Hit the road for July 2012

Yes The Czar is still here.  The NCAA did not sanction me and force me to write under a new name as I haven't had any illegal contact with agents.  Speaking of the NCAA, in years past we'd be right in the middle of the 1st 10 day recruiting period.  Thanks to the same NCAA rule changes that opened up April this year, July has now changed too.  July's recruiting window is now 3 long weekends, 11-15, 18-22 and 25-29.  That's Wednesdays starting at 5 PM and ending at 5 PM on those Sundays.  That 1st period is upon us, here's where Minnesota teams will be.

NY2LA Next Level Invitational (Milwaukee)
15U
Top teams from the Fury, Heat, Select, Comets and Net Gain represent Minnesota in this division.  The Heat Lesewski crew has Pulley tournament champs Kingdom Hoops Elite in their pool.  They'll play at 5:20 on Wednesday.  Net Gain gets a tough draw as well with Best Buy Spring Classic runner-up WI Blizzard-Pronchinske at 7:40 on Wednesday night in their pool.

16U
MN Warriors draw one of the better 16U teams in the country RAS (Ray Allen Select) in their pool.  They'll meet at 4:10 on Friday afternoon.  RAS won the Best Buy Chicago Classic title over Memorial Day.  MN Fury Dixon draws the hard nosed Wisconsin Swing squad in their pool.  MN Fury Grosz also gets a Wisconsin draw with Terry Porter Elite.  MN Select takes on the top WI Blizzard team.  SW MN Stars and MN Comets Elite also representing MN in the 16U division.

17U
The best individual matchup here is Net Gain taking on Milwaukee Rebels in pool play at 3 PM on Thursday.  That's a pair of elite national wings with Rashad Vaughn taking on Kevon Looney.  WOW!  That's #11 (Looney) vs #20 (Vaughn) in the Rivals.com Class of 2014 rankings.  Don't forget about jitterbug point guard Damontrae Jefferson (#76 in the that same ranking) for the Rebels either.  On the next court at the same time, MN Fury Davis draws the loaded WI Swing squad.  That Swing squad features top 100 kids Bronson Koenig (WI commit) at the point and post Luke Fischer (Indiana commit).  Nick Fuller receiving lots of D1 interest for that Swing squad as well.  MN Magic Maroon draws Terry Porter Elite and Kingdom Hoops Elite in their pool.  They'll go up against Marquette commit Deonte Burton in 1 game and UNI commit Ted Friedman in the other.  Comets Hanson opens the tourney with a grudge match against the Green Bay Gunners who knocked them off in the 1st NY2LA tourney at Hopkins in April.  Gunners feature UNI commit Bennett Koch, the 3rd Koch brother to play for the Panthers.  Jake is at UNI now and college fans may remember Adam who was the 2010 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year.  MN Select White and Carson Shanks take on ECI and recent NDSU commit AJ Jacobsen at 3 PM on Friday.  Fury Ouse takes on the Dakota Showcase champs WI Jets at 11:30 AM on Friday.  Comets Stock takes on Zach Hanson (recent Iowa State and Missouri offers) and the Dakota Schoolers at 9:10 Thursday morning.  WOTN, SW MN Stars, Fury Newell, Select Blue, Comets Seevers and Magic Elite Robertson all in the 17U division as well.

Adidas Invitational (Indianapolis)
The huge Adidas Invitational has Minnesota represented.  Minnesota Pump N Run sends all 3 of their teams.  The Heat send their top 4 17s (Reese, Ogorek, Altena and Frasier) and top 2 16s (Vang and Frank).  Then the surprise entrant, MN Glory 16s.  Glory has gone to the Hoosier Shootout for years.  Their 17s are taking the week off before heading to the Kentucky Hoopfest next week.  The field is loaded with too many big names to mention.  Schedule should be posted soon.

Others
MN Cyclones 15s will be at the Mullen's High Profile Tournament in St. Louis starting play at 6 PM on Friday night.

Quinton Hooker and Akolda Manyang will be in Washington DC for the Nike Skills U camp
Tyus Jones, who just won a gold medal with the USA 17U team in Lithuania, will also be in Washington DC for the Nike Global Challenge.  Pulley site lists him as invited but he's not listed on the Nike rosters.  Kyle Washington listed on those same USA rosters.

Also locally, the IMBBall tournament is in Eagan starting Friday night.  Local teams represented include Grassroots, Pulley White and tNBA in the 17s.  Pulley has both teams in the 16s with Triple Threat and Heat Schumann.  The 15s division has both Pulley teams, Southern MN Elite and MN Suns