Catching up with the Sunday stuff from the AAU tournament, JamFest. The local Pittsburgh JOTS won over the O.J. Mayo-less D1 Greyhounds. Naturally, the concern isn’t over who won, but who looked good and the fact that plenty of top high school talent spent the weekend at Pitt.
The JamFest drew 117 teams from 23 states, the District of Columbia and Canada and dozens of college coaches to Pitt’s Petersen Events Center, Fitzgerald Field House and Trees Hall. There are already plans to return the NCAA-sanctioned AAU tournament to Pitt next April.
“We’ll definitely be back,” said Rob Kennedy, president of the New Jersey-based Hoop Group, which ran the event. “The facilities are tremendous and the location is ideal because we can draw teams from the Midwest and East. We only had a little over two months to get this together. It exceeded our expectations.”
Memphis Coach John Calipari may have more than a little snake oil salesmen in him, but he knows how to win over the media — especially the local media.
There isn’t a more approachable big-time coach in the country than Calipari, especially when this Moon native knows he’s dealing with someone who has ties to Pittsburgh. Anyhow, Coach Cal had a few interesting things to say:
On the JamFest being in Pittsburgh:
“For the coaches to come from all over the country to Pittsburgh is dear to my heart. Believe me, many people don’t know how great a city Pittsburgh is. Even I’m guilty sometimes of not realizing all that we have in Pittsburgh.
“[On Friday night] we went out on the South Side and I told the guys I was with, ‘Man, this was like mill town over here, and now it is so built up, it is amazing.’ Every time I am back, something new is popping up and it makes the city even better and better.”
On the current WPIAL and City League talent:
“In the next three years, there may be some of the best players to ever come out of this area. I can remember when Sam Clancy and Sonny Lewis and a whole crew of guys were playing in Pittsburgh. This group of kids, who are the kids getting recruited right now, is as solid as a group as there has been in quite awhile in this area.
“The people of Pittsburgh should be proud and also understand the level of talent they have playing in the area right now.”
Maybe I’m just reading a little too much in between the lines, but I can’t help but think the subtext goes something like, “Hey, Pitt, next time it looks like there might be a head coaching opening, don’t forget to give this native son a call. I need to get another raise from Memphis.”
There was also the AAU Tournament down in Houston, where O.J. Mayo went to play with the Miami AAU team (Nike sponsored over the Reebok supported JamFest). Some of the talent there has Pitt’s attention as well (not that I’m sure there were any Pitt coaches to send down there to watch them.
Luis Colon, Miami Tropics — His high school coach Shakey Rodriguez said Kansas State, UMass, UConn, Pitt and Purdue are contenders for the 6-foot-10, 260-pound center’s signature late in the game.
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Demitri McCamey, Illinois Wolves — Big, strong and tough, the 6-foot-4 guard is a load to defend in the backcourt. With his size, he’s tough to stop on the glass, too. He said UConn, Kentucky, Illinois, Wake Forest, Pitt, Clemson, Virginia and DePaul are all interested.
Colon plays both Center and Power Forward. He’s a 3-star prospect who would appear to be something of a project. Seems to have interest from schools, but as a fallback (not actual offers yet) if higher ranked prospects don’t commit soon during this signing period.
McCamey is a point guard prospect for the class of 2007. He’s a 4-star and considered the 13th best PG out there, and #92 overall.
