ESPN released their end of summer rankings for the class of 2009 last week. Read the full rankings here.
Minnesota Players
- Royce White #23, Minnesota (up from #61 in last ranking, read why here, was #71 in May)
- Rodney Williams Jr #29 (up from #66 in May)
Wisconsin Players- Jamil Wilson #60 (down from #13 in May)
- Jeronne Maymon #76, Marquette (unranked in May)
Other players who appeared locally this year- DeMarcus Cousins #4, UAB (up from #5 in May)
- DJ Richardson #56, Illinois (up from #93 in May)
- Naji Hibbert #59, Texas A&M (down from #47 in May)
- Michael Dixon dropped out, Missouri (was #49 in May)
Scout.com has released their end of summer 2009 top 100 (read it here). Here are players that caught my attention.
Minnesota
Royce White (#30, up from #32)
Rodney Williams Jr (#32, down from #57)
Trent Lockett (#94, down from #89)
Wisconsin
Jamil Wilson (#35, down from #16)
Jeronne Maymon (#75, down from #66)
Johnny Lacy (drops out after being #96)
Others who appeared locally
DeMarcus Cousins (#6, unchanged)
DJ Richardson (#66, down from #46)
Darius Smith (dropped out after being #90)
Michael Dixon (dropped out after being #94)
Scout obviously didn't think Rodney Williams performance at the Nike Global Challenge was an issue (unlike Rivals) as they moved him up 25 spots to number 32 (#5 small forward prospect). I'll agree more with Rivals evaluation right now. #5 SF in the nation for a guy who needs to work on his ballhandling and shooting seems rather high right now. Granted, with his athleticism, Scout could easily turn out to be right down the road. Its bad for Rodney's development for the next level that he plays center for Cooper during the high school season as that doesn't allow him to work on or showcase his perimeter skills. Great for Cooper though as their starting 5 will be close to Hopkins for most athletic in the state. Tough spot for a coach when you have a star like that who is better for the team at a different position than he'll play at the next level.
In my last post, I noted that Rodney Williams had a drastic drop in his ranking. I asked Rivals.com what their logic was behind dropping Rodney Williams from #28 to #95 in their latest rankings. Their head scouting guru Jerry Meyer responded with this answer.
"We were giving Williams a big benefit of the doubt with the #28 ranking based on his athletic ability and potential. Unfortunately, we just haven't seen progress. He looked very out of place at the Nike Global Challenge and was just okay at Lebron Skills Camp. Can really jump, but don't know if he'll get the feel for the game and skill level for that athleticism to really translate."
Read the entire thread where my question was posted here.
Williams drops behind Trent Lockett for the #2 spot in the Minnesota Class of 2009.
Rivals.com released their end of the summer recruiting period updates today. Read the entire rankings here. Here are the changes to Minnesota players (and others of note) from the last period (July 1, 2008).
Minnesota Players
- Royce White #19, Minnesota (down from #18)
- Trent Lockett #73, Arizona State (down from #53)
- Rodney Williams Jr #95 (down from #28)
- Sam Dower #119 (up from #130)
- Mike Bruesewitz #124, Wisconsin (up from #125)
Wisconsin Players- Jeronne Maymon #46, Marquette (down from #42)
- Jamil Wilson #93 (down from #60)
- Johnny Lacy #110, Prep School (down from #97)
Other players who appeared locally this year- DeMarcus Cousins #2, UAB
- DJ Richardson #57, Illinois (up from #74)
- Naji Hibbert #88, Texas A&M (up from #142)
- Darius Smith #113 (down from #80)
- Joseph Bertrand #116, Illinois (down from #81)
- Diamond Taylor #118, Wisconsin (down from #86)
- Michael Dixon #130, Missouri (down from #100)
U of M targets Eric Bledsoe and Matt Vogrich come in at #67 and #131 respectively.
The drop of Rodney Williams is totally shocking (
read why here). Sam Dower was the only Wisconsin or Minnesota player to make a noteworthy move upward.
Sam Dower took an unofficial visit to the U of M yesterday. Gopher Hole interviewed him about it afterwards. A couple of things in the interview that stuck out to me. The rumor mill said Dower was concerned if Minnesota was actually serious about him which may have led to this visit. Interesting that it didn't come up in the interview.
He also mentions that he can play center or small forward. I don't know that you could use him at center right away because of the strength issues, but I can see him playing center in a small lineup or later in his career being used there. The small forward part of the statement was really amusing and surprising. Yes he can step out and shoot it a bit, but I think its very safe to say that the small forward position is not in his future unless its a temporary thing in a big lineup (which is rare these days thanks to the myriad of motion systems used today and a lack of big men). He's being recruited to be an interior presence with his perimeter abilities as an extra asset, not to be a face-up wing player. If I'm a coach watching Osseo this season, I want to see Dower dominating down low on the blocks, not settling for 17 foot jump shots from the high post. Last year the outside game was understandable when you had him and 7 footer Zach Peterson in the game together. This year he'll need to carry a bigger scoring load for the Orioles.
I'd like to see him in George Mason's scramble system as that would give them the type of backline shotblocker that they rarely have. With his abilities, I think that'd be a good fit. Dower mentions that he has family out at Cal, it'll be interesting to see if that's a factor in the final decision.
Read the entire Gopher Hole interview here.
In Rockford, 94 FT of Game finished the weekend 2-2 in preliminary play before losing both their Sunday bracket game. In 16U, the Minnesota Xplosion were also 2-2 in preliminary play. On Sunday they won their bracket opener before losing in the tournament quarterfinals.
Royce White and Rodney Williams played in the championship of the Nike Global Challenge in Portland, OR. Interesting that this team is coached by the highly entertaining Otis Hughley of Mobile LeFlore, AL.
Results from the 96-80 semifinal win over Canada.
Royce White: 14 Points, 7 Rebs, 2 Blks, 4 Turnovers, 6-12 FGs in only 17 minutes.
Rodney Williams: 0 Pts, 2 Rebs, 2 Turnovers and 0-2 FTs in 8 minutes.
Once again Harrison Barnes was a monster with 22 points and 8 rebounds. If you missed him at the Sabes Invitational in May, you missed a terrific player. Jamil Wilson also quiet in the win. Corey Joseph with 10 points and 5 rebounds in 22 minutes for Canada in the loss.
In the Championship game vs USA 2, USA2 wins 117-104 after leading 53-49 at the half.
- Royce White: 6 Pts, 3 Rebs, 3 Turnovers in only 14 minutes.
- Rodney Williams: 8 Pts, 6 Rebs on 4-8 FGs in 20 minutes.
- Harrison Barnes with 11 pts and 7 rebs in 16 minutes.
- Jamil Wilson with 8 pts and 4 rebs in 13 minutes.
- Demarcus Cousins the star with 29 points on 12-17 FGs with 6 rebounds in 19 minutes to lead USA 1.
The top 2 players in the MN Class of 2009, Royce White (Hopkins) and Rodney Williams Jr (Robbinsdale Cooper) are in Portland, OR this weekend for the Nike Global Challenge. Here's how they did on day 1.
Game 1 vs Senegal (US wins 81-68 by winning the 4th quarter 30-20)
Royce White: 9 Pts, 2 Rebs, 2 blks in 21 minutes. 3-5 FG including 2-2 from 3 pt land and 1-4 FTs.
Rodney Williams: 0 Pts, 2 Rebs in 18 Minutes. 0-1 FG
Other players I saw this past season also played with this USA team (1 of 3 in the event)
Demarcus Cousins: 23 Pts, 5 Rebs, 2 blks in 26 minutes. 9-12 FG including 3-4 3 Pts (wow) and 2-4 FTs.
Harrison Barnes: 6 Pts, 8 Rebs in 16 minutes. 2-8 FG including 0-3 3 Pt and 2-2 FTs
Jamil Wilson: 8 Pts, 2 Rebs in 18 minutes. 2-6 FG including 0-2 3 Pt and 4-4 FTs.
They'll play Corey Joseph and Team Canada next.
A couple of Minnesota teams still playing this weekend down in Rockford, IL. In 17U, 94 Ft of Game def Chicago Stars 55-35. They have a fun matchup tomorrow with Badger Sporting Good who has the #9 Jr in Wisconsin, Marquis Mason.
In 16U, the Minnesota Xplosion def Future Stars Magic 67-54 and Quad City Select 60-47. Like 94 Ft, they also have 2 pool play games tomorrow. The event website lists Kyle Zimmerman (TNL/MN Magic Elite and Champlin Park) and Jess Briggity (MN Fury and Blaine) as part of the roster which would be very nice additions for the Xplosion for this event.
