Elite 75 Frosh/Soph Edition – Event Recap

New England Recruiting Report | Friday, September 25th, 2009

It was an exciting day of basketball in Boston on Saturday as the second annual New England Elite 75 Showcase – Frosh/Soph Edition took place. 

The first session of the day featured the top freshmen in the region, while the sophomores came in for the nightcap. 

With a variety of headlines taking place throughout both sessions, the New England Recruiting Report will be bringing continuous coverage for the next few days, but here’s an early look at some of the big bullet points. 

Freshmen Begin to Separate Themselves

Kuran Iverson was magnificient on Saturday and Goodluck Okonoboh was terrific himself as both players showed why they are at the top of the class of 2013.  But another name emerged from the pack as well and that was Springfield Central point guard Cornelius Tyson who showed an ambidextrous skill set, good size, and great poise and presence from the point guard position. 

Breakout Sophomores

We’ve all heard about Drummond, Murphy, Ledo, Bull, and Tarczewski, but on Saturday we found out that the class of 2012 had some hidden gems as well.  Tops among them was Boston Trinity’s new 6’3” swingman, Rodell Wigginton, who showed a strong frame, some explosive athleticism, and a polished skill set.  Charlestown’s (MA) Akosa Maduegbunam and Danbury’s (CT) Tim Jackson Jr. are two other big wing players who also took advantage of the opportunity to make a name for themselves. 

New Names in 2013

Our 2013 prospect list got significantly deeper today as we got our first look at a number of talented young players.  Colin Richey and Kamari Robinson were especially impressive but we’re also looking forward to watching the development of guys like Nate Anderson, LQuan Arnum, Nick Bland, Riyad Asad, and Earl Coleman. 

Every State for Themselves

All six of the New England states were well represented in both sessions of the showcase, and featured at least one player who went on to be selected as an all-star.  Harrison Taggart led the way in Maine while Chris Braley was the story of the Maine contingent.  Kaleb Joseph did New Hampshire proud while Ben Nunez and Jared Thompson did the same in Rhode Island.  Connecticut and Massachusetts both had the best depth of talent with numerous all-stars between the two states. 

Living Up to the Hype

While today was a great opportunity for many prospects to break out, some came into the showcase with their rep well in place and simply used the showcase as an opportunity to solidify their status.  That list features players like Egi Gjikondi, Kamali Bey, Wayne Selden, Cane Broome, Will Cartwright, Aaron Calixte, Derek Collins, Khalil Dukes, Jake Fay, Demitri Floras, Ramone Gibbons, Demitry Lewis, Timmance McKinney, Jaquille Taylor, Johnnie Vassar, Thomas Bajda, Andrew Chrabascz, Kris Dunn, Trey McPherson, Arkel Miles, Georges Niang, John Powell, Thomas Palleschi, Kyle Reardon, and Tarik Smith.