Day-One Capital University Holiday Tournament

Today, for the ninth consecutive year, Damon Goodwin's Capital University Holiday Tournament tiped off in Columbus, Ohio. The 2-day event has a tradition of attracting some of the top 4th, 5th and 6th grade travel basketball teams in the region. This year, 65 teams entered the tournament.

Some of the communities represented in the tournament included: Pickerington, Hilliard, Upper Arlington, Gahanna, Delaware, Worthington, Springboro, Dublin, Tri-Valley, Bloom Carroll, Olentangy, Hilliard, Bexley, Marysville, Columbus, New Albany and Logan. On day-one, the teams participated in bracket play, before being grouped into to smaller championship bracket play on Thursday.

This afternoon I had the opportunity to checkout some of the action in the 6th grade division. The New Birth Warriors continued their strong play with a blowout (97-10) victory over the Worthington Cardinals. The Warriors' relentless full court pressure resulted in multiple layups and a halftime score of 56-6. From there, the game was never in question. Leading scorers in the game were: DJ Tyree (24 points), Jelani Rogers (17 points) and Paul "PJ" Jones with 14 points. Although Tyree and Rogers, both 6th graders, are the top guys for New Birth, the outstanding play of Paul "PJ" Jones deserves some mention. The 4th grade floor general is surprisingly skilled and poised for his age, and the fact that he can compete with players at least 2 years older than he is quite impressive. Keep an eye on this kid he could be special.

I also liked the Springboro Panthers, who added another win to their 19-0 record with a 29-57 win over the Marysville Monarchs. The Dublin Rocks continued to role with a lopsided victory (75-24) over the Panthers. In other action, New Albany defeated Olentangy 44-7, the Hilliard Hoopsters Blue defeated Liberty 87-12, the Whetstone Wildcats defeated the Bloom Carroll Bulldogs 45-33, Grove City defeated the Hilliard Hoopsters White 40-27, Pickerington Silver defeated New Albany 43-42, New Birth claimed their second win of the night with a 89-19 win over Olentangy, and Springboro finished 2-0 on the day with a 75-28 win over Liberty.

Some of the standout individual performers included: DJ Tyree (New Birth), Drew Holweger (Springboro), Eric Fitz (Whetstone), Jelani Roger (New Birth), Seth Currens (Pickerington), Kyran McClure (Whetstone), PJ Jones (New Birth) and Jake Bourke (Springboro).

2010 Buckeye Prep Elite Showcase

Invitations to the 2010 Buckeye Prep Elite Showcase went out today via a mass email. If you did not receive the email and you are interested in attending the event, you can email Rob Taylor at Taylorobe@aol.com. This is an "invitation only" event, and to attend, you must have a recommendation from a high school, middle school or AAU coach, or be able to demonstrate that you have the talent required to participate in this type of event. The showcase will feature many of the top 6th-9th graders in the Midwest. The competition and exposure opportunities offered by this event are unmatched! The showcase will guarantee 3 games with a possible all-star game for the top performers. This year's event is scheduled for March 6th and will be held at the USA Sports Academy (formally The Hoop) in Columbus, Ohio. The cost of the event is $85.00. As has been the case in past events, there will be several scouts in the house to document the action. Also, for the first time, Ty Kish of CityLeagueHoopsTV.com will be on hand to video tape the event and to prepare a highlight video of some of the top players. In addition, each of the all-star games will be videoed in their entirety and posted on this website simular to this video [http://www.fabfroshcamp.com/video_top20.html#20first] . With our new website, this year will offer more player features and stories of the standout performers. In addition, at the conclusion of the event, the various top players lists will be updated. Buckeye Prep Elite Showcase represents a starting point for players who want to compete at the highest levels and gain exposure at the same time. No promises are made; the competition will be there, the scouts will be there, the only question is, will you be there and can you compete?

You can pay the registration fee by credit card using the Pay Pal button to the upper right.

Warriors Claim Wittenberg Tourney Title

On Sunday, the New Birth Warriors rebounded from a tough loss at the hands of the Dublin Rocks the day before to go undefeated on their way to the championship of the Wittenberg Holiday Tournament. Over the course of the one-day tournament, the Warriors went 5-0 as they defeated West Liberty (38-19), West Jefferson (31-8), Upper Arlington (49-24), the Hilliard Hoopsters (47-40), and Troy (30-23). The unofficial MVP for the Warriors was DJ Tyree who averaged 13 points per game. Other leading scorers for the Warriors were Tyrell Carter (7.8 ppg), Jalen Tate (4 ppg) and Jalani Rogers (3.8 ppg). Next up for the Warriors is the Capital Holiday Tournament next week.

Players In The Game (Scott McGlade)

The word gym rat probably conjures up images of a young basketball player in the gym own his own working up a sweat as he works on his game. Well, gym rat is the best way to describe Scott McGlade, a 1979 graduate of Zanesville High School, who has dedicated much of his life in helping to develop young central Ohio basketball players. Although McGlade was an athlete in his time (3-sport star and captain in football, basketball and baseball), he is best known in central Ohio as Coach Scott.

McGlade's passion for developing basketball skills started with individual workouts with his son, Oliver, in gyms around Reynoldsburg over 15 years ago, and has grown to a level where McGlade is now considered a "hoops guru" to many coaches, parents and players across the state of Ohio. For many years, McGlade has both coached and/or worked out some of central Ohio's top young talent. During his days as an assistant coach with the Columbus Jaguars, McGlade helped develop players such as Jared Sullinger, Kevin Gray, Nick Kellogg, Stevie Taylor, Ralph Hill, Doug Thorpe, Cody Smith and his son Oliver, and was instrumental in helping lead the Jaguars to numerous tournament championships, including two AAU Final Fours appearences and a national sixth place finish.

In addition to his years on the Jaguars coaching staff, for about 6 years, McGlade was the face of the Columbus Basketball Club in Dublin, where he helped owners Sharon Kaplin and Bobby Kortsen run youth basketball programs, including group and individual workouts. McGlade also coached 5th & 6th grade travel teams as part of the Gym Rats program, and produced teams that were considered among the best in the state.

After a one year stint as a headcoach with the All-Ohio program, McGlade joined forces with CBIZ, a northern Ohio organization, and lead a very successful AAU team. McGlade's teams were always a tough out and were always characterized as well-coached and fundamental. Many of McGlade's players have gone on to receive college scholarship. Some of those players include: Nick Kellogg (Ohio U.), Ralph Hill (Dayton), Craig Sealy (Bowling Green), Brook Turson (Robert Morris), Michael Green (Akron), Cody Smith (D-II Hillsdale), and his son Oliver (receiving interest from Lake Erie, Rio Grande, Huntington, Grace, Notre Dame, Cedarville and others).

In addition to coaching, McGlade's influence in central Ohio basketball can be found in his legendary workouts, which are based on fundamental skill development, and includes a ton of shooting. McGlade is the "master of the gun," as he concentrates on shooting fundamentals using the very popular shooting machine. If you are not prepared to shoot a thousand shoots over a 2-3 hour period of time, you might want to pass on one of McGlade's workouts. Although McGlade and his lovely wife Lianne relocated from Reynoldsburg to Upper Arlington back in 2001, and has since become very active with middle school and high school basketball with the UA program, McGlade works with any kid who is willing to work hard. As evidence, this past summer, McGlade was hard at work at Brookhaven High School, a Columbus City League school, working out their players for the upcoming season. On Sunday mornings, McGlade is up early not only working out his son and UA basketball players, but players from around the city, including future opponents. "I have a passion for helping kids get into college because I regret having not gone myself," said McGlade when asked what motivates him to put in so much time in the gym. Now that his son Oliver has reached his senior year and is well on his way to playing college basketball, McGlade refuses to take a break, and has now entered the world of girls basketball as the head coach for his daughter's, Taylor, 6th grade travel team. Look for the old gym rat in a gym near you for many years to come.

Rogers Leads Comeback

Monday night, the New Birth Warriors found themselves down early to a hot New Albany squad by about 10 points, before Westerville's Jalani Rogers put the team on his back a lead a second half comeback that ended in a 66-45 win. Rogers scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the second quarter. In that game, DJ Tyree supported Roger's effort with a triple double consisting of 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 steals. Tyrell Carter finished with 8 points and Jalen Tate contributed 7 points in the victory. Next up for the Warriors is an undefeated Dublin Rocks team.

Long Dominates in Blendon Win

In middle school hoops action tonight, Westerville Blendon's 8th grade squad fought off a raucous Gahanna Middle School South crowd to squeak out a 51-49 victory. Despite Gahanna's rabid student section who had declared a "black out" for the game, and the first ever cheerleader squad, Blendon rode a spectacular performance by Darryl Long to claim a hard fought victory. Long dominated the boards with double digit rebounds while also exploding offensively with a game-high 24 points. Blendon jumped out to a quick lead and entered the locker room at half time with a 27-18 lead. Gahanna's halftime adjustment included an aggressive zone press that worked to perfection and got the Lions back in the game. The Lions started strong to begin the second half with a steal and fast break layup by Julian Scott. At the end of the 3rd quarter the score was 31-39 in Blendon's favor. With 13.8 seconds left in the contest, Blendon clung to a skimpy 2 point lead (49-47). Although it appeared that Darryl Long had clinched the win when he stepped to charity strip and calmly sunk 2 free throws to put Blendon up by 2 points with 11 seconds remaining, the Lions still had one last chance to steal the victory when an Evan White trey rimmed out as time expired. The Lions were led in scoring by Julian Scott and Ethan Fernandez who finished with 14 points each, and Evan White who contributed 11 points. The leading scorers for Westerville Blendon was Long with 24 points, Torrod Carter with 12 points and Justin Bennett who finished with 8 points. What a great middle school basketball game! Oh yea, Westerville was undefeated on the night, as the 7th grade team claimed a blowout victory.

New Birth Warriors Hold Off Lions

Scott Bradley's New Birth Warriors held off a scrappy Gahanna Lions team to move to 2-1 on the young season. Playing at home, the Warriors could only manage a 24-22 point half time lead before breaking it open in the 3rd quarter and finishing the contest with a 45-31 victory. The Warriors were led by point guard Jalani Rogers who exploded for a game-high 19 points. Rogers showed an advance skill set and a little showtime as he dominated the game. Other standout performers included Tyrell Carter who went for 10 points and DJ Tyree who contributed 7 points. For Gahanna, Middle School South's Junior Arrey was impressive and finished with 6 points. Next up for the Warriors is Olentangy on Saturday.

Players In the Game (Ty Kish)

You may not know his face (pictured above), and you may not know his name (Ty Kish), but I bet money you know his work (some of the sweetest highlight videos in the country). Ty Kish, a 26 year old graduate of Monroe Middle School and Beechcroft High School in north Columbus, should be considered a central Ohio treasure for all of the exposure his highlight videos have given to central Ohio players.

Kish is not new to the central Ohio basketball scene as he, his brother and a friend were the co-founders of CityLeaguehoops.com back in 2004. After hackers broke into his website and damaged the site beyond repair, Kish had to shut down the website. Kish took a 2 year hiatus before feeling the itch to get back in the game. Still wanting to provide national exposure to central Ohio's elite players, in 2008, Kish started Cityleaguehoops.tv.com and created some of the sickest highlight videos on the world wide web. Its not about the money, as Kish does not charge any money for his videos, nor does he earn any money from the website. "I think Columbus has some of the top talent in the country. I just want to get exposure for Columbus kids," said Kish. "I want everyone to get a chance to see Columbus Basketball," offered Kish. Not only are his talents not generating income, Kish is not trying to land a a video coordinators job with a college program or looking to cash in on the videos, he simple enjoys being creative and watching each generation of hoopsters.

Ty has created some where around 300-400 highlight videos of some of the most heralded ballers in central Ohio hoops history. Players such as Estaban Weaver, Drew Lavender and Chris Quinn have all been featured in his videos, and most recently, Ty has created highlight videos of Jared Sullinger, J.D. Weatherspoon, Stevie Taylor and Trey Burke. I know for a fact that college coaches have seen Kish's videos which have also been featured on national recruiting websites such as Rivals and Scout. His videos have not only entertained thousands of hoops fans on the very popular You Tube website, but his videos have helped players get national exposure and college scholarship offers. In closing, as a word to the wise, if you see Ty Kish in the gym with his camera, you had better bring your "A game," as you are about to be seen by the world!

To see an example of his work click on the space below:

[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUjR3aZxtm4&feature=related].