Ohio/Kentucky HS All Star Game

The annual Ohio/Kentucky HS all star game is due to be played at Thomas More College tomorrow night at 7:30 PM. High school players are allowed by NCAA rules to participate in two of these all star/post season invitationals. I have attended this event the past several seasons and even had a chance to talk to Clark Kellogg a couple years ago. You will see many D1 assistants, D2 coaches, NAIA coaches, and JUCO coaches dotting the stands and sidelines hoping to land one of the uncommitted players. Generally the talent in Kentucky is less than Ohio (although the 2010 class in KY is loaded!) and not all the best players come. This year Jon Hood (a UK commit) from Kentucky and Garrick Sherman (Michigan State) from Ohio are not participating as an example.

Of interest to me on the Ohio team is Bill Edwards from Middletown. His father was a star at Wright State in the late '80's. He is receiving attention from a wide range of schools including Central Florida and Oklahoma State. He has been listed between 6-5 and 6-7 and was a first team all state Division 1 player this past season. He will be joined by team mate Allen Roberts who is headed to Miami-OH. Other D1 commits on the Ohio team include Damian Carthan (Wright State), Matt Kavanaugh (Dayton), CJ McCollum (Lehigh-2009 Gatorade Ohio POY), Danny McElroy (Bowling Green), Jonathan Smith (St. Louis), and Orlando Williams (Miami-OH). Besides Edwards, Jared Porrini from Canton Timken HS is receiving D1 interest to my knowledge.

On the Kentucky side we have Darren Ballou (Morehead State)and Evan Faulkner (Radford) already committed to D1 schools. Evan's twin brother Ethan is also participating and he is headed to Northern Kentucky. Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier Journal has stated the Faulkner brothers are two of the best shooters in the 2009 class. There are several UK football commits playing in this game including Larod King, Ridge Wilson, and Leonard Macon. There is also several players uncommitted on the blue team that are receiving D1 interest. Included in that group are Chris Dowe from Louisville Eastern HS (Wright State, Southern Illinois, Fairfield, Western Carolina, and Eastern Kentucky), Jacob Jenkins (he battled foot injury early in the season which slowed his recruitment), Steven McFarland out of Boone County HS (Belmont, Bucknell, and Eastern Kentucky), Eric Mosely a dynamic scoring combo guard out of Louisville Moore HS who was getting interest from Billy Gillespie's UK staff but now seems more likely to choose from a school like Louisiana-Monroe or Tulsa. Last but not least is Jordan Reeves. He is a 6-10 center from Jeffersontown HS who has added weight this season. At the beginning of the year he was only receiving D1 interest from Texas-Arlington but that list has grown to include others.

If your a hoops junkie like me I would recommend catching this event. As mentioned previously you can see a lot of local college coaches and luminaries like Byron Larkin over there catching the action.