During the weekend of June 7-9, New York City hosted some of the top AAU basketball teams in the country and plenty of future Division 1 players. We saw Isaiah Whitehead, a star guard from Lincoln High School playing with the Playaz Basketball Club. 6’3″ Whitehead was on fire all weekend. He came into the tournament undecided on college, but there is a lot of interest in this Class of 2014 standout. Fans also enjoyed Sterling Taplin, from Buffalo NY, who plays with the Albany City Rocks EYBL team. The 6’2″ guard attacked defenses all weekend and showed his ability to elude his man and get to the free throw line. Among the tournament champions, Deron William’s Elite, was D’Angelo Allen, a 6’7″ small forward from Dallas, Texas, who can do just about everything on the court. He dazzled with dunks and he showed why he has garnered so much interest from top Division 1 programs. They also featured the dynamic duo of the Neal twins, one of the quickest backcourts I’ve ever seen. Both can handle the ball extremely well, shoot with range and attack the defense by breaking down whoever was guarding them. They are known as “the backcourt problem”, and are considered one of the most dangerous backcourt duos on the circuit. DWill Elite also had the MVP of the tournament starting at center. Omar Sherman, the 6’8″ lefty, displayed his versatile game for the crowd. From his strong post moves to his rebounding and shooting from the outside, Sherman repeatedly took the wind out of the runners-up, Sports U, with his dunks and defense. Sports U also possesed top caliber players. Quadri Moore, of Linden, New Jersey, is a 6’8″ center who is light on his feet, can handle the ball well, and showed quick post moves. Sports U also featured Wade Baldwin, from Metuchen, New Jersey, who is a 6’3″ guard with a versatile game. He bothered Isaiah Whitehead defensively in the semi-final game of the Gold bracket. Wade covered Whitehead for the majority of the time he was in there and limited him to just 17 points. He had a soft jump shot and could play above the rim, especially in transition.
It was a great weekend in the Bronx and we look forward to keeping track of these players throughout their high school careers and into college. While there were missing pieces for quite a few teams, the gameplay did not disappoint. The Rumble in the Bronx lived up to its hype as being one of the top tournaments in the Northeast.
Robb Bareis-Staff writer
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