Quality Talent Evident at the GymRat

Last weekend, the GymRat Challenge was held at venues around the Capital Region.  One of those venues was Skidmore College, nestled in a quiet corner of Saratoga Springs, NY.  We were on hand to witness many of the preliminary games on Saturday as well as the playoff segment on Sunday.  In those games, we were able to see some very talented players.  Below is a recap of what took place….

Let’s start with some of the talent representing the Capital Region.  Unfortunately the Albany City Rocks did not qualify for the playoff rounds at Skidmore, and thus only one Albany team, the New York Dream Team, played at Skidmore during the earlier rounds on Sunday.  Ralph Erickson, the starting point guard for the last two years at La Salle Institute, leads the Dream Team.  Ralph is listed at 5’11” and is expected to have a huge senior year for the Cadets during the 2012-2013 campaign.  A gritty, hard-nosed player with a scorer’s mentality, Ralph can get to the hoop as well as anyone.  Combined with his strong sense of court vision, he is very hard to guard because of his ability to attack the defense in a number of ways.  Other top participants from around the capital region included Joe Fey, a strong 6’3” post player from Ichabod Crane and Raheem Felder, a 5’11” guard out of Lansingburgh with a great knack for scoring the basketball.  A rising senior for the class of 2013 included Logan Hotaling, a 6’3” forward out of Voorheesville High School.  Also joining the team from the 16 and under Dream Team was a lefty guard by the name of Najee Ward.  Najee can play both wing positions as well as handle the ball if called upon.  He can drive to the hoop as well as shoot the “3”.  He is very quick and can play tremendous defense at times.  He likes to run and plays very well in transition. Najee will be a junior at Green Tech in the fall.

Another of the stronger teams at the Challenge was the B.C. Eagles out of Middletown, NY.    Probably the best all-around player on the team and maybe of all the teams we saw at the tournament was a 6’0” point guard out of Don Bosco Prep by the name of Joey Fienberg.  Joey is a prototypical point guard who first and foremost looks to distribute the rock and find open teammates in position to score.  He possesses a tremendous understanding of the game and will be sure to bring a great deal of intangibles to any college program that lands him.  Post player Andrew Nutt, who stands about 6’4” compliments Joey as well as Andre Williams, a 5’11” combo guard who possesses a very good first step and rebounds very well for his size and position.

Some other class of 2013 standout players from the tournament included a very athletic 6’2” point guard from Peekskill named Dan Casey, 6’3” swingman Charlie Marquardt, son of Molloy College men’s basketball coach Charles Marquart, 6’2” Rockwon Walker, a solid rebounder and hustler out of Linden HS, and a 5’1 point guard out of Exeter HS in Kingston by the name of J.P. Connolly.  Although undersized, he is very quick and can get to the rim in a flash.  He handles the ball very well and is constantly communicating with his teammates.  The lack of size may be a turn off for a lot of coaches, but we have the feeling that any coach who is willing to take the gamble will not be disappointed.

The GymRat challenge sure saw its share of talent this past weekend in upstate New York!

Mike Long Jr.  – Staffwriter