MEQUON - Next to the national AAU tournaments in Florida and Nevada every July, the NY2LA Summer Jam brought together some of the best AAU teams in the country as well as coaches from Division I schools.
The coaches watched plenty of future recruits, sitting in a separate bleacher section at Homestead High School in isolation from the participating players and their relatives to adhere to the strict NCAA no contact rules in July.
With a total of 136 participating teams from the 15U, 16U and 17U classes from New York to California, there was too much action to take in for just one day. The tournament will conclude on Sunday when champions are crowned.
In the 17U game on Court 3 Thursday evening, I was impressed with the Terry Porter (TP) Elite team that features Deonte Burton (Vincent) and Jarvis Garrett (West Allis Central). They had a tall order in taking on the Atlanta Celtics, who were taller and bigger. The smaller TP-Elite team used their quickness on defense and fast break ability to lead all the way in their 78-72 win.
Whatever happened to all the hype of this Atlanta Celtics team is beyond me. They were one of the highly-regarded national teams in the tournament. On Court 2, the 17U high flyers of the Houston Defenders had no trouble with the Iowa Bulldogs, and I think the Defenders will be in the title hunt come Sunday.
Another 17U team that may make it to Sunday is the Kansas City Run GMC. They were organized on offense, and they have a 6-foot-8 player in Tory Miller who's big, strong and can dunk the ball with authority as he did on several occasions in their game against the Las Vegas Prospects. I wouldn't be surprised if Kansas or Kansas State are in the running for the incoming senior from Lee Summit (MO) H.S.
I rooted for Sid Tomes of the 15U Net Gain team on Court 5. He redeemed himself when he missed an open three-pointer with about 15 seconds remaining in regulation against the Illinois Wolves when they trailed 42-39. Net Gain got the ball back on a turnover and Tomes hit the three that sent the game into overtime. Unfortunately, the Wolves won the game 51-44. Anything can and will happen in the best summer AAU tournament in the midwest.
