PHILADELPHIA – Brandon Jennings made an unscheduled appearance here at the Reebok All-American Camp — as a fan only. The 6-foot Jennings recently announced that he would skip next season at Arizona and play ball in Europe instead. He stopped by press row and mentioned that he might possibly play in Italy, Spain, Russia or Israel. Other than that, he’s not doing any formal interviews.
**Despite 19 points and 13 boards from
Renardo Sidney, Pump Omni beat Answer XII, 70-66, in the Championship Game.
Raymond Taylor led Pump Omni with 15 points,
Maurice Creek added 12 and
Oscar Griffin 11.
Nobody but Sidney reached double-figures for the losers, but
Fuquan Edwin and
Erik Swoope each had 8. Sidney told me his Top 6 include Texas, Texas A&M, Arizona State, USC, UCLA and Memphis.
“(I’m going to decide) after my season, after my senior season,” the 6-9 Sidney said.
**Pump Omni also featured 6-5 Paterson Catholic junior
Fuquan Edwin, who holds offers from Rutgers, Seton Hall and Xavier and is a star on the rise. He was a monster as a frosh at PC, grabbing double-digit rebounds and scoring “like we breath,” to quote
Tom Konchalski. Then he had a bit of a letdown as a sophomore. Look for a feature from me next week on Edwin, who is now playing in the Underclassmen All-Star Game.
**Super sophomore
La’Quinton Ross of Jackson, Miss. has an extended college list that includes USC, Mississippi State, Baylor, Ole Miss, Maryland, Alabama, Memphis, Syracuse, Florida and Texas.
**
Jayvaughn Pinkston, a 6-5 combo forward from Bishop Loughlin, scored a team-high 12 points to lead Finish to a 75-66 victory in the Underclassmen All-Star Game, but somehow his teammate
Ashton Pankey was name Co-MVP. Go figure. Pinkston said he likes Florida, USC, Memphis and Louisville.
“I want to go away for school,” he said. That may rule out the locals, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Rutgers.
**
Wayne Blackshear of Chicago tallied a game-high 16 points for the losers and
LeBryan Nash added 10, including a couple of rim-rattling one- and two-handed dunks. New Jersey players
Sterling Gibbs and
Myck Kabongo each scored 3 points.
**The Philly Inquirer has a
feature today on Aaric Murray, a 6-9, 256-pound big from Philly’s Glen Mills who is being recruited by a number of schools and listed Marquette, West Virginia and St. Joe’s as those recruiting him the hardest. Word is he could end up at West Virginia.
**Onetime Indiana guard
Jordan Crawford has transferred to Xavier, an interesting move since Xavier already has a bunch of guards, including IU transfer
Terrell Holloway, and is hard after
Omari Lawrence (
out for the summer with a separated shoulder) and
Durand Scott. Xavier had no scholarships available so they convinced
Andrew Taylor to give his up (presumably) paying his own way, and then go back on ship next season. Crawford, meanwhile, will try to get a waiver and not sit a year, arguing that he got inadvertently caught up in the IU recruiting scandal under
Kelvin Sampson.
