Snapshots, Pt. 6

Ron Bailey, Publisher

August 22, 2007 - Here we go again, with short features on talented players encountered this spring and summer:

Andrew Fitzgerald (21), is posting up during Bang with the Big Boys action.

Andrew Fitzgerald – 6’7”, 270 pound center – With Team Melo/Mt. Royal, and Towson Catholic (MD), Fitzgerald has started to turn a lot of heads. According to one of his AAU/travel team coaches, Carlton Carrington, “Xavier, DePaul, and George Mason” had all shown strong interest in Fitzgerald, at the time of this interview, with Maryland along with VCU putting out feelers.

“He’s lost a lot of weight” noted Carrington, a long time teacher of the game in B’More. Going forward, continued work on conditioning, explosion, athleticism and advancement of Andrew’s post game will all continue.

When you add his good attitude and desire to improve to a willingness to mix it up and defend, there is no wonder schools have taken notice. Expect more to do so.

Noel Johnson did work at this year's NBAPA Top 100.

Noel Johnson – 6’6”, 185 pound, swingman – This high school junior is a scoring machine, and displayed that skill at this year’s National Basketball Association Player’s Association Top 100 Camp. A self-proclaimed “Georgia Boy”, Johnson can flat out put the ball in the basket, by either shooting, slashing, or filling lanes. His performance at the NBAPA Top 100, where he was 15th in scoring going into the final game simply ratified what Johnson did at Fayetteville, GA’s, Fayetteville County High School.

After lauding his camp experience, as Noel believes the experience “helps you off the court, with the decisions you make”, he went on to define his college list as “Ohio State, GA Tech, Louisville, Florida, Florida State, NC State” and others.

While at the time of this interview he had no school leading for his services, nor did Noel have a time frame for choosing one, Johnson did indicate “defense and rebounding” were parts of his game in which improvement would occur. That should be a scary thought to future opponents.

Yancy Gates (right) and Samardo Samuels put put on a show during NBAPA Top 100 game action. Fans of Big East hoops can expect more of the same in the near future.

Yancy Gates - 6’10”, 265 pounds - Simply one of the strongest post players in America’s Class of 2008, Gates not only uses his physical attributes to dominate opponents, but combines them with good footwork, decent shooting touch, and overall athleticism to create a very lethal combination: It’s not uncommon to see him bull through double teams in one possession, drop step around a defender the next, and follow that by converting on the break after that. On the defensive end, he can cover players in the mid-post and low block areas well.

During NBAPA Top 100 action, Gates was a load for anybody facing him, in both game, drill, and practice action. His match up with fellow skilled banger Samardo Samuels was reminiscent of Big East play, and could portend future battles as Yancy has committed to attend Cincinnati, while Samardo will be at Louisville.

A Cincy product attending Winthrop High School, Gates shared he chose to be a Bearcat due to it “being close to home”, and “in the Big East”. Before he gets to the school, expect him to work on his self-defined weak points of “ball handling and shooting range”.