Frank Burlison

HOUSTON – Bouncing around the first night of action on the third weekend of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League spring circuit, 2015-style:

*Houston Hoops and Team CP3 took different paths while improving their respective records to 8-1 Friday night.

The “home team” zipped past Nike South Beach, 83-55, behind the overall play of – and I don’t think isn’t going to exactly stun you – 6-foot-8 junior-to-be Jarred Vanderbilt (13 points, nine rebounds and six steals) and another left hander, 6-3 combo guard guard-deluxe De’Aaron Fox (19 points, two rebounds, three assists and three buckets from behind the arc).

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Jarred Vanderbilt, a 6-foot-8 left hander capable of playing any position his Houston Victory Prep team needs him, is the BurlisonOnBasketball top sophomore for the 2014-15 season.

Vanderbilt was joined on the five-player first team by four other strong candidates for the No. 1 spot in the Class of 2017 in post DeAndre Ayton (originally from the Bahamas) – considered by many the top prospect in the class – as well as another post, Xavier Tillman, and guards Trae Young and Quade Green.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Marvin Bagley, who helped Coronal Del Sol High to its fourth consecutive Arizona state championship in March, heads the BurlisonOnBasketball All-Freshman team for the 2014-15 season.

The 6-foot-9 left hander used his multiple inside-outside skills as his squad rolled to a 33-1 record, with the only loss coming to a very talented Chatsworth (CA) Sierra Canyon team on Jan. 3 during the HoopHall Classic West event in Phoenix.

The 10 players were chosen based upon their on-court accomplishments and not necessarily on how extensively they are being recruited, or will be recruited, for their on-court potential in college.

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LONG BEACH, Ca. – The fifth BallisLife boys’ basketball All-American Game, presented by the U.S. Army, is set for a 5 p.m. (PT) tipoff Saturday at Long Beach City College.

But the action and excitement – for those who love 3-point shooting and dunks of all varieties – begin earlier than that.

The 3-point shooting and dunking contests are set to get underway at 3:15 p.m. and, no doubt, some will find those aspects of the event even more tantalizing than the “game itself.

Nine of the 23 players scheduled to play in the game are based in Southern California: Bennie Boatwright of Sun Valley Village Christian and Chimezie Metu (Lawndale), each of which signed with USC in November; CIF Southern Section Open Division Player of the Year Stephen Thompson Jr.

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LOUISVILLE – A final-day wrap-up from Sunday’s action at session II of the Under Armour Association spring action at the MidAmerican Sports Center:

*I watched a couple of terrific backcourts Sunday via WE R1 (Delaware-based), in its 53-36 win over Team Felton (South Carolina), and the Houston Defenders in their 69-67 defeat of Net Gain Sports (Minnesota).

WE R1 has, perhaps, the best Class of 2017 starting backcourt anywhere on the club/travel ball circuit in Quade Green (Philadelphia Neumann Goretti) and Trevon Duval (Newark, NJ, St.

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