#IceBreaker Preview: Worldwide Renegades 15u

Preseason #2 (Nationally) Worldwide Renegades 15u

ABR tweeted yesterday about the change in the AAU basketball landscape in the southeast, and its effect on our area's basketball players.  The AAU teams and players from the greater Augusta, Georgia, area used to have to travel to Atlanta and beyond to play the best teams on the spring and summer AAU circuit.  But during the past decade, the Ice Breaker Invitational (the spring's unofficial kick off for AAU basketball in the southeast); the Peach State Invitational in the intense July evaluation period; and, beginning this year, the King James Southern Exposure tournament in the reinstated April evaluation period, has made the Augusta area one of the major destinations for the region's (and the country's) top AAU basketball teams.

#IceBreaker Preview: Flat Elite 17u

Coach Kevin Rish is optimistic about his second season coaching the Flat Elite 17 & Under AAU team.  His players live in and around the greater Augusta, area, with many coming from just across the border in North Augusta, South Carolina.  Players from Georgia include forwards Jacob Buchanan (Evans) and Connor Sigrist (Greenbrier), as well as Augusta Eagles guards Austin Crown, Matt Miller, and Dominic Brown.  South Carolina is represented well by guards TJ Sheppard (North Augusta) and Karon Wright (Silver Bluff), and forwards Tavarez Hall and Kenny Finley, who both attend North Augusta High School.  This weekend's Ice Breaker Invitational will be the first time that the team is at full strength.  The team will play Friday and Saturday at Riverview Park in North Augusta.  ABR will provide live coverage of Flat Elite as a part of its comprehensive coverage of the 2012 Ice Breaker Invitational.

#IceBreaker Preview:  Flat Elite 17u

AAU Preview: Southern Kings 15u

AAU Preview Video: SKG 15u

Southern Kings (Augusta) 15u

The Southern Kings of Augusta 15 & Under AAU team's roster is filled with talented 9th graders from the greater Augusta, Georgia, area.  And the team's challenging schedule of tournaments is as impressive as its personnel.  But the most intriguing thing about the team may be the willingness of the players and coaches to challenge themselves by playing the toughest competition possible.  After winning the 15 & Under AAU Super Regionals in North Augusta, South Carolina, last month, the team's coaches (Marcus Gibbons and Rodney Johnson) decided to enter the team in the 17 & Under division of the Hot Shots Alpharetta tournament and the 16 & Under division of this weekend's Ice Breaker Invitational.  The Ice Breaker is an event organized by Kings (Augusta) founder Dameon Key, and the tournament (which includes over 100 AAU teams) has become known as the unofficial kick off to the AAU season in the southeast United States.

The Southern Kings will participate in the 16u Division
of the 2012 Ice Breaker at Augusta Prep Day School.

But playing against older players is not new to the team's core players.  Almost all played a significant role for their high school teams this season.  Guards Reggie Reid (Harlem High) and AJ Gray (Washington County) were among their teams' leading scorers.  And Dontae Coleman (Butler High), Jashawn Brooks (North Augusta High) and Maurice O'Bannon (Glen Hills) also played significant varsity minutes.

"We are playing at a higher age level with the goal of playing at our best by the time we go to some of the most competitive 15 & Under tournaments," coach Marcus Gibbons recently shared.  The list of challenging tournaments the Kings will attend is certainly long.  In April, the Augusta based team will play in the KnoxVegas Heat Invitational (Knoxville, TN); the King James Southern Exposure Event (Augusta, GA); and the Jayhawk Invitational (Kansas City, KS).  Add two in state tournaments and a trip to Dallas, Texas (Under Armour Memorial Day Tournament), in May, one in New York in June, and one each to Little Rock, Arkansas (AAU Nationals), and Las Vegas (Adidas 64 Invitational) in July, and this group will have tested itself against some of the best teams the Spring and Summer AAU circuit has to offer.  And coach Gibbons and Johnson's strategy of playing against older players early in the season should help to prepare the team for the difficult journey.

Enjoy the Southern Kings (Augusta) 15u preview video (above), and take a look at the team's roster:


Southern Kings Gold 15under Roster (2012)

Niquia Andrews        6’1 2G/PG            Richmond Academy High School
JaShawn Brooks       6’4 2G/SF             North Augusta High School
Dontae Coleman       6’2 PG/2G            Butler High School
A.J. Gray                  6’2 2G                  Washington County High School
Jamari Griffin            6’5 PF                  Westside High School
Maurice O’Bannon   6’5 PF/SF             Glenn Hills High School
Quinton Phillips        6’4 SF/PF             Westside High School
Reggie Reid              5’11 PG/2G          Harlem High School
Calvin Taylor            6’7 C                    Fox Creek High School
Jervon Walker           6’5 PF/SF             Laney High School

Director: Dameon Key
Coaches: Marcus Gibbons & Rodney Johnson

Spring/Summer AAU Preview: Southern Stampede 16u

Southern Stampede 16u - Video Preview

For years, Mike Stokes and Matt Scott, the coaches of the Southern Stampede 16 & Under AAU basketball team, have shared the goal of competing in the Spring and Summer's premiere basketball tournament:  The EYBL Finals at the Peach Jam, hosted by Nike at North Augusta's Riverview Park.  And Stokes' team, whose core is playing together for the sixth consecutive AAU season, is poised to achieve that goal this July.

"Playing in the Peach Jam has been our goal since the Augusta Metros (the team's original name) days.  And we have been telling the players for years that reaching that goal would take lots of hard work," assistant coach Matt Scott recently shared.

And the Stampede's players have certainly followed their coaches' instructions.  Most of the players travel from well outside of the Augusta area to practice on Friday, Saturday (usually twice), and Sunday during the team's March preseason practice period.  And all players work on their individual skills and strength and conditioning during the week to be prepared for the AAU season's marathon weekends of ultra-competitive game play.

But while the ultimate goal is well within reach, the Stampede will have to earn its way to the AAU circuit's most noteworthy tournament.  The 16 & Under division's "Sweet Sixteen" field is chosen by Nike's "grassroots" organization based on the performance of the various Nike sponsored teams during the season's key EYBL events.  The two in which the Stampede plan to compete include the March 27-29 EYBL event in Hampton, Virginia, and the May 11-13 event in Dallas, Texas.  The team also plans to compete in tournaments in Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia.

The team's talented roster has caused some to project that the Stampede will be one of the nation's top five 16 & Under AAU teams.  But the coaches and players look forward to proving themselves on the court.  And they hope that the last leg of this six year journey, which began with the recent practices in Augusta, and which will continue during tournaments across the country, will end in a familiar place:  the EYBL Finals at the Peach Jam, in North Augusta, South Carolina.

Southern Stampede
16u Roster

Player	Position	Ht
Ahmed Hill Marcus Stroman Michael Scott Davon Gibbs Elijah Staley Jarryd Coleman Jakeena Gant Jay Baxley Phil Cofer Cedric Turmen Vincent Hicklan	PG/SG PG PG PG G/F PG/SG G/F F F C F	6'4'' 6'2'' 5'8'' 5'10'' 6'6'' 6'2'' 6'7'' 6'4'' 6'8'' 6'9'' 6'6''