Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball
LONG BEACH, CA – The three days and one night of the adidas Nations put some of the better high school and college players from the United States at front and center – and some players from Australia should have taken some bows for their nifty performances as well.
In the championship final Monday night at Long Beach City College, the USA 2014 Red squad – which had lost by 14 points to USA 2013 Blue during pool play the previous day – won a rematch, 86-84.
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LONG BEACH, CA – The TV matchups are set for the 2012 of adidas Nations third-place and championship games Monday night at Long Beach City College.
And a couple of former NBA standouts, serving as coaches, will lead their respective teams into the title game (set to tip off at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET).
The CBS Sports Network will televise both games, with one of the sport’s great play-by-play announcers – Joel Meyers – calling the action.
The team from Australia – featuring two of the best teen-aged prospects in the world, 6-foot-8 Ben Simmons and 6-5 Dante Exum, who turned 16 and 17, respectively, just a couple of weeks ago – will face USA 2014 Blue (juniors-to-be from the United State) at 8 o’clock (ET).
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GARDEN GROVE, CA – After three sessions of the adidas Nations at the spiffy and immaculate Next Level Sports Complex, my opinion remains as it did when I initially scanned the event’s rosters:
There are oodles of some of the very best players that basketball has to offer, both on the high school and college levels.
Here are some quick observations, going into Sunday morning’s fourth session of six games (four involving the nine teams of high school-level players and the other two matching the four squads of current college players):
*The Australian squad is off to a 3-0 start, after “upsets”, of sorts, against the USA 2013 Red (seniors-to-be) and USA 2014 Blue (juniors-to-be) squads.
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LAS VEGAS – OK, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls – it’s a wrap . . . finally.
The NCAA’s third July five-day recruiting live evaluation period came to a conclusion at 5 o’clock Sunday evening.
After pretty much going from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 6 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday in the Bishop Gorman (Fab 48), Rancho (adidas Super 64) and Durango (Big Foot Las Vegas Classic), I’ve assembled a 20-player “all-tournaments”-type of deal for your perusal.
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LAS VEGAS – Everything was coming up “adidas” – for me, at least – Saturday during Day IV of the NCAA’s final evaluation period . . .
*The Minnesota Pump N Run 17s club was more than just a bit of a surprise as one of the eight teams making up the quarterfinal field for the championship bracket of the adidas Super 64.
Graham Woodward (5-foot-11/Edina, MN) utilized his nifty playmaking, scoring and leadership skills to lead Minnesota PNR team to an 88-82 toppling of Southern California-based Dream Vision in the Round of 32 Saturday morning in the main gymnasium on the Rancho High campus.
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