It's official, JJ Barea announced the camp yesterday and posted a short video confirming his intent to get 60 of the best rising 8th-12th graders together for a three day academy, July 7-10, 2011 at the Olympic Training Facility in Salinas, Puerto Rico. The event is presented by T-MOBILE and will be covered exclusively by www.fivestarbasketball.com.
Below is the link announcing the event including a video of JJ Barea.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=199953436718165
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
JJ Barea Super 60 Update
IPRB learned earlier today that JJ Barea and his father Jaime Barea are planning to announce the 1st Annual JJ Barea Super 60 which will be held at Albergue Olimpico July 7th-10th and will showcase the Top 60 rising 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th graders from across island. This event will be by invitation only. The event which will be presented by T-Mobile and co-branded and covered digitally on www.fivestarbasketball.com. Many of the top club and high school coaches will be present working the camp. Sources close to the event told IPRB that the official announcement could come as soon as Monday.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Betancourt Would Be Interested In Texas A&M
Carmelo Betancourt graduates from Montrose Christian this week and has yet to decide where he will go to school in the fall. The 5'11 PG, who many think is the next JJ Barea, has several high major schools wanting to offer him for 2012 and more than a dozen mid major schools offering this year. Betancourt has never been in a rush to make decisions and is taking his time before making such an important decision.
Several schools including Georgetown, UCLA, Villanova, Miami and Akron are on Betancourt's list but he has yet to indicate what he plans to do in the fall. Some of those schools do not have any scholarships left so Betancourt was considering attending Prep School for a year. Betancourt has recently qualified with the NCAA Clearinghouse which will allow him to sign and not have to attend Junior College. Defending Junior College National Champion, College of Southern Idaho had offered Betancourt.
Former Memphis Assistant Coach, Glynn Cyprien, accepted a job as an Assistant Coach at Texas A&M yesterday. His first order of business will be to find a PG given the need to bring in a player who can run new Head Coach, Bill Kennedy's system. Cyprien and PR Playmakers Founder, Todd Washington are close friends. Washington reached out to Cyprien suggesting that Cyprien take a close look at Betancourt.
IPRB contacted Washington late this evening.
"I'm happy for Glynn and his family. When I called to congratulate him on the announcement I mentioned to him that I've got a fantastic PG named Carmelo Betancourt who has yet to sign. Cyp had seen incoming West Virginia commit, Gary Browne at Arlington Country Day School who is Carmelo's teammate on the PR National Team. I reminded Coach Cyp that Gary never started at the PG position on the National Team because Carmelo has been holding it down since they were 14. Carmelo is a special kind of player and people have over looked him because he is undersized. With the success VCU's PG, Joey Rodriguez and Dallas Mavericks' PG, JJ Barea, coaches recognizes that being undersized can have its advantages. If Coach Cyp and A&M can get him to commit that would be a major coup. They just don't make them like Carmelo, he's special", said Washington via text this evening.
When contacted by IPRB, Betancourt confirmed his interest in A&M."I don't a lot about Texas A&M except that it is a great school. Coach Cyp put together a great group of players at Memphis and they had success over there. If they are looking for a PG and need someone to come in a run the team, I'm def that guy."
Several schools including Georgetown, UCLA, Villanova, Miami and Akron are on Betancourt's list but he has yet to indicate what he plans to do in the fall. Some of those schools do not have any scholarships left so Betancourt was considering attending Prep School for a year. Betancourt has recently qualified with the NCAA Clearinghouse which will allow him to sign and not have to attend Junior College. Defending Junior College National Champion, College of Southern Idaho had offered Betancourt.
Former Memphis Assistant Coach, Glynn Cyprien, accepted a job as an Assistant Coach at Texas A&M yesterday. His first order of business will be to find a PG given the need to bring in a player who can run new Head Coach, Bill Kennedy's system. Cyprien and PR Playmakers Founder, Todd Washington are close friends. Washington reached out to Cyprien suggesting that Cyprien take a close look at Betancourt.
IPRB contacted Washington late this evening.
"I'm happy for Glynn and his family. When I called to congratulate him on the announcement I mentioned to him that I've got a fantastic PG named Carmelo Betancourt who has yet to sign. Cyp had seen incoming West Virginia commit, Gary Browne at Arlington Country Day School who is Carmelo's teammate on the PR National Team. I reminded Coach Cyp that Gary never started at the PG position on the National Team because Carmelo has been holding it down since they were 14. Carmelo is a special kind of player and people have over looked him because he is undersized. With the success VCU's PG, Joey Rodriguez and Dallas Mavericks' PG, JJ Barea, coaches recognizes that being undersized can have its advantages. If Coach Cyp and A&M can get him to commit that would be a major coup. They just don't make them like Carmelo, he's special", said Washington via text this evening.
When contacted by IPRB, Betancourt confirmed his interest in A&M."I don't a lot about Texas A&M except that it is a great school. Coach Cyp put together a great group of players at Memphis and they had success over there. If they are looking for a PG and need someone to come in a run the team, I'm def that guy."
Friday, May 6, 2011
UCF Interested In Carmelo Betancourt
IPRB learned earlier today that University of Central Florida may make an offer to Carmelo Betancourt. Betancourt played this year at powerhouse program Montrose Christian. He recently got an offer from Akron and College of Southern Idaho. Questions remain about Betancourts size and speed but many feel he is a steal for a high major program including Montrose Christian's Head Coach, Stu Vetter.
Vetter told IPRB that Betacourt reminded him a lot of Cameron Dollar, who also played for Coach Vetter in the mid 90s and went on the win a National Championship at UCLA. Vetter commented, "Carmelo is everything you want in a point guard and leader. He could come in as a back up and give your starter a rest much like Cameron Dollar had planned to do at UCLA. Remember Tyus Edney from UCLA got hurt and Cameron came and led the team to a National Championship. Carmelo has those same skills and they are almost identical in terms of size."
Betancourt knows he has the talent and skill level to play at the next level and is just waiting for the right situation. UCF may be the perfect fit for Betancourt.
Vetter told IPRB that Betacourt reminded him a lot of Cameron Dollar, who also played for Coach Vetter in the mid 90s and went on the win a National Championship at UCLA. Vetter commented, "Carmelo is everything you want in a point guard and leader. He could come in as a back up and give your starter a rest much like Cameron Dollar had planned to do at UCLA. Remember Tyus Edney from UCLA got hurt and Cameron came and led the team to a National Championship. Carmelo has those same skills and they are almost identical in terms of size."
Betancourt knows he has the talent and skill level to play at the next level and is just waiting for the right situation. UCF may be the perfect fit for Betancourt.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
St Johns Preparatory School (Washington, DC) Offers Scholarship To Abdiel Badillo
Fresh off a solid performance at the 2011 Jordan Brand Classic, Class of 2012 SF, Abdiel Badillo has been getting a lot of interest from some of the top Prep Schools on the mainland. It looked like Badillo was in route to Montverde Prep in Orlando when Head Coach, Kevin Sutton resigned. Then there was talk that he would be looking at Oak Hill or Montrose Christian. IPRB learned tonight that St Johns Preparatory School, an elite school in the WMAC League was offering Badillo an opportunity to attend school there in the fall.
St Johns has produced hundreds of D1 players and plays in one of the top leagues in the country along with powerhouse programs, Dematha, Gonzaga, Bishop O'Connell and Archbishop Carroll. Abdiel's performance Coach and Founder of PR Playmakers Todd Washington confirmed St Johns interest by saying," St Johns is an elite academic and athletic institution. The coaching staff led Coach D does a great job turning boys into men. On top of that Abdiel will get a chance to play in one of the top high school basketball conferences in the country. We are excited about placing another player in an elite DC private school."
Badillo would follow Class of 2011 PG, Carmelo Betancourt who spent this year running the point at powerhouse Montrose Christian. Badillo is a 4.0 student which makes it an easy sell to schools even though he is going to be a senior.
St Johns has produced hundreds of D1 players and plays in one of the top leagues in the country along with powerhouse programs, Dematha, Gonzaga, Bishop O'Connell and Archbishop Carroll. Abdiel's performance Coach and Founder of PR Playmakers Todd Washington confirmed St Johns interest by saying," St Johns is an elite academic and athletic institution. The coaching staff led Coach D does a great job turning boys into men. On top of that Abdiel will get a chance to play in one of the top high school basketball conferences in the country. We are excited about placing another player in an elite DC private school."
Badillo would follow Class of 2011 PG, Carmelo Betancourt who spent this year running the point at powerhouse Montrose Christian. Badillo is a 4.0 student which makes it an easy sell to schools even though he is going to be a senior.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
PR Playmakers Goes Against The Grain
The PR Playmakers program has worked with some of the best prospects in Puerto Rico over the last several years. With the Federations' announcement that they are starting a new youth development program at the end of the summer this could be the last year that club teams have access to the best prospects. Couple that with the fact that kids are playing year round without really seeing much improvement in their development suggests that it may be time for both parents and players to look at other alternatives.
"We have decided to refocus our attention on development both in and out of the classroom. Kids are already playing way to much basketball and we are contributing and participating in a flawed system. 2010 was an incredibly successful year for us and we want to capitalize on that. We secured scholarships for 4 student athletes who never played a game for us. We were able to help them individually without requiring that they play for us. We think our greatest work can be done on a one on one basis with a focus on skill development, increasing basketball IQ, test taking techniques, academic enrichment/support and placement at elite Nike sponsored high schools and colleges. There are plenty of teams players can play on but there are not any programs that are focused on the holistic approach to developing student athletes. Some of the best prospects are barely qualifying with the NCAA Clearing House and there is a long history of really good players who we unable to go to college in the states because they cannot meet the minimum requirements academically to qualify. We have spent a lot of time exploring how we can make more of an impact and this is clearly the way forward", said Todd Washington, Founder of PR Playmakers.
Washington confirmed that they have entered into discussions with some local coaches and clubs about developing a partnership but at this point he is focused on the new program offering and a series of events. Washington was the first to bring the "Combine" concept to the Federation in 2009 and has successfully operated two Middle School Combines.
"We are working on two major events for this summer and will also be focused on some digital media opportunities which are part of our plan moving forward. We are very committed to helping develop student athletes and are confident that our new strategy will allow us to reach more kids here in the Puerto Rico in the rest of the region."
Part of Washington's plan is expanding into other markets including the USVI, Leeward/Windward, Jamaica, Guadeloupe and Martinque. The talent pool in those markets is exceedingly strong and completely untapped but Washington stressed that PRP is not going anywhere.
"Like all successful entities expansion and growth are part the required evolution. Puerto Rico is my home, my daughter was born here and the kids we have been working with will be given a chance to participate in and benefit from what we are about to do," said Washington.
"We have decided to refocus our attention on development both in and out of the classroom. Kids are already playing way to much basketball and we are contributing and participating in a flawed system. 2010 was an incredibly successful year for us and we want to capitalize on that. We secured scholarships for 4 student athletes who never played a game for us. We were able to help them individually without requiring that they play for us. We think our greatest work can be done on a one on one basis with a focus on skill development, increasing basketball IQ, test taking techniques, academic enrichment/support and placement at elite Nike sponsored high schools and colleges. There are plenty of teams players can play on but there are not any programs that are focused on the holistic approach to developing student athletes. Some of the best prospects are barely qualifying with the NCAA Clearing House and there is a long history of really good players who we unable to go to college in the states because they cannot meet the minimum requirements academically to qualify. We have spent a lot of time exploring how we can make more of an impact and this is clearly the way forward", said Todd Washington, Founder of PR Playmakers.
Washington confirmed that they have entered into discussions with some local coaches and clubs about developing a partnership but at this point he is focused on the new program offering and a series of events. Washington was the first to bring the "Combine" concept to the Federation in 2009 and has successfully operated two Middle School Combines.
"We are working on two major events for this summer and will also be focused on some digital media opportunities which are part of our plan moving forward. We are very committed to helping develop student athletes and are confident that our new strategy will allow us to reach more kids here in the Puerto Rico in the rest of the region."
Part of Washington's plan is expanding into other markets including the USVI, Leeward/Windward, Jamaica, Guadeloupe and Martinque. The talent pool in those markets is exceedingly strong and completely untapped but Washington stressed that PRP is not going anywhere.
"Like all successful entities expansion and growth are part the required evolution. Puerto Rico is my home, my daughter was born here and the kids we have been working with will be given a chance to participate in and benefit from what we are about to do," said Washington.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Giancarlo Santiago Signs With Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Class of 2011 SF, Giancarlo Santiago signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Santiago is a big time D1 player who has yet to qualify. MGCCC has been successful in signing players from Puerto Rico including Puerto Rico National Team Players, Raymond Cintron and Angel Matias.
"Giancarlo has a bright future in front of him. He is a hard worker and has huge upside. He has the size and strength to play at a high major. Coach Weathers at MGCCC has done an exception job with both Raymond and Angel. We think this is going to be a great fit for Giancarlo, said Todd Washington. Santiago's performance coach and mentor.
A number of kids from Puerto Rico are taking a closer look at Junior College in recent years given the success of Cintron. Cintron was the #1 ranked player in Puerto Rico in 2009 and had a great career at MGCCC, where he was named a 2nd Team, All American. Matias who was redshirted this year which allowed him to focus on his academics and get in shape is getting recruited by several high major D1 schools has the opportunity to also be an All American.
Santiago should qualify with the NCAA Clearing Houuse later this summer allowing him to spend only one year at MGCCC and moving to a D1 program for the fall of 2012.
"Giancarlo has a bright future in front of him. He is a hard worker and has huge upside. He has the size and strength to play at a high major. Coach Weathers at MGCCC has done an exception job with both Raymond and Angel. We think this is going to be a great fit for Giancarlo, said Todd Washington. Santiago's performance coach and mentor.
A number of kids from Puerto Rico are taking a closer look at Junior College in recent years given the success of Cintron. Cintron was the #1 ranked player in Puerto Rico in 2009 and had a great career at MGCCC, where he was named a 2nd Team, All American. Matias who was redshirted this year which allowed him to focus on his academics and get in shape is getting recruited by several high major D1 schools has the opportunity to also be an All American.
Santiago should qualify with the NCAA Clearing Houuse later this summer allowing him to spend only one year at MGCCC and moving to a D1 program for the fall of 2012.
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