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Tuesday night’s boys basketball game at Hamilton Southeastern High School might have been the game of the year.  At the very least it featured some of the top players in the state.  No less than 7 of the players are legit division 1 players, led by Marquis Teague of Pike and Gary Harris of HSE.  Neither player disappointed the crowd on hand or the college scouts in attendance.  John Beilein, Ron Hunter and Mike Brey were there and had to be impressed by the up and down tempo of these two teams.  HSE started of well taking a first quarter lead, but eventually it was too much Teague and cast to hold on to. Harris, who is still uncommitted, led the way with 28 points, but his shooting was off.  After missing all of his jump shots in the first half and only scoring 6 points, Harris took off in the second half.  Anytime he took the ball to the basket good things came from it.  He eventually was able to knock down a couple of 3’s and his steal and dunk late in the fourth quarter got HSE to within 2 points.  His defense was great throughout the game and finished with 7 steals.  His shot form looks good, so you have to figure he won’t usually shoot the ball so poorly.  It was nice to see him do the other things to try and help his team win and more importantly his attitude was up beat the who game.  There is no questioning his talent, he’ll just need to fine tune some things before the next level. While Harris led the way in scoring on the night, it was Teague who wowed the crowd with his quickness and ability to get to the rim at ease.  In the first half he was more of a distributor than a scorer, allowing his teammates to get involved.  The second half was a different story.  Too many times to count he weaved in and out of traffic on his way to the basket.  His ability to stop on the dime and change direction is comparable to a rabbit being chased by a dog.  Their is no one at the high school level that can stop Teague, he’s just too fast.  Unlike most quick point guards who tend to be rather short Teague has nice size and his shooting stroke looked pretty good.  There is no doubt in my mind that he will only spend a year in Lexington before moving on to the N.B.A.  to follow his older brother Jeff. While Teague and fellow senior Josh Gentry are the only players committed to a college ( Kentucky, North Dakota State ) the other players were there to make a name for themselves.  One player who did just that was R.J. Hunter.  Known as a cold-blooded shooter, Hunter impressed me by doing other things.  He had several rebounds, fought for loose balls and showed he wasnt just a shooter when he took the ball baseline and threw down a dunk.  He needs to get bigger and stronger to hold his own at the next level, but his shooting is out of this world.  He has just about perfect arc on his shot and every time he shoots you get the feeling it’s going in.  He finished the game with 23 points.  He did get a technical foul called on him in the fourth quarter which forced him out of the game early.  I think the foul was out of frustration from being hacked hard and not some attitude problem, which is good with all the coaches on hand watching.  You do have to figure that one of those coaches, Ron Hunter I.U.P.U.I, will have a talk with R.J. about that one.  Ron Hunter is R.J.’s father. Another player I was impressed by was Zak Irvin of HSE.  He has a good looking shot, nice length and height to be a wing at the next level.  I wish he would have been more aggressive in the first half to match what he did in the second half.  I dont think he took enough shots early in the game, which could have kept HSE with a lead.  Like Hunter, he’s gonna need to get stronger, but hey, he’s only a sophomore.  He finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds and a couple of steals.  Playing behind Harris it’s hard to get attention, but I think he’s gonna be a great ball player and should end up at a major division one program. One player for HSE who does not need to get stronger for basketball is Randy Gregory.  All ready a Purdue football recruit, Gregory is still a good ball player and had a nice game against Pike, finishing with 18 points and over 10 rebounds.  He had a powerful dunk in the second half and showed a little finesse with a driving, off-balanced layup.  Too bad he’s gonna play football in college, because he is a solid basketball player.  If coach Matt Painter needs some more size for his team, he should steal Gregory from the football squad. The talent is young between these two teams, so the future is in good hands.  One pair of those hands belong to Zavier Turner.  All ready the starting point guard as a sophomore, Turner is quick and has good ball handling skills.  He didn’t have the best offensive game, but on a team as loaded as Pike, he doesn’t have too.  Josh Gentry is also someone who doesn’t need to score to have a good game.  He is extremely athletic and plays tough defense.  One play that showed off his athleticsisim was a missed dunk attempt in which he took off about 7 feet from the basket.  Good pick up for North Dakota State. What a great game it was, close to the end ( minus a big lead in the 3rd quarter ).  Hoosier fans should be excited what’s in store for the future.  With the seven division 1 prospects and two N.B.A. prospects in this game alone, there will be no shortage of talent coming out of Indiana the next few years.  Next week were going to cheek out the future, future of Indiana University, Trey Lyles, at Arlington High School.

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2/16/11 Purdue vs Wisconsin 

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IU vs Purdue 2/8/2011

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