SoCalHoops Recruiting News

USA Basketball Youth Development
Festival Begins Today--(June 14, 2001)

	What:	USA Basketball's Youth Development Festival
	When:	June 14-18,  2001
	Where:	Colorado Springs, Colorado
	Who:	23 SoCal Top HS Teams

Head Coach: Mike Johnson, Bellingham AAU (Bellingham, WA)
Assistant Coach: Troy Berry, Lincoln High School / Portland Elite Legends AAU (Portland, OR)

USA Basketball has a very nice website, and no doubt they will post results from the Festival, as they have done in prior years.  The rest of the rosters can be found at the  official site (or below).  Here's the press release describing the games, the format, schedule and some of the distinguished former players who have attended this annual beginning of summer event.

Forty-Three of Nation's Top Prepsters to Participate in Fourth Annual Event--

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 7, 2001) - Thirty-one of the top 50 rising high school seniors, including 19 of the top 30, as ranked by Bob Gibbons' All-Star Report have accepted invitations to participate in the 4th Annual USA Basketball Youth Development Festival that will be held June 14-18 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Four regional 12-man teams representing the North, South, East and West will square off in three games of round-robin preliminary play before being seeded and competing in the Festival's semifinals and medal round. Players and coaches for each regional team were selected by the USA Basketball Men's and Cadet and Youth Committee.

The Youth Development Festival will give participants exposure to USA Basketball and international basketball rules, and an opportunity to go head-to-head with some of the best prep players in the country. The USA Basketball entry-level event will also combine off-court seminars on topics such as competitive opportunities with USA Basketball, drug education, gambling awareness and media training, with practice sessions and the aforementioned four-team, five game tournament.

The Festival opens on Thursday, June 14 with player orientation at 4 p.m., followed by a practice session at 5:30 p.m. (all times are MDT). Practice continues on Friday, June 15, with the first game sessions beginning at 7 p.m. and continuing on Saturday, June 16, at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Semifinals are scheduled for Sunday, June 17, at 11 a.m., with the gold and bronze medal games that evening at 5 p.m. The 2001 Youth Development Festival bronze and gold medal games are open to the public free of charge.

Selected to play for the North Team were: Greg Brunner (Charles City / Charles City, Iowa); Kendall Chones (Orange / Pepper Pike, Ohio); Rick Cornett (Homewood Christian / Homewood, Ill.); Paul Davis (Rochester / Rochester, Mich.); Sean Dockery (Julian / Chicago, Ill.); Jeff Horner (Mason City / Mason City, Iowa); Sean May (Bloomington North / Bloomington, Ind.); Anthony Roberson (Saginaw / Saginaw, Mich.); Michael Thompson (Providence Catholic / New Lenox, Ill.); Matthew Trannon (Northern High / Flint, Mich.); and Marcus White (Whitney M. Young / Chicago, Ill.).

South Team players include: Kelenna Azubuike (Victory Christian / Tulsa, Okla.); Kevin Bookout (Stroud / Stroud, Okla.); Raymond Felton (Latta / Latta, S.C.); Bryan Hopkins (Lincoln / Dallas, TX); Antonio Lawrence (Andrew Jackson / Jacksonville, Fla.); Jonathan Modica (Smackover / Smackover, Ark.); Deron Williams (The Colony / The Colony, Texas); Shelden Williams (Midwest City / Midwest City, Okla.); Major Wingate (Wilson / Florence, S.C.); and Bracey Wright (The Colony / The Colony, Texas).

Representing the East will be: Carmelo Anthony (Towson Catholic / Towson, Md.); Grant Billmeier (St. Patrick / Elizabeth, N.J.); Mario Boggan (Oakhill Academy / Mouth of Wilson, Va.); Taquan Dean (Neptune / Neptune, N.J.); Torin Francis (Tabor Academy / Roslindale, Mass.); John Gilchrist (Salem / Virginia Beach, Va.); Matt Gorman (Watertown / Watertown, N.Y.); Elijah Ingram (St. Athony / Jersey City, N.J.); Jarrett Jack (Mt. Zion Christian / Durham, N.C.); Rashad McCants (New Hampton / New Hampton, N.H.); J.J. Redick (Cave Spring / Roanoke, Va.); and Darian Townes (T.C. Williams / Alexandria, Va.).

Players for the West include: Hassan Adams (Westchester / Los Angeles, Calif.); DeAngelo Collins (Inglewood / Inglewood, Calif.); Bryan Freeny (Mesquite / Gilbert, Ariz.); Samir Hernandez (Dominguez / Compton, Calif.); Keion Kindred (Dominguez / Compton, Calif.); Brandon Lincoln (Jefferson / Portland, Ore.); Sean Mallon (Ferris / Spokane, Wash.); Kelly Orchard (Bountiful / Bountiful, Utah); Chris Rodgers (Wilson / Portland, Ore.); and Brandon Worthy (Archbishop Mitty / San Jose, Calif.).

This year's roster boasts of players from 22 states, 40 were high school juniors in 2000-2001 and three were sophomores. Thirty-one of the participants were named to the top 100 of the class of 2002 by The Recruiter's Handbook, nine earned All-American honors from Parade Magazine or The Sporting News, two earned Gatorade state player of the year honors (Redick and S. Williams) and two earned USA Today state player of the year honors (Felton and S. Williams).

Returning for their second Festival are Azubuike, Horner, McCants and Redick. Horner averaged 4.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and ranked second in Festival participants with 2.0 steals per game while helping the North team to the gold medal. Azubuike averaged 1.0 point and 3.8 rebounds in his five games while McCants shot a Festival best 64.5 percent from the field and averaged 16.8 points and 5.8 rebounds for the bronze-medalist South team. Redick averaged 19.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and shot a Festival best 12-12 from the field for the East.

The coaching staff, announced previously on May 16, also features some of the nation's top high school and AAU coaches. Bringing a wealth of experience to the Festival are: North team head coach Steve Lansing (South Central High School / Union Mills, Ind.); North team assistant coach Durand Walker (The Family AAU / Detroit, Mich.); South team head coach Charles Johnson (J.A. Fair High School / Little Rock, Ark.); South team assistant coach Terry Evans (Midwest City High School / Athletes First AAU / Midwest City, Okla.); East team head coach Bill Cochrane (Salem High School / Virginia Beach Heat AAU / Virginia Beach, Va.); East team assistant coach Doug Snyder (William Allen High School / Allentown, Pa.); West team head coach Mike Johnson (Bellingham AAU / Bellingham, Wash.) and West team assistant coach Troy Berry (Lincoln High School / Portland Elite Legends AAU / Portland, Ore.).

Started in 1998, the USA Basketball Men's Youth Development Festival has consistently attracted the nation's top prep players. Notable alumni of the Youth Development Festival include: Nick Anderson (Texas A&M); Andre Barrett (Seton Hall University); Taliek Brown (University of Connecticut); Chris Duhon (Duke University); Kirk Hinrich (University of Kansas); Chris Hobbs (Clemson University); Tahj Holden (University of Maryland); Casey Jacobsen (Stanford University); Darius Miles (St. John's University); Zach Randolph (Michigan State University); Darius Rice (University of Miami); Kenny Satterfield (University of Cincinnati); Blake Stepp (Gonzaga University); DeShawn Stevenson (University of Kansas); Marcus Taylor (Michigan State University); Marcus Tony-El (Seton Hall University); Dajuan Wagner (University of Memphis); Travis Watson (University of Virginia); and Glen Worley (University of Iowa).

The USA Basketball Men's Cadet and Youth Committee, chaired by Don Showalter (head coach, Mid-Prarie High School, Iowa), includes Ron Crawford (head coach, AAU Arkansas Wings), Marcellus ?Boo' Williams (head coach, AAU Hampton Roads, Va. ) from the AAU; Pat Fittlerer (head coach, Sehome High School, Wash.) and Eric Flannery (head coach, St. Edwards High School, Ohio) were assigned by the NFHS; and the Committee is rounded out by athlete representatives Damon Bailey (1999 Pan American Games team / Bedford, Ind.) and Brian Rahilly (1993 Tournament of the Americas gold medalist / Tulsa, Okla.).

Note: Thursday-Sunday's practice sessions and game sessions will be conducted at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, Sports Center II. Sunday's semi-final and medal games will be held at Sports Center I. All times listed are Mountain Daylight Time.

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