins- Lakota West SG            
• Edmond “Junior” Early- Thurgood PG
• Isaiah Johnson- Walnut Hills C
• Garrett Maybelen- Milford C
• Mark Alstork- Thurgood SF
• Deontae Bolling- St. Xavier SG
• Tim Coleman- Withrow PG
• Sterling Gilmore- Walnut Hills PG
• Joe Cossins- Anderson PF
• Kane Thompson- Colerain SG

• 

  Corey Wise

  Marquez Carpenter- West High PF
• Cortez Adams- West High PF
• Darius Hilson- Princeton SF
• Trey Kilgore- St. Xavier SF

9^th Grade-       

• Kevin Daniels- Hughes SG
• Trevon Hudson- Colerain SF
• Ronnie Rousseau- Winton Woods PG
• Martin Jones II- Winton Woods SF
• Daniel Cage- Winton Woods PF

• Kenny Kauffman- Taft SG
• Adam Gigax- Moeller PF
• Grant Benzinger- Moeller SF
• Mike Barwick- Summit PF
• David Mitchell- Hughes PF
• Ahmad Frost- Wyoming PG
• Bruce Williams- Georgetown PF

Junior High-

• Isaiah Jones- Pleasant Ridge PG (8th Grade)
• Rashard Shakir- St. Barts PG (7th Grade)

CPHR would like to thank the college coaches, we had over 20 of them in attendance, as well as the scouting services that attended day one of the Top 50 Spring Showcase.

AAU Weekend Wrap Up- King James Classic

Great weekend for Ohio teams in one of the spring's top events: The King James Shooting Star Classic in Akron. A lot of guys from the Buckeye state, and Cincinnati, really played well this weekend. We even had two instate champions............
Weekend Photos

DJ Wingfield helped lead his Martin Wolverines
team to the finals of the 16u Gold division

17u 

All-Ohio Purple: Playing in a Super Pool (A loaded pool where all teams advance to Gold bracket) is never easy. That was the case this weekend for AOP who finished 1-3. Their weekend ended with a loss to the Baltimore Stars in second round of Gold. Purple lone bright spot was the continued success of Dayton Dunbar wing Gary Akbar, who is having a great spring scoring the ball and was already known as one of the most versatile forwards in the state.

All-Ohio Red: Winning the King James Classic means that you are one of the truly elite teams in the country, and that is the case with AOR. They won the Gold bracket, defeating several premiere teams, behind solid play from their bigs. Kenny Kasminski (Medina PF), Elijah Macon (Marion Franklin PF), Jalen Robinson (Northland PF), and Teddy Hawkins (Dayton Dunbar SF) all had great weekends as did Middletown combo guard Geovonie McKnight.

Cincinnati Knights: The Knights won their first four games on Saturday before losing to King James Shooting Stars in the dreaded fifth game of the day. Advancing to the round of 16 in the Gold bracket makes it a very successful weekend for the Knights who got good contributions from Semaj Christon, Mike Boyd, Darrin Harris, and Paul Woodson.

Queen City Prophets: QCP split their pool games before losing in the third round of the Silver bracket to the York Ballers (PA). Ladell Griffin, Michael Van Kleunen, and Landen Gaulden stood out this weekend for the Prophets.

OBC's Devin Williams was a dominant inside presence.

Club Ohio: Also split their pool play games and then lost in the first round of the Silver bracket. Trey Dees and Randale Griffith provided help to Club Ohio this weekend who also got great play from 6'8 Ross PF Max Mischkulnig. 

16u

All-Ohio Grey: The Grey boys ran through their pool, playing without the services of '14 Aiken PG Tyonte Robertson before losing in the Gold bracket round of 16 to OBC. Standout players for the weekend included Clemmye Owens (Toledo Rogers SG), Tony Kynard (Toledo Rogers PG), Ricardo Smith (Toledo St. Johns), Edmond “Junior” Early (Thurgood Marshall PG), and Keith Towbridge (Toledo Central Catholic PF). Grey also benefited from having Bowling Green PF Vitto Brown for the first time this season, Brown provided a shot blocking presence and offensive rebounding scoring touch that was previously missing.

Queen City Prophets: QCP won their pool then lost in second round of Gold to All-Ohio Grey. The Prophets got great toughness and leadership this weekend from Tim Coleman, of Withrow, and Walnut Hills' Sterling Gilmore. CPHR also was impressed with play of Deontae Bolling, of St. Xavier, and Northwest's Ramar Hairston.

All-Ohio Varsity: Won the Gold division and defeated all the more talented teams in their way, no one plays with more heart then Varsity. Their leader, Westerville North PG Jack Gibbs, continues to turn heads as his complete floor game is now matched by his long distance shooting.

Ohio Basketball Club: OBC advanced to the round of 8 in the Gold before losing to All-Ohio Varsity. Devin Williams had a blow up weekend for OBC by scoring and rebounding the ball at a great pace.

Tim Coleman, of QCP, had his scoring touch all weekend.

Martin Wolverines: The former Team Jordan just continues to improve as they advanced all the way to the finals of the Gold bracket before losing to All-Ohio Varsity. DJ Wingfield continues to be the leader of the team and provided great all around play to go with 6'10 Maverick Morgan of Springboro and Summit PG Antonio Woods. 

All-Ohio Red: Playing with only five players AOR advanced to the Gold bracket round of 16 before losing a close game to the Carolina Hurricanes. Having wings Austin Grimes and Jordan Lauf (Napoleon) back really helped Red due to those two's versatility and strength.

Cincinnati Lakers: The Lake show won their pool behind strong play of Dorian Jordan and Trent Donald, along with Keith Watkins (Moeller) and Ricardo Hill (Walnut Hills). They then lost in the second round of the Gold bracket to the Franchise Ballers (NY).

Club Ohio: Won their pool and lost in first round of the Gold bracket. Their top contributors were Corey Wise (Hamilton), Milt Davis (Summit), and Darius Hilson (Princeton).

15u

All-Ohio Red: Finished 0-2 in their super pool. AOR lost to Elite Expressions (MA), the eventual champs, in the Gold round of 8. Moeller's Adam Gigax stood out with his versatility on the wing this weekend for AOR.

Queen City Prophets: QCP won their pool behind the exceptional play of Winton Woods PG Ronnie Rousseau who had two games of over 25 points. QCP lost in second round of Gold bracket to West Virginia Storm.

AAU Weekend Recap:

CPHR got the chance to see some really talented AAU teams, from Ohio and everywhere else, this weekend at the annual Pitt Jamfest, at The University of Pittsburgh. Several local and state teams put together solid performances: Pitt Jamfest Photos 

Jaaron Simmons

• All-Ohio Red 16u: This team was playing as a combined effort of All-Ohio Red and All-Ohio Grey players for the weekend, due to a lack of numbers on the Red team. Playing with 7 guards and only 1 big man the team ran through pool play before falling in the second round of the Gold bracket to a loaded DC Assault squad.  
• Jaaron Simmons- The '13 PG from Kettering Alter HS showed why he was the focus of opposing teams scouting reports in the GCL all season. Simmons is a pure PG who also is capable of scoring the ball every time down the court. He has deceptive athleticism and is a good leader on the court.
• Charles Tucker- Cha Cha, a '13 PG from East Lansing HS (MI), is a well known floor general as well. CPHR immeadiatly noticed how much more comfortable Cha Cha is this season in a scoring role as he took over games when his team needed buckets down the stretch. Another pure PG with a smooth way of driving to the hole and quick feet Charles is one to watch this Spring. 
• Other AOR players: Red received nice scoring bursts from Clemmye Owens (Toledo Rogers SG), Tony Kynard (Toledo Rogers PG), Edmond Early Jr (Thurgood Marshall PG), Tyonte Robertson (Aiken PG '14), Monty Boykins (Lakota West SG), and quality inside play from Gerry Green (Thurgood Marshall PF).

• Ohio Basketball Club 16u- OBC has an extremely talented starting unit and although they struggled to play together at times their ability is obvious to any spectator. They also won their pool and lost in the second round of the Gold bracket to Team Final (PA/NJ)
• Devin Williams- The Withrow PF '13 played very well in the post this weekend, scouts that CPHR talked to like his physicality and emerging athleticism. Williams did a good job of scoring when he got his touches, whether it was on the offensive glass or a dump off pass from a guard.



Charles Tucker

• Kevin Johnson- KJ, a '13 Summit PG, kept up his steady play from this week's All-Ohio Spring Showcase, by scoring the ball well off of pull-up jumpers. Kevin showed that his athleticism is comparable to anyone on the circuit's. 

• Cincinnati Lakers 16u- This team came out struggling against a very good Garner Road (NC) team. Trent Donald (Woodward PF), Keith Watkins (Moeller PG), Ricardo Hill (Walnut Hills SG), and Dorian Jordan (Princeton PG) were able to keep them competitive for a while but Garner Road was too much for the Lakers to handle.

• All-Ohio Red 17u defeated All-Ohio Purple in the second round of the Gold bracket, in their usual hard fought rivalry match. The play of Adolphus Washington, Orlando Berry, Willy Moore, CJ Gettys (Findlay PF), and Gary Akbar (Dunbar SF) just weren't enough to overcome Red's talent. Red was led by Elijah Macon (Marion-Franklin PF), Kenny Kasminski (Medina PF), Jalen Robinson (Northland PF), and Geovonie McKnight. 

• Other teams that performed well at Pitt that CPHR was unable to see include Martin Wolverines (DJ Wingfield and Antonio Woods), All-Ohio Red 15's (Blake Simpson and Adam Gigax), and the talented All-Ohio Varsity 16u squad featuring emerging superstar PG Jack Gibbs of Westerville North.

• At other tournaments this weekend, Shining Star 16u Schaeffer led by Bryan Porter (Colerain SG) and Damarion Geter (Dunbar SF) took home the a Super Regional (National Qualifier) crown. At the 17u level the Cincinnati Knights Black squad qualified for nationals behind the play of Bubba Hill and Randale Griffith, as well as Mikey Thompson (Aiken '13 SF). The Cincinnati Knights 17u Gold team won their tournament in Indianapolis behind Ben Galemmo and Semaj Christon who each averaged close to 20 ppg and shot the lights out all weekend. Darrin Harris (PF Mason), Paul Woodson (PF Clark), and the Rossi twins of Franklin were all major contributors for the Knights. 

Nike All-Ohio Spring Showcase: Day 2 Recap

Another exciting day of basketball at the new Taft high school downtown that featured top talent from inside and outside the city. Here are some of the players that stood out today to CPHR (new guys only, purposely didn't list players from yesterday's list). Pictures from both days of the showcase: Showcase Photos

Malcolm Smith of Princeton

• Don'Shey Graham- '13 PF VLT Academy  
• Tim Coleman- '13 PG Withrow
• Mikey Thompson- '13 SF Aiken
• Malcolm Smith- '12 SG Princeton
• Chris Connell- '12 PF Woodward
• Dearius Young- '12 C Princeton
• Marquez Johnson- '11 SF Taft
• Milt Davis- '13 SG Summit
• Corey Wise- '13 SG Hamilton 
• Kadeem Palmer- '11 PG Taft
• Rozelle Nix- '12 C Withrow

Nike All-Ohio Spring Showcase: Day 1 Recap

There's no way that you could ask for more talent in the gym for the first basketball event at the new Taft HS. Almost all of Cincinnati's top freshman, sophomores, and juniors showed up to prove that they belong on the list of the city's top players. CPHR saw a lot of highlight plays tonight, from off the backboard lob dunks to ferocious blocked shots, and lots and lots of three pointers. Here are some of the guys that stood out tonight:

Monty Boykins

• Monty Boykins- '13 SG Lakota West: Showed a lot of improvement tonight with his ball handling and court vision. Monty was really aggressive and played with a quicker pace then CPHR has seen him. With that ability to attack the rim, or pull up for the jumper, Boykins was the most unstoppable player of the day at the event. 
• Kevin Johnson- '13 PG Summit: In his second game KJ put on a show for the crowd by breaking down every defender that stepped in front of him and then scoring from every spot on the floor. At one point Kevin hit three consecutive 15 foot jumpers off of crossover moves. 
• Dwayne Stanford- '12 PF Taft: Tonight was the perfect setting for Dwayne to showcase his athleticism and he did not dissapoint. He also showed off more of his isolation ability on the offensive end by putting the ball on the floor under control and then pulling up, where he hit a very nice percentage.
• Jermaine Freeman- '12 SG Taft: Many people outside of the Taft program don't know how good of a scorer that Jermaine is, he really turned some heads tonight. In the first game he led his team to a double overtime victory and scored the last four buckets by willing his way to the rim and scoring with his strength and craftiness.  
• Jalean Lowe- '12 SG Taft: The hot shooting streak continues as Jalean picked up where he left off from the State Championship weekend. This time however, he was pulling up off of a couple of bounces; and also did a nice job of getting to the rim in half-court situations and scoring. 
• Edmond Hurt- '12 PG Taft: Always known around the city as someone with immense talent, fans got their chance to see what Ed can do with the ball tonight as he had the highest scoring tally of the day. Edmond was able to use his athleticism and handling ability to blow by defenders and his jump shot, particularly his step-back, was falling. Next year should be a breakout year for Ed.

Kevin Johnson

• Other Stand Out Players:
• Austin Grimes- '13 SG Aiken
• Devin Williams- '13 PF Withrow
• Kendall Beamon- '12 PG Withrow
• Deontez McGee- '12 SG Norwood
• Jaihlen Teague- '11 SG Middletown
• Tyonte Robertson- '14 PG Aiken
• Deontae Bolling- '13 PG St. Xavier
• Aaron Oden- '14 PG Taft
• Willy Moore- '12 SG Aiken
• Orlando Berry Jr- '12 PG Taft
• Adolphus Washington- '12 PF Taft
• Ra'Saan Jackson- '12 SG Taft
• Ramar Hairston- '13 SG Northwest
• Tommy Kreyenhagen- '12 SG Summit
• Marquez Carpenter- '13 PF West High

Weekend AAU Results:

All-Ohio Grey won their division of the Nike Cup in Columbus this weekend.

All-Ohio Nike Cup:

• All-Ohio Purple had another undefeated weekend behind the play of tourney MVP Tommy Kreyenhagen (Summit SG), Willy Moore (SG Aiken), Gary Akbar (SF Dayton Dunbar), and CJ Gettys (PF Findlay). Purple defeated a very talented West Virginia Wildcats team to win their division of the Nike Cup.

• All-Ohio Grey went 3-0 on Sunday to take their division of the Nike Cup. AOG got strong play from tourney MVP Deontae Cole (SF Toledo Central Catholic), Clemmye Owens (SG Toledo Rogers), Dominique King (SG Maumee). The surprise player for Grey was new addition Edmund Early Jr a 6'1 combo guard from Thurgood Marshall. "Junior" was stellar all weekend and was the leading scorer, and spark off the bench, in two games on Sunday. AOG got up and down play from Tyonte Robertson (PG Aiken), but Tyonte really turned it up on Sunday and was efficient running the point and scoring the basketball for Grey.

All-Ohio Purple holding the trophy at the Nike Cup.

Knoxvegas Heat Invitational:

• The Queen City Prophets 15u and 17u teams got off to a tough start as they were unable to advance out of very difficult pools down in Tennessee. The bright spot for QCP was the play of their 16u team, who got second in their pool before losing in the quarterfinals. The 16u Prophets went 3-2 on the weekend with one of the wins being an upset of a very talented WorldWide Renegades (GA) team and one of the losses being a competitive game against one of the circuit's premiere teams the Atlanta Celtics. QCP got production from Josh Davenport (SF Moeller), Tim Coleman (PG Withrow), and Cortez Adams (PF West High) for the tourney. 

Cincinnati Knights Shootout:

• As expected both Cincinnati Knights 17u teams flexed their muscles and advanced, undefeated, to the title game, setting up a rivalry game showdown. The Knights "Black" team then pulled an upset of Semaj Christon's (PG Winton Woods) Knights "Gold" team. The Black team got great performances by Randale Griffith (PF Shroder), Bubba Hill (PG West High), and Mikey Thompson (SF Aiken).

GameTime Magic- Club Ohio TOC Champs

Club Ohio Tournament of Champions: 

• GameTime Magic has their first title of the spring by defeating Mark Minch's (SF Lakota East) Columbus Mustang Ballers team, who has plenty of good scoring guards. GTM also defeated the Cincinnati Lakers 16u team, who is now much better with the return of Trent Donald (PF Woodward) from Ohio Basketball Club. The Magic were led by the scoring duo of Malcolm Smith (SG Princeton) and Deontez McGee (SG Norwood) as well as the inside play of Tank Young (C Princeton) and Chris Connell (PF from Lakota West who has transferred to Woodward). 

The Bearcat Classic:

• Ohio Basketball Club swept through the field en route to a title performance. OBC's stars led the way as Cleveland's Elijah Brown, Tony Farmer, and Damonte Flannigan turned in strong outings to go along with Kevin Johnson (PG Summit) and Devin Williams (PF Withrow). 

Day 1 at the All-Ohio Nike Cup

• All-Ohio Grey: Up and down day for AOG as they played their first tournament at the 17u level. Grey went down to a very big and talented West Virginia Wildcats team led by Columbus Northland's Devon Scott and a couple of Huntington Prep post players. Grey struggled inside against taller opponents with star posts Jackson Lamb and Vitto Brown missing. AOG was led by the play of Edmund Early (SG Thurgood Marshall), Clemmye Owens (SG Toledo Rogers), and Deonte Cole (SF Toledo Central Catholic).

• All-Ohio Purple: Another undefeated day for Purple as they turned in dominant performances led by CJ Gettys (PF Findlay), Willy Moore (SG Aiken), and Gary Akbar (SF Dayton Dunbar).

• Last night CPHR had a chance to catch some games at The Cincinnati Knights Shootout. At the 17u level the Knights (Black team) defeated a solid Team Kentucky squad behind the play of Aiken '13 SF Mikey Thompson. Mikey has really been working on his ball-handling and shooting and as he continues to put the mental aspect into his game he could skyrocket up the rankings. The Knights also got good play from their big men Zach McCorkle (Winton Woods), Avery Barnes (Lockland), and Randale Griffith (Shroder) as well as PG Bubba Hill (West High). At the 15u level the Knights team went down to an older Team Kentucky squad but CPHR came away impressed with the outstanding athletic abilities of Trevon Hudson (SF Colerain). Hudson, as he develops his ball skills, will be one to watch in this class; his athletic ability might be tops in the city regardless of class. 

Weekend Tourney Preview:

This weekend will be a busy one for the Cincinnati AAU scene with three local tournaments going on. Almost all of the local teams will be playing in one of these three tournaments, it should be exciting to follow as most of the teams will be playing for the first time this spring.

1. The Bearcat Classic
2. The Cincinnati Knights Shootout
   
3. The Club Ohio- Tournament of Champions

Teams traveling this weekend will be playing at either:

1. The All-Ohio Nike Cup in Columbus, OH features several Nike sponsored teams from Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. 
2. The KnoxVegas Heat Invitational in Knoxville, TN is a very competitive tourney featuring teams from Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, and more. The Queen City Prophets will be in this event at the 15u, 16u, and 17u levels. 
3. The Boo Williams Nike Invitational in Hampton, VA. This is one of the top tourneys in the spring and will feature the All-Ohio Red program at all three HS levels. The 17u All-Ohio Red team will be playing in the first round of the second annual Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (Nike EYBL) which is a four part traveling league that goes through the entire spring made up of Nike's top AAU teams from around the country. Coverage of the EYBL can be found on: Nike EYBL Online.

Vince Edwards Highlights

Great highlight tape of Middletown SF Vincent Edwards. A 6'6 inside-outside player Edwards had a very successful freshman season with averages of 8.5 points and 5 rebounds a game. Edwards is currently playing AAU for his father's Ohio Tarheels team.

Aaron Oden Transfer

Aaron Oden has officially enrolled in classes at Taft for the start of the fourth quarter. Oden, a 6'0 PG from the class of 2014 is transferring over from Hughes. As a freshman at Hughes, Oden was the starting PG on the varsity squad this season and posted averages of 8 points and 3 assists per game for The Big Red. Taft adds another talented guard, Oden is currently ranked #5 in CPHR's '14 rankings, to a solid class of current freshman. Aaron is currently playing AAU ball with Team Queen City.

News from the Circuit:

A few teams with local players were in action this past weekend.

17u
All-Ohio Purple went right back to their winning ways with a victory at the Buckeye Prep Invitational. In the championship game they defeated Ohio Hoopsters, led by Aiken SG Willy Moore. Purple got great play all weekend from Adolphus Washington, Jalean Lowe, and CJ Getty (Findlay HS). GameTime Magic also attended the tournament, falling to the Hoopsters in the semi final by two. GM was led this weekend by Malcolm Smith (Princeton SG) and Deontez McGee (Norwood SG). All-Ohio Red had a nice 4-1 weekend including a win over Full Package Elite (Chicago) before falling to powerhouse Mac Irvin Fire (Chicago) in the quarterfinals of the NY2LAsports.com Swish N Dish in Milwaukee.

16u
All-Ohio Red went 4-1 for the weekend at this level as well, in their first tourney with Cincinnati's Austin Grimes and Monty Boykins, losing to a loaded SYF Ballers (IN) team in the quarterfinals of the NY2LAsports.com Swish N Dish in Milwaukee.

15u
All-Ohio Red again went 4-1 for the weekend, this time advancing to the semi finals before falling to Ferrari (Chicago). The Ohio Tarheels led by Vince Edwards (Middletown) and Roderick Mills (St. Xavier) also had a nice weekend by advancing to the quarterfinals in Milwaukee before losing to Indiana Elite. At the Buckeye Prep Invitational, Team Queen City had a nice run led by PG Aaron Oden; however, the tournament was dominated by the Cincinnati Knights 14u (rising freshman) team that was playing up a grade level. This team had no problem advancing through and taking the title with their deep and talented squad (more on them coming soon!).