Scout.com releases final class of 2009 rankings

Scout.com has released their final 2009 top 100 (read it here). Here are players that caught my attention.

Minnesota
Royce White (#32, down from #30)
Rodney Williams Jr (#34, up from #32)
Trent Lockett (#97, down from #94)

Wisconsin
Jamil Wilson (#30, up from #35)
Jeronne Maymon (#84, down from #75)

Others who appeared locally
DeMarcus Cousins (#3, up from #6)
DJ Richardson (#46, down from #66)
Darius Smith (re-enters at #83)
Naji Hibbert (enters at #99)

Rivals releases final 2009 rankings

Rivals.com released their final class of 2009 rankings today. Read the entire rankings here. Here are the changes to Minnesota players (and others of note) from the last period (August 19, 2008).

Minnesota Players

• Royce White #19, Minnesota (no change)
  
• Trent Lockett #80, Arizona State (down from #73)
  
• Rodney Williams Jr #100, Minnesota (down from #95)
• Sam Dower #116, Gonzaga (up from #119)
• Mike Bruesewitz #118, Wisconsin (up from #124)

Wisconsin Players

• Jeronne Maymon #47, Marquette (down from #46)
• Jamil Wilson #94, Oregon (down from #93)
• Johnny Lacy #143, Providence (down from #110)
  

Other players who have appeared locally

• DeMarcus Cousins #2, Kentucky (no change)
  
• DJ Richardson #38, Illinois (up from #57)
• Darius Smith #71, Connecticut (up from #113)
• Naji Hibbert #97, Texas A&M (down from #88)
• Joseph Bertrand #128, Illinois (down from #116)
• Diamond Taylor #129, Wisconsin (down from #118)
• Michael Dixon #136, Missouri (down from #130)

ESPN releases final 2009 Rankings

On April 9th, ESPN released their final rankings for the class of 2009 . Read the entire rankings here. Here are the changes to Minnesota players (and others of note) from the last period (January 13, 2009).

Minnesota Players

* Royce White #35, Minnesota (previous #25)
* Rodney Williams Jr #42 (previous #40)

Wisconsin Players

* Jamil Wilson #31 (previous #62)
* Jeronne Maymon #79, Marquette (previous #55)

Other players who have appeared locally

* DeMarcus Cousins #4, UAB (no change)
* DJ Richardson #46, Illinois (previous #51)
* Naji Hibbert #70, Texas A&M (previous #61)

Osseo upsets Cooper for 5AAAA Title

To Rogers for the 5AAAA championship game between Cooper and Osseo. The size and patience of Osseo vs the athleticism of Cooper. Noteworthy local stars on hand included Josh Pedretti of Maple Grove, Jasper Duberry of Champlin Park and Trent Lockett of Hopkins. Great sequence between the student sections during the game. I may not have it totally right but something like this.

Cooper Students: Golden Gophers
Osseo Students: Go Zags Go
Cooper Students: Where's Gonzaga? (as in Gon-Zayg-Ah)
Osseo Students: In the Tourney! (referencing Gonzaga's win over Akron yesterday and the Rodents loss).

That's good students and we had both bands do a fine job. Now to the game.

Rodney Williams gets the Cooper assignment of defending Sam Dower. Dower with 8 quick points via pair of putbacks. Kenquane Brown with a pair of triples. 11-10 Osseo at the 11:20 mark as Dower converts his own missed dunk. Back to back Orioles turnovers give Cooper 4 in a row. 14-11 Hawks at the 8:35 mark. But then the turnovers set in. Nick Djerf with a pair of triples vs Cooper's 2-3 and Brown has 4 turnovers in this run. John Rowland in the starting lineup tonight and he nails a 3. Dower with a dunk off a nice post set play. DJ Phillips takes a rebound coast to coast for a layup. Timeout Cooper. 28-17 Osseo leads with 3:09 left in the half. Its a 17-3 Osseo run over 5:11. 30-21 Osseo at the half. Dower with 12 and 6 on 6-9 shooting. Kenquane Brown with 8 points and 4 boards but costly turnovers. Rodney Williams 1-3 for 2 points.

Joe Bright keeping Cooper close with a pair of hoops as Rowland can't handle him. 37-27 Osseo at 14:35. Aaron Anderson with 2 FTs, Dower with a pair of postups around a straight away 3 that Rodney airballed. 43-27 Orioles with 11:42 to play. Bright with a bucket and a triple but Jayvin Reynolds is on him now and has swatted away a couple of Bright's inside looks. Rodney with 2 misses FTs and a missed front end. Quincy Bethea misses a front end and Rodney can't get the putback to go. 43-32 Osseo with 8:30 left. Bright with a nice interior pass to Brown for a layup and then a putback. 45-36 Osseo with 6:35 left. Timeout Osseo as the lead has now gotten under 10. Cooper turns up the defense and they really get after Bobby Fischer. Freddie Burton strips Fischer and that leads to 2 Brown free throws. DJ Phillips picks up his 5th foul on a technical called by an official a mile away from the play. Very strange. A big loss as Osseo needs his ballhandling right now. Brown makes 1 of the 2 FTs and then buries a triple on the possession. 51-44 Osseo with 3:05 left. Cooper gets to Fischer again but Bethea misses the layup. After Djerf makes 1 of 2, Brown counters with another triple. 52-47 Osseo with 2:20 left and momentum as Osseo is really struggling against the pressure. Rowland with 2 freebies and then Burton goes baseline and finds Brown in the opposite corner for another triple. 54-50 Osseo and there's still 1:35 left. Anderson held on the inbound and makes 2 FTs. Bethea and Burton get good looks at 3s and they're short. But Bright gets a steal from Anderson for 1 of 2 FTs with :55 seconds left. 56-51 Osseo. Osseo wins 58-51 to move on to state.

For Cooper, Kenquane Brown with 22 and 7 (5 triples) but a handful of turnovers. Joe Bright was a beast with 19 points. Rodney Williams ends his prep career on a very sour note. 6 points and 6 rebounds. 2-9 FG and 2-8 FTs. Cooper loses all 8 players who played for them tonight but they have a talented JV squad that will be very interesting to watch next year.

For Osseo, Sam Dower leads the way with 18 and 11. I had him 8-12 from the field. Junior Nick Djerf with a nice night of 16 points and he had a tough task of guarding Williams and Bright during the night. Djerf and John Rowland with a pair of triples each to extend the Cooper defense. They're probably looking at the #4 seed in the state tournament. Nice strategy by coach Thiesen to throw a bunch of different defenders at Rodney. That even included Dower on a critical possession in the last 90 seconds.

With tonight's results, I drop Rodney Williams out of my finalists for Mr. Basketball. He's replaced by Jordair Jett who's played sufficiently well in big games that I can no longer keep him off the list. It raises an interesting debate of how Mr. Basketball should be decided. Most Valuable to team (Dower, Wolters, Jett), best player (White) or combination of those factors (Bruesewitz).

Cooper at Spring Lake Park Thoughts

So after Cooper won the 1st meeting 85-81, it looked like the North Suburban could come down to this game. SLP had only lost 1 game out of 13 (the Cooper game) before losing back to back games over the last week to North Suburban contenders BSM (sans Peter Crawford) and Columbia Heights. So much for the conference race. But Rene Pulley is in the building for the 2nd half (probably watched the 1st half of Heights and Fridley just down the street) so life is all good despite only having 2 officials for this one.

Interesting matchups early as Joe Bright gets the assignment on SLP's Sean Jensen. Jensen gets the task of defending Rodney Williams. Rodney opens with a loose ball for a dunk, follows with 2 free throws and then makes the 3 ball in the side pocket for 7 quick points. Timeout Spring Lake Park as they're down 14-6 3 minutes into the game. Spring Lake Park with a 9-2 run out of the timeout and they do it in 2:20. Jensen with an assist and then a tip in to conclude the run. Cooper cranks up the running game as they go off for a 18-2 run over 5 and a half minutes. Kenquane Brown, Joe Bright and Quincy Bethea all with triples during the run. Cooper coach Dave Johnson telling his team to not dribble, so Rodney Williams promptly drives for 2. He then gets a steal and looks for the showtime breakaway dunk but Tim Weigelt prevents that with the hard foul and Joe Bright isn't happy about it. After the zebras get together, its an intentional foul. Rodney misses the 2 freebies and on the possession he takes his anger out on a 1 handed follow dunk that would have been amazing had he made it. Jamal Roberts off the bench does score on the post while Cooper retains the ball. The lead has ballooned to 38-20 with 4:45 left in the half. Y (Tyler Ylvisaker) with 3 of SLPs 5 triples in the half to keep the Panthers from getting totally blown out. 51-35 Hawks at the half. Sean Jensen with 6 points on 3-12 shooting on my sheet. Elijah Sabah with 7 points for SLP. 4 players with 8 or more for Cooper. Rodney Williams with 9 points on 3-5 shooting and 3 blocks.

No early traction for SLP. Rodney with a short jumper and Bright with a postup on Jensen and the lead is 17 at 15:55. 2 SLP buckets countered by a Bethea 3. Sabah with a triple and then a bad shot. Cooper runs out for a Bethea layup and its 69-51 Hawks with 11:05 to play. SLP with some half court traps now. That's part of a 13-4 SLP run that Y ends with a 3. 73-64 Cooper with 7:33 left and somehow this game is back to being competitive. Bright with a kick out of the post to Burton for a right wing jumper. Rodney with a blocked shot for a runout for Kenquane Brown. 7-2 SLP in points before a Brown triple pushes the lead back into double digits. 82-71 wiht 5:25 left. SLP with 4 in a row and Rodney gets Jensen in the post (1st time all night) and steps on the end line. Jensen can't convert a FT line jumper on the other end. Cooper takes time with 3:20 left and you'd think that clock management came up. Bethea counters a Scott 3 with a quick 3 of his own at 2:30, Brown puts back a quick Cooper miss inside of 2 minutes. After a SLP layup, they take time with 1:36 left down 89-82. They'll get no closer. Rodney with an alley-hoop dunk to finish it and the Hawks win 93-84.

For Spring Lake Park, Sean Jensen with 22 points and I had 6 assists on my sheet. 9-23 shooting on my sheet means 6-11 in the 2nd half. Trey Scott with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Y with 17 points on 5 of SLPs 11 triples. A nice adjustment vs the Cooper zone (more on this in the Cooper section) to move Sean Jensen into the middle and post area after initially having Sabah at the high post area. They settled for lots of 3s (having Rodney back there will do that). I still see too much of Jensen being forced to make everything happen. Lots of high screen roll in the 1st half to Jensen's left hand but I liked better a weave action they showed briefly in the 2nd half. Very disappointing how Cooper was able to run out on rebounds too as they did a poor job of getting back. Despite 3 losses in a row now, road wins over St. Louis Park and St. Francis next week should secure the #1 seed in section 3AAA. But that section is wide open as you'll see when I do my section previews next weekend (hint, hint).

For Cooper, great balance as they get 5 guys in double figures. Quincy Bethea with 14 of his 24 points in the 2nd half. Kenquane Brown with 21 points and I had him for 8 rebounds. Rodney Williams with 16 points. On my unofficial sheet for him, I had 11 rebounds, 5 blocks and 6-11 shooting with 2 missed dunks (granted 1 was the monster anger-management dunk described earlier). They were very fortunate their 3-2 zone didn't get exploited worse. A huge hole at the high post with the top line extending way far out. Then they stayed in it too long in the 2nd half when Jensen started to take advantage of that hole. Hopefully they'll work on it or ditch it because it wasn't not something to go back to as it functioned tonight. Strange how Cooper just keep running and shooting between the 3:20 and 1:36 mark with a 7 point lead. No attempts to manage the clock at all. Joe Bright, who gets my game ball for how he played Jensen, mysteriously got pulled with 3:10 left. Very strange as that's the 1 time all night I want him on the floor. And they gave up 11 makes from the great beyond, 5 to a stand-still shooter. Overall, not a performance that one would associate with a state championship contender.

Hopkins goes triple figures on Cooper

Mike Broghammer

Welcome to the mass of humanity that is the Hopkins/Cooper showdown. Cooper side very full and we haven't even begun JV yet. Why? The Sophomore game went double OT with Hopkins winning 91-90 after Cooper game from 11 down with 3 minutes left in regulation and hit 2 triples in the last 20 seconds to send the game to OT. Terrell Clay (hope I've got that name right) with 39 for Cooper in the loss. Star 8th grader Riley Dearing (or Carpenter depending on what you believe) missed a chance to win it at the end of the 1st OT. Not only do we get the standard big players (John Millea, Ray Richardson of the Pioneer Press in a rare appearance), but we even get the one and only Sid Hartman. But forget press row and those stars, as always I'm right in the middle of the crowd at the front of a bunch of students and sitting behind Robbinsdale mayor Mike Holtz.

Trent Lockett gets the assignment on Rodney as we start. 10-2 Hopkins out to the lead in the 1st 5 minutes. Royce White starts it with a dunk and then finds Mike Broghammer for a dunk to end the run. Great sequence too where Rodney Williams Jr got a block for a Cooper runout that Broghammer ran down and rejected in even better fashion on the other end. Quincy Bethea with a pair of bombs for Cooper. 15-13 Hopkins at 10:35. Kenquane Brown showing he can take Broghammer off the bounce but he's gone to the bench with 2 fouls. Broghammer and Raymond Cowles then go the bench with 2 fouls each. 20-18 Hopkins at 8:39. White with a lob dunk off an inbounds play, a steal that gives him a free throw and an offensive rebound and 2 over Rodney. That rebound was right after Rodney almost posterized Moses Sundufu on the post with a monster 2 handed slam. Sundufu fortunately put him on the line and didn't give up the dunk. After Brown drives and scores and Freddie Burton hits a pullup J, Royce gets another offensive board for a free throw and then another dunk. 30-24 Hopkins with 6:05 left in the half. Rodney picks up #2 trying to get an offensive board at 5:48 at sits for the moment. Marcus Williams then gets his 2nd at 5:02 and he sits (3 Hopkins starters down with 2 fouls at this point). Hopkins 32-30 at that point. Brown then has a 3 go in and out for the best chance of the night to get the lead for Cooper. Royce with 2 more buckets and 2 DJ Peterson FTs make it 38-33 at 2:33 and Rodney comes back in. He goes by Royce for 2 and then Royce counters on the other by going thru him for 2 more. In the last 20 seconds, Moses Sundufu with a triple and then Joe Coleman with a block and a bucket for 5 Hopkins points that give them a 49-40 halftime lead. Royce 7-11 shooting for 16 points with 7 rebounds on my sheet. Quincy Bethea with 7 and Joe Bright with 11 and 5 for Cooper. With all of Hopkins' foul issues, Cooper didn't take advantage of a great opportunity.

Rodney with a lob dunk and Bright puts back a Rodney brick to pull Cooper within 5 2 minutes into the half. Royce then scores and Cowles nails a 3 against a 2-3 zone. Lockett with a layin and just as quick as Cooper was close, the lead is back to 12, 56-44. Rodney with a double clutch 15 footer against Lockett cuts it to 8 with 13:05 left. Lockett with a 3 point play and Rodney counters with a long triple. 59-51 Hopkins outside of 12 minutes left. Hopkins then goes on a 10-2 with 6 Broghammer points and 2 buckets from Lockett. 69-53 with 10:45 left, timeout Cooper and this one is basically over. Rodney comes out of the timeout with a dunk from Bright but Lockett immediately gets a dunk of his own on the other end and the crowd can't get into it. Cooper gets as close as 13 but Cowles nails a 3 with 6:30 remaining that pops the balloon of hope. The crowd starts to file out. Hopkins tacks on an unnecessary layup from Marvin Singleton with 10 seconds left for a 100-78 win.

For Cooper, Rodney Williams with 19 points on my sheet (the scorebook may have him for 21 via 2 I gave to Bethea), 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. He shot around 50% but that's deceptive considering 3 dunks. Besides the dunks he took 1 maybe 2 good shots out of about 10. Very poor shot selection as he tried to do too much. Joe Bright was a beast for them with 17 and 11. Surprising that Cooper showed success with Bright or Brown taking Broghammer off the dribble but never really attacked that weakness. Interesting too that Freddie Burton spent a ton of time in this game off the ball with Bethea handling. Probably to avoid the pressure of Marcus Williams. Despite the loss, it will be criminal if the pollsters drop Cooper down in the polls for this loss. The only exception I might be willing to listen to is if Osseo moves up to #3 and Cooper falls to #4.

For Hopkins, Royce White very quiet in the 2nd half, but he showed up big in the 1st half. Overall I had him for 20 points on solid shooting 9-14. But he's their guy you want to put on the line as he was 2-6 tonight and has struggled there all year. Trent Lockett with a big 2nd half to finish with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Mike Broghammer with 12 points, half during the run that sealed the game, along with 8 rebounds and a pair of blocks by my counts. I was surprised that Cooper didn't try to apply any pressure, especially when Marcus Williams left the game and DJ Peterson was running the point. In-state, they've proven themselves. Will a win in New York City next Friday be a major national poll eye opener?

Mike Broghammer picture courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

ESPN releases in-season class of 2009 Rankings

On January 13th, ESPN released their in-season rankings for the class of 2009 . Read the entire rankings here. Here are the changes to Minnesota players (and others of note) from the last period (August 19, 2008). Read analysis of the new rankings, including an explanation of the drop of Rodney Williams in the ESPN article here. You'll find it to be consistent with what Rivals said last August. I made some comments last August similar to these as well.

Minnesota Players

• Royce White #25, Minnesota (previous #23)
• Rodney Williams Jr #40 (previous #29)

Wisconsin Players

• Jeronne Maymon #55, Marquette (previous #76)
• Jamil Wilson #62 (previous #60)

Other players who have appeared locally

• DeMarcus Cousins #4, UAB (no change)
  
• DJ Richardson #51, Illinois (previous #56)
• Naji Hibbert #61, Texas A&M (previous #59)

2009 Timberwolves Shootout Thoughts

Here's what I saw at the 2009 Timberwolves Shootout. This is the 5th consecutive shootout I've attended. In terms of competitve games, this was the worst one I've been to with 4 blowouts and 1 other game that got back to 4 points, but wasn't in doubt for much of the game. At least the Sibley/Memorial game lived up to the hype. That and a couple of Rodney Williams dunks were the main highlights.

Game 1: Cloquet vs Pelican Rapids
I got the not close part of the prediction correct as Pelican Rapids made 7 1st half 3s and got 29 total points from their stars Tydan Storrusten and Eric Shulstad. Nothing like triples to bust zones. Very strange that Chad Calcaterra played very limited 1st half minutes. Only 6 and 4 in the 1st half for him. He finished with 21 and 10 and 2 blocks (and 4 dunks, more on that later). Beyond Chad, Cloquet has almost nothing. Their inability to deal with the Pelican Rapids halfcourt trap was really painful to watch. They may have most of their roster returning for next season but that won't be enough. Pelican Rapids with all seniors except for 1 sophomore. Very impressive to watch. Storrusten with 29, Shulstad with 27 in the 87-56 win.

Game 2: Osseo vs Sioux Falls Roosevelt
Sam Dower with only 1 1st half point and 2 fouls that forced him to sit the last 13:15 of the 1st half. Osseo still had a 30-20 halftime lead as Aaron Anderson stepped up with 8 points. Osseo cranked up the 2nd half defense and Dower dominated inside in the 2nd half. 82-43 Osseo in another rout. Dower with 22. He hit jump hook after jump hook inside with no Roosevelt answer. Cody Larson with 14 for the Roughriders but didn't do anything of note. I did almost get their point total right. Nice job by Osseo with their full court scramble to generate some points from their defense.

Game 3: Henry Sibley vs Madison Memorial
Final Score 67-64 Memorial, I predicted 65-64 Memorial in my preview. Better to be lucky than good. Jeronne Maymon was an absolute stud in this one and clearly the MVP of the day. Totally unguardable. He scored the 9 of the 1st 11 Memorial points in the 2nd half and then got a couple of assists not long after that. Late in the game, Chris Halvorsen stripped him clean for a reverse dunk that brought Sibley back to a 56-55 lead after being down 55-50. But then he made a jumper and hit Vander Blue for a triple. Sibley with 3 straight turnovers vs the Memorial 1-3-1 in a 1 minute span with 3 minutes left that just killed them. Memorial missed a couple of late free throws that gave Maurice Hernandez a good look from the NBA line that would have tied it but no good and Memorial wins a thriller 67-64. Maymon with 26, Vander Blue with 16 all in the 2nd half including 9 in a row and he didn't start. Frosh Junior Lomomba didn't start either and finished with 6 points. He made a clutch shot late to push the lead to 5. Mike Bruesewitz with 20 and 10 for Sibley, but he was overmatched against Maymon.

Game 4: Hopkins vs Lake Geneva Badger
50-15 at the half as Hopkins used a 28-2 run over 8:30 to blow this game wide open. Royce White still put on a show with 13 and 6 in the 1st half as he showed all his skills. Trent Lockett with a couple of nice dunks during the half too. 79-41 Hopkins rolls as the clock runs the last 8 minutes (not 9 thanks to the scorer's table).

This game was totally pointless for both teams and shouldn't have been played. But the fans turned out in force for it so they got the financial part right. This game was a huge black eye to the Shootout. Badger is well coached, but they had no business being here. Not a single player in the rankings of any class in Wisconsin. It would have been one thing if this had happened in the Border Battle or East Metro Showcase. But this is the Minnesota showcase event, put on by our professional team with maybe the best Minnesota high school team ever. This cannot happen again. I know they tried to get teams like Chicago Whitney Young and other very good teams to come in and couldn't get anybody. I'm not criticizing the effort, but I have a hard time buying the idea that there were no teams in the midwest with a noteworthy player that would have come here for this instead of Badger.

Game 5: Eden Prairie vs Cooper
Rodney Williams with a double-clutch jumper and then a floater to beat the 1st half buzzer on a steal for a 28-18 Cooper lead at the half. Williams had 8 points with 3 blocks (2 of the volleyball spike variety) in the half. Ethan Wragge 5 points but cold shooting. Cooper stretches the lead to 16 in the 2nd half before Cooper goes back to their 1 on 1 offense and allows EP to come back within 4. Rodney gets a 360 dunk and then a half-court lob for a reverse dunk that puts the icing on the cake. He gets another lob but misses the dunk to make Chad Calcaterra the happiest guy in the building as both finish with 4 dunks on the day. 57-50 Cooper wins. Rodney with 16 points on 4 dunks and 4 blocks. Again, not a shooter. Brett Ervin with a big 2nd half as he finishes with 17 points. Ethan Wragge with 9 points but he couldn't buy a shot (he was something like 3-15). But his misses were all good looks (except 1 or maybe 2) against Rodney so I'm not buying the Rodney shut him down argument.

Game 6: St. Cloud Tech vs Manitowoc Roncalli
The building empties out which is a shame because they should have stayed for Nate Wolters of Tech. He had 9 first half points. Roncalli star soph Ben Stelzer 11 for a 35-34 Tech lead at the half. But Wolters gets 17 in the 2nd half with 3 steals for layups. They don't need him to guard Stelzer as Roncalli couldn't buy a shot in the 2nd half. 78-49 Tech rolls. Alex Hanks with 15. Stelzer finishes with 18. Nate Wolters with 28 points and a half dozen steals. Whatever school ends up with him is going to be very happy as I think they're getting a steal.

All Shootout Teams
1st Team
Jeronne Maymon - Madison Memorial (MVP)
Royce White - Hopkins
Sam Dower - Osseo
Vander Blue - Madison Memorial
Nate Wolters - St. Cloud Tech

2nd Team
Eric Shulstad - Pelican Rapids
Mike Bruesewitz - Sibley
Chad Calcaterra - Cloquet
Rodney Williams Jr - Cooper
Tydan Storrusten - Pelican Rapids

Net Games: Cooper at Armstrong

So with the weather elements putting a huge dent in my holiday hoops plans, no better place to see a game then in the comfort of The Czar's castle. We rewind the hands of time to December 12th for one of the best rivalries in all of the metro as Cooper made the trip down Hwy 169 to visit district rival Armstrong. If these teams don't end up in the same league after all of the Classic Lake realignment is done, its criminal.

Cooper gives Quincy Bethea the assignment on Damarius Cruz. After Armstrong makes the opening 3, Cooper gets the next 15 points. Rodney Williams with 3 straight dunks including a breakaway 360 dunk during the run and a layup. Ryan Virnig breaks the run with a nice head fake on Williams. Rodney loves to block shots so this works almost everytime. Andy Seidlitz with 9 straight Armstrong points over a 7:30 stretch as Cruz can't buy a bucket. Armstrong tries some zone, but Rodney makes 2 hard basket cuts and goes up and over the Armstrong 2-3 zone from Bethea for a dunk and a layin. On the layin, Virnig gets under Williams and injures his right knee and leaves the game. Rodney makes the foul shot and the lead is 39-19 with 3 left in the half. Armstrong gets a 3 from Curtis and then Cruz finally makes a shot, another triple. 40-27 Cooper at the half. Armstrong with 7 3s, 4-9 FTs and the 1 Virnig 2 point bucket. Seidlitz 9, Curtis 6 and Cruz 5 points on 1-8 shooting. Williams with 15 points, 6 rebounds and a block. He had 4 dunks and 2 layins in the half.

Rodney with an offensive rebound that he dunks with 1 hand and its 46-29. Armstrong with 10 of the next 12 points and its 48-39 at 12:30. Cruz heating up with a triple at 10:40 and its 54-44 Cooper. Rodney counters with a post up deuce. Curtis with a nice up fake for 2 and then Weber with a floater and its 58-50 with 7 minutes to play. But Armstrong doesn't get any closer than that. Rodney goes up and over the zone again for a dunk and then puts back his own post up miss. He swats Seidlitz and Cruz and rebounds another Cruz miss over the next 2 minutes. Williams adds on a nasty 1 hand lefty followup dunk of a missed FT and another dunk to put the icing on the cake. Cooper wins 76-59.

For Cooper, Rodney with 29 points. I also had him unofficially for 12 rebounds and 4 blocks. 8 dunks and 2 layups. No makes outside of 8 feet. Bethea with nice assists to Rodney but he had all 13 of his points in the 1st half. Jamal Roberts really gives them good energy off the bench. He had 11 points tonight and he had the 1st 6 Cooper points of the 2nd half in the Columbia Heights game.

For Armstrong, Damarius Cruz with a hot 2nd half after a very cold 1st half. I had him 7 of 20 from the field after missing his 1st 7 shots of the night. Andy Seidlitz with 5 more 3s in this game after knocking down 6 in their opener vs Buffalo. One of the premier shooters in the metro. He finished with 17. Marquel Curtis did plenty of ballhandling tonight as he finished with 12. With Virnig out via injury, no Joe Lewis and Ted Vogt not on the team this season, the Falcons have nobody inside. They tried to spread the floor in a very dribble drive motion way to give their guards room to operate.

Cooper at Columbia Heights Thoughts

A snowy night in the Kingdom takes The Czar on a miserable trip to Columbia Heights. But I'm not the only one who had a bad trip. Cooper must have had one too because I arrived at 6:40 and the JV game had barely started. Varsity tip scheduled for 7:15, didn't happen until 8:15. Tubby Smith on hand along with Rene Pulley (+1 for the counter) and Louie Mitteco the long time Totino-Grace football coach (Czar's note: 12/17/08, Mitteco was the longtime Basketball coach, not football coach). A nice matchup of a top senior (Rodney Williams) who will be a Gopher and a top junior (Jacob Thomas) who may become a Gopher.

Only 2 refs for this one is a surprise, but if it keeps another car off the road tonight, that might not be a bad thing. Heights goes 1-2-2 out of the gate. Cooper hard man and a 2-2-1 press with Rodney Williams in the back. Joe Bright with a 3 and its 10-4 Cooper at 14:30. Heights with a couple of tip ins for half of their offense and Quincy Bethea with a triple to make it 13-8 Cooper at 12:53. Heights star junior guard Jacob Thomas picks up his 2nd foul on a charge and he sits with 9:42 left in the half. Heights turns it over for a Freddie Burton layin and Bethea scores and its 25-14 Cooper at 7:40. Thomas back in. Rodney with his 1st dunk of the night extends the lead to 28-16 at 6:40. He fouls Thomas on a jumper (always a mental lapse, NEVER foul a jump shooter) for his 2nd foul at 5:25. In a funny moment, he motions to the bench not to worry about the foul. Thomas makes the free throws and that cuts the lead to 28-20.

Heights scores again to cut the lead to 6. Then they can't hang to the ball. Williams with a triple, Kenquane Brown drives baseline for a layup (where's the help in a zone?). Thomas with a nice crossover for 2 free throws, but the Hylanders still can't take care of the ball. Bright with a triple and then 2 layups off of turnovers. When it rains it pours (no that's not a Harold Rainey of CH and Handful Pour of Cooper joke) as Brown beats the halftime buzzer for 3. 45-24 Cooper at the half. The Cooper run is 17-2 over the last 4:38. Bright with 12, Brown with 9, Bethea 8, Rodney with 7 on 3-4 FG, 2 rebs and 2 blocks for Cooper. 6 treys in the half for the Hawks. Jacob Thomas 8 points but only 2-9 from the floor. Kendrick Mills cleaning up junk inside for 8 points.

In the 2nd half, Cooper extends the lead to 53-28 at 15:12. Thomas gets his 1st triple of the night at 14:45. Heights coach Willie Braziel gets T'd up at 13:29 and he's really hot about it. The official had given him a motion during free throws that he had heard enough. Coach Braziel got in 1 more line and it appeared nothing would happen, but after the 2nd free throw, the official gave him the T. He probably earned the T, but the timing of it was really awkward. Credit the official for not adding on a 2nd T for the reaction. I can see where the official didn't want to disadvantage the Cooper FT shooter. He's a young official who I actually think does a pretty good job. (Did I just complement an official???). The officials ended up joking with coach Braziel just a couple of minutes later and I think he got a more complete explanation then.

Cooper gets the lead to 66-38 with 11:15 left and it looks like we may see the dreaded mercy rule tonight. But Cooper gets sloppy and Thomas finds his stroke. The Hylanders go on a 20-5 run over the next 4:15 and its only 71-58 and there's still 7 minutes left. But Brown knocks down a jumper and Rodney gets the 1st of a couple of follow up dunks and Heights is done. 86-62 Cooper leads when they empty their bench. Final 93-65 Hawks win

For Columbia Heights, I had Jacob Thomas with 22 points (14 in the 2nd half) on 7 of 22 shooting with 4 3s and 4-4 FTs and 4 rebounds. Kendrick Mills hung around the basket for 16 points. Akuro Imbu with only 8 points. Heights falls to 1-2 in the North Suburban but they have 3 winnable league games coming up against St. Louis Park, Totino-Grace and St. Francis before a trip to Spring Lake Park January 16th and a home game vs Minnetonka January 17th. They'll be one of the favorites in the Hastings tournament over the holidays.

For Cooper, Rodney Williams 15 points on 7-9 FGs (basically everything was a layup or dunk except 1-2 from 3), 5 rebounds and 4 blocks. Beyond that, he really did very little. Jump and dunk and showed that his ballhandling is still suspect. In one strange moment late in the game, he gave a guy a blatant forearm shiver and correctly got called for it and then questioned the official as to why it was a foul. That rebound number might be low, but a couple of those are offensive rebounds for dunks. He also missed a couple of other tip dunk attempts so he was looking for the highlight reel tonight. Joe Bright big in this one with 25 points. Kenquane Brown with 13 points, Quincy Bethea with 11 and 3 triples. Just way too many weapons and athletes. Still my #2 until beaten. That Eden Prairie game at the TWolves shootout looks very interesting despite Eden Prairie's shocking upset loss at home tonight to Chaska. Cooper now 3-0.

Interviews and Thoughts from Midnight Madness

Gopher Hole did a couple of interviews at Tubby's Tipoff (midnight madness). One was with a couple of committed Gophers, Royce White and Rodney Williams. The other was with a couple of potential Gophers, Trevor Mbakwe and Chad Calcaterra.

Read the Royce and Rodney Intervew Here

Read the Trevor and Chad Interview Here

Also, if you didn't get a chance to see the Wisconsin midnight madness on the BTN they had each player come out and dance with a member of the dance squad. Jon Leuer did Minnesota proud. Jared Berggren came out and danced to "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice. Joe Krabbenhoft and his cowboy hat win honors for funniest dance moment of the night.

Rodney Williams commits to Gophers

From the Star Tribune, Rodney Williams Jr has committed to the Gophers. Congrats to him, let's hope he can maintain his grades and get that passing score on the ACT. This is a big moment in U of M recruiting. The Dan Monson era was marked by the best MN players leaving (Kammron Taylor to Wisconsin, Cole Aldrich to Kansas, Isiah Dahlman to Michigan St). Wisconsin made a killing getting guys like Jon Leuer, Joe Krabbenhoft and Mike Bruesewitz. Much to my own personal dismay as a Badger, this looks like Tubby slamming the door shut on big programs coming in here and getting the biggest names. Tubby really didn't have a chance with Mike Bruesewitz or Trent Lockett, but he could have done more with Sam Dower. With a post player still needed, we'll see if Tubby ends up regretting that move.

NY2LA Sports comments on local players

NY2LA Sports released comments on a few players this week. Their article includes comments on Rodney Williams, Billy Giddings (Blaine), Cole Stefan and Nick Latzke (Minnetonka) along with a couple of Wisconsin players that I saw last season and one of the sons of the best player ever. The entire article can be read here.

It also mentions the 2008 Full Court Fall Showcase camp that will be held at Minnetonka on Oct 11 and 12th. This is put on by Net Gain Sports. More info can be found on the Net Gain Sports website.

The article mentions Tyler Brown and Brett Meinecke from Wisconsin. Brown plays in the shadow of 2010 star Evan Anderson (committed to Wisconsin, ranked #37 Rivals.com, #17 Scout.com, #24 ESPN), but he's the best scorer on his Eau Claire North team. Can play inside and has the ability to step all the way out to the 3 point line and make shots. Nice pickup for Central Michigan. I'll get another chance to see him play December 2nd for their big game at the Swamp vs La Crosse Logan and one of Wisconsin's top 2011 prospects, Trevor Jorgenson (offered by UW-Milwaukee). Its a matchup of some of the best big guys in Wisconsin.

Meinecke is also in the shadow of another star Kameron Cerroni (26.5 PPG last year as a sophomore, committed to UWGB). He's part of a young and small Sussex Hamilton squad that is building to be very dangerous in 2009-2010. He's a small guard but can shoot it. A nice compliment. He struggled with injuries this summer. They play De La Salle in the Border Battle in Owatonna on Saturday January 24th, 2009 in a compelling matchup.

Giddings has sufficient physical tools. Playing without the ball and his defense are areas he continues to work on. But he can definitely score.

Latzke is a lot like his older brother Andrew who played for the Skippers this last year. Another sweet shooting lefty who will be a big contributor down the road.

And what more needs to be said about Cole Stefan. His stock continues to rise and with a full year to shine now that all of the Tonka seniors are gone, expect him to have a monster year.

Gopher Hole talks recruiting with Rodney Williams

After his mom talked recruiting with the Star Tribune yesterday, Rodney Williams Jr talked to Gopher Hole about his recruitment today. Some highlights.

• While he's cleared by the NCAA, he still has to retake the ACT and get a higher score than his previous score.
• The U of M is the front runner to get him, but he'll still visit Santa Clara.
• Wisconsin quit calling him. (OK that's not news, but being a Wisconsin guy I'm compelled to mention it)
  

Everybody has been saying he's fine academically, but the news that he still has to get a better score on the ACT is big. Shouldn't be an issue, but it changes the previous perception that his academic issues were just about his grades. Wisconsin probably quit calling him because they're out of scholarships, but ultimately Bo Ryan succeeds with players that are well-rounded and maybe not the most athletic. He's done a terrific job of getting guys to fit his scheme. Williams isn't as well-rounded as guys like a Joe Krabbenhoft so I think that the Badger system wouldn't have been a good fit for his skills. Unlike Minnesota where he's definitely a fit with Tubby's system. Obviously the U of M is the front runner but Santa Clara has a recruiter (Raymond Cowles) on their roster too. Therefore, there it would be understandable if he went there. But since I think this is ultimately about basketball and not academics, I'll be shocked if he ends up anywhere but Minnesota.

Read the entire Gopher Hole interview here.

NY2LA Sports names MN Stars to midwest top 5

NY2LA Sports named their top 100 players in the midwest region this week. Royce White and Rodney Williams come in at 2 and 3 in that list. Wisconsin players Jamil Wilson and Jeronne Maymon come in at 1 and 4 in the list. Read the NY2LA Sports Midwest top 5 with comments on each player here.

I saw the top 4 kids play in person last season so here's how I'd rank them.

1. White, hands down, due to his polished offensive game.
   
2. Maymon, due to versatility. He's a horse inside, but can handle too. 30 points, 14.6 rebounds, 4.7 blocks, 3.7 steals and 3 assists averages during the Wisconsin state tournament don't lie.
   
3. Williams, due to athleticism. A highlight reel waiting to happen every time he plays.
   
4. Wilson, he didn't impress when I saw him during last year's WBY Shootout.

The concern with White and Maymon is what to do with them at the next level as they are classic tweeners. Neither one is a true power forward and neither has the athleticism of a top small forward. Williams and Wilson do project as wing players at the next level and have the athleticism and skills to play there.

ESPN releases end of summer 2009 top 100

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 releases end of summer 2009 Top 100

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, up 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.

Why Rodney Williams Ranking Fell

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 releases end of summer top 150

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.

Final results from Rockford and the stars in Portland

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.