Best Buy Summer Classic Recaps: Minneapolis, MN

The Texas D1 Ambassadors-Houston are on the last leg of their three events held during the first part of the July recruiting period.  Their last stop is the Best Buy Summer Classic held in beautiful Minneapolis, MN.  The event is held on six courts, under one roof at the beautiful Bloomington Jefferson High School complex. Hosted by Tom Kroschell of Minnesota Pump N Run, it's one of the circuit's best events.  The competition is high, coaches are present and it's run in a first class manner.  Mr. Kroschell is a friend and one of the classiest guys in the murky world of high level basketball.

On the first day about 150 coaches were on hand.  They came to see Texas D1 from as far away as Pepperdine (Malibu, CA), Texas A&M, SMU, Colorado and Creighton but a high percentage were on hand from the Patriot League, Missouri Valley, Ohio Vally, Big East and of course the Big Ten.  Texas D1 was super pooled in with Southern Select (GA) and recent adidas Tournament Champion, Indiana Elite (IN).

Southern Select (GA)  59  Texas D1 Ambassadors-Houston 55   Overtime
2012 P Aly Mohamed of Houston Trent International clearly established himself as a high major player as he battled his way to 15 points and 10 rebounds in the close loss. 2012 Maurice Letcher-Ellis of Houston Yates had 11 points and 6 rebounds.  Texas D1 blew a 5 point lead in the last 1:20 and couldn't regain the momentum in overtime.

2012 Maurice Letcher-Ellis is establishing himself as one of the top rebounders/shotblockers on the circuit

Indiana Elite  78  Texas D1 Ambassadors 52

Not much can be said about this encounter.  It was tied at 26-26 but Indiana Elite hit nine straight three pointers and stepped on the D1 Ambassadors throat.  2012 Devon Turk of Houston St. Pius had 13 points.  Aly Mohamed had 10 points, all in the first half.  With three players committed to Indiana, and several other high majors on the roster they handed Texas D1 the worst beating they've ever experienced in 11 years of playing hih level opponents.

Texas D1 Ambassadors-Houston 70  Iowa Barnstormers 52

Most everyone on the roster made solid contributions as Texas D1 pulled away near the end of the first half.  Devon Turk scored 14, Keynan "Slim" Willis of Crosby had 10 and once again Maurice Letcher-Ellis continued his excellent play with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks.  Chase Brogna added 8 points and 2013 Johnathan Motley added 8 points and had 10 rebounds.

2012 Aly Mohamed has shown outstanding, advanced post moves

Illinois Warriors  51   Texas D1 Ambassadors-Houston  49  Overtime

Texas D1 went down 10 points in the second half, only to come back and take the lead.  Illinois fought back, hitting a shot to tie and for the third time in the last four games the D1 Ambassadors let a victory slip away in overtime.  2012 Chase Brogna of Houston St. Thomas was the only player in double figures with 10.  Aly Mohamed had 8 points/9 boards and Maurice Letcher-Ellis had 6 points but had 9 rebounds and 5 blocks.

2012 Chase Brogna has had several double digit scoring games during the live evaluation period

Atlanta Celtics 62  Texas D1 Ambassadors-Houston  58

Losing 3 games by a total of 10 points (including two in overtime) to several of the country's elite travel basketball teams can be pretty disappointing.  However, none of this matters to the D1 coaches who crowd around to watch the nations's elite players in the July recruiting period.  Texas D1 lost it's last game of the Best Buy Minnesota Classic this evening to a talented Atlanta Celtics squad.  They missed a point blank layup with 4 seconds left to tie the game.

2012 F 6'8" Maurice Letcer-Ellis is peaking at the right time as the bouncy shotblocker and rebounder has really elevated his game.  He ld Texas D1 in scoring with 14 points.  2012 G Joshua Hagins of Bossier City Airline (LA) had his best game of the July period.  He had 8 points and 10 assists.  2013 Johnathan Motley scored the first 7 points of the game (he finished with 9) as did 2012 Aly Mohamed.

2012 G Josh Hagins of Bossier City Airline

The Texas D1 Ambassadors return home to Houston tomorrow for a well deserved week long rest before they head out west to compete in the Las Vegas Fab 48 and the Phonix Desert Duel, the gem of the live recruiting period.