Buckets Full of Chicken: Danrad Knowles

Danrad "Chicken" Knowles came out with guns blazing in HCYA's opening victory as they blasted Houston St. Pius 84-56.  Knowles notched double digit rebounds to go with his 26 points.  The University of Houston and recruiting buzz saw Coach Ulric Maligi have to be licking their lips at the expectation of having Knowles in their line up next season.  Would you like fires or slaw with that Chicken?

The 6'8" native of the Bahamas is shown above slicing and dicing his way to the rim at the NBA Players Camp.  Photo compliments of Scout and Dave Telep's NBA Players Camp.

D1 Nation's Houston Thanksgiving Jamboree

One of the most exciting basketball endeavors I've ever been involved in is in the unveiling of the inaugural D1 Nation's Houston Thanksgving Jamboree.  The dates are November 25-26th, 2011 at Houston St. Thomas High School's beautifully renovated gym where Coach Danny Evans' basketball team just opened the new season in defense of their State Championship with a win on the shoulders of Stanford commit Christian Sanders and 6'9" Jeremy King.

St. Thomas was a natural venue for this event as the outstanding combination of athletics and academics at this school are what we stand for at the D1 Nation.  St. Thomas has just spent close to $200,000 on a new state of the art bleacher system, they're building a huge new weight room and they also have a couple of additional basketball courts in the planning stages of pre construction.

In addition they're building a multi level parking garage. The Eagles baseball facilities are outstanding and the program is headed up by Houston Astros legend, Craig Biggio.  Athletic Director Mike Netzel really has a vision for the campus and the athletic programs, all while maintaining academic excellence. 

A late start in planning for this event had many teams already committed to their schedules for the 2011-2012 season.  This event will blow up in subsequent years as teams see the quality of this event and the media coverage delivered to the teams. The schedule for this exciting event which includes two teams from Louisiana is as follows:

Friday, November 24th, 2011

4:30 Sharpstown vs. Houston Furr
6PM Houston Episcopal v Madison Prep (LA)
7:30 Houston St. Thomas v Brazosport

Saturday, November 25th, 2011

3:00 New Iberia (LA) vs Houston Episcopal
4:30 Bryan vs. Fort Bend Elkins
6PM Houston Westside v Madison Prep (LA)
7:30 Houston Bellaire v Houston St. Thomas

The following media outlets have also confirmed coverage for the event:

www.d1nation.com

www.westcoasthoopsreport.com

www.fivestarbasketball.com

www.areacodesbasketball.com

On a daily basis we'll be providing updates at www.d1nation.com on our Houston Prep Report where we'll profile key players.  One of the marquee' participants will be 2013 F 6'7" Jarell Martin of Baton Rouge Madison Prep who is already getting buzz about comparisons to Kevin Durant!  Put it on your calendar, it's going to be action packed.

Hoops For Troops: Hawaii

How about a shout out for the D1 Nation's Darrell Cress. Cress, a native of Brooklyn, NY now makes his home in Killeen, TX where he retired from the U.S. Army and Fort Hood. We are proud to have Coach Cress as the mentor to our Texas D1 Ambassadors Class of 2015 team.

Photo compliments of Shawn Beverly

Coach Cress is currently in Hawaii on assignment, but he still finds time to do what he loves best....be around basketball. When the NBA players came to Honolulu for their Hoops For Troops tour, Cress was called upon to officiate the game. He's an active referee on the Texas High School scene as well.

Coach Cress (far right) helped guide the 2015 Texas D1 Ambassadors to a State Title

Thanks for your service to our country and to the game of basketball Coach Cress. We salute you!-Coach Max Ivany and The D1 Ambassadors Family

Houston St. Thomas 61 SATCH 50

Hard to believe that the 2011-2012 season is under way.  Several TAPPS schools opened their season tonight including defending State Champion Houston St. Thomas.  Perhaps the Eagles thought it would be an easier game than it was as SATCH (home school) kept it relatively close.

In the end it was just too much 2012 G Christian Sanders.  He led the Eagles with 35 points, including 24 in the first half.  Not that Sanders needs to prove anything to anyone in particular but it was a nice opening night statement from the Stanford commit.  I had the pleasure of watching fellow Stanford commit 2012 W 6'9" Roscoe Allen of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman this past weekend at a showcase in Sin City where I was Co-Director.  Stanford Head Coach Johnny Dawkins is getting it done!  Christian is the son of former Kansas Jayhawk, Brad Sanders.

Mississippi D1 Ambassadors G Avery Woodson To Southeastern Louisiana

Mississippi D1 Ambassadors G Avery Woodson of Wayne County, Mississippi has committed to Southeastern Louisiana in the Southland Conference. The 6'2" combo can handle the rock, but it's shooting the ball where he excels. He's got a picture pefect, hair trigger release that is lightning quick. Woodson helped lead Wayne County to the Mississippi 5A State Title last year.

Woodson had offers from the majority of the SWAC schools, as well as Furman, Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State. Murray State, Southern Mississippi and Mississippi State wanted Avery to wait until the spring signing period. However, Woodson bonded with Assistant Coach Larry Cordero who ran point on his recruitment. On his visit to Southeastern Louisiana, Woodson connected with the players as well as the staff and believes the program is headed in the right direction. He wants to be part of helping it to head to the top of the Southland Conference.

Congratulations to Avery and the Woodson Family of Waynesboro, MS. Also, thank you to Mississippi D1 Ambassadors Coach James Cole who worked so hard with these kids the past season. Southeastern is getting a heck of a player but an even better human being in Avery Woodson.-Coach Max Ivany and The D1 Ambassadors Family.

D1 Ambassadors Joshua Hagins To Arkansas-Little Rock

2012 G 6'0" Joshua Hagins has committed to Arkansas-Little Rock. The cat quick guard from Bossier City Airline (LA) was easily the best on ball defender that we had this past summer on the Texas D1 Ambassadors-Houston squad. He fits in the mold of what UALR's Steve Shields likes to do with his point guards....get in the lane and break down the defenses.

Hagins joins former Texas D1 Ambassadors P 6'9" Gus Leeper of Austin Westlake with the Trojans. He is the third member of the D1 Ambassadors-Houston to commit early, joining Alex Caruso (Texas A&M) and Aly Mohamed (Rice). He becomes the 7th alumni of the D1 Ambassadors to verbally commit early in the fall. Signing Day is early November.

UALR gets a lock down defender in Hagins, a bright and engaging player who can also hit his rainbow three from deep as well as get in the lane at will. Congratulations to Josh and his Family- Coach Max Ivany

Texas D1 Ambassador Aly Mohamed To Rice

In what is a major coup for Rice Coach Ben Braun, 2012 P 6'9" Aly Mohamed of Houston Trent International HS and the Texas D1 Ambassadors-Houston has committed to Rice University in Conference USA. The native of Egypt and the MVP of the FIBA Under 18 Africa Cup last year turned down numerous Big Ten, ACC and Big XII schools who were interested.

Aly Mohamed (shown below at the D1 Ambassadors Training Camp in Galveston, TX)

There is no question that Mohamed at 6'9" 260lbs will be a force. He came out of nowhere in early June to be the 3rd ranked prospect out of the Under Armour Camp in Atlanta, GA. Fellow country man and Rice Assistant Marco Morcos ran point on his recruitment and the fact that there was another Egyptian player on the Owls roster played a big part in his decision.

Mohamed is one of the most physical and intense players we've ever had in the organization. I really enjoyed getting to know him this summer. Rice is getting a very bright and insightful young man who has a burning desire to be a professional player. As with most international players he is extremely mature, already has advanced post moves that most college players do not possess and has incredibly light and nimble feet for a big man. I spoke with his high school coach, Eugene Harris who said that Aly has shed 10 pounds and is transforming his body since the end of summer basketball. Once he gets in a college weight room and starts eating better he's going to be one scary dude. Congratulations to Aly and his Family who all reside in Egypt.-Coach Max Ivany

Mohamed continues the D1 Ambassadors pipeline to Rice University as recently graduated PG Bryan Beasley of Pflugerville, TX and incoming freshman Seth Gearhart from the Oregon D1 Ambassadors have preceded him at the "Harvard of the Southwest".