Musings From the Southern Invitational

The Hoops Observer, Superstar Correspondent

May 15, 2007 - I'm back, and wanted to put a little something together for those of you who weren’t able to make it down to the University of Virginia’s campus for the Southern Invitational.

Best Individual Performance: 6-3 Melquan Boulding, Lazz Development. Boulding went off against the CP3 All Stars for 31 points on Saturday afternoon in what was the most impressive showing of the tourney. The most interesting thing about this performance was the way that Boulding scored in every way imaginable drives, stick backs, mid range makes, 3 point shots runners, ect. I was particularly moved by Boulding’s ability as a “player” as he did all he could to keep his squad the game and almost single handedly stole a victory from the kids from NC in Lazz’s 1-point loss on Saturday.

Kris Joseph, a 6'8" swingman orginially from Montreal, Canada, attends Archbishop Carroll in Washington, D.C. He has committed to Syracuse, and will enroll in 2008.

Best Overall Performance: 6-9 Ed Davis, Boo Williams. Ed Davis was dominant over the weekend and showed great touch and footwork down low, the ability to power through fouls for and 1 finishes and a much stronger build than last summer. In a nutshell, Davis showed why he is so highly touted on the summer circuit as he was able to make play after play all weekend. He often powered through defenders and seems to have embraced his role as a power forward rather than choosing to work towards being a 3. He reminds me of former Hoya Michael Graham with his penchant for power moves in the paint.

Ed Davis (#32) is seen preparing to rip down a board.

Best game of the Tourney: Tie. National Christian Academy v. Baltimore Stars/DC Assault v. Richmond Squires. The NCA v. Baltimore Stars match up featured two East Coast powerhouse frontlines (Stars boasted the trio of the Georgetown bound 6-10 Henry Sims, 6-6 Terrell Vinson, and 6-9 Isaiah Armwood, while NCA was anchored by rising juniors 6-9 Dante Taylor and 6-7 Joston Thomas, and 6-7 rising senior Wilbur O’Neal) in a game that was hotly contested from the tip in a game where and went to the wire. In the ends NCA’s guard play proved too much for the Stars as 5-11 Brian McMikle and 6-0 Rodney Clark couldn’t be stopped in the final quarter.

The DC Assault v. Richmond Squires game featured the comeback of the tourney as Assault was down 7 with less than 40 seconds on the clock. However, after a foul call on a three point shot by Assault’s James Stewart and an ensuing technical foul on the Squires for arguing the call. The game went in to overtime with the eventual Southern Invitational Champion Assault winning by 2. This game was also full of big time prospects as Assault featured Syracuse commit 6-8 Kris Joseph, 6-5 Terrence Boyd, and recent Kansas State commit 6-8 Jamar Samuels while the Squires featured one of the best combos on the circuit in do it all 6-8 Karron Johnson and 7-2 LSU commit James “Shaq” Tyler.

Dante Taylor (center), proved he his an up and coming talent.

Best Dunk at the TOC: Terrence Boyd, DC Assault. In the Assault’s Saturday match up against The Blast, Boyd jumped clear over/through a defender on a drive that ended with him powering through for a scary slam. The slam, which drew a charge call on Boyd, was the talk of the tourney as the other players reenacted the slam time and time again in the concourse of UVA University Hall.

Biggest Sleeper: Dante Taylor, National Christian Academy. A rising junior, Taylor emerged this weekend as a must watch high major prospect. His stellar play in NCA’s semifinal loss against Boo Williams frontline of Reginald “Boogaloo” Johnson, Ed Davis, and Ty Walker caused many scouts to take notice of this young man’s game. Taylor statistically bested Davis, Walker, and Johnson and had scouts raving about his versatile but powerful game. The Hoops Observer looks forward to seeing more of Taylor at the Bob Gibbons’ Tournament of Champions on Labor Day weekend.