By Brian Crownover

Josh Watkins

Panthers (A)

Josh Watkins (2008, 5-10 PG)
Josh has been one of the more pleasant surprises of the spring thus far. The small point guard is a fantastic transition player whether he’s finishing himself or dishing off to a teammate. He loves to push the ball whenever the opportunity presents itself. Josh hit several nice shots on the move, including a floater in the lane and a 10 foot bank shot. He did struggle in some stretches, including a few turnovers, but for the most part he played a good game. 

Brandon Cooks (2007, 6-7 180 SF/PF) Committed to Southern Miss.
The Panthers brought in some talented big men from out of state on this weekend and Cooks was certainly among them. He came into town from Mississippi. The lefty is an electric, high flying dunker. Anytime he had the ball near the rim he threw it down with authority. In addition to playing well in transition, Brandon also showed he can knock down the mid range jumper. He was very active on the boards as well in this contest. 

Trevon Wilcher (2007, 6-7 210 SF/PF) Committed to UMASS
Trevon was the second part of the fantastic interior duo for the Panthers. Much like his counterpart Cooks; Trevon threw down some nasty dunks. Although he’s not quite as good of a leaper as Brandon, he still had better hops than most on this day. The long forward made most of his plays in transition in this contest.

Rashad Green (2007, 6-3 180 SG) Committed to Manhattan
The recent Manhattan commit has a solid frame and can get to the basket despite not being super quick. He looked more to dish than score off the dribble in this contest. Rashad was rather quiet on the offensive end. Although he hit a three, he didn’t show much from the perimeter.

Panthers (B)

Dwan McMillan (2008, 5-10 170 PG)
This small guard was one of the most explosive players on the day. Dwan has a lightning quick handle and can really get into the lane. He can dribble with either hand and change directions quickly. While for the most part he was able to score around the hoop, his small stature did hurt him from time to time against the giants. In addition to being a great ball handler, Dwan has incredible range. He hit a couple of his three pointers from behind the NBA line, including a half court shot at the end of a quarter. Although he hit from deep, he did struggle to consistently hit from the perimeter. His shot selection isn’t always the best either. Dwan is certainly a scoring point and he finished with 29 on the afternoon.

Booker Hucks (2008, 6-5 SF)
Booker is a talented three point shooter. He hit from the perimeter and scored several buckets in transition as well.

New Heights (B)

Sterling Gibbs (2011, 5-8 PG)
Normally I don’t like to cover players this young, but with the way Sterling played he deserves his due. The young guard appears well on his way to following in his older brother’s footstep and then some. The talented middle schooler can already shoot better than many high school age players. He knocked down several three pointers in this contest. Sterling can also put the ball on the floor and get into the lane. He’s still on the small side so he likes to shoot floaters before the defenders can reach him. Sterling appears poised to string together a fantastic scholastic career and on through to the college level. He finished with 15 points.  

Jayvaughn Pinkston

Juice (JR)

Corey Fisher (2007, 6-1 175 PG/SG) Committed to Villanova
It’s actually pretty rare to see Corey “held” to 17 points, but that was the case today. The big time scoring guard still made several fantastic plays. He is so shifty in the lane and changes directions on a dime. He also does an excellent job of using his body to finish amongst the bigs. Corey also distributed the ball quite well. He did hit a three pointer, but his jumper wasn't as on as it can sometimes be.

Jeff Robinson (2007, 6-6 195 SF) Committed to Memphis
There’s really not much more I can say about Jeff. I can’t remember the last time I even remember leaving a game he’s played in not shaking my head. This super athletic forward is multidimensional. He is very good scoring, no matter whether it’s around the basket posting up, taking his man off the dribble or burying three point shots. Jeff led the way with 25 points for the victorious squad.

Lamont "Momo" Jones (2009, 5-11 PG) Committed to Louisville
This kid can really score in bunches. After a quiet start, he reeled off 6 or 8 straight points and really got going. He scored by being aggressive and attacking both in the half court sets and in transition. Sometimes Lamont has moments when you forget about him (especially with the talent he’s often surrounded by), but right as that occurs he always seems to erupt. 

Jamie Harris (2007, 5-11 PG) Committed to Drexel
Jamie had a solid outing as usual. Early on, he used a nice up and under move to hit a mid range jumper. He followed that up with a couple other nice drives and some good passing. Jamie did have to sit a lot of the 2^nd half after getting in foul trouble trying to guard Ashton Gibbs (see below). It’s not that his defense was terrible, but Ashton is very quick and few players around are able to keep him in front of them.

Boys Club of New York

Ashton Gibbs (2008, 6-1 175 PG/SG)
Ashton single-handedly kept the Boys Club in the game during the first half. The super quick guard was nearly unstoppable. If he wasn’t driving to the rim and destroying the opposition, he was using his deadly three point shot. As if that wasn’t enough, Ashton brought out a fantastic pull up game as well. He’d be hard enough to stop with one of these tools, but the skilled guard can do it all when it comes to scoring. Ashton scored 26 points in the contest.