Advertisement
football Edit

Hoops in Overdrive eye-catchers

Hoops in Overdrive: Saturday's action | Friday's action | Thursday's action
Rivals.com was able to scout some of the nation's top talent competing in exciting matchups in the 3rd annual Hoops In Overdrive Shootout in Roswell, Ga., last week. Rivals.com's Eric Bossi breaks down some of the standouts.
Advertisement
Hoops In Overdrive Eye-Catchers
John Brown
SF, Oldsmar Christian- Signed with High Point
We wrote about it over the weekend, but the 6-foot-6 senior wing is a recruiting coup for High Point and should be capable of making an instant impact in the Big South. He's quick, he can score off the dribble or the catch and he uses his tremendous length and athleticism to impact the game on both ends and the glass. He's got the look of a future All-Conference player and would surely be getting high-major interest if he were still available.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
SG, Greenville- Signed with Georgia
There's high hopes that the 6-foot-5 Caldwell-Pope will be able to step in and make a difference for Mark Fox and the Bulldogs from the first tip. From a skill and ability standpoint, it's hard to see him not contributing early and often. More of a jump shooter during summer play, the skinny wing displayed a vastly improved ability to handle the ball and drive to the basket. The only real worry looking ahead is that he does lack strength and could experience some difficulties with physical college defense.
Chris Jones
PG, Oak Ridge Military- Signed with Tennessee
For whatever reason, there seem to be some out there who don't want to acknowledge that his toughness and competitiveness lead to wins. Yes, he can let his emotions get the better of him at times and his shot selection isn't always the greatest. But, the kid lives to make tough shots in tough situations, is an ornery on-the-ball defender who plays the game with plenty of passion. In terms of strength and approach, he's got a lot of similarities to Sherron Collins when he was in high school.
Austin Rivers
SG, Winter Park- Signed with Duke
The only surprise would be if Rivers didn't find a spot on the eye-catchers. With his team a bit short-handed against a very deep and talented Alpharetta (Ga.) Milton squad, he came out and competed and did everything in his power to win. Although he fell short, he thrilled the crowd with his usual array of difficult shot-making and skilled shot-creating. One of the worries with him at a younger age was that he maybe played the game to rack up numbers but not necessarily wins. It's quite clear, though, that winning matters a lot to the nation's best player and he's playing with more effort than ever.
Kevin Ware
SG/PG, Rockdale County- Signed with Tennessee
Earlier in his career, Ware excited evaluators and coaches because of his elite athleticism and exquisite body control. Then, the development of his game seemed to stall during a bit towards the end of his sophomore season and through his junior season. Now a senior, the 6-foot-4 Ware is opening up new dimensions of his game and playing at a high level. He gets to open spaces on the floor via the dribble at will, is developing into a good mid-range scorer and still has that extra gear athletically that allows him to do things most others can't. He does need to add some strength, but he's a kid who looks like he spent some time working hard on his game and he's seeing results on the floor.
[rl]
Advertisement