Kansas University’s Bill Self, SMU’s Larry Brown, North Carolina State’s Mark Gottfried, Baylor’s Scott Drew, UConn’s Kevin Ollie and Georgetown’s John Thompson III were among the college head coaches who sat in chairs just behind the east basket of New Century Fieldhouse Court One late Friday night.
Colorado’s Tad Boyle and Florida Gulf Coast’s Joe Dooley elected to stand against a wall with the likes of college assistants Nick Bradford (Missouri Southern) and Jeremy Case (Houston Baptist), among many others.
Whether from schools big or small, the coaches who traveled to the 2014 Under Armour Jayhawk Invitational AAU tournament all had to be impressed with the play of Diamond Stone, a 6-foot-10, 253-pound junior from Milwaukee’s Dominican High.
…Stone, who didn’t discuss his list of schools but reportedly has KU, Duke, Wisconsin, Marquette, UCLA and Arizona on his long list, appeared unselfish, passing crisply out of the low post.
“My style of play is to get my teammates involved. I feed off them,” Stone said. “It’s my team and all, but I like to get them involved. I like them to score. I like to help my team out.
“I’m a pass-first-player,” he added. “I’m a low-post player. I’m trying to get my jump shot accurate. This summer I’ll be working on my defense, perimeter defense, being able to guard wings because a lot of bigs now are playing wing. I’ve got to be able to guard that, so that’s what I’m going to start working on this summer.”
As far as his ability to block shots, he said: “My coach sometimes tells me, ‘Don’t jump at everything. You are 6-10. Your wingspan is 7-5 so just put your hands up you’ll block a shot no matter what.’”
…Playing before a batch of college coaches, Malik Newman, a 6-3 junior shooting guard from Callaway High in Jackson, Miss., scored 16 points in Mo Williams Academy’s 35-23 loss to KC Run GMC on Friday. The game was about half as long as a regulation game because of time constraints. The final games of the night had to start before 10 p.m., in accordance with AAU rules.
“I am just trying to make my teammates better and be the best person I can be on and off the court,” Newman said after Friday’s action. “I just go out and play hard and be the best I can be.”
He’s considering Kentucky, Duke, KU and many others.
Asked about his No. 1 ranking by Rivals.com, he stated: “I knew I was (No. 1), but I don’t get really too involved in it.”
Though displeased his team’s game was cut short, he did enjoy watching Diamond Stone in the game before his.
“Diamond is a great player on and off the court. He’s like a brother to me,” Newman said. “I look forward to playing with him in the future.”
Newman scored 26 and 21 points in two victories Saturday.
LJW
My (colleghoophits.com) videos from the Jayhawk Invitational are not your typical "highlight" homages. I try to include a bit of the bad and the ugly along with the good.
Let's be honest, anyone can be made to look like a player in a highly-edited highlight clip. However, it that's your thing, I've linked some of those below as well. Enjoy!
adidas Uprising Spring/Summer Events
2014 Spring/Summer AAU and camp schedule (compiled by CBS Sports)
NBC College basketball fan’s guide to current grassroots basketball scene
WITH THE ADOPTION OF RWG-14-1, the legislation governing all-star games was eliminated. Consequently there is no longer a two game limit for prospects, so in this scenario it would be permissible for Slam to participate in all three games.
This piece of legislation is effective August 1, 2013, so it will apply to all prospects that enroll at your institution on or after that date.
Link
Recruiting Calendar
My Late Night in the Phog videos, KU Alumni games videos, 2011-12 Border War videos, Legends of the Phog videos, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos and more now on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/kcjcjhawk