Nike EYBL Session Two: Day One Report

The second session of the inaugural Nike EYBL tipped off in Houston, Texas tonight and the competitive play that was evident in Hampton was on display. Right out of the gate a ridiculously talented MAC Irvin Fire hooked up with D-One Sports out of North Carolina and left no doubt who was the most talented team. Very early it was clear the the Fire's guards where going to have their way. Although D-One had a pair of high major prospects with 6'10 Quincy Miller and 6'4 Qudduss Bello, the much publicized tandem was simply no match for MAC Irvin and the bench full of elite players. The Fire's rosters is laced with as at least 5 players in the Rivals Top 150, including Mike Shaw, Sam Thompson, Wayne Blackshear, Andre Henley and George Marshall. Oh but that's not it, Already this spring Mycheal Henry has emerged as one of the most productive players on the squad while Jamie Crockett, a recent Depaul comit, has already opened some eyes this spring. Tonight, the Fire easily defeated D-I 55-71 to open the weekend 1-0. The leading scorers for MAC Irvin were Mychael Henry (17 points) and Jamie Crockett (12 points). Quincy Miller dropped a game-high 20 points while Bello finished with 13 points.

All-Ohio Red started the weekend slow, as they lost to Seattle Rotary 77-66. Although they led at times in the game, All-Ohio was eventually done in by a slow start, un-timely mistakes, too many turnovers, foul trouble and an outstanding performance by Tony Wroten. All-Ohio was still in the hunt late, but with out post play from Tommie McCune and Geaoge Fant, both of who fouled out of the contest, Seattle pulled ahead to claim the win. Wroten was on his game as he led all scorers with 29 points, including at least five treys. Gonzaga pledge Gary Bell, Jr contributed 8 points. For All-Ohio Red, Stevie Taylor stepped up his play in the second half and eventually finished with a team-high 20 points, while Trey Burke and George Fant both added 19 points. There is no time for All-Ohio to ponder what might have been, as they must face off against Austin Rivers and Each 1 Teach 1 at 12:30 tomorrow afternoon, followed by instate rival King James Shooting Stars at 6:30pm.

Other News and Notes:

Team Florida defeated Fiends of Hoop 64-50. The high man for Team Florida was Rashon Rembert with 18 points followed by Will Cummings' 11 points. For FOH, Brett Kingma finished with a team-high 10 points.-The Arkansas Wings had no answer for the Gaucho's guards and their full-court pressure, as they dropped their opener 88-77. The Alabama Challenge defeated Houston Hoops by double digits. I'm not sure of the outcome, but I noticed that the New Jersey Playaz rolled into town with a short bench. I only counted 5-6 players in uniform during warm ups. Of course New Jersey brought Mile Mack, Myles Davis and Kyle Anderson Jr., but if they only had 6 players it could be a long weekend. Despite the fact that a lot of writers made the easy drive and attended the Adidas May Classic in Bloomington, IN., there were several big time scouts in the building including, Dave Telep, Jerry Meyer, Van Coleman, Reggie Rankin and Vince Baldwin were seen pacing the sidelines. The NBA was represented as JR Smith was checking out the action. Look for another update sometime late Saturday night. To see pictures of the event visit the Buckeye Prep Facebook Fan Page.