Huge day of summer hoops in Indy

Sunday, July 10, 2016
Numerous college basketball coaches from around the country were in attendance at the Adidas Invitational boys' AAU basketball tournament on Sunday, including Kevin Stallings of Pitt (far left), Indiana State's Greg Lansing (middle), Purdue's Matt Painter (fourth from right) and IUPUI's Jason Gardner (second from right). The tourney is one of the few opportunities coaches have to watch players in person during an "open" recruiting period.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Sunday was the culmination of the four-day Adidas Invitational boys' basketball tournament, with dozens of teams competing in four age divisions traveling from as far away as Australia and Canada.

There are many such tournaments on the travel circuit from April through July, but this one was extra special since it took place during one of the few "open" recruiting periods when the college coaches may attend.

Several recognizable faces were on hand for the event, although the big boys -- Mike Krzyzewski, John Calipari, Tom Izzo, Bill Self, Rick Pitino, etc. -- were likely all in attendance at the Peach Jam tournament in Atlanta.

The Peach Jam is the most prestigious event of the summer tour, but many of the top schools were represented by assistant coaches since there was still a high talent level available.

Michigan State assistant coach Dane Fife was on hand, along with another Spartan assistant, and recruiting services indicate they are understandably very high on Southport's Paul Scruggs. Matt Painter of Purdue, Greg Lansing of Indiana State and Jason Gardner of IUPUI were other familiar faces present, and there were surely more at other points of the tourney.

Many teams from Indiana competed, and there were plenty of out-of-state squads on hand as well. It's hard to tell the origin of some of the teams solely based upon their names, but besides the foreign teams there were teams present from Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, West Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Kentucky.

Here are some observations from the final day :

Greencastle's Colin York hits a teammate under the basket while playing for the Indiana Elite Central 2018 team.

* Putnam County well represented -- Three players from Putnam County played on teams which competed in the tourney, with one of them winning its pool with an undefeated record and two others reaching the final four of their respective divisions.

South Putnam sophomore Allen Plunkett played for the Indiana Elite Force 2019, which went undefeated to win its pool. Plunkett's team defeated Team Ramey 2020 by a margin of 80-60, topped MBA 15U Regional by an 88-61 score and then defeated Primetime 2019 Black by a 93-46 count.

The team won its first game in the single-elimination bracket tourney by a 75-52 margin over Gamepoint Elite before falling 72-68 to Indiana Elite Central 2019.

Colin York, a junior at Greencastle, plays for Indiana Elite Central 2018 -- which found itself placed in a "super pool" for the more advanced teams.

Indiana Elite Central lost all three of its pool games -- by margins of 17, 13 and three -- but stepped up its game in the bracket portion.

IEC defeated Tri-City Thunder 66-61, the Michigan Mustangs 79-75 and Gateway Prep Academy 75-73 before being eliminated 58-49 by eventual champion Team Blaze.

Allen Plunkett of South Putnam shoots a free throw in the Adidas Invitational for the Indiana Elite Force.

York did not score in the team's final game, shooting infrequently, but he got a lot of playing time and did a good job both defensively and distributing the ball.

Cloverdale senior Cooper Neese and his Indy Hoosiers squad finished 2-1 in their "super pool," defeating Indiana Elite Green 80-61 and the Tennessee Bobcats 96-81 before losing 65-40 to Ohio Basketball Club White.

In bracket play, the Indy Hoosiers defeated EAB Select 65-45, Pocket City Basketball 63-40 and the G3 Rising Stars 60-53 to reach the final four.

The Indy Hoosiers squared off against Grassroots Indiana Blue and won by a 68-41 margin to reach the championship game. Neese had 10 points in that game, including two 3-pointers. Scruggs led the way with 24.

The final game was against Stackhouse Elite North, a team from North Carolina sponsored by former NBA standout Jerry Stackhouse.

The Indy Hoosiers led 30-26 at the half, but found themselves behind by as many as seven down the stretch. Neese had just two points in the first half, but buried four straight 3-pointers in the final four minutes to keep his team close. The rally wasn't enough, as Stackhouse Elite North won the title 57-54.

Indy Hoosiers star Kris Wilkes did not play on Sunday, due to his departure today for the USA Basketball 18-and-under team trials. The 6-7 forward from Indianapolis North Central is in the final 18 for a spot on the elite squad, and his presence would have made a huge difference.

* Scruggs, Wilkes are big Cooper Neese fans -- Scruggs and Wilkes have been teammates for several years, dating back to the national AAU championship they won as fifth-graders.

Neese has been on their team all during his high school AAU career, and the two likely future NBA players are big fans of Neese's game.

"He's a wonderful shooter and a great teammate," Scruggs said. "He's been with us since his freshman year, and he played on-and-off during our eighth-grade year.

Cooper Neese of Cloverdale gets off a shot for the Indy Hoosiers against the Stackhouse North Elite team on Sunday in the Adidas Invitational tournament in Indianapolis.

"He fits in well with us," he added. "He spreads out the defense with his shooting ability."

Wilkes has noted improvement in Neese's game continuing this year.

"I love Cooper," he said. "I think he's getting better and better as the year goes on. He's been a great teammate, and playing with him for so long and getting to know him has been great."

Wilkes knows his team needs Neese's shooting.

"He definitely fits in with us," he said. "He knows the scheme, and what people can do, and we definitely know what he can do as a shooter."

Both Scruggs and Wilkes foresee success for him when he joins Butler in the fall of 2017.

"I think he'll be outstanding at Butler, and I wish him the best of luck," Scruggs said.

Wilkes agrees.

"He'll make a great impact," he said. "That's a good fit for him, and I'm wishing him luck."

* Another future superstar on display -- Between games involving local kids, I was able to watch the next in a line of Hoosier superstars for the first time.

You may already know the names of Wilkes, Scruggs, Jaren Jackson (Park Tudor), Malik Williams (Fort Wayne Snider) and Romeo Langford (New Albany) as future superstars who will likely all make a lot of money playing basketball -- but Keion Brooks Jr. has joined them in that elite company.

Brooks Jr. will be a sophomore at Fort Wayne North this fall, and he's ever bit as good as advertised. Ranked No. 15 nationally by ESPN in the class of 2019, Brooks Jr. is a solid 6-7, 200-pounder who possesses great agility, quickness and ballhandling.

Any good basketball fan will want to be at Southport on Dec. 10 for the six-game shootout which appears to be the best of several such events around the state this year.

The matchups that day are South Bend Riley vs. Hamilton Southeastern, Cloverdale vs. Mount Vernon (Fortville), Fort Wayne North vs. Lawrence North, Fort Wayne Snider vs. Park Tudor, Castle vs. Southport and New Albany vs. North Central (Indianapolis).

Brooks and all five of the other players listed above will all be there for what should be an incredible day.

* Another big Indy event this week -- Neese, York and Plunkett will participate on Wednesday in the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Top 100 workout, along with Jalen Moore of Cloverdale, at Ben Davis High School.

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