Tristan Thomspon: Committs early to the Texas Longhorns

Highly-regarded sophomore forward Tristan Thompson ended his recruitment early by committing to Texas, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Thompson, who is originally from California, but plays for St. benedict’s High in Newark, N.J., is considered one of the top players in the entire class of 2010.

"He's a big Kevin Durant fan," Thompson's AAU coach, Ro Russell, told the Statesmen. "And he was impressed by (UT assistant) Rodney Terry and (head coach) Rick Barnes."

- Kudos to Fort Worth’s North Crowley High guard Willie Warren and the Panthers, who advanced to the Class 5A state tournament by trouncing Midland Lee. Warren scored a school-record 47 points in the victory. Former Kansas star Keith Langford previously held the record with a 45 point performance.

"My teammates put me in a position to score. They gave me the opportunity to do this," Warren told the Dallas Morning News. "I had 30 at halftime, and they all could have said, 'Willie's got his, now it's time to get mine.' But we've all been unselfish all year."

This came after Warren led a balanced scoring attack with 17 points in a semifinal win against previously fourth-ranked Duncanville High.

"The only thing that makes this a big deal is the respect we have for Duncanville," North Crowley coach Tommy Brakel told the Fort-Worth Star Telegram after the game.

- In the weekend’s biggest upset, Jordan Hamilton and Compton’s Dominguez High toppled California powerhouse Mater Dei 63-60 in the CIF Southern Section championship game.

Dominguez, which won its 10th CIF-SS boys basketball championship, improved to 28-2. Mater Dei is 31-1. Both teams play in the CIF Southern California Regionals next week.

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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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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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