Words. HShoop

A quick look at what’s going on in the world of high school hoop …

- 6-8 SF Chris Singleton (Dunwoody; Dunwoody, Ga.) narrowed his list to Kentucky and Florida State. Singleton visited Lexington for their Midnight Madness, which fell on the same weekend that the Wildcats football squad upset then-No. 1 ranked LSU in triple OT.

- 6-2 G Tyshawn Taylor (St. Anthony’s; Jersey City, N.J.) recapped his visit to Marquette this weekend with Todd Rosiak of the Golden Eagles Blog. With 6-4 G Iman Shumpert (Oak Park River Forest; Oak Park, Ill.) choosing Georgia Tech over MU, Taylor is seen as a high priority and a capable replacement for possible NBA-defector junior guard Dominic James. “If Dominic (James) leaves, that’s a spot I could walk right into almost,�? said Taylor. “Maurice (Acker), I think me and him could play together because he can shoot it real well. I think we could play together, and I should be OK.�?

- 6-0 PG Terrell Holloway (Harmony Christian; Cincinnati, OH) is the fourth ’08 commit to the Hoosiers and the probable replacement for recruit 6-3 PG Bud Mackey (Scott County Senior HS; Georgetown, Ky.) who has found himself in some serious legal trouble after committing to IU.

- UConn-bound 6-0 PG Kemba Walker (Rice; New York, N.Y.) led the city’s No-1 ranked Rice squad in the Fall Ball at Kennedy match-up over No. 8 Don Bosco with 25 points. Walker and Rice will face 6-8 F Quintrell Thomas and St. Patty’s (Elizabeth, N.J.) in the semi’s tomorrow night at 7 PM.

Words. HShoop

A quick look at what’s going on the world of high school hoop …

- After last week’s visit to West Virginia, 6-7 F Kevin Jones (Mount Vernon; Mount Vernon, N.Y.) will make his second-to-last stop this weekend at UMass. Pittsburgh will be the final destination on Jones’ tour, but don’t discount the Minutemen. Kevin’s older brother Gerard attended the school during the mid-90’s and is tight with Marcus Camby and Lou Roe.

- Tubby Smith solidified a monstrous frontcourt with a commitment from 6-11 C Ralph Sampson III (Northview; Duluth, Ga.) last night. Sampson III will play alongside 6-10 PF Colton Iverson (Yankton; Yankton, S.D.) much in the same “twin tower” mentality that his father Ralph Jr. alongside Hakeem Olajuwon on the Rockets. Smith endured criticism at Kentucky for failing to lure top recruits to Lexington, but has made a statement with the acquisition of these two talented bigs at Minnesota.

- An awesome snippet from the Purdue student newspaper earlier this week: The Exponent pleads with 6-11 F/C Tyler Zeller (Washington; Washington, Ind.) to become a Boilermaker. “This is a cry that many people have shared over the recent months. I share that cry with them.”

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Kemba Walker is on the rise. The senior PG at Rice High School in Harlem, N.Y., has been on fire in ’07 — he led Rice to a state championship in the spring, then over the summer led his New York Gauchos AAU squad to five tournament ‘chips and starred at several camps. Not to mention, Kemba did his thing at Rucker Park and landed on the cover of this month’s issue of Bounce Magazine for his playground efforts. We got up with Kemba recently in Rice’s gym where he talked about his rise to stardom.

Words. HShoop

A look at what’s going on in the world of high school basketball…

- Mount Vernon (New York) senior PF/SF Kevin Jones enjoyed his visit to West Virginia and plans to make a decision sometime in November. Indiana, Pitt, UMass and Ohio State are among the other schools high on KJ’s list.

- The crew over at Bounce Magazine got word that St. Anthony’s (NJ) guard Tyshawn Taylor will visit Marquette this weekend. Kansas and Virginia Tech have also been in Jersey City checking for Tyshawn and backcourt mate Dominic Cheek.

- Baychester Community Center (1220 E. 229th St., Bronx, NY) is hosting a huge NYC hoop event this weekend: Jim Couch Reunion Fall Games, which features some of the area’s top high school talent. The rosters:

New York All-Stars 6-0 PG Kemba Walker (2008, Rice; Harlem) 6-3 G/F Omari Lawrence (2009, St. Raymond’s; Bronx) 6-1 G Daryl “Truck�? Bryant (2008, St. Raymond’s; Bronx) 6-3 SG Sherrod Wright (2009, Mount Vernon; Mount Vernon) 6-6 SF Kevin Parrom (2009, St. Raymond’s; Bronx) 6-4 G Durand Scott (2009, Rice; Harlem)

Metro All-Stars 6-5 G/F Patrick Jackson (2008, Boys & Girls; Brooklyn) 6-6 F Mookie Jones (2008, Peekskill) 6-9 PF Bilal Dixon (2008, Queen of Peace; North Arlington, NJ) 6-5 G/F Matt Wafula (2008, St. Agnes; New York, NY) 6-6 SF Tobias Harris (2010, Dix Hills; Long Island)

And there a few serious surprises in store…

Words. HShoop

Ed Davis at the LeBron James Skills Academy (Photo. Kelly Kline)

A look at what’s going on in the world of high school basketball…

- Midnight Madness has even high school kids going crazy. South Oak Cliff H.S. in Dallas will host its annual “Evening Madness” at 6 p.m. today. 6-9 center J’Mison Morgan, a highly-regarded prospect, will be on display during the dunk contest and the Gold-White scrimmage. We presume he’ll sit out the 3-point competition.

- “Get to Know Your Gopher Recruit,” courtesy of U of Minnesota blog Gopher Nation, probes stud ’08 signee Colton Iverson, a 6-9 forward from South Dakota. Colton enjoys bonfires, golfing and diving for loose balls.

- Big East Basketball Report‘s Brian Crownover runs through a detailed report on the big names who battled at Nike’s I.S. 8 playoffs in New York last week. Samardo Samuels, Ed Davis and Erving Walker were among those going to work.

- ’Reke Watch! Tyreke Evans hopes to make his decision before the season starts in late November. Before opening the final envelope, Tyreke will see Texas on November 2nd and Memphis around the middle of the month. The Tigers seem to be gaining ground, although Evans isn’t openly favoring any of the remaining five schools. “Villanova and Louisville are still high on my list. But I also liked Seton Hall a lot when I visited there,” noted Tyreke. “I like the school and I like what they’re doing there.”

- Nate Miles, a 6-7 guard out of Toledo, Ohio, will spend a few months at The Patterson School (Patterson, NC) alongside Arkansas commit 5-11 PG Courtney Forston in order to improve his test scores and grades so that he can join the UConn Huskies after first semester.

Words. HShoop

A quick look at what’s going on in the world of high school basketball…

- The saga of 6-10 PF/C DeMarcus Cousins has a new chapter. He was dismissed from Erwin H.S. (Birmingham, AL) after two years and transferred to Clay-Chalkville where he, Christian Watford and Josh Pritchett were declared ineligible by the Alabama High School Athletic Association. Now, Cousins has made a new home at LeFlore High School (Mobile, AL). We presume this transfer will be clean and Cousins will be allowed to team up with Marquette-bound 6-5 SG Nick Williams on one of the best teams in the state.

- The Buckeyes are steamrolling through the class of 2010, picking up a fourth commitment this weekend. 6-4 G Cameron Wright (Benedictine; Cleveland, OH) averaged 15 points, 6.5 boards and 5.7 assists as a freshman and has a passion for the game.

- Thought that it was big news when the ’Hoos locked up New York product, 6-6 Sylven Landesberg (Holy Cross; Queens, NY) despite serious pressure from St. John’s? Well Virginia followed it up by nabbing another metro New York area kid from under UConn’s nose. 7-0 C Assane Sene (South Kent School; South Kent, CT) chose UVA over the Huskies, Syracuse and UCLA – traditional programs that have a history of luring talented kids from the greater New York area. Sene hails from Senegal where he learned to play ball. He came to the U.S. last year.

- 6-8 F Quintrell Thomas (St. Patrick’s; Elizabeth, NJ) is officially off the board, opting for Kansas over UNLV and Rutgers. Patty’s coach Kevin Boyle told Adam Zagoria (ZagsBlog) that Thomas was motivated by the opportunity to challenge for a spot. “I think he wants a challenge of going to one of the three biggest schools in the history of college basketball,�? said Boyle. “A lot of frontcourt players are leaving, so he has the chance to play as a freshman.�? The validity of that statement depends largely on whether Marcus and Markieff Morris decide to go to KU or Villanova.