Bruin Recruiting: Prep News Roundup (8/27)

By Bruin Basketball Report

Prep News Roundup is published every Monday.

Commits

Assuming everything turns out as expected, Demar DeRozan and Jrue Holiday will square off in the 2008-2009 season. I'd fully expect Holiday to guard DeRozan, since Holiday will likely guard the top perimeter threat on the opposing team. However, I'm not so sure DeRozan would guard Holiday. One of DeRozan's deficiencies at this point is his defense. He will probably be more suited to guarding a small forward at the start of his college career. But with the likelihood of USC playing a smaller, guard-oriented lineup, DeRozan just might find himself head to head with Holiday. Rivals 8/24

Elite 24 Hoops Classic: On Friday, Stone will do it again. He'll assemble 24 of this year's top high school players on the steps of a stoop off Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Lance Stephenson, Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, Luke Babbitt (four out of the five Dime magazine "Dream Team" members), Devin Ebanks, John Riek, B.J. Mullens, Renardo Sidney, Brandon Jennings and more. They're here to play against each other one day and one day only, Friday night. Untouched by shoe companies and college coaches, unprotected by the AAU and the NCAA. Together for the game, not stardom or fame. Together because basketball, not the NBA, is in their DNA. ESPN 8/25

ELITE 24 Hoops Classic: The UCLA-bound Jrue Holiday chipped in 24 points and a team-high four assists. “The top 24 came in here and put on a
show,” said Holiday. “Yesterday in practice, the game wasn’t like that.
In Rucker, everybody stepped up. It showed that the West Coast is just
as good as the East Coast. I thought I could have done better. I know
it was my first time out there, but if I got another chance, I think
I’d do a whole lot better." RISE 8/25

ELITE 24 Hoops Classic: Brandon Jennings and Jrue Holiday did the same thing. It was Arizona vs. UCLA out
there. The Wildcat would rise up with the leg-kick from deep and bury a
pair, then come down and hook Demar DeRozan up with a lob out of
nowhere. Holiday would get by Jennings no problem and then meet the
traffic with a change of gear and some english on the lay-in that was
elementary for him but dreamed about by those in the crowd eating
sausage and peppers. CSTV 8/25

ELITE 24 Hoops Classic:
Not much defense going on, as the White team beat the Orange team 169-164. Seriously, they hit 80 before halftime....Brandon Jennings (19 pts, 23 asts) is worth the price of admission alone; Lance Stephenson (38 pts) has LeBron-like potential as a powerhouse wing, and his jumper might be better; Jrue Holiday (24 pts) is gonna keep UCLA in the title picture even if Kevin Love isn’t around to do it with him.  Fox Sports 8/25

Jerime Anderson, 6-2 point guard, Canyon (CA): The future UCLA Bruin is a solid, if mostly unspectacular true point who excels at doing the little things. Quicker and more athletic than he first appears, Anderson is a more than competent setup man, a determined defender and uses his strength and savvy to get by defenders. SLAM 8/24

Jrue Holiday, 6-4 combo guard, Campbell Hall (CA): Arguably the best all-around perimeter player in the nation, Holiday’s understanding of the game, lockdown D and willingness to give all-out effort every time on the court made him stand out from the crowd. Headed to UCLA with his AAU teammate Anderson, Holiday showed the ability to dominate the action as a defender, playmaker and scorer. SLAM 8/24

Adding to the concern is the fact that many coaches, parents and young athletes themselves don't appreciate the dangers. "Everybody thinks a concussion is just about your head hurting," said
Archbishop Mitty basketball star Drew Gordon, who was plagued by them
in his middle-school years. "Until you experience a serious one, you
don't get the true meaning of a concussion." San Jose Mercury News 8/26

 

Recruits
Kansas University recruiting target J’Mison Morgan has sliced his list of schools to six. Morgan, a 6-foot-10, 275-pound senior out of Dallas’ South Oak Cliff
High, tells Rivals.com he will attend either Kansas, Kentucky, Alabama,
LSU, UCLA or Louisville. Lawrence Journal World 8/21

How good was the talent at the Advanced skills camp? I have heard that if the Cats could land the five best 2009 players at the camp there 2009 class would exceed expectations. Siva, Gaddy along with Hollis Thompson, David Wear and Travis Wear would give them a lot of talent and athleticism. Sports Washington 8/22

Ralph Sampson III, the outstanding 6-11 center from Duluth (Ga.) Northview, will make an official visit to the Gophers campus on Sept. 7. He already had a non-official visit in May.  MN Star Tribune 8/22

Renardo Sidney, who is rated the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2009 by RISE, will be transferring to Fairfax (Los Angeles, Calif.) from Artesia (Lakewood, Calif.) for his junior year, according to his father, Renardo Sr.
Sidney's father shared the news with RISE at Thursday afternoon's practice for this year's Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic. This will be third school in as many years for the power forward, who spent his freshman year at Piney Woods (Piney Woods, Miss.). RISE Magazine 8/23

Two of the top prospects in the country, Renardo Sidney and Derrick Favors have contrasting styles despite their similar size. Both prospects are 6 feet 9. When Sidney is in shape, he weighs about 225 pounds, about five pounds heavier than Favors. One of the main issues with Sidney is the way his weight fluctuates. When Rivals.com watched him early in the spring in Arkansas, he was down around 225 pounds and looked great. When we saw him at the end of July in Las Vegas, he was around 240 pounds - and it wasn't good weight. Rivals 8/24