Playaz Gold(17’s) Start Off Nike E.Y.B.L. With A Bang!

Hampton, Virginia……….. After getting shocked in their own Spring Fling Tournament last week,The Playaz Gold team wasn’t sure what the beginning of the Nike E.Y.B.L. Summer Season would bring! The question was answered in fine fashion as The Playaz Gold  went 5-0 during the weekend at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton ,Virginia! This was the first phase of the Summer Season, as they also have to go to Texas and California and finish at The Nike Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina July12-15 for the Nike E.Y.B.L. Championship! The Playaz proved they would be in the mix the entire way! This weekend they defeated The Family( Michigan), Charlotte Royals(N.C.), Team Texas Titans(Texas), Tennessee Travelers(Tenn.) and Spiece( Indiana)! The Titans game was especially exciting as The Playaz trailed by as much as 18 points and came back to win the game 64-61! The Playaz were led by the play of Kyle Anderson, Savon Goodman, Derrick Wood and Myles Davis in this contest and the majority of the weekend! Anderson(top right) led the weekend in assists and was at or close to a triple double every game!  Goodman(top left) put up nice numbers and was the best athlete on the floor most games! He is a special talent! Wood(right) did things off the dribble and from the perimeter! And Davis(left) had games where he shot the ball with the best in the country, including an 8″triples” game! He averaged 20 a game for the weekend! The Playaz also got great effort from Chris Jones, Jerome Frink, Vance Matthews and Zaire Williams! They go to Pittsburgh this weekend for the Pittsburgh Jam Fest, before doing their next Nike E.Y.B.L. session in Dallas April 29 – May 1!

The Playaz Red(16’s) also were at Boo Williams this weekend and had an up and down weekend! This team was the defending Boo Williams champions, but came short handed as 6’8 bigman A.J. Sumblin could not make the trip due to an illness! They still reached the Silver bracket semifinals, but came up short to CP3 in an entertaining game 63-60! They finished the weekend 3-2 with close loses to CP3 and Mack Irvin Fire team in between beating Westchester(N.Y.) Hawks, All Ohio and Houston Hoops ! Still,they got good efforts from Joel Hernandez, Kavon Stewart, Reggie Cameron, Mike Young, Geno Thorpe, DeAndre Noble, Josh Marquez and Jared Hall as they also prepare for the Pittsburgh Fest! The Playaz Black (15’s) finished the weekend 1 – 2 with a couple of close losses, including one to Team Melo!

AROUND THE TOURNAMENT: There was  tremendous talent all over and trying to see it all was difficult, but fun! the Drew Gooden Soldiers(Ca.) were an impressive team as was Mack Irvin Fire(Ill.) as each went 5-0 for the week!  Particularly impressed by some individual players like Dajuan Coleman of Albany City Rocks(N.Y.)(right), Julius Randle of Texas Titans(Tex.)(left) who is considered the top player of 2013! Other top players were Ricardo Ledo(City Rocks),Justin Anderson( Boo Williams), Alex Poythress( Georgia Stars), J-Mychal Reese(Houston Hoops), Steve Taylor( Mack Irvin), Omar Calhoun( N.Y. Gauchos), D’Vante Smith- Rivera( Spiece) James Robinson( Team Takeover)and Matthew Jones( Team Texas Titans)! Of course their was even more talent in the room!

Special Shout goes to Mack Irvin Fire’s Sophomore Billy Garrett(right), who has verbally committed to DePaul! This website may use the word “Family” at times and it is a true statement about certain young individuals due to the history this website has had with the person and again, Billy is family and the whole Hoop Journal Family and friends from New Jersey are very proud of what he has accomplished and will continue to in Chicago! We miss you! Also Prayers go out to Matt Johnson of The Playaz, Get Well Soon!