News and notes from the AAU 16U Championships

NEW ORLEANS, LA. - For the basketball purist, there may not have been a better day than Sunday at the AAU 16 and under national championships. Several games went down to the wire and one contest just never wanted to end. As the games went along, Donte Green, a top 2007 prospect told Rivals.com he's ready to hit the road for a visit to one of the top programs in the country.

Marathon game highlights Sunday

The Houston Elite-Minnesota 43 Hoops game was one of the best games of the summer thanks to the terrific shooting and determination from both teams. After four overtimes, Houston Elite was able to wear down the boys from Minnesota for the 80-75 victory.

Both teams were lights out from the perimeter and seemed to match each other's scoring efforts from beyond the arc. The margin of the score never grew bigger than five points from start to finish.

Houston Elite rode the sharp-shooting of Larry Davis, a 6-foot-3 guard from Hastings High School to the victory. He finished with 27 points and six three pointers, four of his threes came in the overtimes.

"That was pretty fun. That was the longest game I've ever played in. I'm very tired. I'm going straight to the hotel and sleeping until our next game," an exhausted Davis said after the game. "I couldn't have done it without my teammates. I can't do anything without them."

Davis was Mr. Clutch on Sunday. He seemed to always find a man to pick his defender off on and opened up his jumper. Davis has had a good week so far and it's easy to understand why Stanford, Texas A&M, Houston and Oklahoma are interested in this class of 2007 prospect.

Top 2007 prospect to visit elite school

Once Donte Green finishes his work with his loaded Team Melo squad for the summer, the 6-foot-8 forward said he's going to hit the road for his first unofficial visit.

"I'm going to go to North Carolina in August," Green said. "My godfather lives there and (Carolina) said I might as well come by to see their school."

The Tar Heels are the only school on his list to not offer him a scholarship. Green said he knows he's not the first priority for the defending National Champions and said he's "on the second tier of players they are looking at."

Clemson, Connecticut, Florida State, Georgetown, Maryland and Syracuse have offered Green and he said he's happy with the schools involved right now.

Long Island Lighting strikes again

They might not intimidate anyone when they walk into a gym but the Long Island Lightning has come up big when they needed to all weekend long. Paired against a bigger, stronger and quicker Georgia Stars team, the Lightning slowed the game down and went to it's hot hand when time was winding down.

Nicholas Walsh torched the Stars defense all game long so it made sense that he was the man with the ball in his hands as time expired. The 5-foot-11 point guard put a buzzer beater trifecta for the 47-44 upset victory. He finished with 17 points and five three pointers.

The Lightning won on a buzzer beater on Saturday, too.

The Stars had a difficult time scoring but found their offense from Gani Lawal, who has had a great week in New Orleans. Jamar Moore came up with some big shots in the end but it wasn't enough.

The Stars had their best game earlier in the day against the Jackson Panthers. Down for the majority of the first half, Moor sank a 35 foot pull up jumper as the first half ended and gave his team the momentum they needed to secure the second half.

He was on fire from the wing and didn't miss anything he shot up. This kid has a chance to be one of the top guards in his class. Helping Moore out on the wing was point guard Adrian Williams, who continues to impress with his heady play and ability to run the point. He'd be a great fit in a structured half court offense.

Odds & Ends

Life has been good for Orane Chin. The 6-foot-7, 205-pound small forward from Dr. Krop High School in Miami has been playing his best basketball over the last couple of weeks. After shining at the Peach Jam in front of dozens of coaches, Chin has picked up where he left off here in New Orleans. He's scoring, rebounding and outplaying the competition. Joining the Florida schools for his services is Alabama and Auburn. He's been playing high-major basketball in July.

Elgin Bailey, a mammoth of a prospect at 6-foot-8, 240-pound power forward from Glen Oaks (La.) High School is a beast of a player to defend inside. He's simply immovable inside the paint. The ABCD camp participant said he's hearing from Arizona, Auburn, LSU and Texas-Arlington right now.

Catch Georgia big man Jeremy Price on a good day and he's one of the top post players in the nation. Unfortunately for Price, he only played well in the one game we saw of him all weekend. He's certainly a top notch prospect because of his power style and his crafty footwork on the blocks but he oftentimes gets into foul trouble and limits his effectiveness. The Georgia Stars needed him more than they realized this weekend.

Greg Monroe has created a lot of hype for himself with his stellar play at the Nike Memorial Day Classic. The 6-foot-8 forward from New Orleans made an appearance on Sunday night but did not have a great game. In fact, if you didn't know who the athletic and versatile forward was, you wouldn't have been blown away by his showing.

Word is, he played great at the 15 and under and was one of the top prospects at the Kingsport, Tenn., tournament. Monroe played just one game at the event. He missed Monday because he had to work. You gotta love that.

Christian Siakam, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound power forward from Cincinnati (Ohio) Hughes High School said he's receiving letters from Xavier, Cincinnati, Kentucky and Purdue.