Probably the deepest and most talent-laden of all the national tournaments taking place this week, the Slam Dunk in Lewes, Delaware will feature 8 top 25 nationally ranked teams, 50 teams in all, and more than 30 players considered by many to be among the top 100 players in the senior class.   Among the teams playing will be two from SoCal:  Inglewood , which features D'Angelo Collins, Jason McKinney and Ray Reed, and Redondo Union, featuring Adam Zahn (who the organizers are listing at 6'-10", one inch bigger than D'Angelo Collins), Wendell White, Keith Ellison, and 6'-9" Paul Meynen.  SoCalHoops won't be there to cover it live, but our good friend, Dave Keefer from CaliforniaPreps.com,  has some strong ties to the Maryland-Delaware region, and one of his close friends from Maryland,   John Greene, has promised Dave that he'll send recaps and game reports on the two California teams in the tournament as well as other tidbits, so you can get some news at CaliforniaPreps that you won't get anywhere else.

If you want your news "unfiltered" (so to speak), then you can also visit the Slam Dunk tournament website which is among the best we've seen for a tournament of this type.   It will enable you to follow the action throughout the tournament, including game scores, highlights, progress through the brackets, and stats.   And believe us, it's more than a little difficult to figure out the structure of this tournament, because there are actually several tournaments within a tournament, and teams find themselves in "showase" matchups (there are 21 of those in all), one game affairs which really have nothing to do with a "tournament" but which have everything to do with showcasing the top talent in the country for the numerous college coaches, NBA scouts, and college recruiting scouts who will attend this five-day basketball extravaganza.  

For teams from SoCal like Inglewood, some teams are actually slated to be in two different events.  Inglewood will  play one game in one of the showcase series,  and they will also play in the 8-team tournament bracket, the "Slam Dunk Division".     Overall though, the Slam Dunk to the Beach also features several other different levels of competition:  There's the "Mayor's Cup" (a 4 team mini-tourney);  the "Tommy Jacobs Memorial" (which is the series of 21 different individual matchups, not within a bracket);  the "National Power Series" (a 4-team mini tournament)  the "Tip Off Classic" (another 4-team mini-tournament) and the "Slam Dunk" Tournament, which is the 8-team tournament which will feature both Redondo and Inglewood, in addition to other nationally-regarded teams.    

Inglewood's first round matchup will be on December 26, 2001 at 9:30 p.m. EST against one of the local teams, Sanford HS from Delaware, a single game matchup in the "Tommy Jacobs Memorial Division. Inglewood's second game will be in the "Slam Dunk" Division, on Thursday, Dec. 27 at 9:30 p.m. (EST).  The Sentinels'  first round opponent will be Rainier Beach, Seattle (WA), which features talented juniors Roderick and Loderick Stewart, as well as USC-commit Nate Robinson, a very talented point guard.  Depending whether Inglewood wins or loses, their third game will be against the winner or loser of the Archbishop Carroll (DC)  vs  Cedar Hill (TX) game.   Archbishop Carroll, from Radnor (PA) features a talend junior, 6'-6" Jordan Ingram, while Cedar Hill,   features Michigan signee and top 25 national player, 6'-5" Daniel Horton, and a talented point guard, his younger brother Jason Horton.

Redondo isn't playing any games outside the "Slam Dunk to the Beach" Division, so they'll only get three games out of this event.  The Seahawks' first game will be on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2001 at 5:00 p.m. (EST) against All Hallows- Bronx (NY) which 6'-4" Ricardo Silver.   Depending on whether Redondo wins or loses, they'll play the winner or loser of the Germantown Academy (PA)  vs  East (TN) game.  Germantown may be the most talented team in the tournament, featuring three legitimate stars in 6'-6" Matt Walsh (Florida), 6'-7" Lee Melchioni (Duke) and 6'-11" Ted Skuchas (Vanderbilt).

The biggest draw for both college coaches and NBA scouts at this event will likely be Labron James from Ohio's St. Vincent-St.Mary's, who is considered by many (including us) as the best player in any class in high school in America.   Other teams in this event will include Salem (Virginia) which has Top 15 senior John Gilchrist (6'-4" Sr. G/F) who has signed with Maryland; Christ the King from New York, which features 6'-3" Kevin Nelson; Archbishop Spalding (MD), which has 6'-4" Cory Hudson;  Towson Catholic (MD)  led by 6'-2" Darnell Hopkins and 6'-7" Jason Osbourne; Winton Woods (OH), which features 6'-5" DeForrest Riley; Archbishop Carroll (PA)  with 6'-6" Jr. Jordan Ingram;  Roger Bacon (OH) featuring 6'3" Josh Haulsfield and 6'-4" Mike Merridy;  Troy (OH)  with top 50 consensus star 6'-5" Alex Carmonas and talented 6'-8" soph Matt Terwilliger; Stroud (OK), with one-time potential UCLA target 6'-7" Kevin Bookout; Saint Augustine (NJ) with 6'-7" Na Na Mensah (one of the best names in high school sports today); and Oxon Hill (MD) with 6'-5" Sr. Chris Williams.   The Slam Dunk also features Tabor Academy (MA) led by Notre Dame signee 6'-10" Torin Francis; The Bullis School;  Cave Spring from Roanoke (VA), with top 5 rated senior JJ Redick who signed with Duke; Amityville, from Amityville (NY) with top 20 senior 6'-8" Jason Fraser,  Archbishop Carroll from Washington, DC (not to be confused with the school of the same name from Pennsylvania, also in the tournament) with 6'-9" Tyrone Beale and 6'-1" Wayne Dunston;  Bishop Loughlin from Brooklyn (NY) with 6'-6" Curtis Sumpter (Villanova); Charlestown, from Boston (MA) with 6'-3" Rashid Al-Kaleem, Coffman HS, from Coffman (OH) featuring Notre Dame signee 6'1" Chris Quinn;  East HS from Memphis (TN) with 6'-5" Tim Barr and 6'-8" So Keiron Jackson;  and St. Benedict's from Newark (NJ) led By 6'-3" Art Bowers.