C.J. Leslie dropped a light 16 in a win Wednesday night.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The school is K-12 and still has just 172 students. Its gym seats only a couple hundred at most. Before games, fans and players stand for a prayer. There are several ways in which Word of God Christian Academy just outside of downtown Raleigh doesn’t fit the build of a typical national power. But with a new head coach and some of the top talent in the state, John Wall’s alma mater is quickly becoming just that.

While replacing last year’s #1 high school player is a daunting task at the very least, guards Dezmone Wells, a junior who has already committed to Xavier; Bishop Daniels, a junior who has offers from Wake Forest, NC State and Memphis, among others; and Stephone Drane, a senior who has committed to Western Kentucky; have made first-year coach Erasto Hatchett’s transition fairly smooth. Read More »

Sundiata Gaines (right) with Co-MVP Antawn Dobie after winning the 2009 Fireball championship.

This is a story I wrote in July 2008 that I thought should be posted again.

The story’s been captured before. The New York City guard is as a quick as they come, able to take anyone off the bounce, but just doesn’t have a reliable-enough jumper, or gets too animated at times, or doesn’t always bring the intensity he needs to make it to the next level. Erick Barkley, Omar Cook, Kenny Satterfield, the list goes on-and-on. For every success story, there are countless failed attempts, which is of course, a relative term in this city.

Sundiata Gaines isn’t your prototypical NYC guard. Read More »

Sundiata Gaines, who has terrorized New York summer leagues since graduating from Georgia in 2008, has signed a 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz, according to the team’s Web site.

Gaines had been averaging almost 25 points, five rebounds and seven assists with the Idaho Stampede of the D-league.

When I asked him about his NBA prospects for a story I wrote in the summer of 2008, he said, “I’m gonna keep working on my game. If I keep working hard, I think I can make it. G.M.’s have told me I’m talented enough.”

Best of luck to Yatta.

Sean Armand, the 18-year-old who sliced through defenses and averaged about 25 points per game this summer for the NJ Trail Blazers at West 4th Street, has verbally committed to Fordham, Trail Blazers coach Josh Hoffman said Monday.

Armand, who hails from Fort Greene, is a potent slasher and an above-average shooter.

He is currently attending a New Jersey prep school.

For its first five years, Rickey Rivers’ Funsport Junior Pros League was restrained mostly to the confines of small Brooklyn gyms. But Sunday night, the uncomfortable bleachers and dim lights gave way to padded seats and lustrous illumination as the championship game between the New Jersey Pirates and Starrett City shifted to maybe the greatest basketball venue in the world, the Garden.

While not quite what you’d find courtside at Staples Center, the crowd still had a few big names. Walt “Clyde” Frazier and John Starks took some photos with players before the game, and Indiana Pacers guard Dahntay Jones watched the opening few minutes. Lincoln HS coach Dwayne “Tiny” Morton and Cardozo head Ron Naclerio also took in the action. Read More »

My boy Eric Berman got compared to former Cavs reserve Sasha Pavlovic. Photo: halftimeadjustments.files.wordpress.com.

I was chillin’ with NYC native and fellow UNC student Eric Berman last week, and we started talking about what we missed about playground ball in the city.

One of the first things we came up with was the ridiculousness of the comparisons you get when playing on the blacktop.

Eric, who is about 6 feet, 190 pounds, said he generally gets likened to Jason Kidd and Jason Williams, though he will never forget the day someone compared him to Sasha Pavlovic. Read More »

After much anticipation, Kryie Irving, ESPN’s #6 ranked player in the 2010 class and Bounce #22 cover man, committed to Duke Thursday, giving the Blue Devils their biggest point-guard signee since Jason Williams.

Irving, a senior at St. Patrick HS in Elizabeth, N.J., played in the Elite 24 at Rucker Park in August.

Irving’s former high-school teammate Dexter Strickland is a freshman at UNC this year.

Fans at Late Night with Roy. Photo: Rivals.yahoo.com.

Chapel Hill, N.C. — I’m a sinner. I have betrayed my faith and my family, and nothing I could ever do will change that.

My grandparents graduated from Duke in the 1930s and bleeding royal blue is a tradition I’ve always embraced. To me, Shane Battier, Jason Williams, J.J. Redick and Greg Paulus are gods—they graced the sacred floor of Cameron Indoor Stadium for a combined 15 years and provided me floor-slapping and twine-tickling memories that still give me chills.

It was always my dream to play point guard for Mike Krzyzewski and be that gritty player everyone outside of Durham hated. When I realized by age 12 Coach K wasn’t going to call, I thought maybe I could just go as a student. But by the time I got my first B- in Physics class in 9th grade, I realized that wasn’t too likely either. Read More »