AAU Update

[stlsfinest]

The St. Louis Eagles 17U had a decent performance in Dallas. Not sure who all played well, but I know Gilmore and Soderberg had good games. I'll try to get some more info.

The Midwest Storm took 2nd Place of the King of the South tournament The STL Falcons 17U made it to the the semi-finals. Kavon Lacy, Jeremy Felton, and Lucas O'Rear continue to shine. Top performers for the Falcons were 6'5 SF Alfred Nelson, 5'11 PG Robert Kreps (Ill-Chicago), and 6'6 PF Chris Williams.

Last, but not least...Leon Powell was an absolute beast for Gameface.

[stlsfinest]

Here's an excerpt from Rivals.

..........................

Sleepers emerge

A handful of Big 12 programs are recruiting junior power forward Leon Powell (6-6) and he showed why immediately. The prep star from national power Vashon High (St. Louis) outplayed some of the nation's top players in head-to-head battles, including the Tallahassee Wildcats' A.J. Stewart (Ranked No. 77 in the class of 2007).

Powell, who plays with an aggressive streak, used his strength and athleticism to give Stewart problems on the inside and scored 16 points to lead the Saint Louis Game Face to a 54-53 comeback win. He made a handful of big plays down the stretch, including a left-handed hook shot that gave his team the lead for good with less than two minutes left. He added 20 more points in a loss to the Atlanta Celtics Gold team.

Powell runs the court extremely well and has developed a solid jumper. He is very active around the basket and a solid rebounder as well.

Kansas, Illinois, Missouri are all pursuing Powell. He recently received his first offer from Bradley.

- Andrew Skwara -

...............................

I think Brad should offer him regardless if the high major schools are calling. As of now, he only has a mid-major offer. I've heard that SIU is close to laying down an offer too. As his jumpshot continues to improve quickly, the big schools will really start to pursue him and SLU won't have a chance.

[VTIME]

>Here's an excerpt from Rivals.

>..........................

>

>Sleepers emerge

>

>A handful of Big 12 programs are recruiting junior power

>forward Leon Powell (6-6) and he showed why immediately. The

>prep star from national power Vashon High (St. Louis)

>outplayed some of the nation's top players in head-to-head

>battles, including the Tallahassee Wildcats' A.J. Stewart

>(Ranked No. 77 in the class of 2007).

>

>Powell, who plays with an aggressive streak, used his

>strength and athleticism to give Stewart problems on the

>inside and scored 16 points to lead the Saint Louis Game

>Face to a 54-53 comeback win. He made a handful of big plays

>down the stretch, including a left-handed hook shot that

>gave his team the lead for good with less than two minutes

>left. He added 20 more points in a loss to the Atlanta

>Celtics Gold team.

>

>Powell runs the court extremely well and has developed a

>solid jumper. He is very active around the basket and a

>solid rebounder as well.

>

>Kansas, Illinois, Missouri are all pursuing Powell. He

>recently received his first offer from Bradley.

>

>- Andrew Skwara -

>...............................

>

>

>I think Brad should offer him regardless if the high major

>schools are calling. As of now, he only has a mid-major

>offer. I've heard that SIU is close to laying down an offer

>too. As his jumpshot continues to improve quickly, the big

>schools will really start to pursue him and SLU won't have a

>chance.

My first ever post on this board was about the billikens offering Powell ASAP. Do you have a link to the above article. I've known Powell was division 1 for a long time. A lot of people on this board have started to come around, but not all. I'm glad that he's backing up what I've been saying at that the scouts are taking notice. He worked hard on his shot last summer which is the reason he started some games at sf this season. Next year he will again appear at center unless one of those other senior to be big man finally show up, but that doesnt mean he wont get a decent amount of attempts from the outside and he plays a lot outside in the summer because of those senior to be bigs on his gameface AAU team.

[Cowboy]

to me in the posted analysis of powell is "streak"

[VTIME]

>to me in the posted analysis of powell is "streak"

how bout the key words solid jumper

[VTIME]

>Here's an excerpt from Rivals.

>..........................

>

>Sleepers emerge

>

>A handful of Big 12 programs are recruiting junior power

>forward Leon Powell (6-6) and he showed why immediately. The

>prep star from national power Vashon High (St. Louis)

>outplayed some of the nation's top players in head-to-head

>battles, including the Tallahassee Wildcats' A.J. Stewart

>(Ranked No. 77 in the class of 2007).

>

>Powell, who plays with an aggressive streak, used his

>strength and athleticism to give Stewart problems on the

>inside and scored 16 points to lead the Saint Louis Game

>Face to a 54-53 comeback win. He made a handful of big plays

>down the stretch, including a left-handed hook shot that

>gave his team the lead for good with less than two minutes

>left. He added 20 more points in a loss to the Atlanta

>Celtics Gold team.

>

>Powell runs the court extremely well and has developed a

>solid jumper. He is very active around the basket and a

>solid rebounder as well.

>

>Kansas, Illinois, Missouri are all pursuing Powell. He

>recently received his first offer from Bradley.

>

>- Andrew Skwara -

>...............................

>

>

>I think Brad should offer him regardless if the high major

>schools are calling. As of now, he only has a mid-major

>offer. I've heard that SIU is close to laying down an offer

>too. As his jumpshot continues to improve quickly, the big

>schools will really start to pursue him and SLU won't have a

>chance.

Have SLU offered? If not, what are they waiting on. He led the Nike Jamboree in scoring last season. He's been offered by Bradley, being recruited by Big 12 schools. Are we gonna wait til one of those Big 12 schools offers and then say he's out of our league or is Brad gonna offer. Don't let some schools 100's of miles away get Powell when Vashon campus is 5 minutes away from SLU's. I saw Brad at the Vashon vs Beaumont game in December. He had a great game that night. http://prepsports3.stltoday.com/basketball...vent228459.shtm Brad was there most of the first half including Powell's 10 pt second quarter. How many looks does Brad need?

[Box and Won]

Do we know for a fact that we have not offered? If not, we need to do so ASAP.

[Billikan]

Do we know if he has qualified?

[cheeseman]

He is only a junior - many kids do not qualify that early - it is very common to offer to a junior soon to be senior before he qualifies.

[Billikan]

I am very interested in Powell but I think this situation is a classic example of the dilemma that faces coaches today. If we offer before we know he will qualify that should send him a nice message about our interest. I understand he will be a senior this coming year and there are a lot of nice players out there. If we offer and hold a spot for him then we reduce the number of offers that we might make by one so if he does not qualify then we could lose an opportunity to get a good player. If that happened I am sure some of the flamers on this board would rip the coaches for taking the gamble. At this point I think there would be very good information available about core courses, grades, etc. even if he does not have a qualifying score on the ACT/SAT. Let's hope that we will offer, he will accept and he will qualify!

[Billikenbooster]

Don't schools offer more players than they have scholarships, letting them know we like you alot, first one to sign gets in then they withdraw the others, since the first one in gets the 'prize'

Don't know if that is UB's MO, but many do that.

mhg

[cheeseman]

Waiting for to offer to a kid you really want before he qualifies is not the normal course of action. Most schools do this all the time. If you do not really want the kid then don't offer but don't use the qualifying or not red herring to explain why Brad has not offered Powell if in fact he has not. He offered TL and I am sure KL before they qualified. He apparently offered Suggs and Griffey also. The point is does he want Powell or not?

[billiken_roy]

vtime, please list the posters or better yet provide the links where anyone ever said that leon powell was not a division one player.

by the way, how did powell do on the act test?

[billiken_roy]

how could you have possibly seen coach soderberg at the beaumont game. nate latch has advised us that coach soderberg never goes to high school games.

[VTIME]

I was at the game and saw Brad standing on the top balcony. He was the only one standing up there as security made everyone else go sit in seats because they were blocking the view. According to stlsfinest's post, Powell has been offered Bradley so far, but is being recruited by several Big 12 schools. His posted excerpt from rivals looks legit. I can't understand why he hasnt been offered yet. I respect Nate and everything, but he has been one of the guys on this board saying that Powell isnt division and i didn't appreciate the fact that Powell was 2nd team all-metro last year as a soph and third team this year when his team actually won the title and he produced at state this time. I dont know if that's Nate's fault though. I would love to bring up posts that said Powell wasnt D1, but I dont know how to get to posts from before the board shut down.

[Nate Latsch]

When did I say Leon Powell wasn't a Division I player?

I've never said that. I have said I don't know how good of a college player Powell will be. A lot of people have noticed that Powell didn't improve much between his sophomore and junior seasons. If he doesn't do the work this summer, he's not going to get better. He needs to get stronger, work on his shot, ballhandling and post moves.

I'm surprised he's only got one scholarship offer (Bradley), but that's about the level I expect him to go. He's a 6-foot-6 (6-7 max) power forward who doesn't have any reliable post moves.

Powell's been very productive at Vashon the last two years, but he's still not the player you have hyped him up to be for the last two years. That's not his fault. It's yours.

- Nate

[Nate Latsch]

Roy,

That is one of the two (or three) high school games I've seen Brad at. But I think he left at halftime.

- Nate

[VTIME]

>When did I say Leon Powell wasn't a Division I player?

>

>I've never said that. I have said I don't know how good of a

>college player Powell will be. A lot of people have noticed

>that Powell didn't improve much between his sophomore and

>junior seasons. If he doesn't do the work this summer, he's

>not going to get better. He needs to get stronger, work on

>his shot, ballhandling and post moves.

>

>I'm surprised he's only got one scholarship offer (Bradley),

>but that's about the level I expect him to go. He's a

>6-foot-6 (6-7 max) power forward who doesn't have any

>reliable post moves.

>

>Powell's been very productive at Vashon the last two years,

>but he's still not the player you have hyped him up to be

>for the last two years. That's not his fault. It's yours.

>

>- Nate

The knocks you have on Powell his jumpshot, ballhandling etc. are the same knocks you used against him saying he wasn't division 1. IF he is a power forward with no jumper, no handles, and no post moves, how is he division 1 in your opinion Nate? And you say you were at the at Vashon game. He played pretty darn well that night with 22pts 9 rebs, 3 blocks and shot 10 of 12 from the free throw line. The article on rivals talks about how his jump shot has improved. How good do you want his jumper to be if he's gonna play pf in college. If you were projecting him as a sf from the start I could see your argument. For his career he is 13 of 37 from beyond the arc, 35% which is about what you would expect your power forward to shoot. His jumper is ever improving and Big 12 schools want him. Brad needs to continue this trend of landing local players, offering Powell and Harrellson today would be a start.

[Nate Latsch]

>The knocks you have on Powell his jumpshot, ballhandling

>etc. are the same knocks you used against him saying he

>wasn't division 1.

Again. I never said he wasn't a D-1 player.

>For his career he is 13 of 37 from beyond the arc, 35% which is about what

>you would expect your power forward to shoot.

Of all the inflated statistics area basketball coaches submit to STL Today Prep Sports, Vashon's three-point field goals made and taken and the percentages are probably the worst. What did Dwayne Polk shoot from 3 his senior year? 50 percent? You think that was accurate?

>His jumper is ever improving and Big 12 schools want him.

How many Big 12 schools have offered him? There's a big difference between schools being interested in a player and offering them. Haven't you learned that by now?

I think Powell would be a good fit at Missouri because of Mike Anderson's system. Powell is probably a better fit at Mizzou than he is at SLU. He can get away with being a 6-6, 175-pound power forward at Mizzou when he's running and jumping and playing defense. But he still needs to get bigger and stronger to play PF at a school like SLU.

- Nate

[VTIME]

>>The knocks you have on Powell his jumpshot, ballhandling

>>etc. are the same knocks you used against him saying he

>>wasn't division 1.

>

>Again. I never said he wasn't a D-1 player.

>

>>For his career he is 13 of 37 from beyond the arc, 35% which is about what

>>you would expect your power forward to shoot.

>

>Of all the inflated statistics area basketball coaches

>submit to STL Today Prep Sports, Vashon's three-point field

>goals made and taken and the percentages are probably the

>worst. What did Dwayne Polk shoot from 3 his senior year? 50

>percent? You think that was accurate?

>

>>His jumper is ever improving and Big 12 schools want him.

>

>How many Big 12 schools have offered him? There's a big

>difference between schools being interested in a player and

>offering them. Haven't you learned that by now?

>

>I think Powell would be a good fit at Missouri because of

>Mike Anderson's system. Powell is probably a better fit at

>Mizzou than he is at SLU. He can get away with being a 6-6,

>175-pound power forward at Mizzou when he's running and

>jumping and playing defense. But he still needs to get

>bigger and stronger to play PF at a school like SLU.

>

>- Nate

So he can play pf in the Big 12, but not the interior loaded A10. He can definitely play pf for SLU. He's instant energy and athleticism off the bench right now. We dont have that! He could help us with that NOW! In another year hopefull he'll fill out some and refine his jumper enough to play both sf and pf. The sleeper has emerged. Not many guys get on rivals before they commit. That says something about how highly thought of he is now. No, he doesnt have any Big 12 offers as of now, those are for high-majors. He's not a high-major yet, but he will have more offers by the end of the summer and at least one high-major.

Here is the rivals article in full. Powell's part is under sleeper emerge.

April 30, 2006

Andrew Skwara

Rivals.com Basketball Recruiting Staff Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Most college coaches headed to the King James Shooting Stars Classic in Akron, Ohio this weekend. But the ones who took a chance on a smaller tournament at Lipscomb University instead have certainly been pleased with their decision.

Rivals.com

Top 100 junior A.J. Stewart played well even though his Tallahassee Wildcats lost their first two games.

Day One of the first annual King of the South tournament provided plenty of quality prospects to scout on Saturday, including some big-name players and a handful that are just starting to show up on the radar of some major programs.

Ballerz steal the show

The Mid-State Ballerz don't have to worry about not getting enough attention anymore. The team built of virtually unknown prospects from Middle and West Tennessee, went through the toughest 17-under pool undefeated, beating the Atlanta Celtics Gold team, the Tallahassee Wildcats and the Saint Louis Game Face.

Alabama coach Mark Gottfried and Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton took turns watching the Ballerz along with Western Kentucky coach Darrin Horn and other mid-major coaches.

Junior shooting guard Josh Sain (6-foot-5) got the most inquires of any of their players. An athletic slasher from Jackson, Tenn. who excels at getting to the basket, he started to receive interest from Texas A&M at the Houston Kingwood Classic last weekend and their coach Jeremy Shulman expects many other high-majors to get involved in the coming weeks.

Colorado and Missouri are both recruiting junior small forward Deveyan Hunter (6-4), a versatile defender with a soft shooting touch, from Memphis. The Buffaloes have offered a scholarship.

Sain's prep teammate, Juwon Long (6-2), a left-handed junior guard, is also getting interest from high-majors.

Sleepers emerge

A handful of Big 12 programs are recruiting junior power forward Leon Powell (6-6) and he showed why immediately. The prep star from national power Vashon High (St. Louis) outplayed some of the nation's top players in head-to-head battles, including the Tallahassee Wildcats' A.J. Stewart (Ranked No. 77 in the class of 2007).

Powell, who plays with an aggressive streak, used his strength and athleticism to give Stewart problems on the inside and scored 16 points to lead the Saint Louis Game Face to a 54-53 comeback win. He made a handful of big plays down the stretch, including a left-handed hook shot that gave his team the lead for good with less than two minutes left. He added 20 more points in a loss to the Atlanta Celtics Gold team.

Powell runs the court extremely well and has developed a solid jumper. He is very active around the basket and a solid rebounder as well.

Kansas, Illinois, Missouri are all pursuing Powell. He recently received his first offer from Bradley.

Most coaches had not even herad of Gerald Robinson (6-0), a point guard from Antioch, Tenn., entering the event, but that is changing fast. Robinson scored 31 points and dished out 12 assists in the Nashville Celtics' first two games. Blessed with great quickness, he has been tough to guard and proven to be a pesky defender as well.

Rivals.com

Chris Singleton has played well for the Atlanta Celtics.

A Tennessee assistant took time to watch Robinson play and Ole Miss started showing interest at the Real Deal on the Hill (Fayetteville, Ark.) two weeks ago. Memphis and LSU have also made inquires.

Tennessee is also looking at a sophomore for the Nashville Celtics, DeMario Williams. He is a true point guard, but is playing on the wing for the Celtics.

Look for Atlanta Celtics big man Obetaiye Edwards (6-6, 240), who recently moved from Team Jordan, to start gaining some attention from high-major programs soon. An intimidating force on the inside, the sophomore from Redan (Ga.) High has a big, muscular build. He scored 17 and wrecked all sorts of havoc on the inside in the Celtics' 67-50 win over the St. Louis Game Face.

Wildcats' center D.J. Magley (6-9, 260), a junior from Bradenton, Fla., showed why coach John Adkins called him "the best passing big man he has ever had" entering the tourney. Magley isn't a big scoring threat yet, but he made four passes that led to easy layups for teammates in their loss to the St. Louis Game Face, including two that led to dunks for Stewart. Alabama, FSU, Purdue and Western Kentucky are all showing interest.

Big names come through

Many of the event's highly-touted prospects impressed.

Sophomore small forward Chris Singleton (6-8) out of Cherokee, Ga., who already has offers from several ACC and SEC programs, wasn't shooting well from the perimter, but he still managed to score 11 points and he played solid defense on Powell to help the Atlanta Celtics get past the Saint Louis Game Face.

The Celtics' sophomore point guard Pierre Jordan, who has committed to Clemson, also played well, scoring 11 and setting up his teammates with lots of scoring opportunities.

The Tallahassee Wildcats opened the tourney with two losses, but the blame couldn't' fall on their two stars – juniors Adam Allen and Stewart. Gottfried and Hamilton watched both play.

Allan hit six 3-pointers in those two games, including one at the buzzer at halftime to put the Wildcats up 37-25 over the Game Face. He moved extremely well without the ball and also manuvered his way inside the arc for a handful of mid-range jumeprs.

Stewart looked very versatile, scoring on baseline jumpers, fadaways and drives into the lane, although foul trouble cost him valuable playing time.

No shows

The Memphis Pump N' Run and their star point guard Randy Culpepper were a late scratch. But they were the only major team in the field not to make the trip.

Other news to note:

Texas has begun to show interest in highly-touted sophomore Scotty Hopson from Hopkinsville, Ky., along with his AAU teammate Latavius Williams from Mississippi.

Hopson and Williams are playing at another tournament in Nashville this weekend. Talk about it in: In the Paint

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[Billikan]

Nate, I respect your opinion and I think you are an excellent upcoming journalist but I am concerned with what seems to be a new negative attitude about Brad and the Bills. Did something happen between you and SLU? It seems a little weird for someone to say that because he does not see someone at a game that he attends that the person does not go to games that he does not attend. What is up?

[Nate Latsch]

>Nate, I respect your opinion and I think you are an

>excellent upcoming journalist but I am concerned with what

>seems to be a new negative attitude about Brad and the

>Bills. Did something happen between you and SLU? It seems a

>little weird for someone to say that because he does not see

>someone at a game that he attends that the person does not

>go to games that he does not attend. What is up?

Billikan,

I don't have a negative attitude toward Brad and the Bills. In the past my main criticisms were that the team needed to focus more on St. Louis kids for the purpose of generating more local interest in the program and in turn making the team an attractive option to future local recruits. I think that's the only way this team can be successful over time.

I think the program is now in good shape with this approach. There were mistakes made (Ahearn), but I can't fault Brad and Co. too much for their recruiting lately. I really like the Adam Knollmeyer signing. I think he will contribute for four years and could have an impact next season — whether its with positive minutes or by pushing JJ and Obi hard enough that they step up and become contributors.

The Billikens missed on Stemler but that was because two much more popular options (Indiana, Marquette) presented themselves. For the rest of his life, Stemler will be able to say he played basketball at Indiana. I think he would have helped take the Billikens to the tournament next year, but instead he'll be playing for a team in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten.

When Scott Suggs signs with North Carolina and John Brandenburg and Tyler Griffey sign with Duke, you won't hear me complain because the program just can't compete with those schools. I wouldn't be too shocked if two of those kids, or all three, are McDonald's All-Americans. They are going to have a lot of options. But SLU has a chance, if the Billikens are successful next year, to keep them at home.

My only complaint now is that I don't see Brad at many high school games (fact). I think it's important for a coach at a school like SLU to be visible all over the basketball community when he can be (opinion). I think the more hoop fans see Soderberg around town at games, the more they feel like they have a relationship with the program and the more interested they become. That translates to the overall excitement about the team, increased ticket sales and possibly better odds for keeping the area's top talents from leaving for greener pastures. Like I've said before, Brad could be at a high school game every night and I just haven't seen him more than a two or three times in a few years.

To recap, I'm pleased with a lot of things the Billikens have done in the last few years. My only complaint is that I don't see Soderberg out watching many local high school games.

- Nate

[slufanskip]

I don't think it is neccessary or realistic for Brad to be at a game every night ... I know there are restrictions ... but I do think he should be using every allowable visit. The problem this year may be that he was looking for that 4 and spent some time away from St.L, and used up many of his allowable visits. I do agree with you that we should attempt to build around mostly Stl players ... and as you said I think he has been doing that.

If it cost Brad a visit ... I don't think he should or see why he would attend a game that has no players we are interested in.

amyone know how many games he can attend ... or isn't it how many games the entire staff can attend?

Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman

[VTIME]

> I don't think it is neccessary or realistic for Brad to be

>at a game every night ... I know there are restrictions ...

>but I do think he should be using every allowable visit. The

>problem this year may be that he was looking for that 4 and

>spent some time away from St.L, and used up many of his

>allowable visits. I do agree with you that we should attempt

>to build around mostly Stl players ... and as you said I

>think he has been doing that.

>

> If it cost Brad a visit ... I don't think he should or see

>why he would attend a game that has no players we are

>interested in.

>

> amyone know how many games he can attend ... or isn't it

>how many games the entire staff can attend?

>

>

> Official Billikens.com sponsor of H.

>Waldman

Seeing as though Kramer plays in at St. Charles West and they live in St. Charles, you would think that he would've seen at least one of Kramer's 2 games vs St Charles star Josh Harrellson. Harrellson averaged 23 pts and 8 rebs in the two contest vs Kramer. If Brad was there, I can't see why he doesn't have an offer yet.

[edwphll]

Nate; Where and when can i see the aau team play locally.