Tag: High school

Some evaluators went out to the …

Some evaluators went out to the Tarkanian Classic to see 2020 recruit and potential NBA Draft prospect Makur Maker early in the week on Tuesday and Wednesday. Still in high school, Maker is planning to petition to enter the NBA Draft this year. However, there is some uncertainty as to whether or not he will be eligible to enter the 2020 draft. The league office has yet to make a decision, and sources tell The Athletic that there is some question in regard to whether or not his transcripts will allow the league to declare him eligible, as he was a junior last year despite being a fifth-year player.

Melvin Booker got to break a sweat on a …

Melvin Booker got to break a sweat on a few NBA teams but mostly played overseas in Turkey, Russia and Italy. Gutierrez allowed Booker, then 12, to visit his father one spring break in Milan, where the son played one-on-one with a future pro in Danilo Gallinari and showed the potential of being a special player. Eventually, Melvin ended his career to return home to coach his high school team and focus on his son. He convinced Gutierrez and Devin on a move to Mississippi before his sophomore year in high school so that he could be trained and prepared to play at a big-time college. “Letting Devin leave Michigan was by far the hardest decision of my life. I still have mixed feelings about it,” Gutierrez wrote. “Division I colleges were already pursuing him. Since Melvin was playing basketball overseas most of his life, the one-on-one that he got with his father was good for him.”

Fear of failure has always kept the …

Fear of failure has always kept the Young Bull driven. Collin used to break down and cry after regular season losses in HS. During shootaround prior to a matchup against powerhouse Montverde his senior year, Sexton couldn’t hit anything. He got so angry that he ripped off his shirt like the Incredible Hulk before stringing together 20-30 consecutive makes. That kind of stuff led outsiders to believe Collin had a bad attitude and wouldn’t make it very far. “It was just passion,” Sexton says. “I figured out how to channel it and use it in the right direction. I was just like, I’m gonna prove everybody wrong. All those people who doubted me. I’m gonna show them what I can do.”

Teddy Bridgewater buys dinner for his Miami high school football team

New Orleans Saints QB Teddy Bridgewater showed his appreciation for Miami Northwestern High School by buying dinner for the football team.

The New Orleans Saints were given a rare weekend off after their Thursday night win over the Atlanta Falcons, so backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater took the opportunity to return to one of his favorite places in the world: Miami Northwestern Senior High School, where he bought the football team dinner after their big win over Jesuit High School in the state semifinals. And he made sure to bring ribs.

According to posts on social media, Bridgewater contracted several Miami-area food trucks to service the players, coaches, and auxiliary staff free of charge, doing his part to show gratitude to the school and program where his football career started. Bridgewater started three years at Miami Northwestern, where they went 32-8 and made several deep playoff pushes in one of the nation’s toughest high school circuits.

A Miami native, Bridgewater has often visited his hometown when the opportunity arose, including a guest appearance with his high school’s dance team during a game earlier this season. Last summer, he organized a giveaway for the kids in his old neighborhood, handing out school supplies, toys, bicycles and water guns to everyone who stopped by. It’s clear that Bridgewater remembers where he’s come from, and his gracious nature has done a lot to ingratiate him to his new Saints teammates and their fans.

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Bronny James and Zaire Wade blew out their opponents in their first high school game together

What a team!

A quick reminder that Sierra Canyon’s boys hoops team has Zaire Wade (Dwyane’s son), Bronny James (the offspring of LeBron) and future Kentucky star BJ Boston on its roster. That’s a whole lot of talent on one team.

So it’s not that surprising that the squad defeated Montgomery High 91-44, a game that was shown on ESPN3 on Thursday.

Wade’s dad was in attendance, with the crowd in attendance going nuts when he came to sit at courtside to watch the game. I’m not sure if he was around to see Wade catch an alley-oop pass and slam it home:

James’s first shot as a high school player was a three from near the corner:

Yup. This is going to be fun to watch:

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As someone who came up playing AAU in …

As someone who came up playing AAU in the midst of the organization’s peak and who also has two sons who are active in today’s AAU sphere, there’s no better player to weigh in on the subject than Lakers superstar LeBron James. “These kids are going into the league already banged up, and I think parents and coaches need to know that … well, AAU coaches don’t give a f—,” James told Yahoo Sports. “AAU coaches couldn’t give a damn about a kid and what his body is going through.”

“I think AAU has something to do with …

“I think AAU has something to do with it, for sure,” James told Yahoo Sports. “It was a few tournaments where my kids — Bronny and Bryce — had five games in one day and that’s just f—ing out of control. That’s just too much. And there was a case study where I read a report. I don’t know who wrote it not too long ago, and it was talking about the causes and [kid’s] bodies already being broken down and they contributed it to AAU basketball and how many games that these tournaments are having for the financial benefit. So, I’m very conscious for my own son because that’s all I can control, and if my son says he’s sore or he’s tired, he’s not playing.

On the AAU front, James hopes that his …

On the AAU front, James hopes that his advice from his years of experience as a player and parent provides parents and young athletes with a better grasp of the multiple developmental options out there and the many consequences of trusting the wrong people. “The best programs are the EYBL. There’s no question about it,” James told Yahoo Sports. “They play one or two games a day. It’s the off-brand tournaments [that are the problem]. It’s those tournaments in those small cities. There’s no Whole Foods in those small cities. Those kids are eating McDonald’s, bro. They’re eating bad, and they’re playing five, six games a day. Come on, man. That’s what it is.”