1st Annual Baton Rouge Community College Team Camp a Success

Pictured Below: Ricardo Gathers(Riverside) top Left, Gervaughn McGhee(Redemptorist) Top Right, Louis Dabney(Riverside) bottom left and Darius Johnson(Istrouma) Bottom Right.

In what was a great first year showing for the Baton Rouge Community College team camp, head coach Todd Foster and his staff really put on a great 2 day event that included several talented players and teams. The Louisiana Basketball Report wasn't in attendance on friday, but on saturday we saw some very good young players and teams. Let's start with some teams that surprised us.

After losing a host of seniors, The Dunham School of coach Johnathon Pixley has a young team but will be very competitve next season. They have a nice young point guard and a couple of other solid role players with decent shooters that can give a few teams fits next year. We didn't get to catch up with coach Pixley but as soon as we get this pg's name we will let you know it. Another team that looked promising were the Dutchtown Griffins. Ductchtown has a solid PG in senior Jordan Biagas and also a talented scorer in Terrance Cushinberry(who was absent this weekend) as well as a 6'5" sophomore post that will be a factor once he gets some strength and toughness to his game. After defeating Dunham, the Griffins ended the camp with a heartbreaker loss to Covington.

Speaking of Covington, they will be a solid team again next year as long as senior guard Jordan Bickham can follow the scoring prowess that was left by the graduation of BRCC signees Phillip Bickham(his brother) and Jordan Bedford. Another solid 5A team on the day was the 5A runner-up this past year Scotlandville. Scotlandville has a pair of division 1 prospects in 6'1'" senior Levie Wright and 6'8" junior post Zarif Basil. Potential low D1 guards Deshawn Washington and Thaddeus Fortune, also juniors looked very good handling the ball, defending and also making open shots. Wright, showed very good quickness, a knack for scoring off the dribble, with a mid-range jumper and also deep 3 balls. Basil, a little raw offensively, but really rebounds very well, catches the ball in traffic and scores at will when given the opportunity. Scotlandville has all the makings of another potential Top 28 run.

One of the more surprising teams of the day were the Redemptorist Wolves led by junior 6'4" guard Gervaughn McGhee. McGhee, the younger brother of Ronald McGhee(a North Texas signee) showed potential to be better than his brother. Not as good of a shooter, but he can knock down the 3, the mid-range or score on smaller or taller posts with very good post moves. Not only can he score, but he is a very talented passer. With improved strength and quickness, he can be a mid major D1 prospect. Also making a good showing were the Istrouma Indians led by junior PG Darius Johnson. A quick and efficient guard, Johnson ran the show, defended at a high level and showed deep range. With a hard to defend crossover, Johnson was a tough guard for opposing defenders including one of the top defenders in the state in Louis Dabney of Riverside.

The final two teams that played in the event were Christian Life and Riverside Academy, both defending state champions and both well-known powerhouses with good performances on the weekend.. After losing 7 seniors that included 3 division 1 signees, the top 28 MVP, and 5 of the state's top 50 seniors, CLA showed a lot of promise. Led by sophomore Frank Bartley and a solid duo of freshman in Will Jones and Johnathon Stove, the Crusaders may take some bumps and bruises this summer and early next season, but don't count them out. If the freshmen can mature quickly, the Crusaders can make their 5th straight Top 28. Now, the best team of the event with the top player of the event in Ricardo Gathers, the Riverside Rebels looked very strong. While losing a nice group of seniors in Southern Miss signee Cedric Jenkins, Ed Gallina, Kyle McClue and Franklin Francois, the Rebels looked very strong as they easily dominated Redemptorist and Istrouma. With several highlight dunks by nationally known Ricardo Gathers and tenacious defense by Louis Dabney and Lucas Martin, the Rebels looked every bit of one of the top teams in Louisiana next year along with Bossier and St. Augustine.
In what was the first event of its kind for BRCC, the 1st annual team camp was a great success. We want to personally thank head coach Todd Foster of BRCC and his assistant James Rix for hosting a great event that was first class. Also want to thank all the teams and coaches for attending. Everybody had nothing but great things to say of this event. Speaking with Coach Foster saturday he had this to say "It was a great day yesterday(friday) and the matchup of Basil and Gathers was fut to watch." Foster said. "All the coaches were impressed with our facility and said they would love to come back. I expect this event to grow next year and we expect maybe 20 teams or so in the future."

Top Players at the Event:
1. Ricardo Gathers- Riverside Academy LaPlace, LA 6’7” 225 lbs. Junior Forward
2. Gervaughn McGhee- Redemptorist HS Baton Rouge, LA 6’4” 180 lbs Junior Guard
3. Louis Dabney- Riverside Academy LaPlace, LA 6’3” 185 lbs. Junior Guard
4. Darius Johnson- Istrouma HS Baton Rouge, LA 6’2” 180 lbs Junior Point Guard
5. Levie Wright- Scotlandville HS Baton Rouge, LA 6’1” 170 lbs Senior Guard
6. Frank Bartley- Christian Life Baton Rouge, LA 6’2” 185 lbs. Sophomore Guard
7. Jordan Bickham- Covington HS, LA 5’10” 165 lbs Senior Guard
8. Zarif Basil- Scotlandville HS Baton Rouge, LA 6’8” 240 lbs Forward
9. Johnothan Stove- Christian Life, Baton Rouge, LA 6’2” 180 lbs Freshman Forward
10.Lucas Martin- Riverside Academy, LaPlace, LA 6’2” 180 lbs Sophomore Guard

Three of the Lafayette Area's Best Headed to Baton Rouge Community College

Foster in 2008 while  at Christian Life

Former Christian Life coach Todd Foster continues to get off to a fast start in building the Baton Rouge Community College's men's basketball program.

Foster is expected to sign arguably three of the top five players in the Acadiana area in first-team All-Acadiana selections Xavier Blackburn of St. Thomas More, Jacoby Colbert of Westgate and Keelon Lee of Abbeville on Wednesday.

Colbert was honored as the All-Acadiana Most Valuable Player with Blackburn being the runner-up to that award. Colbert and Blackburn were both second-team All-State selections on the Class 5A All-State team, while Lee was a first-team All-State selection on the Class 3A team.


Louisiana Basketball Report's Assessment on each player:
 

Jacoby Colbert- Westgate High School 6'3" Guard
District 4-5A MVP and All-Acadiana MVP
2nd Team 5A All-State 21 ppg. 5.5 rpg 3.6 apg

• Colbert is a quick, athletic wing that can handle the ball and has great range. One of the top shooters in the Lafayette area and has developed as a player each year he has been at Westgate. Colbert was dual-sport athlete and was also a star on the Westgate football team

Keelon Lee- Abbeville High School 6'7" Forward
District 5-3A MVP and All-Acadiana 1st Team
1st Team 3A All-State 17.2 ppg. 10 rpg

• A physical athletic post that beat you with athleticism, speed, quickness or just pure toughness. Lee is still a little raw offensively but can finish at or above the rim with ease. Very good shot blocker and defensive rebounder, Lee is a versatile big that can step out to hit an occasional jumper.

Xavier Blackburn- St.Thomas More 6'4" Guard/Forward
District 4-5A 1st Team and All-Acadiana First Team
2nd Team 5A All-State 17.8 ppg. 8 rpg.

• Blackburn is combo type player. A mixture of a wing and a forward. Blackburn has good enough handles to be a wing but has more natural skill on the low block as a post. A kid with a developing skill-set that once he gets in the gym with Coach Foster could be a heck of a player. A hard-worker that is coming from a great program and legendary coach in Danny Broussard

Christian Life, Riverside Ranked in Pre-Season Rivals 100 Rankings

Rivals 100 Complete Rankings
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With 3 Division 1 signees led by Langston Galloway(St. Joseph's) (pictured right) Patrick Robinson(Northwestern State) and Kaleb Knight(Grambling State) the Crusaders of coach Carlo Maggio enter the 2009-10 season the highest rated team in Louisiana for 2009 at 77. Last season Christian Life under former coach Todd Foster, now the Baton Rouge Community College coach, lost in the state semi-finals to LSU-signee Matt Derenbecker and current LSU player Eddie Ludwig which ended a string of 3 straight 1A titles for the 'Saders.  CLA has also revamped the roster with the addition of former University High star McCall Tomeny and former McKinley High starter Marlon Bell. They also return point guard Corey Self and 3-year starter Avery Prince. To start the season CLA will get heavily tested as they will be in a tournament in Shreveport on November 18th that features teams such as Riverside Academy, Richwood(last season's 3A State Champ) and Loyola,  a top team in 4A the Bossier Bearkats. Those are just 5 of the 8 teams.

With that said let's move on Riverside Academy and Coach Timmy Byrd who have also been recognized as a nationally ranked team coming in at 96. The Rebels have truly came into their own. Last year, a team that didn't even make the 2A playoffs got really good, really fast. Reserve Christian, the tiny Class C school that has been a powerhouse in Louisiana since 1999 closed down. This move landed Coach Byrd and his Class C state champions at Riverside. With this move almost all of the players followed Byrd to Riverside to make the Rebels a highly unknown team to a nationally ranked squad with load of talent. That talent is lead by senior's Cedric Jenkins (pictured above), Kyle McClue, and Ed Gallina all of whom will sign in the late signing period with division 1 schools. The anchor of this group though is the most important, that would be 6'6" 225 lb. man-child Ricardo "Rico" Gathers (pictured right) Gathers, the nation's 9th rated prospect on Rivals.com's 2012 rankings will have a lot to do with the Rebels success. Last year, this RA team that was at Reserve Christian won their 5th straight state title. This year could also end the same way but they will get tested in 2A which is a lot tougher than class C but if any team can make the jump 3 classes and still win, it will be Riverside. They are well coached, talented, disciplined and deep. They will be able to play about 10 players consistently and not lose a beat. Other teams that got mentioned for the national rankings but got caught on the outside looking in are Glen Oaks HS, St. Augustine HS and Richwood. Do not be surprised if these teams make noise as well and get in the rankings at some point during the season.

Riverside Coach Timmy Byrd(below)

With this being said, congratulations to Christian Life and Riverside on your national rankings. Let's make Louisiana proud and represent that ranking well. Stay humble and do well. Good Luck on your season.