Buckeye Prep Report Invitational Tournament
For the 3rd straight year, the Buckeye Prep Report Invitational Tournament has continued to grow in numbers, competitiveness and prestige. This year, the three-day event attracted 105 very competitive teams from across the country.
As an example of the level of competition in 2006, at last year’s event, nine teams in the 7th grade division went on the medal at the AAU Nationals that year, including the U-13 National Champions. This year’s event was even more competitive.
Not only did the event attract many of the top teams in the country, but also there were a significant number of nationally ranked players in Columbus, including Tony Wroten from Renton, Washington, arguably the number 1 player in the country in the class of 2011.
One of the unique features of this year’s event was the creation of a super pool in the 8th grade division. The primary goal of the super pool was to guarantee that the top teams matched up as often as possible. This year’s super pool teams included the RBK All-Stars, Ohio Basketball Club, Seattle Rotary and Team Next. As expected, RBK won the super pool with a 3-0 record, followed by Team Next at 1-2, Seattle Rotary at 1-2 and Ohio Basketball Club at 1-2.
Although not as large in terms of numbers, the 9th grade division attracted many of the top teams and players in the Buckeye State. Arguably the number 1 player in the class of 2010, Jarred Sullinger, participated with All-Ohio Red in the tournament. Most people recall that Sullinger, an Ohio State recruit, led his Northland High School squad to Columbus City League and District 10 Championships this year.
In the frontcourt with Sullinger is 6’7 Adrian Payne from Dayton who continues to demand attention with his stellar play. Although Payne has not gotten much exposure up until this point, his post play continues to improve and his stock is on the rise. Not only is All-Ohio solid in the post, with Juwan Staten, Aaron Craft and Kevin Gray in the backcourt, All-Ohio can make a case as the top 9th grade team in the State of Ohio.
As a recap, in the 9th grade championship game, All-Ohio Red defeated Queen City Prophets. The other two final four teams were Michigan’s Common Bond and Team CBIZ. Although Team CBIZ was upset in the Semi-finals by a very scrappy and Jordan Hicks led Queen City Prophets team, Team CBIZ was with out 2 of their top guns in Nick Kellogg and Ralph Hill. With their full compliment of players, Team CBIZ could challenge All-Ohio Red for top honors.
With that said, Ozzie Davis’ Queen City Prophets deserves a lot of credit for making it to the championship game. The Prophets’ roster is loaded with talented players like Kenny Knight, Deion Stewart, Nick McCoy and Darryl Wallace. The top two players on a very talented Common Bond team were Patrick O’Brian and Mohamed Conde. Below is a list of players who made the 9th grade all-tournament team.
2010 All Tournament Team
Adrian Payne 
MVPAll Ohio Red
Jared SullingerAll Ohio Red
Aaron CraftAll Ohio Red
Juwan StatenAll Ohio Red
J.D. WeatherspoonAll Ohio Red
Jordan HicksQueen City Prophets
Dieon StewartQueen City Prophets
Nick McCoyQueen City Prophets
Cody SmithTeam CBIZ
Greg GaineyTeam CBIZ
Patrick O’BrianCommon Bond
Mohamed CondeCommon Bond
By far, the top division in the tournament was the 8th grade division, which hosted over 44 teams from across the country. In the championship game of the 8th grade division, Philly’s RBK All-Stars defeated the Georgia’s Kings of the Court. The other final four teams were New York’s New Heights and Seattle Rotary.
The top team in the 8th grade division was clearly the RBK All-Stars, which has at least five players who are ranked in the top 100 of just about every poll out there for this age group. The RBK roster is full of long-term prospects that project at the division I college level. Some of those elite players include: Michael Gilchrist, Devon Coleman, Juan’ya Green, Aaron Brown and Joey Gripper.
RBK’s championship game opponent was King of the Courts team who surprised a lot of people with their run to championship game. Although some were surprised, I wasn’t. With nationally ranked players like Julian Royals, Corey Blackwell, Ricky Johnson and Trey Burke, I expected the team to make a statement. Although RBK had run through just about everybody else in route to the championship, Kings of the Court not only made it a game, but they had a legitimate chance to win, up 3 points with less than a minute left in the contest.
Below is a list of players who made the 8th grade all-tournament team as well as a few other players who had standout performances at the tournament.
2011 All-Tournament Team
Trevor Cooney-Co-MVPRBK All Stars
Cory Blackwell-Co-MVPKings of the Court
Joey GripperRBK All Stars
Devin ColemanRBK All Stars
Mike GilchristRBK All Stars
Ricky JohnsonKings of the Court
Malcolm BragdonKings of the Court
Tony WrotenSeattle Rotary
Glen BrooksSeattle Rotary
Sterling GibbsNew Heights
Najee WhiteheadTeam Next
Devontay GraceTeam Next
Marques TeagueIndy Hoyas
Stevie TaylorOhio Basketball Club
Jehvon ClarkOhio Basketball Club
George MarshallStudent Athlete
Justin RabbStudent Athlete
Tyrone JohnsonTeam New Jersey Elite
2011 Top 25 Player List
RANKNAMEHT.POS.HOMETOWN (ST) SCHOOL
NRCorey Blackwell Co-MVP6’4CAtlanta (GA) Kings of the Court
NRShaquille Boga5’8WGSt. Louis (MO) St. Louis Gameface
NRAlvin P.J. Boutte5’6PGIndianapolis (IN) Indy Hoyas
NRGlenn Brooks6’1WFSeattle (WA) Seattle Rotary Black
NRJehvon Clark5’10WGCanton (OH) Ohio Basketball Club
NRTrevor Cooney Co-MVP6’3WFPhiladelphia (PA) RBK All-Stars
NRDevin Coleman6’2WFPhiladelphia (PA) RBK All-Stars
NRJacoby Davis5’10WGCharlotte (NC) United Celtic Stars
NRCorey Edwards5’9PG (NY) New Heights
NRMichael Gilchrist6’5PF(NJ) RBK All-Stars
NRDevontay Grace5’9WFBrooklyn (NY) Team Next
NRSterling Gibbs5’10PGPlainsville (NY) New Heights
NRJoey Gripper5’10PGPhiladelphia (PA) RBK All-Stars
NRRoger Hubbard5’8WGMarietta (GA) Georgia Thunder
NRRicky Johnson5’7PGAkron (OH) Kings of the Court
NRTyrone Johnson5’11PGNewark (NJ) Team New Jersey Elite
NRGeorge Marshall5’9WGChicago (IL) Student Athlete
NRCheatum Norrils5’9PGToledo (OH) Ohio Basketball Club
NRJustin Rabb6’4 PFChicago (IL) Student Athlete
NRJulian Royals6’8CAtlanta (GA) Kings of the Court
NRBrian Stolarz6’4CMunster (IN) Indiana Elite
NRStevie Taylor5’7PGGahanna (OH) Ohio Basketball Club
NRMarquise Teague5’11WGIndianapolis (OH) Indy Hoyas
NRRashad Wahab5’10WGChicago (IL) Student Athlete
NRNajee Whitehead6’0 WFNew York (NY) Team Next
HMJerome Cole5’9WGLawrenceville (GA) Georgia Stars Blue
The 7th grade division boasted a solid field as well but the division was dominated by All-Ohio Purple, who has the consensus number 1 player in Ohio in the class of 2012 in Chane Behanan on the roster. In addition to Behanan, All-Ohio Purple has quality guard play with Orlando Berry Jr. running the point, and more post presence with Adofis Washington. Below is a list of players who made the all-tournament team.
2012 All-Tournament Team
Tommy KreyenhagenMVPAll Ohio Purple
Jamar RidleyAll Ohio Purple
Leroy AlexanderAll Ohio Purple
Gremain FreemanAll Ohio Purple
Chane BehananAll-Ohio Purple
Adofis WashingtonAll-Ohio Purple
Orlando Berry Jr.All-Ohio Purple
Seth RosenrbauerOhio Cats
Austin GardnerOhio Cats
Antonio Drummond Illinois Stars
Landis Farmer Illinois Stars
2013 Marcus Fair Illinois Stars
