2009 Kentucky Hoop Fest Day One

Day one at the 2009 Kentucky Hoop Fest was action packed and certainly lived up to the billing as one of the top tournaments in the united states. Travel teams from across the nation hit the hardwood and provided stellar play and overtime games packed full of dramatic moments.

Tony Kimbro is back in Louisville playing with his old teammates on Team Loyalty and his all around game is looking better than ever. Team Takeover 17u, out of Canada, is absolutely loaded with division one talent. Kadeem Green has the potential to be special. The Indiana Elite, Wisconsin Force, Tennessee Tigers, Marietta Heat, and Team Spiece are some of the stronger teams in the event. The ever-improving Kentucky Blazers, featuring Chane Behanan, Mike Geegan, Vic Smith, (pictured) and heady point guard Darius Clement, are sure to make some noise over the next couple of days. There will be more on all of the above players in the coming days.

I was able to Catch up with 2010 Purdue commit Travis Carroll, who was running late because he was at the Lebron camp. I asked him about Jordan Crawford and "the dunk." He said, "Yeah it happened, I seen it. Lebron was playing, not at full speed or anything, and Jordan rose up and Lebron went like this. (moving his arms into a protective position over his head.)" I then asked Carroll if the alleged video was confiscated. He seemed confident that one was. "Yeah they were all over there conferring with the guy who had it on tape." This has quickly become a one of the most talked about dunks ever.

Coaches were evaluating players today, a lot of them seemingly for the first time. It's always nice to see kids go from having no colleges interested in them, to having four, five, or even more teams intrigued in a matter of an hour and a half. This is one of the most crucial times for coaches with the summer evaluation window getting shorter. Coaches have less time to get their list of guys that they truly want to pursue; so it is more important to get it right. While the new rule changes are up for debate, one undeniable fact is that kids now have to perform at a high level for shorter periods of time to be noticed, recruited, and offered.