AAU Hoops
2006 Dirty South Classic Tournament
Gaskin, Mayo, Mitchell, Tatum and Walker put on a show
Norcross H.S. - Norcross, GA
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| 4SHOT Hoops All-State slection 6-3 Casey Mitchell (So. GA Kings/Savannah High) shot the lights out. |
The 2nd Annual Dirty South Classic put on by Sean Jones of R U ready Sports was held at Norcross H.S. in Norcross, GA and it brought out some big name high school talent for 4 days of actions. The tournament consisted of 14 teams that hailed from Georgia, Ohio and South Carolina. Not all of the teams were at full strength and several of the players had to switched back and forth between different teams. But all in all there was some good competition.
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| D-1 Greyhounds "Super Freak" All-American 6-5 Jr.-Billy Walker |
Heading the list of players in attendance was arguably the top two juniors in the country in 6-4 O.J. “The Juice” Mayo (D-1 Greyhounds - North College Hill H.S.,OH) and his high school and AAU teammate 6-5 “Freak-a-zoid” Billy “Sky” Walker (D-1 Greyhounds - North College Hill H.S., OH) out of Cincinnati, OH. Other top players included players like 6-3 Casey Mitchell (South GA Kings - Savannah H.S., GA), 6-5 Cameron Tatum (Georgia Stars - Tucker H.S., GA), 6-2 Jr.-Trevor Gaskin (GA Hurricanes - Milton H.S., GA), 6-7 George Goode (Rocktown - South Rayton H.S., Mo), 6-5 Terrel Baines (South Carolina Tarheels) and 6-4 Troy Jones (GA Balers - Newton H.S.) just to name a few.
Everybody who attended the tournament saw the name D-1 Greyhounds on the list of teams scheduled to play and if you follow AAU hoops at all you know that “The Juice” and “SkyWalker” play for D-1 now the question was were they really going to show-up and play in a tournament that is only 2-years old. Well they showed up and did not disappoint the people who were on hand to see them.
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| D-1's O.J. Mayo (with the ball) drives pass GA Star's Carmeron Tatum as the 2 stars went head to head. |
In their first game they matched up against 6-5 Sr.-Cameron “King Supreme” Tatum (a 4SHOT Hoops All-State selection) and the Georgia Stars. Early on in the game it was the high-flying acrobatic dunks of 6-5, Jr.-Billy “Sky” Walker that sent the crowd into a buzz. Tatum responded with a couple of NBA three’s and some dynamic jams of his own. “The Juice” started flowing in the 2nd half once he got loosened up and showed flashes of why he’s arguably the top ranked junior in the country. Down the stretch the Greyhounds pulled away to an 85-75 win. Mayo scored 16 points and Walker finished with 26 points. 6-5, Sr.-Adamu Saaka (Columbia H.S. - a South Florida signee -a 4SHOT Hoops All-State selection) had a nice game for the Stars scoring 16 points but it was Tatum topped everybody with a game high 30 points.
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| 6-4 Jr.-Tony Neysmith (GA Hurricanes/Norcross H.S.) and 6-5 T.Baines (SC Tarheels) |
Some of the best highlights of the tournament were turned in by 6-3 Sr.-Casey Mitchell (South GA Kings - Savannah H.S., GA) a 4SHOT Hoops All-State Selection. Mitchell who may be headed off to Prep School for a little fine tuning before he heads off to a D-1 program put on a three-point exhibition, knocking down bombs from NBA range. He also showed off his one-on-one skills drawing oohhhhs and aahhhs from the fans as he easily left defenders looking for their jocks.
In a game against the GA Hurricanes, Mitchell jumped into the “Matrix” drilling 10 three-pointers from way outside the three-point line. 6-1, So.-Mfon Udopia (GA Hurricanes - Miller Grove H.S., GA) a 4SHOT Hoops All-Freshman selection last season stepped into the zone for the Hurricanes hitting 4 straight tray’s at one point to finish with 23 points in his only appearance of the tournament. Mitchell finished with a game high 36 points.
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| GA Stars/Atlanta Celtics 6-5 4SHOT Hoops All-Star Cameron Tatum. |
Mitchell also had another big time match-up against Tatum. “King Supreme” started the tournament playing in a GA Stars uniform but in this game he and some of his Star’s teammates were wearing Celtics green, what’s up with that?…anyway the uniform didn’t matter because Tatum still went off for 27 points, showing off that sweet jumper. Mitchell, still in the “Matrix” busted 8 three’s and finished with another 36 point performance.
The most entertaining game of the tournament had to be the game between the GA Hurricanes (most of the real Hurricanes) and the D-1 Greyhounds. The game was played at an NBA pace and it was highlighted by the match-up between 6-2 Jr.-Trevor Gaskin (GA Hurricanes - Milton H.S., GA), a 4SHOT Hoops All-State selection and Mayo. Both players quickly entered the “Matrix” and went all the way to “Zion”. Mayo went off for 37 points and D-1 won the game 105-100 as he dazzled the pumped up crowd but it was Gaskin who won the individual battle as he just went crazy scoring a tournament high 45 points.
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| 6-6 George Goode (Rocktown - South Rayton H.S., Mo) |
The SC Tarheels have a nice looking player in 6-5 Terrel Baines who had a couple of nice games, his high for the tournament was 34 points against the GA Hurricanes, he hit 16 of 20 free-throws. The Hurricanes 6-4 Jr.-Tony Neysmith (4SHOT Hoops Co-Defensive Player of the Year this past season) had his best scoring output going off for 27 points (4 three-pointers).
It looks like the D-1 Greyhounds are already grooming Mayo’s and Walker’s replacement in 6-5, So.- William Buford who played on the Greyhounds “B” team. Buford had a personal tournament best of 30 points against R U Ready.
Here are some of the other players who had a nice tournament:
Markeith Cummings - South Georgia Kings, Evan Mobley - South Georgia Kings, Luke Smith - S.C. Tarheels, A. Hawkins - S.C. Tarheels, Josh Miller - D-1 Greyhounds, Troy James - GA Balers, Rashed Gill - GA Balers, J. Williams - Rocktown, Rashaad Lucas - Rocktown, Justin Hurtt - Rocktown, Williams - ICD Demon Deacons, Kerry Weaver - ICD Demon Deacons, Johntavious Rucker - GA Stars, Al-Faroug Aminu - GA Stars, Adamu Saaka - GA Stars, Mfon Udopia - GA Hurricanes
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