As we head into the July recruiting period, here’s a look at the big camps coming up this week.
LEBRON JAMES US SKILLS ACADEMY (July 5-9)
University of Akron – Official Website
This is the second year of the LeBron Academy and they were preceded by four position-specific camps headlining Steve Nash (point guards), Paul Pierce (shooting guards), Vince Carter (small forwards) and Amare Stoudemire (big men). What is unique this year is that a couple of the invites, namely Brooklyn Lincoln star Lance Stephenson and North Carolina commits David and Travis Wear, are also trying out for the FIBA Americas U18 Championship team that will go to Argentina July 14-18. If they make the team once the final cuts are announced Monday, they will be at Georgetown for training camp the rest of the week and thus would miss the LeBron Academy. The two guys already cut from the U18 team, Tennessee commit Kenny Hall and uncommitted Ari Stewart, are both at LeBron. John Wall, the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2009 according to Rivals and a recent foil to Stephenson at the Steve Nash Academy, will also be there. Read Kevin Armstrong’s great piece on Wall here.
Big Names on the Roster: DeMarcus Cousins, Nolan Dennis, Jordan Hamilton, Xavier Henry, John Wall
Local Flavor: Taran Buie (Bishop Maginn), Michael Gilchrist (St. Patrick), Durand Scott (Rice), Doron Lamb (Bishop Loughlin), Lamont Jones (Blair Christian).
REEBOK ALL-AMERICAN CAMP (July 6-10)
Philadelphia University – Official Website
This camp is the equivalent of last year’s Rbk U at Philly U, which replaced the old ABCD Camp run by Sonny Vaccaro and Chris Rivers at FDU. With Vaccaro now retired and taking on the NBA and NCAA in his own battles, Rivers is now the main man and did a great job last year. This camp was preceded by a series of Headliner Tryout Camps, which allowed unsung players to earn invites.
New Jersey invites: Carl Baptiste, North Hunterdon; Dominic Cheek, St. Anthony; Fuquan Edwin, Paterson Catholic; Isaiah Epps, Plainfield; Sterling Gibbs, Seton Hall Prep; Tyrone Johnson, Plainfield; Shaquille Thomas, Paterson Catholic; Aaron Walton, Camden
New York invites: O.D. Anosike, Chris Coleman, Trevor Dillard, Tobias Harris, Omari Lawrence, Kevin Parrom, Michael Poole, Nkereuwem Okoro and Sherrod Wright.
National names: Renardo Sidney, Kenny Boynton, Abdul Gaddy, Richard Howell, Brandon Knight, Clarence Trent