PORTLAND, OR – The 15th Nike Hoop Summit is on tap for tonight (7 o’clock PT) in the Rose Garden,
And a healthy portion of the best teen-aged male hoopsters on the planet will be on display.
Shabazz Muhammad (6-5/Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas), Kyle Anderson (6-8/St. Anthony in Jersey City) and Nerlens Noel (6-10/The Tilton School in Tilton, NH), considered by most talent evaluators to be the top three players in the Class of 2012, are part of the 10-member Team USA roster.
Ironically, two of the most high profile players on the World team are Toronto imports who play in the United States, Anthony Bennett (a 6-7, 240-pound senior at Findlay Prep in Henderson, NV) and Andrew Wiggins (a 6-7, 205-pound sophomore at Huntington Prep in Huntington, WV).
Each of the aforementioned players stood out during workouts and scrimmages over the week at Nike headquarters (in Beaverton), St. Mary’s College (also in Beaverton) and the Portland Trail Blazers’ practice facility.
Some potentially cool individual matchups in the game (which will be televised by Fox Sports Net) include – obviously – Muhammad vs. Wiggins.
They’ve clearly been the best “wing-types” and scorers on their respective teams this week.
Two others could be Bennett vs. Tony Parker (6-8/Miller Grove in Lithonia, GA) and Noel vs. Dario Saric (6-10/Sibenik, Croatia).
Bennett and Parker – neither of which has chosen a college yet – are strongest and most physical players in the event.
Saric – who turns 18 on Sunday – is the only athlete who played in the event a year ago, scoring seven points and grabbing six rebounds.
Muhammad, Parker and Noel are expected to announce their college decisions Wednesday when they are in Charlotte, NC, for the Nike Jordan Classic.
Bennett has not given a timetable for his college announcement.
Go to www.BurlisonOnBasketball.com for a rundown on the game and check my Twitter account – FrankieBur – for comments throughout the contest.
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My secondary language is not so great but as far as I understand you are right on topic.
Good luck and have fun.