Three weeks after winning the Bob Gibbons U17 Tournament of Champions, Team Final added the Rumble in the Bronx championship to its resume.
The Pennsylvania-based AAU team beat Cali Supreme 73-58 on Sunday to win the U17 Gold bracket at Fordham University, according to Jeff Borzello of the NBE Report, who is all over this tournament.
St. Patrick of Elizabeth (N.J.) sophomore wing Michael Gilchrist won the MVP for Team Final. Rakeem Christmas of Northeast Philly Catholic scored a game-high 18 points and Tyreek Duren of Neumann-Goretti added 16. Villanova-bound big man Markus Kennedy added 13 for the winners.
COLEMAN TO PROVIDENCE
Gerard Coleman, a 6-4, 175-pound 2010 small forward from the Tilton (NH) School, verbally committed to Providence on Sunday.
Coleman chose the Friars over Clemson, UConn and Miami.
“Yeah, I did,” Coelman, a Boston native, said by phone. “I just felt it was the right time to make the decision. I’ve been on the campus three times and every time I felt a great vibe from the coaching staff and it felt like a great fit.”
Asked what Providence coach Keno Davis is looking for from him, Coleman said: “They want me to come in there and take control of the team, be a leader and just go out there and play hard every night, scoring-wise, rebounding.”
Chris Driscoll, the GM of the Boston Amateur Basketball Club (BABC), said Coleman is a natural scorer who will thrill Friars fans.
“Offensively, he can score in bunches as quick as anyone you’ll see,” Driscoll said. “The Friar fans are going to be in for a treat.This kid can score like nobody’s business. He can really put the ball in the hoop. He’s a little streaky from deep, but when that comes he will be unguardable offensively.”
Coleman played at Tilton alongside incoming UConn frosh Alex Oriakhi and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and he said they both tried to convince him to play for the Huskies.
“They wanted me to go but I decided to go to Providence,” he said.
As for his goals for this season, he said: “Get good grades, try to get better as a basketball player and get my SAT score.”
EDWIN DOWN TO 2 BIG EAST SCHOOLS
Fuquan Edwin, a 6-6 rising senior wing from Paterson (N.J.) Catholic, will choose between Big East schools Seton Hall and Providence in the coming weeks.”He’s going to take a visit to Seton Hall June 25 and then Providence sometime between June 26-30,” PC coach Damon Wright said.
“He’s going to check with his parents and see what he likes. He wants to take his visits and go from there.”
Edwin is a tremendously athletic wing who scores quickly and easily in transition and is very bouncy under the basket. He needs to continue to develop his face-up game and jump shot, but could be a perfect fit for Bobby Gonzalez at Seton Hall or Keno Davis at Providence.
Wright said St. John’s and Virginia Tech have also been calling a lot recently on sophomore point guard Myles Mack.
“He’s wide open, he has no favorites,” Wright said.
Penn likes senior guard Jayon James and senior wing Jermaine Peart has also heard from a number of schools, Wright said.
MACON TO WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins struck early by landing Elijah Macon, a 6-foot-7, 212-pound rising sophomore from Columbus (Ohio) Marion Franklin who had interest from Ohio State, Xavier, Akron, Ohio and West Virginia.
“I was surprised (they offered),” Macon told Dave Telep of Scout.com. “Assistant coach (Larry) Harrison walked up to me and told me that he was going to pull me aside. He talked to Coach Huggs and they said they were going to offer me. I told him I’d think about it and I’d call him and I called him when I got him.”
IRVING’S DAD LIKES INDIANA
Drederick Irving, the father of St. Patrick rising senior guard Kyrie Irving, wore an Indiana sweatshirt to the tournament, Borzello reported.
That has to make Indiana fans feel good.
The 6-1 Irving recently told me Indiana was “at the top of my list for now.”
PLAYAZ 14s WIN
The Playaz U14 team coached by Jamal Slappy and Donell Pauldo won the 14U bracket over the Mass Rivals. That team features Paterson Catholic freshmen Reggie Cameron and Kavon Stewart.
