(This page from the Jan. 15, 2010, Steward School (Richmond, Virginia)-Richmond Christian School (Richmond, Virginia) boy’s junior varsity and varsity basketball games held in Richmond, Virginia!)
I went to see two players: Class of 2011 Adjehi Baru and Class of 2014 Joe Branin ,(he appears in the top two photos). The “hoopscooponline.com” rates Joe Branin among the top 75 players in the nation for the Class of 2014 Joe Branin is wearing jersey number 12 in both of the top two photos below!
Usually I only scout 10th-12th graders. However, as time goes on, college coaches are being paid higher and higher salaries, so they are scouting players at younger and younger ages. And also AAU basketball is becoming more and more popular with players, and at younger and younger ages. So scouting players at younger and younger ages has become more and more important in the world of college basketball recruiting.
The second player I came to scout today, Adjehi Baru, is shown in the rest of the photos on this page! He’s 6-9 and in the 11th grade: in other words, he’s a member of the high school Class of 2011. He transferred to Steward from Archbishop Carroll High in the Washington, D.C. area. As for Joe Branin, although he’s listed at 5-7, he appears to be headed to at least the 6-0 range. His older brother, who plays on the Steward varsity, is a 5-11 junior.
I left my house at 1:48 P.M. that Friday afternoon. On the radio, I listened to Charlottesville, Virginia’s radin station 1260AM, where a caller was calling in to the host on a political talk show. “I think you’re a good American and doing a very good job,” the caller told the host. Sure….okay!
At 1:58 P.M., I arrived at the 5th Street Market and got gas. On FoxSportsRadio (1400AM here in Charlottesville), Shaquille O’Neal was advertising a product and spoke: “No pain, no mess.” I listened to the North Carolina-Georgia Tech men’s basketball game on the radio on radio station WKAV 1400AM. The announcer yelled: “Virginia Tech takes the three-to-nothing lead!”
The junior varsity game started at 5:12 P.M. Joe Branin started off slowly, but you could tell in pre-game warmups that he was a polished player! Richmond Christian led 12-9 at the half. High school junior varsity basketball can be low-scoring! At the end of three quarters, Richmond Christian led 17-13 over Steward. Steward lost 27-22. I counted that Joe Branin had 7 points.
The varsity game started at 6:58 P.M. Adjehi Baru is a big-time prospect! This guy is an athlete, not just a 6-9 basketball player! He is co-ordinated, strong, and can jump! He’s a jumping-jack. He scored his first basket at the 5:56 mark of the first quarter, and it tied the game at 2-2. He had 4 points in the first quarter. Steward led 15-12 at the end of the first. Steward led 33-21 at the half. They won 61-41 and Adjehi Baru finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds. I drove home. I turned on the radio. The University of Virginia was playing the University of Miami, and winning 12-1!. At 8:39 I had stopped at a BP gas station. At 5:51 P.M. Virginia was ahead 23-12!
After the game, I headed out of Richmond. On the radio, the University of Virginia was beating the University of Miami in men’s basketball, 12-1. I stopped at a BP gas station and UVa was winning 23-12 at the 5:51 mark!
