Day two of this year’s annual Reebok All-American Camp saw the beginning of some competitive basketball action, as several scrimmages took place. While the actual games are not scheduled to take place until Tuesday afternoon, there were some intriguing performances that took place.

The day’s basketball action was highlighted by an exciting backcourt match-up between Florida’s Brandon Knight and Kenny Boynton and Portland’s Abdul Gaddy and Avery Bradley. Both sets of AAU/club teammates have had the opportunity of playing together in the backcourt for their respective camp teams in this year’s camp. On Monday afternoon, both pairs of highly-touted backcourt mates teammed up against one another.

While the affair was held in a scrimmage format and there were no statistics taken or scores kept, Boynton got the better of the match-up with Gaddy, scoring off dribble drives to the basket and displaying a superb quickness, while also making it very tough for Gaddy to get off offensively, as Boynton showed off his superb lateral quickness defensively.

Bradley made up for the difference in the other match-up, as he definitely got the best of the match-up between himself and Knight. Bradley’s experience of the game and flat out ability to play at a high level on both ends of the floor, allowed for him to be more effective than Knight in this match-up.

These two ultra-talented backcourt duos will definitely face one another again throughout the week, as it shall be very exciting to see how they fare again in a real game setting . . .

Unrated Prospect Makes A Statement

This year’s Reebok All-American Camp is filled with superb talent. With the Official Reebok Headliner Tryout Camp utilized this year by Reebok as the selection process for the majority of this year’s campers, there is a wide open field of talented prospects that are looking to make a name for themselves with a superb performance this week.

One player that made a strong case for a significant rise in the national rankings on Monday afternoon was Rhode Island product, 6-foot-5 senior wing Mike Marra. While Marra gave an early verbal commitment recently to Louisville and Head Coach Rick Pitino, Marra came into this week’s camp as an unrated prospect.

Obviously Pitino and his staff knew something that many did not taking a commitment from the sharp shooting guard, but in Monday scrimmages the cat was out of the bag, as Marra turned in one of the best individual performances of the day, scoring almost at will on long range bombs, and also scoring very well in transition. He played with superb confidence and commanded presence on the floor.

If his scrimmage performance is any indication, then look for Marra to have a big week in Philadelphia . . .

Player Recruiting Updates

Arizona Preps caught up with many of the campers on day two and got recruiting updates from numerous players.

Russell Byrd, a 6-foot-7, 190-pound junior forward from Fort Wayne, Indiana, advised us that he is currently hearing from a host of schools, including Michigan State, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisville and Indiana, but that he has no clear leader at this point. Byrd is very knowledgeable of the game and is a very fundamentally sound performer. Puts the ball on the floor very well for his size and has very good range on his shot.

LeBryan Nash, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward from Dallas, Texas, was one of the more intriguing prospects we saw on the day, as Nash is only a mere 2011 prospect, but already shares a resemblance physically to NBA star forward Ron Artest. When asked who was recruiting the star forward, Nash replied, “Just everybody right now …”

Shawn Kemp, a 6-foot-9 senior post from Georgia, is one of the most talented low post prospects in this year’s camp. While he is a delightful looking prospect to look at, Kemp may be one of the more underrated and underrecruited talents in thsi year’s field of players. Kemp advised us that he currently has three schools in mind - Washington, Kentucky and Georgia. His recruitment could explode this week.

Kadeem Batts, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound senior post player, also from Georgia, also turned in a strong performance on day two. Similar to Kemp, Batts is fearless in the paint, as he blocks shots, rebounds the basketball at a high rate and runs the floor very well. Batts advised us that his list of schools are currently led by three - Boston College, Cincinnati and Providence.

Thomas Robinson, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound senior forward from Maryland also showed very well on day two. Robinson looks to become a big-time prospect, as his college recruitment has taken off over the last year. Robinson advised us though that he has narrowed his list of schools down to five, which include Texas, Pitt, Virginia, Providence and Marquette.

Guy Landry, an ultra-talented 6-foot-5 senior prospect from Van Nuys, California, has caught our staff’s attention with his tremendous play and athleticism the entire spring evaluation period. One of the more athletically gifted wing prospects in this year’s camp, the Nigerian born Landry advised us that he currently likes three schools - Miami, USC and Washington State …

Raymond Taylor, a 5-foot-6 senior guard from Florida has began to see his recruitment pick up as of late. Taylor told us that he currently likes South Florida, UAB and Rice . . .

Tim Frazier, a 6-foot-2 senior guard from Houston, Texas, said that he is currently hearing from Stephen F. Austin, Santa Clara, Colorado State and the majority of the PAC-10 . . .

Trevor Dillard, a 5-foot-10 senior point guard prospect from Harlem, New York, showed good promise on day two. Dillard told us that his recruitment has currently picked up as of late, and that he has offers from Norfolk State, St. Johns, Providence, Army and Saint Peters.

Notes:

6-foot senior point guard prospect Junior Cadougan of Humble (TX) Christian Life Center is scheduled to make an announcement on his college decision on Tuesday at Reebok U. Cadougan’s current list of schools includes Florida State, Illinois, Michigan State, Washington, Arizona, Syracuse and Michigan …

Tuesday’s action on day three will look to be fierce as the competition will pick up significantly with the start to official game action, as well as the presence of division-I college coaches, scouts and media in attendance.

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