UD: Kingwood Classic

Coach Brian Gregory was one of many coaches in attendance at the Kingwood Classic who came away with an idea of who they would like to represent their respective schools for the 2008 season. Dayton Insider was also in attendance and saw 3 guards who could suit up for the Flyers in the near future.

Kevin Dillard
Kevin is a 5’9 thin guard from Flossmoor, Illinois. He suits up for Tai Streets and the Mean Streets AAU team. Kevin was the first we saw Friday night when his team took on top ranked point guard Brandon Jennings and the Southern Cal All-Stars. Kevin controlled his team very well and understands what the coach wants out of his PG. He plays very good defense and is not afraid to mix it up with bigger guys. Kevin ended the game with 11 points and 8 assists. Mean Streets had a 21 point lead over the So.Cal. All-Stars but let it dwindle away when Brandon Jennings put his team on his back scoring 22 2nd half points. So.Cal. went up 4 with just under a minute when Kevin hit a 3 right in front of his bench to pull the team within 1. Then after fouling, Kevin hit another 3 from basically the same spot to put Mean Streets up for good (73-72). We also had the chance to see Kevin and Mean Streets play the North California Pharaohs in the round of 32. Kevin led the team with 17 and showed everyone that he can also control a game. With the game tied at 47 with just about 10 minutes to go in the 2nd half Kevin led his team on a 20 – 4 run to put the game out of reach. Kevin scored 9 of his 17 in that stretch.

Shaquille Johnson
Shaq normally plays for the Jacksonville Lee Bulls but since they did not play this past weekend he dressed with the Florida Rams. Shaq came off the bench for them and fit in just fine. He has shown that he has improved his ball handling skills and is becoming a more complete player since last time Dayton Insider saw the 6’1 guard play last July in Las Vegas. He has a toughness that is not only hard to find in a point guard but also impossible to match by guys his size. He is quick, strong, and willing to get down and dirty to help his team win. He was limited in playing time due to the fact that he was just a fill in for the weekend so he did not post big numbers. Saturday night the Rams played the Indiana Elite way after the original start time. With tip off well after midnight the gym was still buzzing with college coaches who wanted to watch these 2 teams square off. Shaq did not disappoint Coach Gregory as he was a big reason the team was up 4 late in the 1st half. He matched up against another UD prospect in Lewis Jackson and showed Lewis that he had a big advantage with his strength and took the little guy down low a few times. He did not shoot the ball much in either game we watched but made multiple slashes to the basket for 2 points or an assist. The Rams however lost to Indiana Elite 82 – 68.

Lewis Jackson
This ultra quick point guard out of Decatur Illinois had a handful of offers from high majors around the country after his performance in the adidas super 64 in Las Vegas last July. His stock has dropped a little and most of the schools who had offered have either received a verbal from another pg or have changed coaches. He has also taken the last month off to recover from a serious wrist injury. He did look rusty in the tournament in his first 2 games but shook the rust off to help the Indiana Elite win the Championship of the Kingwood Classic Platinum division against the Pump n Run out of Southern California. As Lewis and his Indy Elite squad moved further in the tournament, Lewis became more and more of a factor. He put up an impressive 10 points and 8 assists Friday night in a win over the Florida Rams. Lewis was very impressive in both the semi-finals and the finals of the Kingwood Classic. Against the Alabama Challenge in the semi-finals he had 8 points and 2 assists. He was 2 for 2 from the field and made all 4 of his free throws. In the finals Jackson only scored 4 points but dished out 9 assists as they blew the California team out by 20 (78-58). Lewis had a 5 to 1 assist/turnover ratio in his last 2 games.

All 3 of these guards had coach BG on the run as he tried to follow them all day Saturday and Sunday. Coach has 3 really good guards on his list and look for him and his staff to make a push for all 3 of them. It is great for a coach to have options and one thing all 3 of these players have in common is hard work. Let’s hope Coach Gregory can get 1 of the 3 to become a Dayton Flyer.