Texas D1 Ambassadors @ The Las Vegas Easter Classic

In keeping with our tradition of heading to Las Vegas & Dinos Trigonis' "Easter Classic" (which is not held on Easter this year), the Texas D1 Ambassadors have two squads competing in Glitter Gulch this weekend.  This is where the program first came to natioanal prominence 6 years ago when we spanked the Portland Legends with then future pros, Kevin Love & Kyle Singler at Hal Pastner's event.  Coach Mike Hardge (Austin) & Paul Josephs (San Antonio) combined some of their rosters for one group, while the Texas D1 Ambassadors-Houston edition are coached by former South Alabama star Richard Law & Orin Bailey.  Bishop Gorman HS is crawling with scouts & media.  Nobody does this part of the tournament game as well as event organizer, Dinos Trigonis.
Old hand, Van Coleman of http://www.hot100hoops.com/ & Dinos Trigonis (right) of http://www.fullctpress.net/ 

Rosters:

Texas D1 Ambassadors Austin/San Antonio
2012    5'11" G    Carter Josephs       San Antonio Clark
2012    5'11" G    Mike Hardge          Georgetown
2012    6'5"   G    Uche Ofoegbu         San Antonio Stevens
2011    6'7"   W    Austin Jenkins       Austin Hyde Park
2012    6'7"   P     Shelby Lane           San Antonio Alamo Heights
2011    6'5"  W    Allante Faust          Killeen Harker Heights
2012    6'6"  W    Jeffrey Rodewald   San Antonio Alamo Heights
2012    6'6"   P    Drew Wikelius         Austin Westlake
2012    6'9"   P    Connor Lammert     San Antonio Churchill

Texas D1 Ambassadors Houston
2012   6'0"   G     Chase Brogna                  Houston St. Thomas
2012   5'10" G     Joshua Hagins                 Bossier Airline (Louisiana)
2012   6'6"   G     Alex Caruso                     College Station A&M Consolidated
2012   6'7"   F      Maurice Letcher-Ellis     Houston Yates
2013   6'8"   F      Kendrick Morris              Houston Second Baptist
2013   6'8"   F      Johnathan Motley           Galena Park Northshore
2011   6'9"   F      Keynon Willis                  Crosby
2013   6'7"   F      Parker Callendar            Clear Lake Clear Springs 
2012   6'4"   G     Devon Turk                     Houston St. Pius

Friday Night Games

Southern Nevada All Stars 81  Texas D1 Ambassadors Austin/San Antonio  60
As I watched this game I scratched my head and thought our kids played with little energy and lost to a much less talented team.  The Southern Nevada team hit 15 three pointers & I thought they'll never do that again in a million years.  I was wrong though as they dropped 13 more in their next game and easily won their pool to advance to bracket play. 

2011 F Austin Jenkins had 10 points and 8 rebounds.  The unsigned senior from Austin Hyde Park shows increased athleticism, a nice perimeter shot & a newfound intertest in battling on the boards and blocking/altering shots.  He has excellent academics and will be a nice spring signing for a new Division One staff looking for a wing.
Austin Jenkins (left) & Connor Lammert (right) impressed on Friday at the Easter Classic

2012 F Connnor Lammert (who won't turn 17 until August) is easily the top post prospect in San Antonio's 2012 class.  He can step out to hit the three, rebounds hard & is a nice passer. He led the way with 12 points & 14 rebounds in the loss.

Texas D1 Ambassadors-Houston 77 Las Vegas Prospects 64
We've had many a battle with the Prospects program over the years, including a come from behind win where we overcame a 22 point deficit at haltime of Hal Pastner's old Main Event tournament when the Las Vegas squad boasted current San Diego State star Billy White. A close game was broken open with a 12-0 run towards the end of the first half which catapulted Texas D1 to the win.

2012 G  Devon Turk is a lights out shooter.  He has great size at 6'4" and with a quick trigger release is a premiere shooter in the Class of 2012.  He rained 4 three pointers and had an assortment of mid range shots in his bag of tricks while scoring 22 points.
Devon Turk (left) & Alex Caruso (right) played so well in Game One that Rivals.com gave them great props and publicity on Day 1 (Friday).

2012 G Alex Caruso continues to prolong his coming out party as one of 2012's top combo guards.  He had 16 points, 6 assists & 5 rebounds in a well rounded effort.  It's his athleticism that when thrown into the mix makes him have such a high ceiling.