Hoop Mountain Super Week II – Day 3 Recap

New England Recruiting Report | Monday, July 6th, 2009

Holy Tarczewski!

Kaleb Tarczewski was the big story of the day on Tuesday as he dominated his afternoon game and picked up his first scholarship offer from Fordham University of the Atlantic 10. 

Tarczewski captivated on-looking college coaches with his size and mobility as there aren’t many other young players in the nation who can match his size and ability to change ends of the floor. 

You also have to like the fact that Tarczewski isn’t trying to be anything other than what he is…and that’s a big man.  Unlike so many other young big men you don’t see him drifting to the perimeter or trying to prove himself as a ball handler.  Instead, he seeks out, and plays through, contact around the rim which allows him to catch and finish just about everything in the paint and change the game with his shot-blocking. 

Ultimately, we’d expect this to be just the beginning of the hype for the young big man who will reclassify to 2012 at St. Mark’s in the fall.  He’s still raw in many ways and has a lot to learn, but with his tool set and impressive work-ethic he’s just going to keep getting better for a long time. 

Stars Shine in Afternoon Game

Several of the top prospects in camp took place in an ultra competitive afternoon game that featured the likes of Majok Majok, Andre Drummond, Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Phil Gaetano, Dominique Langston, and Steve Glowiak on one team against another team featuring Alex Murphy, Macam Bak Macam, Michael Carter-Williams, Josh Levitan, Jared Fay, and Myles Brilhante. 

This game was full of intriguing individual match-ups as Drummond and Murphy guarded each other, Rathan-Mayes and Carter-Williams locked up, and Macam and Majok went head to head. 

Ultimately, there wasn’t one clear cut winner between the rising sophomore stars as Murphy pulled Drummond away from the basket with a pair of three-pointers and Drummond did his best work at the high post by making high-low passes and elevating for an elbow jumper. 

Carter-Williams may have gotten the better of Rathan-Mayes, but that doesn’t mean the rising soph. didn’t show flashes of his playmaking potential.  But Carter-Williams rose to the challenge down the stretch of the game as he consistently created, and then knocked down, tough shots. 

Majok had the experience and physical strength to win his match-up with Bak as he consistently scored and finished around the rim.  But Bak still had his moments as he made one particularly impressive turn-around jumper with his back to the basket and even blocked one of Majok’s dunk attempts. 

Other Standouts

Freddie Wilson – The Hillhouse guard had another good day today as Rutgers head coach Fred Hill returned to get another look.  He’s just got a lot of game with the ball in his hands, and when he’s shooting it as well as he did today he’s a very tough match-up. 

Keegan Hyland – He finally broke out of his shooting slump earlier this morning as he got going early with a couple of open looks from behind the arc and then began to capitalize as defenders ran at him on the catch. 

Scott Watson – He’s worked his way up throughout the camp and seems to get better with every game.  He scored the ball in high volume this afternoon with his pull-up jumper being his weapon of choice. 

Derek Retos – He had nine three-pointers throughout the first two days of the game, and when you consider each kid only plays half the game you realize that he was stroking it pretty good.  He’s also patented the floater in the lane which gives him a good weapon when going to the rim. 

Andrew Kimberly – Today’s breakout performer came in the form of this big man from Fairfield, Connecticut.  He has a big frame, made strong moves with his back to the basket, and dunked the ball emphatically around the rim. 

C.J. Moss – This physical guard went to the basket like a bull, overpowering people in his path.  As the game went on he began to establish his jumper more from the perimeter as his offensive game was clicking on all cylinders. 

Joe Bramanti – The Andover swingman had his second successful day in a row as he slashed to the basket effectively, especially along the baseline, attacking hard and using his strong body to finish. 

Eric Alleyne – Alleyne was doing what he does best as he made a variety of plays off the dribble.  Whether it was in the open floor or via the ball screen, the strong lefty guard made good things happen. 

Marco Banegas – He’s just been consistently good throughout the course of the camp.  He’s been smooth going to the rim, showed good use of both hands finishing around the rim, and made his far share of open jumpers. 

Taquan Zimmerman – He overpowers many opposing guards and once he gets them on his back the play is essentially over as he’ll carry them to the rim or pull-up with great efficiency. 

Harrison Taggert – The youngster from Vermont is a long way from being a finished product, but he displayed some tools today showing good length, making a nice interior pass after curling a screen, and also showing good footwork with his back to the basket. 

Alex Snyder – Snyder is a wide body who loves contact and has good footwork on the block.  He gets himself to the free-throw line consistently and made a good percentage with a soft stroke. 

Tyler Strange – He couldn’t be kept out of the paint as he created with his dribble all night long, made a few of his customary interior shovel passes, and showed a terrific knack for finishing at full speed without breaking his stride. 

Russell Payton – He was aggressive looking for his own shot and successful doing it as he made threes when defenders played off him or went under ball screens, attacked off the dribble, and spun into a series of short pull-ups. 

Indiana Faithful – Another good day for the well sized floor general as he continued to make great decisions, milked Hyland’s hot hand, and found crafty ways to thread the needle with his passes.