Best of Summer VI
By Glenn Nelsonwith Chris Hansen
Posted Mon, 08/20/2007 - 08:05 We wrap up our review of the summer of 2007 with our Teams of Summer.
PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
A bleacher jammed with coaches watches April Sykes of Essence
Two of sport's biggest motivators - failure and near-failure - provided the catapult to success for our Team of Summer.
Essence had been knocked out in the semifinals of the Nike Summer Showcase in Chicago by the DFW Elite Gold and was facing a double-digit halftime deficit the next week in Birmingham. The team talked about recommitting and trusting each other, and then it knocked 11 points off the 12-point deficit. Trailing by one with eight seconds left, Essence got the ball to Tiffany Hayes, who manuevered to the basketball and made a game-winning layup just ahead of the buzzer.
Chelsey Lee
From there, Essence swept into the championship game, where it exacted revenge against a DFW team bolstered by Brittney Griner, the 6-foot-7 dunking and shot-blocking sensation. For good measure, Essence put down all comers at the prestigious Nike Nationals, where it defeated - who else? - DFW in the title game.
The essence of Essence was four guards around the hyper-active forward Chelsey Lee, all of whom flew around the court on defense, created their own shots, handled the ball, passed it and knocked down the three. Lee is a hard-working, mobile inside-out player who was great at taking advantage of the space created by the shooters, scoring up and down the lane.
While Hayes was HoopGurlz.com's Player of Summer, it was April Sykes, ranked No. 2 in the 2008 class, who made the team go. Sykes is an alpha-dog type of leader who simply cannot be contained when her mind is set. She is the strongest high-school guard in the country, and is explosive off the floor, so she rebounds and scores from the boxes like a forward. She scores every possible way and, if denied the shot, will pick apart defenses with her aggressive mindset and passing.
Hayes, another nationally ranked prospect by HoopGurlz at No. 13 overall and Connecticut commit, is a metronomic player, who does a little of everything on virtually the same level of excellence every game. Oklahoma-bound Whitney Hand, ranked 48th in 2008, provided daily grit and grind, a player who will stick her nose - hands, knees, whatever - into everything for the good of the team. A year younger, the point guard, Erica Wheeler, often deferred to her teammates, but proved unshakeable under pressure, stepped up when needed and is certain to be a nationally ranked prospect in the 2009 class.
Essence is stationed in Florida, but drew players from Georgia, Mississippi and Texas, with coach Kimberly Davis-Powell providing the glue for the far-flung team.
Essence takes a timeout
| Fashion Statement BWSL's New Blue Uniforms  Bonae Holston (left) in BWSL's cool blues |
TEAMS OF SUMMER
1. Essence
2. Tennessee Flight Silver
3. Comets (with EDD)
4. Boo Williams Summer League
5. DFW Elite Gold
6. Exodus NYC
7. West Coast Elite
8. Cy-Fair Shock 90
9. Cincinnati's Finest
10. Cal Swish Black
11. The Family
12. Lady Runnin' Rebels
13. All-Ohio Black
14. FBC Blue
15. Louisville Legends
16. Peach State Elite Black
17. Dayton Hoopstars
18. Georgia Metros
19. Tennessee Team Pride
20. East Bay Xplosion Black
20. NYC Gauchos
The Tennessee Flight also overcame adversity, a shellacking by Exodus NYC in an exhibition in Oregon City. But a team meeting called by LaSondra Barrett cleared the way for tournament victories at End of the Trail and Battle in the Boro, to go with one at the Nike Midwest Showdown. But the Flight, also led by the likes of North Carolina commit Candace Wood and Notre Dame-bound Natalie Novosel, may have peaked a little early. Speaking of peaking early, the Comets, who are based in the Philadelphia area, won the Boo Williams Invitational in April with Elena Delle Donne, the nation's No. 1 ranked player, competing in her only major tournament. The Comets were so decidedly good with Delle Donne, that they deserved mention as one of summer's elite.
Chiney Ogwumike
With the nation's top center in Maryland commit Lynetta Kizer, one of the country's top 2009 prospects in Tierra Ruffin-Pratt and a cache of uber-athletes, Boo Williams looked like a prime candidate for Team of Summer. It won the AAU Junior Nationals, as well as the USJN Nationals in Washington, D.C., but was upset in the first round of bracket play at Nike Nationals. The team that put them out, DFW Elite Gold, was unbeaten, heading into the championship game at Basketball on the Bayou. Brooklyn Pope had an electrifying summer, Destini Hughes established herself as one of the nation's very best point guards and Odyssey Sims was a revelation as a 2010 prospect already committed to Baylor. If not for Essence, which beat them in Birmingham, Ala., and North Augusta, S.C., DFW would have been the last team standing.
Exodus NYC shook the albatross of underachievement in a big way and still managed to captivate audiences across the country with its entertaining style. Led by ballhandling wizard Samantha Prahalis, supported by the likes of nationally ranked prospects such as Alexa Roche, Shakeya Leary and Krystall "Grandma" Parnell, the Big Apple crew made the semifinals at End of the Trail and won the adidas Showtime Nationals. West Coast Elite, on the other hand, did not shake its propensity for not winning the big one, in spite of talent galore, particularly in the front court. Kelsey Bone and Monique Oliver are two of the very top post prospects in 2009, while Ashley Gayle is a top forward and Briana Gilbreath a top wing in 2008.
Cy-Fair Shock 90 also did not win any major championships, but was a factor all summer because of the Ogwumike sisters, Nneka and Chiney, and timely three-point shooting from their suporting cast. Cincinnati's Finest was one of the teams that registered an upset of West Coast Elite and had one of the country's top players, Tennessee-bound Amber Gray, ranked No. 4 overall by HoopGurlz.como, as well as great guard play. Cal Swish Black had some of the best talent in the West, led by UCLA commit Atonye Nyingifa and do-everything guard Lauren Edwards; reached the finals of the End of the Trail, won the River City Classic in Memphis, but hurt its ranking by failing to reach the Gold bracket at Nike Nationals.
Alicia Manning
The Family had one of the best backcourts in the country with Skylar Diggins, a top 2009 prospect, and Yvonne Anderson, one of the best in 2008, as well as Purdue commit Alex Guyton in the front court. The Lady Runnin' Rebels won the adidas Showtime Nationals 16U division behind Villanova-bound Laura Sweeney and Penn State commit Renee Womack, plus 2009 forward Shante Evans. All-Ohio Black had bigger plans for the summer, but star center Ayana Dunning first had mononucleosis then a bevy of nagging injuries. With top-notch prospects Jasmine Dixon and Nikki Speed, FBC Blue won the Deep South Classic in April but, by July, found itself in the unfamiliar situation of losing two straight games (in Atlanta) for the first time in the program's history.
The Louisville Legends, which had Louisville-boundt Monique Reed, Vandy commit Tia Gibbs and 2009 stud Mariah Chandler, was eight seconds of defense from probably reaching the championship at Basketball on the Bayou. Peach State Elite Black did a lot of damage with three Georgia Tech commits - Nisha Adams, Mo Bennett and Metra Walthour - with Bennett proving to be one of the summer's breakout players. The Dayton Lady Hoopstars were a factor with versatile wing prospect Justine Raterman and point guard Brogan Berry, as well as one of 2009's top wings, Emilee Harmon. The Georgia Metros put together some good runs, particularly in Washington, D.C., behind Tennessee-bound Alicia Manning, nationally ranked 2008 prospects Charenee Stephens and Taylor Turnbow, plus top 2009 guard prospects Shakara Rucker and Morgan Toles.
A lot of teams had trouble keeping up with Tennessee Team Pride because of 6-3 Glory Johnson with track-star speed, plus a top 2009 prospect in Kamiko Williams. The nucleus of East Bay Xplosion Black has been together since middle school and it showed at End of the Trail and the finals of adidas Showtime Nationals, where Loyola Marymount commit Alex Cowling, Richmond commit Samantha Bilney and point guard Ashlee Burns shined. We cheated by calling a tie at No. 20, but this list would not have been complete without the Gauchos, who ended the summer on a high note by winning the Silver division at Nike Nationals. They also were an entertaining bunch with 2009 point guard China Crosby leading a trio of slashers extraordinaire in 2008 prospects Da'Shena Stevens and Keisha Hamptom and 2009 marvel Markel Walker.
The Georgia Blazers are tuned into coach Tim Marshall during halftime
Who Are Your Best of Summer?
Glenn Nelson is the publisher of HoopGurlz.com. He also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girl's basketball teams. Glenn previously was the editor-in-chief at Scout.com and a longtime, national-award-winning basketball columnist and writer for The Seattle Times. His work also has appeared in several books and national magazines. He is co-author of "Rising Stars: The Ten Best Players in the NBA" (Rosen Publishing, 2002). For more on Glenn's World, click here. He can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com.
Chris Hansen is the National Director of Scouting for Women’s Basketball at HoopGurlz.com. He leads the panel that evaluates and ranks girl's basketball prospects nationally for HoopGurlz. Chris has been involved in the women’s basketball community since 1998 as a coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. He can be reached at chris@hoopgurlz.com.
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