Texas Sized Showdown: Duncanville vs North Crowley High

Tonight’s Lone Star semifinal match-up between North Crowley High and Duncanville will match-up the two best teams in Texas – in the regional semifinals.

"This is the match-up everybody's wanted since the beginning of the year," said Duncanville senior forward Shawn Williams told the Dallas Morning News. "It should have been a championship, but for both teams, every game in the playoffs is a championship game."

Duncanville is high school basketball royalty in Texas. The team is 35-1 this season, with the only loss coming against Oak Hill Academy back in December. Before that loss, Duncanville had won 53 consecutive games, including a 39-0 season last year that ended with a state title and a mythic national championship.

Williams is one of the top juniors in the country and will be one of the most sought after prizes in next year’s recruiting season. Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville and Baylor have all expressed interest in the 6-7 scorer.

But North Crowley (34-1) is far from a patsy. Crowley is led by McDonald’s All-American guard Willie Warren, who is headed to Oklahoma next year. Joining him in Norman will be senior and best friend T.J. Franklin, who was invited to walk-on at OU by coach Jeff Capel. P.J. Colley and Tony McGilveary are both solid players, and the Panthers should have a lot of confidence entering tonight’s game. During the fall preseason, North Crowley defeated Duncanville without Warren, who was at Oak Hill Academy before transferring back to North Crowley in October.

"They beat us then, but I think they still feel like they have something to prove," Williams said. "I'm expecting them to come out and play us hard, but we'll be ready."

"We're playing for a state championship. Not too many people can say they're a state champion," Warren said. "Our team wants this bad, and we want to get it for Coach [Tommy] Brakel. If I could give up the McDonald's game for state, I would."

Should be a fun one tonight.

- Last Sunday Thurgood Marshall Academy defeated Farragut Academy to win the Chicago Public League championship. The win gave the Commandos their first city championship since 1991, when a guard by the name of Arthur Agee led Marshall downstate. If the name sounds familiar, that would be because Agee was one of the two high school players featured in the 1994 documentary “Hoop Dreams,” and the Commandos city title was one of the highlights of the movie. If you haven’t seen the movie, you’re truly missing out.

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TAKKLE Throwdown of the Day 2-29-08 Happy Leap Day!

Throwdown Posted from Takkle.com

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Mason Plumlee announces he will be a Duke Blue Devil

Junior big man Mason Plumlee announced this week that he will be headed to Duke. The Class of 2009 power forward went to Durham for an unofficial visit almost two weeks ago and was greeted by the Cameron Crazies, who chanted his name.

“It was just pretty awesome,” Plumlee told the Asheville Citizen (Coach Mike Krzyzewski) told me to expect it, but I still wasn’t sure they would do it. It was a great feeling and one of the highlights of the trip. It was a really good visit.”

Plumlee, who attend the Christ School in Arden, N.C., is the first player to commit to the Blue Devils in the class of 2009. Other Duke targets include American Heritage (FL) guard Kenny Boynton and Washington (Va.) power forward Deshawn Painter. Plumlee, who is originally from Indiana, was accompanied by his parents when announcing the decision.

"Just getting to meet and talk with Coach (Mike Krzyzewski) was the biggest thing for myself and my family," Plumlee said. "The whole staff is great and I love the campus. I'm really looking forward to everything about Duke."

Plumlee’s older brother, Christ School (N.C.) senior forward Miles Plumlee, committed to Stanford in June.

- Campbell Hall (Ca.) senior Jrue Holiday was a beast in his squads playoff win over La Canada High. The UCLA-bound Holiday tallied 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for the Vikings.
"Honestly, it's games like the one tonight that separate Jrue from the rest of the top players in the country,'' Campbell Hall Coach Terry Kelly told the Los Angeles Times. "I've never been around a more unselfish player. He makes everyone around him better, always has.''

- Oklahoma-bound senior Willie Warren scored 25 points for Fort Worth’s North Crowley High as the Panthers topped El Paso Americas Tuesday night. The win by the Panthers (34-1) sets up a monster match-up with Duncanville (35-1) in the Texas state semifinals. Duncanville is the number 4 team in the country according SI.com

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TAKKLE Throwdown of the Day

Throwdown Posted from Takkle.com

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Devin Ebanks future at Indiana: Up in the air

According to published reports, highly-touted senior shooting guard Devin Ebanks had a provision in his letter of intent that would allow him to decommit from Indiana in the event that now-former head coach Kelvin Sampson were fired or resigned. With Sampson now out of Bloomington, Ebanks may decide to take his talents elsewhere.

"I did have something in place that allows me to be released if Coach Sampson wasn't there," Ebanks told Fox Sports’ Jeff Goodman. "I'm going to use that to explore other options and I still want to wait and see who Indiana hires full-time, but I am going to talk things over with my mother and my coaches and go from there."

IU Interim coach Dan Dakich is not considered to be a serious candidate for the full-time gig, so the first priority for the next head man in Bloomington will be convincing Ebanks to honor his commitment and also reassuring the other recruits Sampson landed to make a go of it at IU. Stay tuned on this one.

- Playoff time around the country is always bittersweet as players throughout the nation will play their last games for their high school squads. USC-bound forward Demar DeRozen, the number 6 ranked player in the country according to TAKKLE.com/Sports Illustrated, scored 25 points in his last game for Compton High, as the Tarbabes fell to Santa Margherita High School in the CIF quarterfinals. Santa Margherita got 27 points from forward Klay Thompson, who will see DeRozan next year in the Pac-10, as Thompson will play in Pullman for Washington State next year.

- In other playoff news, McDonald’s All-American Kemba Walker and Rice High of Manhattan topped St. Raymond’s of the Bronx 78-59 in Saturday's New York Archdiocesan title match. Next up for both teams: the full city Catholic League playoffs.

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McDonald's All-American Team is Named: Mike Rosario is a surprise pick

The McDonald’s All-American teams were announced this week, and there were a few surprises.

As expected, American Christian guard Tyreke Evans and St. Benedict’s forward Samardo Samuels will headline the East team in Milwaukee. But the biggest surprise on the team had to be St. Anthony’s guard Mike Rosario. This is a major coup for Rutgers, who signed the 6-0 guard, as Fred Hill, who was hired to replace the departed Gary Watters based on his skill as a recruiter, can now say that he has brought a McDonald’s All-American to Piscataway. But Rosario’s inclusion, despite the fact that he has played extraordinarily well this season, is somewhat odd being that he isn’t even the best player on his team. That distinction belongs to junior forward Dominic Cheek, who will be a prime candidate for next year’s squad. St. Anthony’s will take on Evans and American Christian tonight at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City.

- As for the West squad, it looks like Brandon Jennings and Willie Warren will finally get a chance to team up in the backcourt. Warren, of North Crowley High in Fort Worth, was supposed to be Jennings’ backcourt mate at Oak Hill Academy this year. But Warren, an Oklahoma signee transferred back to North Crowley this fall, where he has led the Panthers to a 31-1 mark. Jennings exploded for 63 points last week in a win over Bonner. What a duo they would have made.

- In a blockbuster playoff match-up in Florida, sophomore wunderkind Brandon Knight led Pine Crest to a 90-76 win over Kenny Boynton and American Heritage in the state regional semifinals. “Knight is a special player,” American Heritage coach Danny Herz said. “We haven’t had a player like that around these parts for quite some time."

- American Christian junior guard Lamont Jones, who was included on TAKKLE’s first-team All-PrimeTime Shootout squad after his blistering performances against Rancocas Valley and South Kent, told the New York Daily News that he is decomitting from Louisville and that his recruitment is once again open. Jones, who transferred to ACS from Rice High in Manhattan, should be a hot commodity on the summer circuit.

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Tyreke Evans to visit Memphis - Ohio State Bound B.J. Mullens dominates

Top-ranked basketball player Tyreke Evans of American Christian School told the Philadelphia Daily News this weekend that he will take his final recruiting visit this weekend to Memphis. Evans says there is no clear-cut favorite, but Villanova, Louisville, Connecticut and Texas seem to be in the running.

- B.J. Mullens of Canal Winchester H.S. in Ohio, the number 11 player in the country according to TAKKLE.com/ SI player rankings, scored 48 points last weekend against Centennial High. Mullens, a 7-foot senior, has signed with Ohio State.

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Terrelle Pryor - no closer to a decision; gaining some unwanted attention

First this: Terrelle Pryor is not any closer to making a decision about where he will play his college ball. The cast of contenders – Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and Oregon – is still the same.

But his celebrity is bringing a lot of unwanted attention from opposing crowds on the basketball court, and this weekend, some emotions bubbled over. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in a quarterfinal playoff game against South Fayette High, Pryor was taunted and heckled by the opposing student section for most of the game. Two South Fayette students had to be escorted from the gym by police officers and after the game, in which Pryor scored 24 points and notched 21 rebounds in leading his Jayhawks to a 64-54 overtime victory, Pryor jawed with the South Fayette student section, eventually having to be restrained by his teammates.

This is only going to become more of the norm as the rest of this season plays out. Let’s be clear: I was not there and I have no idea what was said, but most likely, the kids at South Fayette crossed the line. They were wrong. But so was Pryor. He’s 18 and he’s only human, but responding to a hostile crowd often creates more problems than it solves. He’ll learn from this experience.

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Courtney Fortson Stars at National Prep School Invitational

Although somewhat overshadowed by the Primetime Shootout, the National Prep School Invitational was this past weekend, and featured some of the best signed and unsigned players in the country. Not to be confused with next month’s National Prep Championships (a Great-Eight style single elimination tournament to be played over three days at Fordham’s Rose Hill Gymnasium, the PSI is just a regular showcase event. But, like most of the Prep School season, it was dominated by Arkansas-Bound Courtney Fortson and the Patterson School.

Fortson, along with unsigned prospects Varez Ward and Darius Johnson-Odom, won two games at the event, besting Terrence Jennings and Notre Dame Prep, and also topping Bridgton Academy. The Cougars are now 30-0 and should be the favorites next month in the Bronx.

- The best game of the upcoming weekend looks to be Coney Island Lincoln’s match-up with St. Raymond’s of the Bronx at Long Island University. Those who saw Lance Stephenson’s performance at the PrimeTime Shootout will be expecting similar fireworks, but don’t count on it. West Virginia-bound Darryl “Truck” Bryant is a hard-nosed defender and he thrives going up against the best. Earlier this year at MSG, he held St. Patrick’s guard Dexter Strickland to only 13 points on the day Strickland announced he was going to North Carolina. Could be interesting.

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Takkle Throwdown: Football: Who's the better quart

Throwdown Posted from Takkle.com

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Primetime Shootout All-Tournament team:

First Team:

Lamont Jones, American Christian, Aston Pa.: Jones had perhaps the best quarter of the tournament. The junior Louisville signee hit six 3-pointers in the third quarter against Rancocas Valley en route to a 25 point day. Jones went for 24 on Sunday against South Kent.

Mike Rosario, St. Anthony’s, Jersey City, N.J.: Playing on the first day of the weekend in Piscataway, the senior Rutgers signee shined in his first game at the RAC, scoring 32 points against John Carroll.

Greg Monroe, Helen Cox, Greta, La.: In one of the better games on the tournament, Monroe scored 24 points and 9 rebounds in leading the Cougars past Whitney Young of Chicago.

Lance Stephenson, Lincoln, Brooklyn: No player made as definitive a statement as the junior forward Stephenson. His 35-point, 16-rebound performance was the highlight of the tournament. Born Ready was ready for his close-up.

Doron Lamb, Bishop Loughlin, Brooklyn: This spot was supposed to go to Kevin Jones of Mount Vernon, but Lamb’s 28 point performance against Trenton Catholic was the highlight of a lackluster final day of the tournament. This sophomore is going to be something special.

Honorable mention: Isaiah Thomas, South Kent; Samardo Samuels, St. Benedict’s; Brandon Jennings, Oak Hill Academy; Kevin Jones; Mount Vernon; A.J. Rompza, Whitney Young; and Dexter Strickland, St. Patrick’s.

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PrimeTime Shootout: Lamont Jones, Tyreke Evans and Greg Monroe

American Christian School proved once again that they are more than just a one-man team today at the PrimeTime Shootout.

Eagles junior guard Lamont Jones stole the spotlight from Tyreke Evans this afternoon in American Christian’s 73-48 win over Rancocas Valley of New Jersey. The Red Devils had been able to keep the game surprising close until Jones, a transfer from Manhattan’s Rice High and Louisville commit, took over. Jones hit six 3-pointers in the third quarter, highlighting a 25 point performance that earned him game MVP honors. Evans, the top-rated player in the TAKKLE.com Top-25 rankings, finished with only five points, but he was hardly missed. He’ll get a chance to redeem himself on Sunday when ACS takes on South Kent School of Connecticut.

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St. Benedict’s, the number three team in the country according to SI.com, played a surprising close game against Our Savior New American of Long Island Saturday afternoon. The Gray Bees dynamic duo of junior guard Tamir Jackson and senior forward Samardo Samuels combined to score 51 of the St. Benedict’s 77 points in a 77-63 win. Jackson, who currently list UAB and North Carolina State as two of his top choices, had 26 points, earning him MVP honors. Playing with Samuels has garnered Jackson a great deal of attention, and bigger schools may be getting in contact with him soon.

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Helen Cox High forward Greg Monroe is considered to be a perfect fit for John Thompson III’s Georgetown program, and he showed why today. The Louisiana big man 28 points and notched nine boards in the Cougars’ 62-58 win over Whitney Young of Chicago. He also displayed a deft passing touch for a big man, and was remarkably comfortable at the top of the key. He was able to pass well out of the high post to fellow big man Trevon Flowers down low, and those skills will be of great use in JTIII’s Princeton offense.

Video Posted from Greg's Gallery on Takkle.com

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Lance Stephenson - Mr. Prime Time at the Shootout

Lance Stephenson was ready for his national coming-out party. Playing in front of a nationally televised audience, the Coney Island Lincoln junior wing had 15 points in the first quarter en route a monster 35 point, 16 rebound performance in tonight’s feature game against Rice High of Manhattan. Stephenson made several tough shots in the fourth quarter to lead the Railsplitters to a hard-fought 75-68 victory.

It was another tough luck loss for Rice, whose three losses this season have come against national powers St. Benedict’s of Newark (N.J.), Christ the King of Middle Village, N.Y. and now Lincoln. Rice guard and UConn commit Kemba Walker finished the night with 23 points.

Video Posted from Lance's Gallery on Takkle.com

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More from the PrimeTime Shootout: Brandon Jennings and Willie Warren

Oak Hill Academy ran Piscataway High out of the building in the second game as Brandon Jennings has 32 points in an 81-39 blowout. But Piscataway played the Warriors tough in the first quarter, as Oak Hill once again showed that it sometimes plays down to the level of its competition and also seems allergic to playing defense at times. Jennings got a lot of his points in the first half by gambling near the half court, and then leaking out and hoping for a turnover or a missed shot. Although Jennings at times looks like the second coming of Allen Iverson, the talent around him is not nearly at the level of Oak Hill teams of the past. The Warriors seem to really miss the presence of Willie Warren, the Oklahoma signee that was supposed to give Oak Hill the best backcourt in the nation. Warren got homesick and transferred back to his home in Fort Worth in the fall.

Oak Hill will do battle tonight in Trenton’s main event against St. Patrick’s of Elizabeth, who lost an emotionally draining game against St. Benedict’s of Newark in Friday night’s final game. The Gray Bees won 68-62 behind 30 points from Louisville-bound forward Samardo Samuels. Not to be outdone, St. Patrick’s junior guard Dexter Strickland, who last month committed to Roy Williams and North Carolina, scored 29 points in the loss. The Jennings v. Strickland match-up should be a fun one this evening. St. Benedict’s will try to run its record to 21-1 this afternoon against Our Savior New American.

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Impressions from the PrimeTime Shootout: Isaiah Philmore and Mike Rosario

The difference between good and great was on display in the first game Friday night at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, N.J.

The John Carroll School of Bel Air, Md., has three seniors that have signed on to play low-major Division I basketball next year, and a junior in 6-7 swingman Isaiah Philmore that has received looks from the likes of Virginia Tech and Kansas State. The Patriots came into last night’s contest with a very respectable 18-8 record overall and may very well make a little noise when Maryland’s state playoffs begin.

But Friday night’s opponent was St. Anthony’s of Jersey City, the consensus Number 1 team in the country, with six seniors who will be playing at major Division I schools, and that’s not counting junior Dominic Cheek, the Friars best player who was unavailable last night due to illness. The Friars scored the game’s first 19 points, led 50-16 at the half en route to blowing out John Carroll 71-33.

St. Anthony’s senior guard Mike Rosario, who next year will be playing his home games at the RAC as a Scarlet Knights, went 5 for 7 from 3-point range, and finished with 32 points.

“We're still pushing ourselves to be the best team we can possibly be,” Rosario told the Star-Ledger. “We're just improving every day and making sure everyone learns something every day.”

St. Anthony’s next real test should be February 21 against Tyreke Evans and American Christian.

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Signing Day has come and gone: Biggest Surprise has to be Darrell Scott

National Signing Day has come and gone, and although there weren’t that many surprises, the biggest had to be Darrell Scott’s choice to sign with Colorado.

If you get a chance, take a look at Thayer Evans’ fascinating piece in today’s New York Times about Scott’s decision. For weeks, experts had speculated that Colorado was only in the running because Scott’s uncle, Josh Smith, was already in Boulder. But, according to the Evans piece, the biggest factor in Scott’s choice was Texas’ decision to change running back coaches. The decision to move Ken Rucker into a more administrative position and make former Alabama offensive coordinator Major Applewhite in charge of the backfield may have cost the Longhorns the nation’s top running back.

“I was just thinking about other things,” Scott told the Times on Wednesday. “But the more time I thought about it, the more it scared me.”

This is, without question, a major get for Colorado and coach Dan Hawkins, and it just goes to show how important assistant coaches are to the recruiting process.

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Signing Day - Kevin Hart commits to Cal State... too bad they've never heard of him

After committing to Cal State in front of television reporters and journalists... the real story comes out...

Neither California, Oregon -- nor any of the handful of other college football programs mentioned by Kevin Hart -- had offered him a scholarship. In fact, some of the schools he mentioned had never put his name into their databases to send players recruiting literature.

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Signing Day - Takkle updates: Jerrell Harris picks Alabama

Takkle.com 59th ranked player - Jerrell Harris picks Alabama

The Birmingham News

At a news conference in Gadsden, the four-star linebacker and No. 3 player on the Birmingham News' Super Senior list, stood at the podium. He looked down at the table containing five baseball caps representing his final five choices: Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Southern Cal, and Clemson.

He was talking into a microphone and thanking everyone and all that... then he looked down and shook his head:

"I like all these schools," Harris said, "but I don't think I'll wear any of these."

With that, Harris put his hand into a shelf in the podium and did it Andre Smith style. He tugged on that Houndstooth hat a la Bear Bryant, squeezed it on over his braids and looked out at the crowd:

"I'm going to the University of Alabama," he said.

For University of Alabama coach Nick Saban, not a bad way to end National Signing Day... Now we have 1 hour, 38 minutes until he talks about it.

Video Posted from Jerrell's Gallery on Takkle.com

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Signing Day - Takkle updates: Florida Gators - T.J. Lawrence

Good News For The Gators

Florida finally got some good news. Receiver T.J. Lawrence from Lakeland, Fla., picked the Gators over Michigan, South Carolina, Virginia Tech and Florida State. Besides, no one at Florida should get too upset about today's events. The Gators still have safeties Will Hill and Dee Finley coming in, and they've already got offensive lineman Matt Patchan and receiver Carl Moore on campus.

Plus, the NCAA cleared Florida coach Urban Meyer on Tuesday of any wrongdoing for those telephone chats he had last year with Moore's girlfriend, who now attends Florida on a gymnastics scholarship. - si.com

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Signing Day - Takkle updates: USC, T.J. Bryant and Nick Perry

USC signed two top undecided prospects today in defensive end Nick Perry (Detroit/Mackenzie)and No. 2 ranked corner T.J. Bryant (Tallahassee, Fla./Lincoln) definitely softens the blow.

On what could be a day and night of intrigue, drama and suspense, high school senior football players began to finalize their college choices Wednesday by signing letters of intent, and USC picked up a big one when Detroit defensive end Nick Perry, pictured, chose the Trojans. -Los Angeles Times

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Signing Day - Takkle updates: T.J. Bryant

Ranked 36th on Takkle.com - Cornerback T.J. Bryant, a USA Today first-team All-American, has signed with USC, according to the Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat.

B.J. Daniels, the Tallahassee Democrat’s Offensive Player of the Year, signed with South Florida. He says he plans to play both football and basketball for the Bulls.

Video Posted from T.J.'s Gallery on Takkle.com

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Signing Day - Takkle updates: Julio Jones

#1 Takkle ranked prospect Julio Jones announced that he'll stay in-state to sign with Alabama.

The Parade All-American announced his decision in a news conference televised by ESPNU from his high school. Jones chose the Crimson Tide over Oklahoma and a host of other schools. -AP

Video Posted from Julio's Gallery on Takkle.com

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