Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Canada Basketball 15U and 16 Elite Travel Teams

Canada is no longer just a hockey country! With two of the top 25 players in the class of 2010 and several Top 100 players in the Class of 2012, 2013 and 2014 Ro Russel and his elite travel program which are now part of the Canadian National Team Program are changing the game!


Canada and the success they have had over the last several years becoming a serious program are things Puerto Rico must take notice of! Kids wants to play against the best players in the biggest tournaments and not on 8 ft baskets against kids who are not elite players!


CHeck out link below and look at the 15U Team from Canada!


http://www.youtube.com/user/ONEent#p/u/4/C35DE_M-Zz8

Betancourt To Montrose or St Benedicts

Word on the street is that Jordan Brand sponsored program Montrose Christian wants Carmelo. Montrose is coached by Stu Vetter and is widely considered to be one of the top high school programs in the country. Coach Vetter has been an elite high school coach for over 25 years and in recent years coached had both Kevin Durant and Venezuelan PG Greivis Vazques play for him at Montrose.

On top of that St. Benedicts in New Jersey has also expressed some interest in Carmelo. St Benedicts top returning player who is also a Top 50 Class of 2011 decided to transfer to Findlay Prep. This create an interesting option for Carmelo given they are only returning two players from last years team and have a number of spots on the team available.

While PR has great high school coaches (Adinez and St Francis to name a coupl) and good schools none of the programs in PR play an elite schedule so it is hard to players like Carmelo to be challenged.

'It's a tough situation as the coaches are trying to get kids to stay but truthfully that is not helping the kids. You got kids playing center who are 6'4 and the style of play is so incredibly slow. There is no question that PR has great coaches and they have been doing a great job at developing kids to a certain point but the system is not set up to develop elite players. I was down in PR this year looking at a couple of kids and to be honest the style of play and lack of size made it hard for me to see if the kids could really play. Very few of these kids really know or want to play defense and the transition game doesn't exist", said a D1 coach.


Carmelo and his family have a high class problem given that two of the best programs in the country are interested in him. IT shows how quickly things can change when a player gets exposed.

Suarez Update

Three of the top PG in the class of 2011 are all looking to have big summers and get ready for their senior year! Rasham Suarez has left PR in the 9th grade and has attended three different prep schools in 3 years. This has been by choice and from what we hear the kid is having a great spring season playing AAU ball for a Nike Travel Team in Atlanta. Rasham has proven that he can compete at the highest level and has really focused on getting his body in shape. Playing PG is one of the toughest transitions from HS to college so getting prepared for the contact at the D1 level is critical. The question for Rasham is his athletic ability. He is an above average athlete who must begin to play above the rim and not rely so much on his jump shot rather getting to the rim and finishing above it. Mid Majors are all over him and some SEC schools have shown interest.
We think he has the tools to plat High Major D1 but must do the things this summer to strengthen his legs and improve quickness and leaping ability. We think Gonzaga, Xavier and possibly even Miami are great fits!


IPRB confirmed that Rasham's dad, Gamaliel and Coach from St. Benedicts spoke last night and that Rasham might consider transferring there if they made an offer. Gamaliel and Coach Mcleod from St. Benedicts have been friends for quite some time.

"We Are Back Up" Stringer Bell (HBO's The Wire)

Like ym many Stringer Bell said from HBO's the wire, We are back up! Took a little vacation to Bermuda and Aruba and now we are back up and ready to update everyone on the Class of 2011.