Puerto RIco Gets Great Draw For Opening Round

FIBA held the draw for the 2010 World Championship. Today's draw began the countdown. The 24 participating teams were drawn into four groups of 6 teams each.

Here are draw results for the groups for the First Round:

Group A (Kayseri): Serbia, Argentina, Australia, Jordan, Germany, Angola
Group B (Istanbul): Croatia, Brazil, Tunisia, Slovenia, Iran, USA
Group C (Ankara): China, Turkey, Russia, Puerto Rico, Ivory Coast, Greece
Group D (Izmir): Lithuania, Lebanon, France, Spain, Canada, New Zealand


If PR is healthy they have enough talent to win Group C

USA TODAY SUPER 25 PREP RANKINGS

Below are the ranking for the top 25 prep schools

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/basketball/poll/2009-10-super25m.htm

University of Akron Recruiting Alex Abreu

University of Akron, Lebron James' "unofficial college" is taking a serious look at Alex Abreu. Akron's head coach was Lebron's High School coach and the school is one of two schools in country outfitted exclusively by Lebron's Nike apparel line. Akron has also made the NCAA tournament. The school spoke to Alex and his parents last week and sent an assistant coach to watch Alex play. As usual Alex "showed up" scoring 24 points.


IPRB spoke with a member of the Akron staff, who said," Alex fits perfectly into what we are trying to do. He's a great kid, true point guard and can knock down the open three. We think this is the right place for him."

IPRB has also confirmed that University of Nebraska has expressed interest. As long as Alex keeps putting up big numbers against some of the best points guards in nation more schools will want to come and see the "the little PG from PR".

Fontan VIsits Miami

Jio Fontant and his father arrived in Miami yesterday. IPRB confirmed early today that both Jio and his dad are impressed so far with the coaching staff and what they have seen. "Things are going well. They are real professional down here," said Jio's dad.

Since getting his conditional release last week a number of big time programs have reached out to Fordham to get information on Jio's release or reached out to the Fontan family directly.


Including Miami, USC, Indiana, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, UCLA and Alabama have expressed an interest.

Fontan is scheduled to head out to LA to visit USC next weekend.

Raul Sosa Gets HIs Hustle On (Part 1)

Recruiting For Carmelo Betancourt Heating Up

IPRB has learned that that several top prep schools and colleges are interested in Betancourt. A high school basketball recruiting insider confirmed today that, "Everyone has heard about this kid that is the next big thing out of Puerto Rico but only a hand full of schools actually know his name. There is no video on the net, he hasn't done anything on the summer circuit nor has he attended any of the elite shoe company camps, yet everyone is trying to recruit him. Everyone in PR that knows basketball tells me that the kid is as good if not better than Arroyo and Barea were at this age and that is amazing. Those two dudes could ball."

IPRB spoke to Carmelo and his mom today. As soon as he finishes his finals he is going to come and spend some time with us. There is something special about this kid. He clearly has a great support system with his mom and dad in the picture guiding him in the right direction. Its funny, most kids who are as good as he is already know it. When we mentioned to him that some of the biggest programs in the country are interested in him, he seemed not to believe it. As if he really does know the hype that exists or is simply ignoring it. That is so refreshing. That is so unusual. It's MELO!

Remember he is only in the 11th grade. Will he stay in PR and dominate the island next year or will he enroll in one of the top prep programs? Montrose Christian and Montverde Prep two of the top prep programs are very interested. The kid is a major D1 prospect so sky's the limit for him.

We know you've been patient so give a couple more days and we will let you meet the best high school player people in the USA know nothing about.

The Best 12U Player Is?

We asked our readers two weeks ago who they thought the best 12U player is Puerto Rico. The race wasn't even close. Josue Velasquez won over 55% of the vote! Ivan Gandia came in second and Edwin Cancel came in third. We are going to wait for the National Teams to return from Argentina before we address this issue. Lets see how Josue performs under the bright lights in Argentina. We know Edwin shows up no matter where he plays. Ivan Gandia and Jhivvan Jackson are just as good as Edwin and Josue but were not able to carry their teams deep in the playoffs.


IPRB takes the position that all four of this kids are at another level and only time will tell who ends up being a top 50 kid in the USA. Development is a funny thing so a kid who is bigger, stronger and faster at 12 may not at the same level at 16. All four of these kids are big time players and could be suiting up for the PR Playmakers 12U team next spring and summer.