Class of 2014 star, B.J. Stith, of Brunswick High School.

One of them, B.J. Stith already accepted a scholarship
offer to UVa, even though he’s in the 10th grade. The
other, Brandan Stith had not been offered any scholarships yet,
but it’s only a matter of time.

On this day, Janurary 27, 2012, I started the long drive
to Brunswick from Charlottesville, VA at 10:16 A.M. Wherever
I go, the Dan Patrick Show is on the radio, so I turned my
radio to WKAV-1400 A.M. This would be a LONG trip of
close to 300 miles.

#22 B.J. Stith, of Brunswick High School in southeastern Virginia

I soon stopped for gas at Xions Crossroads, east of Charlottesville.
It was windy outside. On the radio, the host was talking
about Peyton Manning. I get tired of hearing about Peyton
Manning, because unless you’ve seen his medical records,
you don’t know what the doctors are saying, and exactly
what was done through his 3rd back surgery.

Eventually, on the 72 mile-trip to Richmond, VA, I lost contact
with 1400, and changed my channel to 1465, and ESPN
all-sports station. The host informed everyone that one
of his advertisers was Progressive insurance.

I got to Brunswick High School at 1:36 P.M. Now that I had
found where the high school was, I had to make the time
pass until the 7:30 P.M. game against Virginia Homeschoolers.

I wasn’t going to tresspass there on school property, so
I had hours for something to do

Back to the Brunswick High team: Bryant Stith, who was
a first-team all-ACC player at Virginia, was UVa’s
all-time scoring leader. He is the head basketball coach
at his former school he had attended, Brunswick High.

The most impressive player in this game, hands-down,
was 6-5 Brandan Stith. Stith is classified as a junior,
but I heard that he’s going to re-do his junior season,
which would make both of Stith’s sons would be
high school juniors next year!

Brandan Smith did it all: he made a 3-pointer,
he blocked shots, he ran with the face-break whenever
he had a chance. Did UVa offer a scholarship to the
wrong Stith?

Well, B.J. Stith will develop in to a fine college
point guard, but he is thin. Brandan Stith is an
ACC-caliber small forward, but has no scholarship
offers yet!

In the game, Brandan Stith scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds. His younger brother,
B.J. Stith had 7 points, but he played a solid game from his point guard position.
Brunswick won, 56-39 over Central Virginia Home School.

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I started off leaving Charlottesville, VA about 10 hours before the game was going to start. At 10:51, I went in to a McDonald’s just to get some diet Coke. On the way, Dan Patrick was doing his sports talk show. He had an interview with Coach K of Duke an later, one of Todd Marinovich of Southern California.

At 11:36 I passed by Nelson County High School. At 11:45, radio 1400 had too much static to listen to.  Then, at 11:45, I turned the 1450, which is ESPN radio on the internet. The host is the controversial Colin Cowherd. He was asking his guest how he would explain Miami fans booing LeBron James. That’s not my problem though!

Cowherd then talked with Steven A. Smith, a well-known sports talk show guest. At 12:24, I stopped for gas and also got directions to the Virginia Episcopal School. At 12:51, I stopped at a restaurant to eat and ask for directions to
Virginia Episcopal School. It’s a nice-looking campus.

Ifeanyi Onyekaba, Class of 2013 at Richmond, VA Virginia Episcopal School was very impressive. His upper body looks like he’s been lifting weights for years. There’s no question that UVa or Virginia Tech could use Ifeanyi Onyekaba! On offense, he posts up, holds his position, waits for the ball, and simply dribbles around his man, power over his man, or just jumps up and dunks it with two hands!

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MaxPreps.com had listed Bash Townes as being 6-5 and 220 pounds. Townes plays very smoothly, and with a lot of poise for any high school basketball player, despite being a freshman on a varsity team. He came in averaging over 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Bash Townes wears jersey number 15. Divante Walker, who wears number 3, was recently offered a football scholarship by the University of Virginia! Another player I was there to see was 6-6 225 Class of 2013 quarterback Bucky Hodges, a future high school All-American who also plays high school basketball. However, Bucky Hodges didn’t suit up for tonight’s game, as punishment for missing a class.

It was snowing back in Charlottesville, Virginia in the middle of the state, but there was no snow here in Virginia Beach. However, the air in Virginia Beach was windy and in the thirties. It was COLD!

Bash Townes hit on 7 out of 9 field goal attempts, plus 4-6 free throws, for 18 points. After the first quarter, the score was Salem 11, Cox 10. Salem stretched their lead to 21-15 at the half. Salem won the game 54-49.

Although Divante Walker is a football recruit, he impressed me as a basketball player, because he had blazing speed with the basketball, and is a true point guard.

I next drove from Virginia Beach, VA to Charlotesville, a long, cold trip in the dark!

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I left Charlottesville, Virginia after having 4 bagels at Panera Bread. I listened to AM radio station 1450, an all-sports station, and the host was Colin Cowherd. The program was “The Herd” and Cowherd was discussing the NFL, among other things.  He was talking to callers about a major league pro baseball team, the Texas Rangers.

6-7 Class of 2013 Rodney Bullock

He was talking about the Texas Rangers, and how they gave 51.7 million just for the rights to negotiate for a player.

Colin Cowherd was very critical of Baron Davis, a point guard for the Los Angeles Clippers. (Within days, however, Baron Davis became a New York Knick.) Colin Cowherd said that a playoff in college football won’t happen, because fans can’t even get along with fans from other schools, so it won’t be voted in. Peter King, a sportswriter, came on to “The Herd,” and agreed with Cowherd that Ben Roethlisberger should not have been playing the previous night, and that he should be held out until the playoffs begin.

I switched to radio station 1400, but it was too difficult to hear. So I switched to AM 910, where the host, Dan Patrick was talking.  I then stopped at Zotas, a gas station, and bought some crackers and filled up my car with gas.

Soon, I was in Hampton, Virginia, and I managed to find Kecoughtan High. I noticed that by air, it’s only about 2 miles from there to Phoebus High. I sat through the Kecoughtan-Newport News Heritage girls game, and after that, the boys game started around 7:30.

Rodney Bullock, who wears jersey number 5, was outstanding. His dunks brought the crowd to their feet! By my accounting, he scored 21 points, even though his coach did not play him in the fourth quarter, due to the fact that Kecoughtan was ahead by 30 points!  They won 68-40, extending their record to 7-0. Rodney Bullock scored 20 points, but I was keeping count, and I had him for hitting on 6-13 shots from the floor, and 9-9 from the free throw line.  He must have been 8-8 from the foul line instead. Still, for a big man, his free throw-shooting was terrific.

Rivals.com ranks Rodney Bullock number 105 in the nation for next year, in the Class of 2013. I think he’s better than anyone who plays in the front court for Virginia or Virginia Tech already!

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MaxPreps.com rates Troy Williams as the nation’s ninth-best player in the Class of 2013. ESPNU rates Troy Williams as the number 8 Class of 2013 player in the nation! Rivals.com rates Troy Williams as the nation’s 14th-best player.

The Phoebus Phantoms basketball team won Tuesday’s game against the Heritage Hurricanes by a score of 62-43. Troy Williams only weighs about 175, but he can do anything on the court. In this game, he connected on 8 out of 17 shots from two-point range. From three-point range he shot 0-2.  Troy Williams was 4-4 from the foul line, so he scored 20 points total.

#5 is Class of 2013 forward Troy Williams

He played a great all-around game: he had 8 rebounds and 3 assists also. Phoebus led 10-8 over Heritage at the end of one period of play. Then, they narrowly led Heritage 28-25 at the half. But they played much better in the second half, partly because they fed the ball over and over to transfer center, Jalen Ford, who is an unstoppable force inside at the high school level. Ford is a senior, and Phoebus broke the game open by continuously feeding him the ball inside. Howard, Tennessee St., VMI, and Austin Peay are recruiting him the hardest, he told me . I think he’s better than that level of college basketball, in my opinion.

So, Phoebus led 50-36 after three quarters.

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(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!

I left the house at 2:35 P.M. that afternoon. At 2:51 P.M. I was headed on Route 64 East, listening to car’s FM radio, and the band “U2″ was playing: the lyrics “with or without you” could be heard from radio station “94.3 FM.”

By 2:52 P.M., on FM radio station 94.1, a caller named Donna was saying, “Look at the people we have in charge right now….” to conservative talk show host Mark Stein, a man with a British accent.

At 3:16 P.M., I was still on Route 64 East, and I passed a sign that said it was 31 miles to Richmond, Virginia. At 3:35 P.M., I arrived at a gas station called “Bulletts.” I got to Richmond at 3:50 P.M.! Finally, at 4:10 P.M., I got to the school. But the game wasn’t due to start until 5:45, so I sat in the car, reading newspapers and listening to the radio. It was cold outside! At 4:55 P.M., I went in and watched some of the junior varsity game.

The varsity game started, and I kept track of each shot Kevin Huang took, as well as each rebound he grabbed, and each shot he blocked. He didn’t score until the 3:32 mark of the first quarter. (High school basketball games are comprised of four 8-minute quarters). His team trailed 10-2 at the end of the first quarter. Hampton Roads Academy had poor team ballhandling. Finally, he scored at the 6:21 mark of the second quarter! But his team trailed 24-14 at the half. It was 6:13 P.M.

In the second half, Kevin Huang came alive, mostly because his team stopped turning the ball over, and decided to look for him on offense. He began shooting the ball. He finished the game with 12 points, hitting on 6 out of 9 shots for the contest. But he had little help around him. His team lost 42-31. The game ended at 6:47 P.M.

Kevin Huang has a thin uppper body, but hey: he’s just a high school FRESHMAN! I talked to the man whose family he is staying with. Kevin Huang is an exchange student from China. Kevin Huang’s parents were basketball players back in China. He has Division 1 potential, but then: there are 347 Division 1 schools in the USA. He could still be growing. He has a soft touch. He’s a prospect to keep an eye on. He plays smart and does not commit fouls! At 7:06 P.M., I left Richmond. By 7:36 P.M., I was 30 miles from Charlottesville. By 8:10 P.M., I was back in Charlottesville!

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Princess Anne had gone 31-1 last season, losing only to an out-of-state team! They had won the large-school, Group AAA championship! In her freshman season, they had gone 29-2, losing in the state semi-finals. Elizabeth Williams was playing tonight in the “Ronald Curry & Boo Williams Christmas Classic,” [Charlottesville to Richmond!] at the “Boo William’s Sportsplex,” in Hampton, Virginia. [Williams during warm-ups]

I left for the game at 1:38 P.M. on Tuesday. Charlottesville had a lot of snow due to the fact it has showed 19-24 inches starting the previous Friday! It was 42 degrees. I listed to AM radio “1610,” a public radio station in Goochland, Virginia at 2:26 P.M., which said that there were “no hazardous weather is expected at this time.”

I also listened to AM radio station 910 where famous [Williams before 12-22-09 game] radio host Jim Rome at 2:29 P.M. was talking about “the piece that launched a thousands sound bites,” by correspondant Delonte I. (sp?). He then played an audio clip where ex-NBA superstar Isiah Thomas is being introduced as the head men’s basketball coach at Florida International University as “Isiah Thompson” by the president of the school.

I listened to AM radio ESPN 950 at 2:34 P.M. and Justin Gates of the Tennessee Titans was saying that “We’ve known we had a good team.” I arrived in Richmond, Virginia at 2:44 P.M. [Coach Dozier] [Williams palms the ball!]

I listened to rock station 102.1 and Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People” at 3:00 P.M. I had figured it wasn’t important to get directions because I had already been to the ” Boo William’s Sportsplex” before. I then realized that I should have! I called information and got the number to the “Boo William’s Sportsplex,” then got directions.

I got to Williamsburg, VA at 3:41. By 3:54 I was in Newport News, VA. At 4:06 I was in Hampton, VA. The game was supposed to begin at 7, but due to a change in schedule, it had been moved to 8:30. Haha! [Williams listens to the coach] The game began! [Williams, #52] At the end of the first quarter, Princess Anne led 16-13. They extended their lead to 32-28 at the half. But after three quarters, the lead was 42-40. It was a close game! Elizabeth Williams made a great left-handed hook shot to tie the game at 42-42 at the start of the fourth quarter. She had little help from her teammates. Princess Anne didn’t seem to have the kind of talent surrounding her that they did last season. The final score was 72-60.

The game ended at 10:10 P.M. I stopped at a gas station/convenience store called “Miller’s” at 10:35. On radio station 102.1, “The X,” I listened to “Fire Woman,” by “The Cult” at 11:24 P.M. I got to the Richmond, Virginia area at 11:31 P.M. Then, on 95.3, a country station, I listened to a song that included the words “I have loved Jim Beam.” At 11:44 P.M. I passed Exit 79 to the University of Richmond. I was on the way home and got home at around 1:15 A.M. Whew!

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I had not scouted college prospects for over 2 months: it’s hard to find players to scout in the “off-season!” I don’t like reporting on the same college basketball prospects over and over, and as far as reporting on college football prospects in grades 8-11 in Virginia, it’s not easy to scout them in the off-season. But I got up at 6:04 A.M. on 6-23-09, Tuesday, and started driving to went to Norfolk, Virginia today to see 4 games-in-a-row in the Maury High School Summer Basketball League, held at Maury High School. At 6:27 A.M. I had driven as far east as Louisia, Virginia.

6:39 A.M., the road sign said “49 miles to Richmond, Virginia.” I stopped at a rest area at 7:03 A.M. By 7:21 I was in Richmond (the state capitol of Virginia). By 7:38 I had left Richmond. I saw a sign at 7:41 that said “Norfolk: 80 miles.” At 8:00 I passed a green sign that said “Norfolk: 60 miles.” At 8:34 P.M. I went by Williamsburg, VA. I arrived at Newport News, VA at 8:48 P.M.

At 8:55 P.M. I arrived in Hampton, VA. at 9:02 A.M. I came to a sign that said “Norfolk 13, Virginia Beach 25.” By 9:12 A.M. I got to the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel

9:16 A.M. I arrived in Norfolk. 9:53 Maury High School gym. 10:25 finished eating at “Yorgo’s Bageldashery.” I went to the library down the street until 11:10 A.M. I then finished eating at “Baker’s Crust” at 12:50 P.M. I then left Harris Teeter nearby at 1:20 P.M.

I walked down to “7-11″ on Colley Avenue and left at 2:03. I had a great meal at “IHOP” at 2:25. At 5:22 P.M. the first game started! I saw some interesting players. There were 4 summer league games being played here, one after the other. Each half of each game consisted of 20 minutes. The clock was a running clock and it didn’t stop, even for free throws.

3 players I want to talk about are: (1). Aaron Bacote of Bethel High; (2). Sims Frazier of Maury High; (3). Briante Weber (6-2 165) of Chesapeake Great Bridge High; (4). Joe Goodwin of Bethel High;

Aaron Bacote, listed at 6-5 190,  is a member of the Class of 2012. He plays for Bethel High of Hampton, VA. The “Hoop Scoop” rates him #108 among the Class of 2011! He was wearing jersey number 5 today. I recommend hoopscooponline to any serious recruting fan! At just $42-per-month, it’s well worth the money. This is where college coaches go to find out what’s going on in college basketball. One look at it the Member’s Section’s “Hot Recruiting Information” and you’ll know what I’m talking about!

Sims Frazier is a member of the Class of 2011. He was also wearing jersey number 5. He plays for Maury High of Norfolk, VA. He has ACC point guard written all over him. He plays for a high school coaching legend in Virginia, Joe Baker). Not tall, (5-11 190) but has all of the tools, including strength!

Briante Weber is tall, thin, and a confident point guard who can do it all. He wore jersey number 4 today. Big-time potential!

Joe Goodwin (his photo also appears left, second from the bottom) is a member of the Class of 2011. He plays for Bethel High of Hampton, VA. He looks like a college football player (6-4 220) , but plays only basketball for Bethel.

The 4 games:

1. Green Run played Kempsville. Kempsville trailed 26-25 at halftime, but won 45-41.

2. Bethel played Deep Creek. Bethel led 26-14 at the half, and came out victorious: 47-37. The game ended at 7:12 P.M.

3. Bayside played Great Bridge. Great Bridge led 32-17 at halftime and won 61-35.

4. Tallwood played Maury. Maury led at the half, 27-23, and won 58-42. Sims Frazier made a nice 3-point play at the 1:54 mark of the second half. He was deadly from the free throw line all game: the game ended at 9:20 P.M.

10:04 P.M.: Hampton. At 10:25 P.M. I was in Newport News. I stopped in Ft. Eustis, VA at an “On The Run” store to get a Diet Sprite. I got to Williamsburg, VA at 10:53 P.M. I reached Richmond, Virginia at 11:40 P.M. I got home to Charlottesville at 1:23 A.M!

For legal reasons, I’m not going to give out information from specific websites that you’d have to pay to get if you wanted to get paid information from those specific websites! But I will say that a player to remember is eighth-grader Ramone Snowden of Princess Anne Middle School in Virginia Beach, Virginia!

I went to see him play today. He’s wearing jersey number 34 in the photos in this March 28 article. I was told by his high school coach for next season, Norman Hassell, that he’ll be playing for Kellam High in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Ramone Snowden is listed on one website as being as tall as 6-6. He may be around 6-5. He is powerful and very co-ordinated. He can do it all!

According to the free information given out on a website called kobasketball.com. Ramone Snowden might be the second-best eighth-grader in the nation!

He was playing in the age “14-and-under ‘Super Regionals’ AAU (American Amateur Union) Tournament” in Hampton, Virginia. It was being held March 27, 28, and 29, 2009. The location was a new, modern building called the ‘Boo Williams Sportsplex.’ The Boo Williams Sportsplex had been built in honor of Boo Williams, who is not only the most-well known figure in the world of amateur basketball in Virginia, but one of the most well-known figures in amateur basketball in the country!

Ramone Snowden looks like a college player.

The game started at 4:55 P.M. He scored his first basket at the 7:36 mark. His team led 17-10 at the end of one quarter.

Also playing for the Virginia Beach Heat was another well-known college prospect. His name is Austin Colbert of Norfolk, Virginia’s Collegiate School. Austin Colbert is 6-8 and he too is in the eighth grade. Austin Colbert will be a blue-chip college basketball recruit by his junior year of high school, in my estimation. He is wearing jersey number 32 in the below-left photo. However, he isn’t the same caliber of a prospect as Ramone Snowden.

With 5:25-to-go in the second quarter, Ramone Snowden made a play that was highlight film-material. He caught the ball in the air on a fast break, and without coming down, made a two-handed pass sideways to his left that resulted in a layup for a teammate! This made the score 25-10, which his Virginia Beach Heat team ahead.

Ramone Snowden soon came out of the game for a rest, with his team ahead, 29-10.

The Virginia Beach Heat 14U team went ahead 35-12 at the half. After the half-time intermission, this game got WAY out-of-hand. Ramone Snowden made the game’s most exciting play at the :35 mark of the third quarter. He took off from about 8 feet out, sailed through the air, and made a flying one-handed dunk that made the score 50-21, Virginia Beach Heat!

At the end, his team won 87-27 over a team called “The Legends.” (There were no rosters or programs at this tournament and I was unable and not really interested in finding out the real name of a team that lost an AAU game by 60 points!) The contest was over at 6:03 P.M. Ramone Snowden finished with 21 points. After I left the game, I stopped at a place in Newport News, Virginia called the “UNO Chicago Grill.” I had the chicken sandwich with rice pilaf, tomato, onions, and lettuce. I left at 8:18 P.M. Of course, I did have a few diet Cokes. I’m addicted to diet Cokes. When will the madness end?! Ha.

On the way home from Hampton, Virginia to Charlottesville, Virginia, at 9:28 P.M., I was listening to my car radio and heard the last seconds of Villanova’s 78-76 victory over Pittsburgh in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament! It propelled Villanova in to the Final Four. Great game! It’s hard to believe there was a time when the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech actually played in the NCAA tournament!……………………..