ABCD gears up for Mayo vs. Rose
Teaneck, N.J. -- The gymnasium started to clear
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out for the 9:30 p.m. games but the die-hards wanted
one more look at
href=viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=16836>O.J.
Mayo on Thursday, the first day of competition
at the Reebok ABCD Camp at Fairleigh Dickinson
University.
The
top-ranked prospect by Rivals.com in the 2007 class
opened the day with a good, not great, 11-point,
four-rebound performance.
After the afternoon game, Mayo was available to the
media. It was expected he would announce a verbal
commitment to USC. That didn't happen. At his press
conference, reporters were not even allowed to ask
where he stood in his recruitment.
Back on the court, Mayo would not leave the crowd
disappointed in the nightcap. He finished with a
game-high 18 points. He had six rebounds, four
assists, four steals and he was 2 of 3 from behind the
3-point line. Not a bad way to end the first day of
camp.
Best player at camp based solely on camp performance
on the first day? Probably not. That honor most likely
goes to
href=viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=24463>Kevin
Love. But most exciting player to watch on
every possession? Mayo in a landslide.
"I try to play hard," Mayo said. "I try to give 100
percent. I just try to win the game."
Strap in for more excitment from Mayo, because Friday
night, he and five-star guard
href=viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=30307>Derrick
Rose are scheduled to meet at 8:15 p.m. on
Court 3. Mayo backed away from hyping up the matchup,
but it is building up to be this year's one-on-one
battle at ABCD, almost a rite of passage for the next
superstar.
LeBron James and Lenny Cooke had their back-and-forth
inside the Rothman Center. So did Sebastian Telfair
and Darius Washington, Jr. Others have had their
battles. Mayo-Rose looks to be a good one and the buzz
has already started. Even if Mayo wants to stay away
from the hype.
"It's a five-on-five game," Mayo said. "Derrick is a
great player. He's one of the top players in the
country."
Rivals.com rates Rose as the second-best
point guard in the class (behind Mayo) and the
third-best player overall trailing Mayo and Cincinnati
(Ohio) North College Hill teammate
href=viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=23567>Bill
Walker, who is on Mayo's team at ABCD camp.
Rose finished with 12 points, three rebounds and two
assists in an 83-59 loss in the evening session. He
had four points and three assists in a 95-70 defeat in
the afternoon game.
Love tearing it up; others playing well
Lake Oswego (Ore.) prospect
href=viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=24463>Kevin
Love wasted no time establishing himself at
ABCD. Love, a powerful, 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward,
leads the camp in scoring and rebounding after the
first day.
In the opening game, Love finished with 29 points and
five rebounds in a 108-50 victory. He followed that up
with 16 points and 13 boards (six offensive rebounds)
in a 66-59 defeat.
Durham (N.C.) Mount Zion Christian Academy forward
Smith had two solid performances on the
opening day of camp. If it wasn't for Love, Smith
would arguably be the best big man in camp so far.
He finished with 20 points and six rebounds in a win
over Love's team in the evening session and in the
first game, Smith had 18 points and seven boards in a
losing effort to Mayo's squad.
href=viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=37492>Darquavis
Tucker is averaging 13 points and seven
rebounds after two games.
href=viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=42639>Drew
Gordon is getting seven rebounds and 1.5
blocks.
href=viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=45232>Rico
Pickett leads the camp with an average of five
assists per outing.
href=viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=29174>Alex
Tyus is third in scoring average with 15
points.
News & Notes
href=viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=39071>Brandon
Jennings, one of the top prospects in the 2008
class, is transferring to Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak
Hill Academy and gave an updated top four of
Arizona, UConn, Texas and USC. Jennings, the point
guard on Love's team, had 14 points and six assists in
the afternoon game.
href=viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=39241>DeAndre
Jordan has narrowed his list to Texas A&M,
LSU, Indiana, Texas, Florida and Florida State. The
6-foot-11 prospect said he is switching high schools
next season but plans to stay in Houston.
Adam Gorney covers UConn sports for Rivals.com
and can be reached at gorney@rivals.com.
