D1 Nation Diamonds In The Rough @ Alief Elsik HS.

D1 Nation Contributing Editor, AW "Gym Range" Robinson has been busy polishing up another pair of Diamonds In The Rough.  Today, we feature 2011 PG 5'11" Cortlandt Mills of Alief Elsik. 

Mills is a quality lead guard who has the ability to run the team and put the ball in the goal with deep 3’s, a nice mid range game & by  attacking the rim. His best game of the summer was vs. MBA Hoops from Jackson, MS where he gave their nationally ranked PG DeVille Smith (Mississippi State) fits with his pressure defense and change of speed,  controlling the game & getting the win. Attention all WAC, Missouri Valley & Mountain West teams.  This guy will impact your teams.

Mills partner in the Elsik backcourt, 2013 SG 6'3" De’Shawn Robinson is no slouch.  Houston's loaded with talent, and it's not all inside Loop 610!

Stevenson is a smooth player who can do it all. He can run the point in addition to the two guard. He is very athletic on the fast break attacking the rim like a young Dwyane Wade. I first met him at the Alief 24 hr fitness two years ago where he was playing with grown men & getting it done. Expect him to climb the 2013 ranks as he's hungry to be repected nationally as well.

P.S.  We apologize for the quality of the pics and will try to obtan better photos asap.

D1 Nation Houston- Hoop Scoop (ST. Thomas HS)

                                                                  ST. Thomas High School

Danny Evans is in his 2nd season as the captain of the Eagles ship. ST. Thomas is one of the oldest private schools in Houston and is rich in tradition. The Eagles are primed for a run at the Tapps 6A State Title, they last won the state title in 2008.  ST Thomas  has size,  (Jeremy King 6'9) good perimeter players ( Christian Sanders 6'3/ Chase Brogna 6'0) and supporting cast. The Eagles expect to soar high this season.

Name	Ht	Class
Chase Brogna	6’0	2012
Chris Brown	6’5	2011
Adam Drexler	6’6	2012
Andrew Jones	5’8	2011
Nick Longino	6’0	2011
Ian  Hurley	5’10	2011
Jeremy King	6’9	2012
Doc Perrier	6’6	2012
Christian Sanders	6’4	2012
Ryan Taylor	6’2	2012
Darnell Theriot Jr	5’9	2012
Chris Voss	6’0	2011
Patrick Keating	6’3	2012

D1 Nation: Diamond In the Rough - 2011 Jarvis Thibodeaux 6'7 forward

                                      D1 Nation Polishes another Diamond In the Rough :

Standing 6'7 attending ST. Pius X HS in Houston,TX is Jarvis Thibodeaux (2011) .
Jarvis plays hard on both ends of floor, he is athletic and possess good hands for a big man. he finishes well around the rim, blocks many shots and is making the mid range shot with regularity. Another sleeper in the Houston Area. Coaches this kid will make a splash, check him out.

D1 Nation Houston- Real Talk (Jarrion Brooks)

D1 Nation Real Talk : 2011 Jarrion Brooks of  Houston Wheatley HS

D1 Nation Contributing Editor: Orin Bailey had a  chance to sit and chat with Wheatley's HS PG 6'0 Jarrion (Jay) Brooks for some real talk.

How old were you when you first started playing basketball?

3yrs old, My 1st goal was a fisher price goal.

What are some of your hobbies outside of basketball?

Hanging out with my brother and Coach Elder, they keep me focused and happy in life.

What is your favorite class in school?

Pre-Calculus

What is your favorite food?

Seafood

What music are you listening to before a game?

Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross,

What college player or NBA player do you model your game after?

Rudy Gay

What are your goals for this season?

Get bigger faster, stronger, improve my recruiting and help my team bring a state title down 290.

Who is the best player that you played against last spring or summer?

DeWayne Reed, Chip Cartwright,

What is the best college conference in college basketball?

SEC

Who are the top teams in Texas this year?

Jack Yates, Jones, Wheatley,

What colleges are recruiting you currently?

My recruiting is starting to pick up.

Who are the top 5 players in Houston?

SHeldon McClellen, Julien Lewis, Joe Miles, myself,

Who is your favorite NBA player?

Tracy McGrady

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Playing in NBA, Succeeding in college majoring in Business

D1 Nation Houston- Hoop Scoop (Christian Life Academy)

                                                         Christian Life Academy
                                                 

Carlos Wilson - conducts the train better known as Christian Life Academy. Over the past five years or so many college coaches from across the country have visited the basketball factory in Humble, Texas.  Besides building a quality high school program, Christian Life has a prep team for post high school graduates looking to increase their recruitment.  Just like similiar years in the past, Christian life is stacked with talent at every position. This star studded cast should be fun to watch, and pose a serious threat to its opponents this season.

 Christian Life Roster
  

Name	Ht	Class
Josh Gray	6’1	2012
Anthony Norris	6’6	2011
Joe Burton	6’6	2014
Tyler Rambo	6’5	2011
Michael Lewis	6’9	2012
Darnell  Harris	6’8	2011
Jordan Goodman	6’8	2012
Deividas Pukis	6’5	2011
PJ Hardwick	5’9	2012
Chris Campbell	6’4	2012
Pat Mockawitz	6’8	2012
Alex Vasiljevic	6’7	2011
Ahmad Ibrahim	6’6	2011
Goree Allen	6’0	2011

Diamond In the Rough -2011 Guard Charles Allen

Diamond in the Rough - Charles Allen 6'3 Guard -Second Baptist 2011

Charles has flown under the radar and has an uncanny ability to put the ball in the basket. Charles is athletic, has a great feel for the game and plays hard on both ends of the court. This kid is a steal for any college that gets his services.

Diamond In the Rough Guard 2013 - 5'10 Khalil Potts

The D1Nation polishes another Diamond in the Rough : Khalil Potts 5'10 (2013) Guard from Houston Reagan HS

                                                              
Khalil Potts has an explosive first step and simply puts the ball in the bucket at a high rate. Khalil has a good feel for the game and makes plays on both end of the court. This kid will truly blow up this season. Be on the lookout, Houston!  

St. Thomas High School Varsity Fall League

Oct.13,2010

Tonight wraps up the 7 week Varsity fall league @ St. Thomas HS. Every team has improved and the floor time is invaluable and has allowed coaches time to evaluate players and work on combinations.

5:00pm Second Baptist (2-4) vs Memorial HS (3-3)
halftime score MHS 29-SBHS 21
final score-MHS 48- SBHS 47
MHS- Max Yanke 12
SBHS-Kendrick Morris 16, Nicholas Madole 13pts

Kendrick Morris 6'7 (2013) Second Baptist

6:00pm ST. Thomas White(II) (2-4) vs ST.Pius HS(3-2)
halftime score SPHS   -STHS 34 STHS 17
final score SPHS 46-  STHS 37

Darnell Theriot Jr  5'9 (2012) St. Thomas

STHS- Doc Perrier 12pts, Darnell Theriot 10pts
SPHS- Devon Turk 21pts,

7:00pm ST.Thomas Red(Varsity) (6-0 )vs Wheatley HS (5-1)
*Rematch of last weeks match-up*
In the rematch of the teams with the best two records it was a different day, yet same result. The Wheatley Wildcats fought hard and had a chance down the stretch,  but the Eagles from St. Thomas were just too much tonight. The pressure from Wheatley didnt appear to bother Eagles and they were able get several easy baskets versus the trap.
*ST. Thomas finshed the fall league unbeaten (7-0).
halftime Score STHS 34- WHS 24
Final Score STHS 62- WHS 59

Jeremy King 6'9 (2012) St.Thomas

Chris Brown 6'4 (2011)  St.Thomas

  STHS- Jeremy King 18pts,  Christian Sanders 18pts, Ian Hurley 13pts, Chris Brown 11pts / 10 rebs,
WHS- Randy Lewis 18pts, Kedron Ginn 15pts, Paul Ball 10pts

Randy Lewis

8:00pm Spring Woods (0-6) vs Reagan HS ( 1-5)
halftime score RHS 24-SWHS 18
final score RHS  62- SWHS 47

SWHS- Faliq Gaither 14pts
RHS- Khalil Potts 20pts

Diamond In the Rough- 2013 guard Josh Gordon

          The D1 Nation Polishes Another Diamond In The Rough - 2013  Guard 5'9 Josh Gordon

Josh Gordon -2013 (Emery Weiner School)

Josh is an above average shooter for a point guard  and runs a team really well.  Gordon has a true passion for the game ,and simply makes plays on  both ends of  the court. Be on the lookout for this kid, coaches.  

St. Thomas High School JV Fall League

Oct. 12, 2010

5:00pm St.Thomas black(frosh) (2-4) vs St.Pius X(JV) (2-4)
halftime SPHS 38- STHS 32
final score SPHS 80  - STHS 53

Chris Walker  6'0 (2013) ST. Pius

SPHS- Chris Walker 18pts, Solomon 18pts, John Paul 14pts, John Griffin 11pts
STHS- Jaime Keating 27pts, Jordan Rosales 13pts, Joshua Reese 13pts,

Jaime Keating 6'2 (2014) St. Thomas HS

6:00pm ST.HS(JV) (3-3) vs Lamar HS (JV) (0-4)
halftime score LHS 23- STHS 16
final score STHS 41-- LHS 29

Rowan Brumant 6'3 (2012) St. Thomas HS

STHS-Jaren Murphy 10, Rowan Brumant 10pts,
LHS- no player scored double digits

7:00pm Memorial HS(JV) (6-0) vs Washington HS(JV) (3-1)
halftime Score-WHS 34-MHS 25
final score- MHS 58  -WHS 49

MHS- Rod Dayyani 18, Michael White 13
WHS- Marquez LeBlanc 13 pts

Marquez LeBlanc 6'4(2013) Washington HS

D1 Nation Real Talk: 2011 D.J. Griggs of Brazosport

D1 Nation Contributing Editor A.W. "Gym Range" Robinson caught up with Brazosport star PG 6'0" D.J. Griggs of Brazosport for this edition of Real Talk.

How old were you when you started playing basketball?

4

What are some of your hobbies outside of basketball

Chillin' & texting

What is your favorite classi in school?

Science

What's on your IPOD before a game?

Jeezy

What's your favorite food?

Hot wings

What college or NBA player do you model your game after?

Johnny Flynn & Brandon Jennings

List some goals you've set for this year.

Average 30 points and 10 assists.

2011 CG D.J. Griggs of Brazosport

Who are top 5 colleges recruiting you the hardest?

Wake Forest, Syracuse, Georgetown, Illinois, & Arizona

What is the best conference in college basketball.

Big East

List the top 6 players in Houston right now.

Julian Lewis, Sheldon McClellan, D'Angelo Harrison, Terran Pettaway, Cameron, & The Harrison Twins.

What part of your game needs im provement the most?

My attitude.

Who is your favorite NBA player from Houston?

Daniel Gibson

Who are the top 5A & 4A teams this year?

Houston Yates or Fort Bend Bush

Where do you see yourself being 5 years from now?

The NBA

Diamond In The Rough 2011 C 6'11" Sirius Berwanger of Houston Episcopal

The D1 Nation Polishes Another Diamond In The Rough

6’11 C 2011 Sirius Berwanger Episcopal HS is a traditional back to the basketb big man who loves to play and bang inside.  He has great hands for rebounds, put backs & blocks. He's a good free throw shooter. You can mark him down for 20 pts & 10 rebs a game. He reminds me of old school Oklahoma State alum, Bryant "Big Country" Reeves.

D1 Nation: Diamond In The Rough: 2013 PF Xavier Dupree of Alief Taylor

The D1 Nation polishes another Diamond In The Rough

He's 2013 PF Xavier Dupree of Alief Taylor. The 6’8 2013 PF Xavier Dupree Alief Taylor HS Dupree blocks almost everything that comes his way and cleans the boards very well.  He can post up hard or pop out for the pick and pop to hit the midrange shot.  He's a high energy player that plays well above the rim.

New Orleans D1 Ambassadors Duo Off The Board

The New Orleans D1 Ambassadors Elite made their debut this past spring in Houston at Jimmy Hicks Ice Breaker.  Despite being undermanned and travel weary when they hit H Town, a blind man could see that this was a talented crew of 2011/2012 players.  In the last week two of those guys have made their decision as to where they'll attend school.

2011 F 6'10" Jernard Jarrou of New Orleans McDonough 35

2011 F 6'10" Jernard Jarrou of New Orleans McDonough 35 committed to the Washington Huskies.  Only a few days prior he'd jumped the gun and verballed to Virginia Commonwealth, but then decided to take a trip to the Pacific Northwest. In many ways, Jarrou reminds me of former D1 Ambassador John Henson.  He's got the long, thin frame bornse as result of sprouting up from 6'5" to 6'10" this past year a la Henson's late growth spurt.  Jarrou still handles the ball well, shoots it comfortably from beyond the arc & swats everything that is remotely near him on the defensive end of the court.  Lorenzo Romar got a good one in Jarrou, a future pro

2011 F 6'7" Trevante Drye of Baton Rouge Glen Oaks

2011 F 6'7" Trevante Drye, is one of the classiest kids to ever wear a D1 Ambassadors uniform (he actually played for Texas D1 as a soph, prior to our stand alone team this year out of New Orleans).  Last night Tre committed to Tulane University in Conference USA, picking the Wave over SMU, and UNC-Charlotte among others. An excellent student in addition to being a very good basketball player, Drye is extremely expolsive around the basket and out to about 12 feet.  He rebounds like a demon and despite being a nice young man, he has a nasty streak under the boards which makes him deadly. He's the son of former LSU player Louis Earl and nephew to McDonald's All American (LSU & Kansas legend) Lester Earl.  Follow the link below to the Advocate and you'll see that his Mom was the inspiration in his life.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/99536534.html?showAll=y&c=y

Congratulation to the Jarrou & Drye Families.  Coach Max