Basketball: In State Player Tracker

[Bernini]

Originally Posted by cyismydog

CIMD?

CyIsMyDog. I thought it would be of special interest to you that ISU was tracking Kadima.

[cyismydog]

Originally Posted by Bernini

CyIsMyDog. I thought it would be of special interest to you that ISU was tracking Kadima.

Thanks, I thought it was an abbreviation for something else. Man, is the '10 class in Wisconsin loaded!

[Bernini]

Brad Soderberg's son Kramer, committed to Miami (OH) as part of their 2008 recruiting class.

Soderberg lived in Wisconsin from about Kindergarten through Middle School, while his father was an assistant with the Badgers. Brad himself is from Stevens Point.

He put up some moster #'s after transferring to Missouri for high school:

2005- 23 pts (56%/44 %), 5 asts
2006- 26 pts (53%,48%), 4 asts
2007- 24 pts (69 %/46 %), 5 asts, 2 stls

Congratulations to him. Looking at his production it appears he wasn't living off his father's name.

[Bernini]

Wisconsin High School Basketball - Boys / Youth Basketball - Boys

5/22

'08 F Jake Barnett spurned multiple D1 offers in favor of attending Notre Dame Preparatory School in Massachusetts.

Andy Mercer asked out of his LOI to Mercer and has the option of attending Texas Pan American or Texas State instead.

Former class of '06 prospect Derek Ajami will transfer from Northern Michigan to Wisconsin, in a walk-on capacity.

D'Angelo Jackson is transferring to a junior college.

[badgerbasketball33]

jerard ajami

[komacki]

Ajami is actually transferring to UWM, not Wisconsin (per Mark Miller).

[Bernini]

Derek Ajami was actually a mix of Derek Nkemji and Jerard Ajami. Why do they have so many dudes with African names at Memorial? Jack Ikegwuonu.

And I did mean Wisconsin-Milwaukee, yes.

Thanks for catching those typos though.

BTW, Ajami had a big season at Northern Michigan. I always thought he was at least borderline D1 at Memorial. Don't be surprised if he contributes some to UWM.

[Bernini]

Former ISU guard Mike Taylor, who prepped at Milwaukee Marshall, was invited to the NBA pre-draft camp after leading his NBDL team to the title, tallying 14.5 points per game. He is projected as a late 2nd rounder to undrafted FA.

[komacki]

Why do they have so many dudes with African names at Memorial?

Duh.

For those out there that were like me, that's based off a design that had the continent of Africa instead of the state of Wisconsin. I've been told that wearing it in some of the tougher areas of Milwaukee wouldn't be a good idea.

[Bernini]

WSN Hoops

According to Mark Miller, Christian Wolf from Kohler signed with Florida Gulf Coast. They are a division 1 program, who play their conference ball in the Atlantic Sun. The Eagles posted a record of 22-9 last season and were invited to the NIT before being knocked out by Florida in a close ballgame.

[Bernini]

WSN Hoops

Quick Hitters … Janesville Parker senior Riley Grafft will attend American University in Washington, D.C., in the fall and join the men’s basketball program as a walkon. The 6-9 Grafft has been told he will then have a scholarship for his sophomore, junior and senior seasons at the NCAA Division I school

Fairly similar to a greyshirt. For what was labeled a lackluster class in-state, 2008 has sure enjoyed a solid accumulation of scholarship opportunities for Wisconsinites. If you include JUCO's, 20 players from the state received offers.

[Bernini]

Another update on Mike Taylor's (Milwaukee Marshall) pre-draft experience......

Also a very pleasant surprise was the play of D-League product Mike Taylor—a 6-2 combo guard in the Louis Williams mold with freakish athleticism and terrific scoring instincts. He got to the basket at will, made some nice plays pulling up from mid-range, finished with a nifty floater, and hit one of his three 3-pointers (something scouts will be scrutinizing closely here). On the downside, he seemed to force the issue excessively at times—turning the ball over a game-high 5 times in the process), struggled a bit with his rail-thin frame fighting through screens and barely saw any minutes at the point at all. He clearly looks like an undersized shooting guard, but might just have the physical tools, scoring ability and overall ability to overcome that. It will be very interesting to continue to follow him.

CIMD, did Taylor's outrageously high turnover rate at Iowa State make him a detriment to the team in spite of his great all around statistics?

[cyismydog]

In some ways yes, but he was our team's motor. He was kicked off the team because of several run-ins with the law, but still maintains a good relationship with ISU's coach. He is a hot/cold shooter who can really create his own shot.

[Bernini]

Originally Posted by cyismydog

In some ways yes, but he was our team's motor. He was kicked off the team because of several run-ins with the law, but still maintains a good relationship with ISU's coach. He is a hot/cold shooter who can really create his own shot.

Thanks, Cy. He sounds an awful lot like an athletic Mike James. There is clearly a role in the league for guys like that, but you're in trouble if they're a starter or regular part of your rotation. They put a cap on success. But if you've dug a hole they can aid in jump starting their team.

He at least contributed to winning obviously in the D-League. His team won the championship. Then again he'd just be a better version of a lot of the players existing there.

Anyways, he was one of the stars yet again at the pre-draft camp on Day 3.

Mike Taylor

Gary Forbes’ 30 point outing and Mike Taylor’s 24 points were the highlights of the day........

Again we started the day with drills from 9 AM to 11, giving us a chance to focus in on different parts of prospects’ skill-sets than we could see in the games. One player that stood out more than anyone else in the individual drills was D-League combo guard Mike Taylor, a phenomenal athlete blessed with terrific scoring instincts who was deadly creating his own shot in 1 on 1 settings. He got to the rack whenever he pleased and did a great job creating space from his defender with his jab-steps and pull-up moves.......

For the winners, Mike Taylor continues to help his stock by showing possibly the most athleticism of any guard in this camp. He was simply a blur in the open floor, weaving his way in and out of traffic being impossible to stay in front of even in the half-court, a looking relentlessly explosive finishing around the basket. He was a man on a mission today, making emphatic plays that clearly left a strong impression in the eyes of decision makers who had never seen him before. His perimeter shot comes better than advertised, as he displayed by pulling up off the dribble from mid-range and killing his defender for going underneath a screen, while also knocking down 2 of his 5 attempts from behind the NBA arc. He also made two very nice reads in the half-court, in back to back possessions, making good reads to slashing cutters moving off the ball for easy finishes. He’s clearly more of a shooting guard than a point, but seems to have the instincts for that not to be as much of a factor these days as it may have been a few years back. He needs to continue to be unselfish and maybe bring it up a notch on the defensive end, but you can’t argue with how well he’s played here so far. He definitely has a chance to get drafted......

It appears we'll have at least two players drafted from in state (Weaver and Taylor). Deron Washington and Brian Butch are still names being bandied about as possible draftees. I haven't heard about Jonte Flowers lately.

[Bernini]

Here's a picture of 2012 top prospect Jean Pierre Tokoto, as well as notes about his performance in the NY2LA invitational:



NY2LA: Tokoto

On the other end it was the play of J.P. Tokoto and Otis Pertle that pushed the Playground Elite squad past a tough P.C. Players Red squad in the semi-finals and into the championship game.

The championship game was nothing short of a classic as both teams took the floor with a host of some of the top young young middle school prospects both regionally and nationally rocking both ends of the floor. Malcolm Hill-Bey, Jamal Millison, and Trashaun Carroll put down big time performances in the 1st half that saw the Summit grab a 31-28 halftime lead. However, the second half belonged to the Playground Elite as big time play from J.P. Tokoto, Otis Pertle, and Anthony Hatfield proved to be the difference maker as Playground Elite captured the tournament championship with a 67-63 victory over the Summit.

Playground Elite put together a solid team effort all weekend long as different players were able to step up in big situations and make things happen. As good as Tokoto and Pertle were game after game on the boards and around the basket, Hatfield, Nic Stokes, and Seth Mortage were equally solid in their own right and made solid contributions along the way.