Vegas Sunday

LAS VEGAS-Sunday evening at the Fab 48, the Oakland Soldiers led by event MVP Jabari Brown ended a run by the Iowa Barnstormers to claim a crown in the 17 and under division. However, Team Philly prevented the Soldiers organization from doubling up on Sunday knocking the Oakland crew out in the finals of 16 an under division. A run over to 15 and under bracket play at the Adidas Super 64 also proved to be very productive.

Sunday Notes and notables

Jabari Brown, SG, Oakland Soldiers- After coming up short at the Peach Jam earlier this month, the Soliders wanted the title at the Fab 48 badly and Brown helped deliver. Saving his best play for the last day of the event, Brown had it rolling from deep and made some plays in transition.

Maika Ostling, C, Team Jones 16's- An intriguing big man from the state of Oregon, Ostling is a big and powerful kid. He's got sneaky athleticism and good hands as well.

Skylar Spencer, PF, Branch West Elite- The decision to include Spencer in the top 100 for the class of 2012 looks to have been a good one. A slender big with length and athleticism, he's cranking it up offensively and has locked himself in as a high major prospect.

Deonte Burton, SF, TP Elite 16's- Savon Goodman, Amile Jefferson and the Team Philly 16's got the win in a Fab 48 semifinal game, but the burly 6-foot-5 small forward impressed. His specialty is sniffing out the rim and he's got big time athleticism for a 2013 kid.

Reese Morgan, SG, Branch West Elite- A very skilled 2012 shooting guard who can drain threes off the dribble and catch, he's a scoring machine. It was fitting that Missouri State assistant Kent Williams was on hand watching because Morgan's style is pretty reminiscent of the way that Williams played at Southern Illinois while scoring over 2000 career points.

Seth Tuttle, PF, Iowa Barnstormers- An early pledge to Ben Jacobson and Northern Iowa, the 6-foot-8 four man is going to be a very good player - like All-Conference type - before his career is over. He's skilled, rebounds, scores and plays with a bit of an edge.

Basil Smotherman, SF, Eric Gordon 15's- The Gordon squad has three high major wing prospects in Smotherman, Devin Davis and Zakarie Irvin and depending on which day you catch them opinions can vary as to who will ultimately be the best. On Sunday, it was Smotherman who looked the best as he hit jumpers, created space off the dribble and was very economical in racking up points.

Solomon Poole, SG, Atlanta Celtics 15's- A high scoring combo guard, he's a scorer pure and simple. He's got a textbook jumper with a quick release and he's an elite level athlete who will try to dunk on anybody in the building. He's a lot of fun to watch and is one of the better guards we've seen in the class of 2013.

Terrance Samuel, PG, New Heights 15's- If he's really as good as he looked on Sunday, then a high major future awaits Samuel. He blends terrific size at near 6-foot-3 with speed and feel for the game. He can play the role of scorer at the rim or distributor and was tough to contain.

Jahmel Taylor, PG Pump 'N Run Elite 15's- Really like the physical tools of the 5-foot-11 Taylor who attends Notre Dame High in the Los Angeles area. He's a ridiculous athlete with quickness, speed and unreal leaping ability for a kid his size and age. He's also confident with his jumper and has deep range and an apparent green light at all times.

School lists and coach sightings

2012 combo guard Sydie London of New Orleans Elite/D1 Ambassadors listed Ole Miss, New Mexico State, Tulane, Louisiana Lafayette and Louisiana Tech as schools he's heard from.

Lengthy 2012 big man Skylar Spencer lists Marquette, USC, Iowa, Colorado, UNLV and Gonzaga. USC's Kevin O'Neill and assistant Bob Cantu seemed top be everywhere he turned and Spencer mentioned that he's definitely taken notice.

Intriguing Oregon big man Maika Ostling from 2012 says that he's been hearing from Washington, USC, Washington State, Portand, West Virginia and others. The new staff at Oregon has been taking time out to watch him but he says that he's yet to hear from Oregon State.

2012 big man Ricardo Gathers rattled off a rather long list that included LSU, California, USC, UCLA, Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Texas, Baylor, Texas A&M, Penn State, Iowa and Georgetown. He says he'll be cutting things down after the summer and that LSU, California, Ohio State and Texas are four who should make the cut down to around 10 schools.

New Jersey Playaz shooting guard Myles Davis says that he's still undecided between heading to Montrose Christian or Notre Dame Prep to finish high school. If he ends up at Notre Dame, Davis says it's likely that he'll reclassify to the class of 2012. On the recruiting front, he's good with his list of Villanova, Virginia, Pittsburgh, St. Joseph's and George Mason.

Savon Goodman said that Miami and Villanova have stepped up and worked him the hardest. His plan is to wait it out on making a decision and Temple, LaSalle, Texas, Notre Dame, Penn State, Rutgers, West Virginia, Georgetown, Virginia Tech and Virginia.

LaSalle head coach John Giannini was still in Vegas working it hard on Sunday. His main target looked to be the Team Philly 16 and under crew. Assistants from Temple, Villanova and Drexel were also around to see Team Philly.

Arizona's Sean Miller was the lone high major head coach in the house checking on in-state 2013 prospect Torren Jones.

New St. John's coach Steve Lavin has been very visible, particularly at New Jersey Playaz and New York Panthers games. He looks to be zeroing in on Kyle Anderson and Maurice Harkless.

Iowa State's T.J. Otzelberger and Marquette's Tony Benford have been quite prominent at TP Elite 16 and under games to make sure 2013 wing DeOnte Burton is feeling the love.

Georgia's Stacey Palimore and Georgia State's Scepter Brownlee were wisely spending time with the Atlanta Celtics 15 and unders.

The Ohio Basketball Club and Eric Gordon 15's drew assistants from Illinois, Purdue, Butler, Cincinnati and Wisconsin.