Note: We took a lot of photos at the 2010 Primetime Shootout, which turned out to be a terrific event with two indisputably classic games. Here are some of our favorites that weren’t used in the articles I wrote about it:
Kyrie Irving, warming up for the second half against Oak Hill on Friday night.
After watching national prep school powerhouse Oak Hill edge star-studded St. Patrick on Friday night by one point, I figured I had seen the premier game of the Primetime Shootout.
As it turned out, I was in for a real surprise on Saturday – as was Oak Hill, which learned two lessons: Never take anything for granted, and never draw blood from St. Peter’s Prep star guard Myles Davis.
While watching Roscoe Smith’s athleticism and talent help tilt the scales in favor of Oak Hill in their showdown against St. Patrick on Friday night, it was clear to me that what he brings to the table could definitely have helped Duke’s team next year.
And I recalled that at one point, Smith wanted very much to go to Duke, and that the feeling was somewhat mutual, though he wasn’t their first target – that would be Harrison Barnes, the nation’s top recruit who famously and publicly picked North Carolina.
So with Barnes rocking baby blue, why didn’t Roscoe end up taking the spot earmarked for his contemporary at Duke, opting instead to commit to the University of Connecticut?
Talk about a lousy day. After St. Patrick’s (No. 6, ESPN Rise) was banned from the New Jersey state tournament earlier in the day because coach Kevin Boyle attended practices before he was technically allowed to, they lost an absolute heartbreaker, 79-78, to No. 7 Oak Hill when gritty shooting guard Derrick Gordon missed a pair of foul shots with .4 seconds left.
I go to high school games to catch a glimpse of the future, to see future college and pro stars develop before my eyes. And with a matchup of two future stud point guards, I lucked into a special game on Saturday night.
The Dunn Center at Elizabeth High School was packed to the rafters to see St. Patrick (No. 3 in the nation) face off with St. Benedict’s (No. 10). Besides the elite coaches involved – Kevin Boyle and Danny Hurley, two guys who could find themselves in the college ranks before too long – the marquee matchup was at the point, where Duke-bound Kyrie Irving of St. Pat’s faced off with St. Benedict’s junior Myck Kabongo, who is heading to Texas.
After watching Duke lose to Georgia Tech on Saturday, I felt like envisioning better times ahead, so I headed to Kean University to watch future Duke star Kyrie Irving and No. 1 nationally ranked St. Patrick vs. Westfield. It was also great to see Michael Gilchrist up and about after a scary knee injury on Tuesday. Here are my observations:
It’s not every year the No. 1 high school basketball team in the country plays in your home state, but that’s exactly what I’ve got right now with St. Patrick of Elizabeth, N.J. As such, I went to see them play Union at Kean University on Tuesday night, my first Celtics game in a couple of years but surely not my last this season.
As if seeing the highest-ranked team in America wasn’t enough incentive, I also wanted to check out point guard Kyrie Irving, who’s headed for Duke (my alma mater) next season. In addition, St. Pat’s has forward Michael Gilchrist, arguably the best player in the country as a junior, who’s rumored to be headed for Kentucky or Villanova. Gilchrist and Irving are the big names, but Western Kentucky commit Derrick Gordon’s defense was tenacious and solid.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get a very long look at Gilchrist. I got to Kean midway through the first quarter, and just a few minutes after I showed up, he collided with a Union player under the basket on a baseline drive and went down in a heap, clutching his knee. He couldn’t put weight on it and had to be helped out of the arena by teammates before halftime.
Ever notice that the same people who are quick to pass judgment based on their own personal bias are nowhere to be found when they’re dead wrong?
I’ve had a lot of practice being wrong, so I have no trouble admitting it, like when I pulled a sheet over Tom Brady’s career a little while back. (And I hope I’m wrong about Coach K!)
In that spirit, where are all those people hiding who declared Brandon Jennings’ foray to Europe to be a horrible idea gone wrong?
For better or for worse, the amount of access fans have has truly changed in big-time college basketball recruiting, and social media is a major reason why.
In the past, high school stars were relatively elusive figures. We rarely got to see them play, much less know very much about them before they showed up to be big little men on campus as freshmen.