GCL's Sabato and Hall make the call....

In a week that was full of commitments two local GCL players have come off the board. 6'8 C Tony Sabato, of Moeller, has committed to Division I Elon and 6'5 SF Drew Hall, of McNicholas, has given his pledge of Division II Marysville.

Sabato

Both players were under the college coaching radar a year ago but saw their stock increase after productive summers with their AAU teams. Sabato ran with the Cincinnati Royals and was the main option inside for a hardworking team that seemed to always stay competitive against even the toughest competition. Hall, playing with the Shining Stars, was the leading scorer on a wing oriented team that turned some heads with their play in Orlando in late July.

Sabato brings size to Elon's campus as well as a defensive toughness forged from three seasons with the Moeller varsity team, including a State Runner Up placing as a sophomore and a Regional Final appearance as a junior. A skilled low post scorer and passer, who is able to step out and shoot the mid-range jumpshot, Sabato has the polish in his game, as well as college ready strength, to play a role early in his career for the Phoenix.

Hall tied for the GCL lead in scoring last year with an average of 17.3 ppg and despite that he remained under  the radar in both the city and state. A smooth wing with good range and a consistent release on his jumper he will be looked to for scoring in his career. Still in the developmental stages of adding strength to his body he has shown great improvement in his ballhandling and could become a shooting guard down the road. His ability to use his length and basketball IQ to create shots for himself, especially on a McNicholas team were he was depended on to carry the bulk of the scoring load last season, has prepared him to battle against bigger, stronger, and faster college defenders.

9/27 News.........

• Springboro '13 C Maverick Morgan has seen his recruitment really pick up. After receiving an offer from West Virginia, and strong interest from Cincinnati and Xavier, he recently has had USC, Dayton, Tennessee, Butler, Dayton, and Illinois watch him work out. Morgan is also planning an unofficial visit to Notre Dame in the next few weeks. 

• UCLA and Wisconsin were in to see Withrow '13 PF Devin Williams. Illinois also visited the city to watch Williams work out this week.

• Middletown '14 SF Vincent Edwards has added an official offer from Purdue. Wisconsin watched him work out recently and Bob Huggins, of West Virginia, will be in town on Wednesday to watch Edwards.

• Bellarmine, on of the nation's top Division II schools, has begun seriously pursuing both Jacob and Justin Rossi, who are '12 Franklin forwards.

• Dayton watched Aiken '12 SG Willie Moore and '13 SG Austin Grimes workout today while Lipscomb and NKU watched Aiken '12 PF Paul Woodson.

• According to Turpin's head coach '14 SG Zach McCormick is gathering heavy interest from Cleveland State, Elon, Wright State, and Eastern Kentucky. 

Buckeye Prep Fall Showcase Recap

Larry Moore

Yesterday over 300 players descended on Central Crossing HS in the suburbs of Columbus for Ohio's premier fall showcase- The Buckeye Prep Report Fall Showcase. CPHR spent the day watching local and statewide players in the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades; and saw plenty of good ones. At the end of the day two local products really stood out....... Photos

• Larry Moore- '14 PG/SG Withrow: Everywhere we look there are more and more talented '14 guards and Moore is certainly one of them. After missing all of last HS and AAU season with an injury CPHR had yet to see him play in person. Moore is a fast and intense scoring guard that can really slash to the basket. He has a PG handle and a 5'10 frame but thrives as a scorer. We were also very impressed with his competitive approach to the game and defensive efforts. It will be interesting to see where he lands in the Withrow rotation this season if he continues to play that well. 

• Tim Fleming- '14 PG Fairfield: Since CPHR last saw Fleming he has made considerable improvements to his overall PG game. A nice shooter, with three point range, he has added the ability to crossover his defender and score around the rim. A true playmaker with a strong 6'0 build that can overpower defenders he is also a tough competitor that was out to make a name for himself yesterday. 

Tim Fleming

Other local players from the 10th/11th grade division:

• Blake Simpson- '14 PF Moeller
• Jeff Larkin- '14 PG/SG LaSalle
• Kwan Cheatham- '13 SF/PF Winton Woods
• Devyn Walker- '14 SG Northwest
• David Mitchell- '14 SF/PF Hughes

In the 9th grade division two Cincinnati guards made the All-Star game as Isaiah Jones (Northwest PG) and Reggie Mack (Taft PG/SG) got the call from event chairman Rob Taylor. Other notable freshman that participated were George Brown (Colerain C) and Germaine Britten (Northwest SG/SF). 

For a statewide recap of the event visit- www.tripledoubleprospects.com

Triple Double Prospects presents.... Battle for the Throne

Battle for the Throne videos

Click on link above to check out TDP's new feature: 

The Battle for the Throne.

First two videos:

Tyonte Robertson vs Robert Caldwell

Willie Moore vs Geovonie McKnight

9/20 News

• Notre Dame was in town to check out '13 Lakota West SG Monty Boykins and '13 Springboro C Maverick Morgan.

• '12 Shroder PG Trey Dees said that Kentucky State, Wilmington College, Tennessee State, and Fairleigh Dickenson are the leading schools for him at this stage.

• '13 St. Xavier PG Deontae Bolling impressed both Belmont and Miami (OH) at a recent open gym and both schools will be monitoring his progress this season.

• Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery was in town today to check out '13 Withrow PF Devin Williams and '13 Moeller SF Joshua Davenport.

• Eastern Kenucky was at Middletown today to check out '12 combo guard Geovonie McKnight.

News......

• Hidden Gems Showcase Recap featuring Willy Moore and Tyonte Robertson.

• Rozelle Nix ('12 Withrow C) has began receiving phone calls from Western Kentucky University and East Tennessee State University. 

• Brandon Neel, formerly of LaSalle but spending a postgrad year at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, has already received offers from Marshall, Virginia Tech, and Fairleigh Dickenson since arriving at Fork Union.

• Fairleigh Dickenson and Lincoln Memorial have become the first two schools to offer '12 Aiken PF Paul Woodson. 

• According to Lakota West coach Sean Van Winkle, '13 PG Ali Barnes has begun receiving interest from several Division II schools who have been at West open gyms. 

Monty Boykins & Devin Williams- Open Gym Highlights

Lakota West '13 SG Monty Boykins





Withrow '13 PF Devin Williams

News....

• Tyonte Robertson Highlights from this past weekend's open gym from Triple Double Prospects

• LaSalle '12 PG Josh Lemons told CPHR that he has offers from NW Louisiana and Morehead State to go along with interest from over 20 other Division I's including several MAC schools as well as Dayton.

• Winton Woods '12 PF Zach McCorkle is drawing interest from the University of Chicago, West Liberty, and Brown. 

• Fairleigh Dickenson (who just became a Division I basketball program) will be in town tomorrow to watch '13 West High PF Marquez Carpenter as well as '13 Anderson PF Joe Cossins. 

• After James Madision and Eastern Kentucky spent time with Aiken '12 SG Willie Moore on Tuesday more schools are coming in later this week including Dayton, Cleveland State, and Wichita State. 

• Withrow '13 PF Devin Williams is in the process of planning unofficial visits to Illinois, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. All three of those schools have offered Williams to go along with Xavier, Cincinnati, Purdue, Marquette, Pittsburgh, USC, and several others. Williams also recently began hearing from Oregon. 

• Add Xavier, Cincinnati, and Dayton to the list of suitors for '14 SF Vincent Edwards out of Middletown. Edwards had previously drawn interest from Indiana, Purdue, and Wisconsin after a great July AAU run. Also at Middletown, '12 SG Geovonie McKnight is still hearing from several MAC schools, most notably Miami (OH), and plans on seeing Eastern Kentucky at an upcoming open gym. 

Small Program with Big Talent Ready for the Next Level

Kenny Knight and Nick McCoy

Not everyone has heard of Ohio Midwestern College yet, even fewer know that they have a basketball team; all of that could be changing very soon. Ohio Midwestern, formerly known as Temple Union, took on the next step in developing it's young basketball program with their spring hiring of Coach Ricardo Hill. The founder of the successful AAU program the Cincinnati Lakers, and an assistant coach most recently at Walnut Hills and Aiken, Hill brings great passion to the job as well as an expertise of a lifetime in Cincinnati basketball. In his first year on the job Coach made it a priority to upgrade the talent level at Ohio Midwestern and he hit several home-runs, most notably bringing in 11 talented former Cincinnati city league players. OH-MW does not have an NCAA affiliation at the moment meaning they can play whoever they want; Coach Hill loaded the schedule with tough Division II and III programs including 3 of last year's top 10 D2 schools, Northern Kentucky University being one of them. The other advantage of having no affiliation is that any of their players can move on to an NCAA school and have instant eligibility. When you look up and down the roster there's no reason they can't surprise a few of these teams as this group gains more experience. Here's a quick look at the local players on the roster.........

• Nick McCoy- 6'1 PG Aiken '10: Fiery leader and big time scorer with great strength.
• Kenny Knight- 6'7 PF Aiken '10: Elite leaper with a complete skill set and high motor.
• Mervin Taylor- 6'2 SG Woodward '10: Averaged 23.7 ppg in HS. Non-stop scoring machine.
• Gene Primus- 6'0 PG/SG Aiken '11: Tough minded scoring guard and great defender.
• Marquez Johnson- 6'3 SF Taft '11: Athletic wing with toughness and scoring ability.
• Kadeem Palmer- 5'9 PG Taft '11: Speedy playmaker produces highlight assists.
• Jeremiah Chancellor- 6'9 C Woodward '10: Athletic post with toughness down low.
• Josh Chancellor- 6'8 C West High '11: Shotblocking post with soft touch.
• Keron Hicks- 6'2 SG Aiken '11: Scoring role player with a strong build.
• Ronmel Hicks- 5'10 PG Aiken '10: Great defender and leader who can shoot the ball.
• Brandon Smith- 6'6 PF West High '11: Athletic combo forward who can shoot the ball.

CPHR had the chance to see these boys in action at an open gym this week and came away very impressed with the level of play, none of these talented players have fallen off since we last saw them on the high school scene. We will try and bring you coverage from them all season long as they make their mark on the college basketball scene. Fans who want to see the team in action can keep an eye out for the schedule, their home games will be at Landmark Christian in Evendale. 

Announcing.......

Cincy Prep Hoops Report is proud to announce our new affiliate site "Triple Double Prospects"

tripledoubleprospects.com

CPHR has joined forces with Northern Kentucky Sports Blog to form a comprehensive recruiting website which will cover the entire state of Ohio and the entire state of Kentucky. Fans can now get on Triple Double Prospects to look at profiles of all the top players in both states, look at player rankings statewide, watch video, and read all the latest recruiting news.

With the addition of Triple Double Prospects to the CPHR and NKY Sports Blog family there will be some slight changes to Cincy Prep Hoops Report. Over the next couple of weeks more and more player related pieces and information, most particularly rankings, will be moved to TDP. All team related info and specific Cincinnati content will remain on CPHR, and most everything will be linked back and forth.

The CPHR staff is beyond excited at the opportunities that Triple Double Prospects will bring to the table and hopes that readers will look at it as another site to view when they're looking for the freshest high school basketball news in Ohio and Kentucky.

Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to the growth of both sites as we try and promote youth basketball and all our talents in the city.

Sincerely,

Corey Albertson

cincyprephoopsreport@gmail.com

9/10 Open Gym Highlights

Central Ohio Open Gym Highlights

Yesterday, CPHR took some of Cincinnati's finest to compete in Coach Victor Dundridge's "Central Ohio Open Gym" in Columbus. The boys finished 4-2 against some very stiff competition that included over 15 Division I prospects. Here are some highlights from the games......