Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The article is really very cool. It speaks of Daniel's statement to his dad at 5 years old while living in Washington, DC after seeing the Harlem Globetrotters play of how one day he too wanted to play for the historically Black basketball team. Fairly prophetic, as we now see his accomplishments on the court being realized in a big way.
Above: With LeBron James, and Below: With Vince Carter
A month later in July, on center court in the Adidas Super 64 Tournament in Las Vegas, (against Derrick Favors one of the top recruits in 2009 )Daniel hit 7 three pointers running with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors vs. the Atlanta Celtics. This caused him to be a HOT commodity and his recruitment shot through the roof on the National Scene. All the big boys came calling including Arizona and Marquette. Texas never seriously recruited Daniel. Baylor did, but the Alexander Clan fell in love with the whole A&M experience. They'll also be able to make regular trips to see their son play which is a real plus.Overall, Daniel had a disappointing summer because of his nagging injuries. His back kept driving him crazy. There were glimpses of superior play though as he had a great game in the Texas D-1 Ambassadors Championship win vs. Georgia Blazers in Jeff Schneider's Atlantic Slam Tournament in Myrtle Beach, SC. Daniel is sometimes criticized for not being "tough enough" because he's a big guy who excels on the perimeter. Make no mistake about it though...He is TOUGH. After coaxing and prodding him all summer his "sore back" was finally diagnosed as a cracked vertebrae!
He's rehabbed now and ready to lead Dripping Springs into the 4A playoffs. Daniel is a great player, but he's even more outstanding as a person and as a team mate. He truly has been an Ambassador in every sense of the word for our basketball program. Daniel, welcome to the Texas D-1 Ambassadors Hall of Fame and best of luck on the next level!
Coach Max & The D-1 Ambassadors Family.
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Below: 2008 ESPN Rise Cover Boy 6'10" Cory Jefferson, Texas D-1 Ambassadors and Killeen High alum is now a freshman at Baylor University. He texted me a week ago, and all is going well. He's putting on weight and developing his offensive game. Baylor Assistant Mark Moorefield says, "Cory's like a sponge". Everyday he gets better and gives a 100% on the court and in the class room. Seems like just yesterday that Cory was a gangly 8th grader who could barely run up and down the court. Look at him now! Cory is the son of Ms Fancy Pace of Killeen, TX.
Below: Former Texas D-1 Ambassador and San Antonio Madison player 2007 6'8" Carlton Scott is now doing his thing at one of the Nation's most prestigious institutions, The Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Carlton battled various injuries throughout his career but has showed remarkable perseverence. Look for him to get big minutes this year in the rough and tumble Big East Conference. Carlton is the son of Mike & Cherita Scott of San Antonio, TX
Best of luck to all of these guys as they represent Central/South Texas at the highest level....Coach MaxSunday, October 25, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
D.J. Stephens shown with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors, doing what he does best. Throwing it down!
Monday, October 19, 2009
In one year, it's come to this. Last week we had 14 of Austin area's (along with a couple of San Antonio teams) top programs in our Inaugural Texas Super Showcase. It gave me a chance to see many of the area's top guys as they head into the 2009-2010 school season. I interviewed several high school coaches and several of their key players. These videos will be posted soon. 
Like most folks with the best of intentions, I sometimes get overwhelmed. There are plans in the works for a class by class ranking of players (both boys and girls) as well as a basketball magazine which will provide info about various high school programs in the Austin-San Antonio area. Player spotlights will be done, with every college in the country receiving a copy of this resource/media guide of the area's big time ballers. There will also be an opportunity to allow parents to purchase an ad/shout out to their son or daughter.Sunday, October 18, 2009
2010 P 6'9" Gus Leeper of Austin Westlake, shown here playing for the Texas D-1 Ambassadors has committed to play for the University of Arkansas-Little Rock.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
There was a nice crowd for Friday evening's UT-San Antonio's Annual Roadrunner Ruckus. The crowd was treated to player introductions, a video of last season's highlights, a slam dunk contest (won by Freshman Melvin Johnson III) and a three point contest where the Lady Roadrunners trio (led by Round Rock McNeil's "Downtown" Amber Gregg) smoked the Men. The highlight of the night though was the dance off between the two teams. The kids did a great job. What a life, to be a college student and athlete!
The Lady Roadrunners celebrated their 2nd consecutive Southland Conference title last year, narrowly losing in double OT to powerhouse Baylor in the NCAA Tournament.
The Men's team fell short in the championship game of the Southland Tourny to Stephen F Austin last spring, but according to ESPN return one of the most experienced teams in the country with 8 seniors. They'll be led by the NCAA Steals Leader, Junior G Devin Gibson clearly the best backcourt player in the the SLC and a future pro. Even more impressive is that Gibson is on pace to graduate a year early, this coming spring with a degree in Information Systems!
Below: Men's Head Coach Brooks Thompson strikes what might be his most relaxed pose of the year as he watches the festivities unfold.
Pflugerville Connally's Jr G Chip Ivany, and Round Rock McNeil's Amber Gregg pose for Texas Basketball Inc. They have been friends now since they played in the 7th grade.
The joys of a parent, enjoying their child's productive life unfold before their eyes. Am I really that short? lol
I sat next to Mr. and Mrs Tommy (Speedy) Gregg during the Ruckus. Coach Gregg, along with Fonzell Martin runs the Austin Elite girls program. Basketball aside we are both tickled that our kids will be working on their Master's degrees. Chip in his 5th year because of his redshirt transfer year from South Alabama, and Amber a year early becaise of accelerated summer school attendance. Great job with basketball in the community Tommy, and with raising a fine daughter!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Below: NCAA Steals Leader, Junior Guard Devin Gibson of Houston, TX and Senior P 6'10" Richie Frohlich of Germany lead the UT-San Antonio Roadrunners in what they hope will be an NCAA Tournament berth.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
In addition to the kids who excelled and made the 1st and 2nd team All Tourny selections there were many additional standouts. Any one of these had the potential of cracking the top 12 performers in the tournament but for some reason or another they didn't make the cut. This is not to say that some of them may not be even better prospects than others I ranked ahead of them based on last weekend's selections. They are in no particular order, just brief evaluations and a shout out.
Below: 2011 SG Austin Birch of Austin St. Michael's. Can shoot the ball with the best of them.
Below: 2012 P 6'6" Drew Wikelius of Austin Westlake continues to be one of the area's most intriguing prospects. He looks like he'll grow several more inches. He's had two successive summers of nagging injuries, perhaps stunting his athleticism somewhat but his fundamentals and footwork are sound. Could be a dark horse role player who determines how far Westlake advances.
Below: 2011 G 6'2" Branden Golden of Austin Reagan showed a nice mid range touch and got to the hole most any time he wanted.
2011 G 6'1" Hagen Fell is another Austin Westlake player who befell to injuries last year. He's a high level athlet and if he plays under control and does a good job of taking care of the ball he may be able to spell star PG Cody Doolin from time to time.
2011 G Alex Parrish of Austin Reagan is beginning to assert himself as a guy you just can't leave open at the three point line.
2010 W 6'6" Conner Kemper of Austin Westlake was just a hair away from the All Tourny team. He has a deadly perimeter shot and is starting to be a more aggressive inside presence on the boards. With P Gus Leeper on the frontside as a shotblocker, Kemper is more than capable of cleaning up backside rebounds along with Carl Meyertons.
2010 G 6'0" Max Harford of New Braunfels is a tough nut. He's solid defensively, is built like a linebacker, defends hard and does a lot of little things well. A great guy to have on your team.
Below: 2011 W Royce O'Neale of Harker Heights has a nice stroke from the outside. He's long, and rebounds well. He'll be in the post for a smallish Harker Heights team. That hasn't been a problem as witnessed by last year's HH undersized post, D.J. Stephens who landed a scholarship with the Memphis Tigers.
Below: 2011 WG Malcolm Canada of Austin Akins brings full effort, and a hard driving game every time he steps on the court. He's physical and goes to the rim with abandon.
2011 G 6'2" Jake Kocher of Austin St. Michael's can score with the best of them. Aside from San Antonio Lee's Paul Garnica he was the 2nd leading scorer at the Texas Super Showcase. He's put on muscle and has an ever improving repertoire of ways to get to the basket and score. Now, once he puts a similar premium on defense he could be home free.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Above & Below: Austin Westlake's Cody Doolin did everything a leader needed to do in spearheading his squad to a 4-0 record. He scores when needed, penetrates and dishes to the open man, and simply competes every minute he's on the floor like it's his last time to ever play the game. Westlake has a legitmate opportunity to be the first 5A team from Austin to get to The Drum in a long, long time.
Below: WG Demetris "Cleveland" Smith could easily have been the MVP. I would have given him the nod if Pflugerville had beaten Westlake in the final. He's a bundle of energy, has great range on his shot, has much improved handles and finishes strong at the rim. On top of that he rebounds like a demon.
Below: It was 2010 PG Paul Garnica and the 7 Dwarfs, otherwise known as the San Antonio Lee Rebels as the took on Austin Lake Travis in the opening game. Paul was up to his old tricks right out of the gate as he gave the most scintillating individual performance of the day when he dropped 50 points on Austin Lake Travis which has a pretty fair defensive ethic. Garnica is an unconscious scorer who also loves to drop a pretty dime. He has a shot at breaking NBA player Devin Brown's career scoring record for the City of San Antonio this season. I predict he will do it.
Below: The Baby Faced Assassin, 2011 G Deon Mitchell of Pflugerville showed his silky smooth offensive game in leading the Panthers to the Championship game. He's a deadeye three point shooter who gets to the rim whenever he wants, drawing contact and finishing with either hand. Mitchell is big time, already attracting Big East, Big XII and PAC 10 interest.
Below" 2010 P Gus Leeper ofAustin Westlake is almost unrecognizable compared to last spring. His strength and agility has improved by leaps and bounds and he's now becoming sure of himself on the offensive end of the court. He's an above average shot blocker and takes up a lot of space in the paint. Gus visits the Sunbelt's University of Arkansas-Little Rock on Thursday. They've already offered and my gut feeling after visiting with Gus and his Pops, Rick is that they will accept sooner rather than later. Gus can hardly contain himself when he talks about the chance to be coached and developed under Assistant Coach Joe Kleine who starred for the Arkansas Razorbacks and had a long career in the NBA. Stay tuned.
Above: 2010 6'4" Combo Guard Jonathan Perry will once again lead Kerrville Tivy. A two time All Region player Perry has put on muscle and increased his footspeed, both of which will land him a D-1 scholarship before all is said and done.
Above: The sky is the limit for 2011 6'0" Combo Guard Robert Lee of Austin LBJ. He has great defensive intensity, superior hops and quickness . This allowed him to get to the goal at will at the Texas Showcase.2010 P 6'5" Carl Meyertons of Austin Westlake played outstanding all weekend long. He's one of those guys who when the game ends has a quiet 8 pts and 10 rebounds. Quiet and efficient, Meyertons will likely join Lake Travis' David Eads at M.I.T. He visits there next week. A true scholar-athlete, he can be the darkhorse that fills in the blanks in Westlake's pursuit of getting to State.
2010 P 6'4" Cornelious Cammock of Austin Reagan is a big body who had as good a low post footwork as anyone at the Showcase. He turns strong to the hole and finishes with and one power. He competed hard all day and unfortunately had to check out early as he caught an errant elbow and lost a tooth.
2011 WG 6'5" Jalel Williams of Killeen Ellison lived up to his advance billing. Returning to Ellison for his junior year (after a year attending hs in Federal Way, WA ) Williams was able to get to the rim at will and once there was relentless on the boards keeping balls alive and getting putbacks. He's a big time guard prospect.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Austin Westlake goes 4-0 to win the Inauguaral 2009 Fall Texas Super Showcase on Sunday at Austin LBJ's High School. The Chaps confirmed my early season prediction that they are the team to beat in the Austin area. Along the way they topped Austin High, Austin Reagan, San Antonio Lee and finally beat Pflugerville 74-64 in the Championship.
Westlake will go as far as the Senior D-1 Triplets will take them. 6'2" PG Cody Doolin is the straw that stirs the drink. The University of San Francisco commit is a deadly, deep shooter who can finish in traffic at the rim. 6'9"P Gus Leeper who visits Arkansas-Little Rock on Thursday is a different player this year. Physically he's stronger, mentally he's confident and his agility and skill level has shown dramatic strides. You read it here first, that I fully expect Leeper to commit to the Sun Belt school in the next several days, once he concludes his visit. 6'6" swingman Conner Kemper is a great catch and shoot guy who causes plenty of mismatches on the wing. His improved ballhandling and quickness along with superior grades have him on the radar of Yale, Northeastern and locally with Texas State and Stephen F Austin.Perhaps the biggest thing to come out of this weekend's championship was getting their District 28-5A foe off their back. In a rare win over a talented Pflugerville team in the final, the Chaps may have gotten a psychological monkey off their backs. Pflugerville has won 7 district championships in a row to this point. Ding dong, the witch is dead? Well, she is for a day. We'll see how it plays out during what should be a great district race.
Friday, October 9, 2009
All American Prodigy Camp/High Academic Camp Evaluations Class of 2013
0 comments Posted by ua bageur at 4:50 PMThe Class of 2013 in attendance at the 2009 Fall All American Prodigy Camp was guard heavy. Several outstanding prospects were on hand as well as other hopefuls who showed promise but will continue to work to make their next level dreams come true.
#38 2013 G 5'7" T.J. Williams of Pflugerville continues to show loads of potential. Although still on the smallish side, his skill set and court vision are superior. At most other high schools he'd play varsity as a frosh (don't be surprised to see Pflugerville Coach Mike Murphy move him up after the New Year) but The Ville has a bevy of talented guards, led by 2011 Deon Mitchell. Williams time will come and Mike Murphy has another D-1 prospect waiting in the wings at the point in the youngster. Williams is already starting to receive questionnaire's from the big boys, Southern Cal in the Pac-10 among them. He can handle the ball with either hand, and has an above average shot. We'll watch his physical growth as time goes along.
#43 2013 G 5'11" Dapo Igunfeitimi of San Antonio O'Connor was a pleasant surprise. He's a very explosive athlete and already has a powerful physique. He hustled non stop during camp, and was very aggressive going to the rim. He was not afraid to compete with anyobody. He has a strong left, but needs to work on his right, while not being singleminded about only getting to the rim. I'm not sure how much he'll grow so improved court vision will be imperative.
#66 2013 WG 6'0" Chris Rogers of Pflugerville is an athletic, strong player. He seemed to be more comfortable in the post, as he showed good footwork and moves down there. Not sure if that's where his future is though, so he'll need to retool his game to be a power guard.
#47 2013 G 5'6" De'Andre Carson may be just what the doctor ordered for Kyle Lehman High, as the young school has not had much basketball history. Carson is a solid ballhandler with a good shot. He's got a good body and is open to instruction. That's always a good sign for a young player.
#26 Nick Mata of Austin St. Michael's showed a deft shooting touch. I especially liked his step back move, allowing him to create space to get his shot off against taller players. Had good court vision as well. A hustling, crafty player.
#41 2013 W 6'3" Rowdy Winters will hit the hardwood this fall for Kerrville Tivy. Although he's got a long way to go to replicate what All Region Player 2010 Jonathan Perry has done for the Antlers, he may possibly end up with 4 varsity letters when he leaves Tivy. He's got a solid first step and decent handles along with a good mid range face up game. His back to the basket footwork is also solid. Improvement in his defensive quickness is needed.
#23 2013 W 6'1" Sled Allen of Austin St. Michael's needs to be a little more aggressive. He's got good size for a frosh but needs to grow into his body and work on improving his face up skill set. Appears to be a hard worker who will improve under Coach Mackey Smith.
#25 2013 G 5'7" Ian Kocher of Austin St. Michael's is showing quick improvement from the first time I saw him. He has decent handles, and a better than adequate shot. I liked his aggressiveness to the rim. Now he just needs to grow a little.
#51 2013 G 6'0" Hunter Patterson of Kerrville Tivy showed very nice court vision, spotted the open man and showed a nice first step. He needs to work on strength, finishing at the rim and an improved left hand.
#37 2013 F Alex Pylypec of Austin St. Michael's is a wide body who rebounds the ball well. He's not afraid to to the dirty work down low. He needs to work on his footwork and quickness.
