Wednesday, December 23, 2015

2015 GOVERNORS CHALLENGE - ALL-MET ELITE

2015
GOVERNORS CHALLENGE
ALL-MET ELITE
 
CHRISTIAN MATTHEWS
NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
FORT WASHINGTON MD.
 
The Governor’s Challenge, the largest holiday high school basketball tournament on the East Coast. 100 teams will compete in the tournament this year and it includes boys’ varsity, girls’ varsity and a boys’ JV division.
 
Teams from Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York and Washington, D.C. will compete in the tournament that will span over five days.
 
 The tournament will use the Civic Center, the Salisbury School and Wicomico, James M. Bennett and Parkside high schools as venues.
The tournament has nearly doubled in size from last year and will likely continue to grow.  With that, comes more teams with more marquee players who will wind up competing at the college level.
 
 Since 2010, more than 225 athletes that have competed in the Governor’s Challenge have gone on to play in college.
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Christian Matthews, wing, senior, committed to Georgia Tech
National Christian (Fort Washington, Maryland)
Before committing to Georgia Tech, Matthews had received offers from N.C. State, Cincinnati, Rhode Island, Temple, DePaul and VCU. The 6’6” wing can jump out of the gym and can play a few different positions. He has a decent three-point shot, is one of the best finishers around the rim in the DMV and is active on the glass and defense. ESPN has him ranked as the 56th best small forward in the nation and Maryland’s eighth best player.
Matthews will play:
Monday, Dec. 28 vs. Mount Carmel, 4:15 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 29 vs. West Charlotte, 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 30 vs. Legacy Charter, 8:15 p.m.

 

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

API TOP RECRUIT - TREVON DUVAL - ONCE PLAYED FOR DC ASSAULT - ALL-MET ELITE

DID YOU KNOW
API
TOP RECRUIT 
 TREVON DUVAL 
 ONCE PLAYED
 FOR
DC ASSAULT 
 ALL-MET ELITE
 
What has been your most memorable basketball moment so far?

 I will never forget the game I won the AAU national championship. It was like in third grade and I played with D.C. Assault and with a lot of kids from the D.C. area. We probably lost about just one game that year and we ended up winning the title.

Monday, December 14, 2015

2016 NIKE HOOPS SUMMIT INVITES MARKELLE FULTZ - ALL-MET ELITE

2016
 NIKE HOOPS SUMMIT
INVITES
 MARKELLE FULTZ 
 ALL-MET ELITE
 
DEMATHA HS.
HYATTSVILLE MD.
 
Markelle Fultz  
Guard   6-3     
170 lbs  
DeMatha Catholic H.S.
 
The Nike Hoop Summit is an annual basketball game for top U.S. high school senior boys that features the USA Basketball Junior National Select Team against a World Select Team that is comprised of elite international players who are 19 years old or younger. 
 
The 2016 World Select Team roster will be announced in March and is expected to include 11 or 12 of the best, young basketball players from FIBA's five geographic zones (FIBA Africa, FIBA Americas, FIBA Asia, FIBA Europe and FIBA Oceania), with the approved sanctioning of FIBA, the governing body of international basketball.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

KEVIN DURANT - CURRENTLY SHOOTING - 50% - 40% - 90% - ALL-MET ELITE

KEVIN DURANT
CURRENTLY SHOOTING  
 50% - 40% - 90% 
 ALL-MET ELITE
 
MONTROSE CHRISTIAN HS.
ROCKVILLE MD.
 
2015-2016 SEASON AVERAGES  
Thru 17 games played
27.3 points per game
52.8% from the field
45% - 3 point percentage
90% Free throw percentage
8.1 Rebounds
4.1 Assists
1.1 Steals
1.3 Blocks
 
Four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant set up a rare triple-double with his passing.
The Thunder forward had five assists in the first quarter. He finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in his seventh career triple-double, and Oklahoma City beat the Atlanta Hawks 107-94 on Thursday night.

"I just try to play the game and make it simple for myself," he said. "I knew last time they were expecting me to be aggressive and score every time I got the ball, so I tried to switch the game up."

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

PROVIDENCE GUARD and FUTURE NBA LOTTERY PICK KRIS DUNN ORIGINALLY FROM DC AREA - ALL-MET ELITE

PROVIDENCE GUARD
and
FUTURE
NBA LOTTERY PICK 
KRIS DUNN
 ORIGINALLY
FROM
DC AREA 
 ALL-MET ELITE

COURTESY
OF
THE BOSTON GLOBE
 
PROVIDENCE — There’s always a late game. It’s the AAU’s version of the short stick, and Kris Dunn drew it more than a few times. Tipoff was around 11 o’clock. The gym was all sneaker squeaks and bouncing-ball echoes. There weren’t many bodies in the bleachers.
But one face kept popping up.
Ed Cooley was fascinated by Dunn, even when Dunn was just a sophomore with a light buzz out of New London (Conn.) High School. Dunn checked all the boxes: natural athlete, intense defender, Tasmanian devil on the court.

“He just had the ‘it,’ ” Cooley said. “Something about him that I loved.”

So Cooley came to the late games to see it over and over again.
“He would be there,” Dunn said. “It’s 11 o’clock, there’s no other coaches and he’s there.”

Dunn kept seeing the same face. Even the next year, when Dunn was a high school junior and Cooley moved up the coaching ladder to Providence College.

“He’s still there,” Dunn said. “If you keep seeing that same person, you’re like, ‘All right, he wants me.’ I knew right away that I was going to go to Coach Cooley.”

Dunn was the first recruit Cooley called when he took the job at Providence. He could see how high Dunn’s ceiling was, and he wanted Dunn to see it for himself.

“I told Kris, ‘You come to Providence College, you’ll be the Player of the Year, you’ll be an All-American, and you’ll be a lottery pick,’ ” Cooley said.
But the more they talked, the more Cooley learned.

Cooley didn’t know about the years Dunn and his older brother John spent simply trying to survive in Alexandria, Va., when their mother was in jail and life’s bare necessities weren’t guarantees. He didn’t know about the upheaval when Dunn was 10 years old, from a chaotic environment in Virginia to a more stable — if unfamiliar — situation with his father in New London. He didn’t know all the turns Dunn’s life had taken.

But the more he listened, the more they connected.

“I wanted to help him more,” Cooley said. “I didn’t see me. I saw some of my friends. I saw some of the people I grew up with and I knew how their lives went. I knew how their lives were affected by drugs, by the streets. The athletes that never got to a high school court that were great.

“The more I heard, the more his dad opened up to me. The more I talked to his stepmom, I said I want to be a part of this kid’s life. I can help him.”
 
Cooley shared his own story. Growing up in South Providence as one of nine children. Siblings who succumbed to substance abuse and incarceration. Breaking down doors to get into New Hampton School when he didn’t have enough money to pay tuition.

“That’s where he and I connected,” Cooley said. “I shared my story with him and I said it’s OK to let people know. That stuff hurts, man.

“I said a lot of people can’t walk in your shoes and become the person they become without sharing it. When you share it, there are so many people in your shoes that you’re going to help.

“I said, ‘Kris, we all want a lot, but what do we really need? We need love, we need support, we need people that we can hug and touch and feel.’ I said I’m your guy. I’ll do anything in the world for you.”

 Not ready for NBA
Almost everything Cooley envisioned for Dunn has come true. Last year, Dunn was showered with honors by the Big East: Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, first-team all-conference.
The NBA draft was waiting for him last June, but the 6-foot-4-inch guard put it off.

“Everybody asks the million-dollar question: How did I get Kris to come back?” said Cooley, whose Friars are 8-1 and ranked 15th. “Kris got himself to come back. He told me the whole year. And I actually told him, ‘Kris, you better think long and hard about his one, baby. But if this is what you want to do, I will support you either way.’ ”

He considered more than just the dream of playing in the NBA and the life-changing money that would come with it. He asked himself if he thought he was ready, and he answered himself honestly.

“Everybody’s telling me, ‘Kris, you’re one of the best players in college basketball,’ ” Dunn said. “That’s fine, but I watch way too much basketball. I’m not going to be lying to myself.
 
“I know in order to play with those guys, I’ve got to be right. I can’t have any flaws in my game. I want to be as polished as I can be and I’m going to take this full year to be polished.”
He looked at himself on the court — whether it was dribbling too high in transition and turning the ball over or whether it was becoming a more accurate 3-point shooter.

But he also thought about life off of it. Was he mature enough to handle the NBA lifestyle, where the game is a business? Was he mature enough to handle being on his own as an adult?
“I had to become a better person,” said Dunn, who is averaging 18.2 points and 7.3 assists this season. “And I mean more the maturity part and become more of a leader. Learning how to be exactly on my own.

“A lot of people say in college you’re on your own, but on the basketball team, you’re not. We have a support system and everything, so you’re not really on your own.”

The people closest to him knew how tempting the NBA was, but they also understood his decision.

“I told him, ‘If you were my kid, I would tell you to go to the NBA,’ ” Cooley said. “I said you’re a better person to do it because you want to set an example to be an educated young brother, you want to show people that fast money is not always the easy answer. I said there will be a great reward for you in the end.”

The fight continues
It was easier for Dunn to wait because his journey to get to this point had been so difficult. He lost the first nine games of his freshman season because of a shoulder injury. He spent the offseason in 2013 working his way back, only to suffer another shoulder injury four games into his sophomore year. A week after that injury, he got a text from his brother that his mother had died. 
 
“It went from him having a monster summer 2013 to — boom — the wheels fell off the wagon to ‘What am I going to do?’ ” Cooley said.

There were dark days — days when Dunn didn’t come out of his room, days when he didn’t speak to anyone.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Dunn said. “But I had a support system. I couldn’t just sit there and have a support system that believed in me and just give up.”
Once he was healthy, he was in the gym every day.

“I’m envisioning myself out there thinking, ‘Guys can’t guard me. I’m going to make this shot,’ ” Dunn said. “Once you’re fighting that hard, you’ve got to let people have it. You can’t just fight for so much and then once you get in front of somebody, you let somebody take it.
“That’s not how I was raised. That’s not how my dad would want me to be. He’d want me to take it and that’s what I had to go out and do.”

Even though Dunn may not know what the future holds, he knows he holds his future in his hands.

“Kris isn’t normal,” Cooley said. “He wasn’t raised normal. He had to overcome so much, his hunger is what’s making him become not the player, but the man he’s become. The player, the man, the person, the mentor, the role model.”

FOURTH ANNUAL DMV TIP-OFF CLASSIC - ALL-MET ELITE

Fourth Annual
 DMV
Tip-Off Classic 
 ALL-MET ELITE
 
DONOVAN TOATLEY
ST STEPHEN'S & ST. AGNES HS.
ALEXANDRIA VA.
 
 The DMV Tip-Off Classic has finalized the game schedule for its fourth annual high school basketball showcase, which will be played on Saturday, December 19, 2015 at North Point High School in Waldorf, MD.
 
The Classic will begin at 10:30am with the following schedule:  
10:30am Gwynn Park (Brandywine, MD) vs. Northwestern (Hyattsville, MD)
12:15pm Potomac (Oxon Hill, MD) vs. Westlake (Waldorf, MD)
2:00pm Douglass (Upper Marlboro, MD) vs. Clinton Christian (Upper Marlboro, MD)
3:45pm H.D. Woodson (Washington, DC) vs. St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes (Alexandria, VA)
5:30pm Eleanor Roosevelt (Greenbelt, MD) vs. St. Mary’s Ryken (Leonardtown, MD)
7:15pm Wise (Upper Marlboro, MD) vs. Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, MD)
9:00pm St. John's (Washington, DC) vs. North Point (Waldorf, MD)
 
The Classic will feature eight of the Washington Post’s top 20 teams, including five in the top 10: #3 St. John’s (DCSAA champion), #5 Wise, #8 Douglass (MPSAA 2A quarterfinalist) and #10 Eleanor Roosevelt. The remaining top 20 teams are #11 Riverdale Baptist, #13 H.D. Woodson (DCIAA champion) and #19 St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes.
 
It will also feature many Division I prospects, such as Anthony Cowan (St. John’s/2016/Maryland), the top player in Washington, DC and Naji Marshall (Eleanor Roosevelt/2017), the second-rated junior in the state of Maryland. Cowan, who is listed as preseason First Team All-Met by the Post, is the #46th ranked senior in the nation and Marshall is #54 in the junior class by Rivals.
 
Other top prospects are Antwan Walker (H.D. Woodson/2016), D’Andre Johnson (Clinton Christian/2016), Jeff Dowtin (St. John’s/2016/Rhode Island), Amanze Njoku-Ibe (Riverdale Baptist/2016), Cam Hayes (Douglass/2016), Isaiah Miles (Gwynn Park/2016), Jamal Wright (Riverdale Baptist/2016), Greg Boyd (Riverdale Baptist/2016), Jalen Melvin (Northwestern/2016), Anthony Davis (Potomac/2016), Dejuan Clayton (St. John’s/2016), Darron Barnes (Wise/2017), Michael Speight (Wise/2017), Melo Eggleston (Clinton Christian/2017), Jalen Gibbs (North Point/2017), Tre Wood (St. John’s/2018), Derquan Washington (H.D. Woodson/2018), Kiyon Boyd (H.D. Woodson/2018), Jermain Harris (Clinton Christian/2018), Wynston Tabbs (St. Mary’s Ryken/2018) and Donovan Toatley (St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes/2018).
 
Tickets will be available at the door the day of the game. Admission will be $10, but will be free for children under the age of six.

27TH GONZAGA DC CLASSIC - ALL-MET ELITE

27TH
GONZAGA DC CLASSIC 
 ALL-MET ELITE
 
CHRIS LYKES
GONZAGA HS.
WASHINGTON D.C.
 
The 27th Annual Gonzaga DC Classic basketball tournament begins Friday afternoon, December 11, 2014 at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC. Games continue Saturday at Gonzaga and Sunday at Bender Arena at American University.

Gonzaga, last season’s Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) Champions, will be joined in this advancing tournament by seven teams from the Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City regions.

Joining Gonzaga will be 2014 DC Classic Champions Roman Catholic High School (Philadelphia, PA), Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School (Brooklyn, NY), Calvin Coolidge Senior High School (Washington, DC), Our Lady of Good Counsel High School (Olney, MD), Our Lady of Mount Carmel School (Baltimore, MD), St. Andrew’s Episcopal School (Potomac, MD) and St. Raymond High School for Boys (Bronx, NY). , All proceeds from program sponsors, ticket and merchandise sales go to support Gonzaga’s far-reaching service programs here in the Washington region and across the U.S. and Latin America. The tournament’s slogan is “Great Basketball Supporting Good Works”.

Games begin Friday at 3:15 when Bishop Loughlin takes on St. Andrew’s Episcopal. The 5:00 game will feature Our Lady of Mt. Carmel versus the host team, Gonzaga. At 6:45, Roman Catholic battles Calvin Coolidge followed by the 8:30 game in which St. Raymond challenges Our Lady of Good Counsel. All Friday and Saturday games will be played in the Carmody Center gym at Gonzaga College High School. Second round games begin at 3:15 on Saturday.

Sunday games will be played at Bender Arena at American University and final round consolation and championship games begin at 1:30 on Sunday. Tickets are $10.00 per day for adults, $5.00 for students.

The entire tournament will be webcast and can be viewed at the tournament website, www.gonzagadcclassic.org. The official tournament twitter feed can be found at @gonzagaclassic.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Gonzaga H.S. defeats Riverside-Brookfield at Chicago Elite Classic - ALL-MET ELITE

Gonzaga H.S.
 defeats
Riverside-Brookfield
 at
Chicago Elite Classic 
 ALL-MET ELITE
 
CHRIS LYKES
GONZAGA HS.
WASHINGTON D.C.
 
Gonzaga won 78-64 after a third-quarter surge at the Chicago Elite Classic at the UIC Pavilion. The Eagles (2-0) pulled away in the third quarter behind the talented and athletic guard duo of Chris Lykes (18 points) and Prentiss Hubb (16 points). The 5-8 Lykes repeatedly attacked R-B's interior defense in the halfcourt and in transition, as fatigue set in for the Bulldogs in the second half.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

DTLR National High School Hoops Festival Presented By Nike - ALL-MET ELITE

DTLR
 National High School Hoops Festival
 Presented By
Nike 
 ALL-MET ELITE
 
The 9th annual National High School Hoops Festival, sponsored by Nike will take place on Saturday, December 12th and Sunday, December 13th. This year’s event will feature 13 games over a two-day period including the 7th and 8th grade All-Star games. Over hundreds of players who’ve participated in this event have gone on to play Division-I basketball, 30+ of which have continued to the NBA. With tons of talent, celebrity appearances and all around family fun, this is not an event you want to miss!

***PRE-SALE CLOSES SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2016 AT 6 PM - NO EXCEPTIONS***

***TICKETS MAY BE PURCHASED AT THE DOOR FOR $15***
 
Saturday, December 12, 2015
10:30 a.m. – LAUREL vs. CESAR CHAVEZ PREP
12:15 p.m. – RIVERDALE BAPTIST vs. WEST CHARLOTTE
2:00 p.m. – LARGO vs. BOWIE
3:45 p.m. – BISHOP MCNAMARA vs. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
5:30 p.m. – VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL vs. ST. JAMES
7:15 p.m. – PAUL VI vs. API PREP
9:00 p.m. – DEMATHA vs. DR. HENRY A. WISE
 
Sunday, December 13, 2015
10:30 a.m. – 7th GRADE ESBS ALL-STAR GAME
11:45 a.m. – 8TH GRADE ESBS ALL-STAR GAME
1:30 p.m. – API PREP vs. NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
3:15 p.m. – ST. JOHN’S vs. ST. MARIA GORETTI
5:00 p.m. – PAUL VI vs. MONSIGNOR SCANLAN
6:45 p.m. – DEMATHA vs. VIRGINIA ACADEMY
 
Featured Players
-Markelle Fultz (DeMatha)/Washington

Rated 13th Nationally Class of 2016
-VJ King (Paul VI)/Louisville

Rated 21st Nationally Class of 2016
-Sacha Keila-Jones (Virginia Episcopal School)/Kentucky

Rated 29th Nationally Class of 2016
-Anthony Cowan (St. Johns)/Maryland

Rated 8th Nationally Class of 2017
-DJ Harvey (DeMatha)
 
-Corey Manigault (Paul VI)/Pittsburgh
-Jeff Dowtin (St. John's)/Rhode Island
-Justice Kithcart (Virginia Episcopal School)/Pittsburgh
-Christian Matthews (National Christian Academy)/Georgia Tech
-Sam Green (McNamara)/Drexel
-Adam Sledd (Virginia Episcopal School)/Western Carolina
-Nate Darling (DeMatha)/UAB
When -
Where - DeMatha Catholic High School - 4313 Madison Street Hyattsville, MD 20781