What does it take to make it? Listen to this motivational talk from LeBron James and Chris Paul at LeBron Skills Academy a few years back; Step Curry and a beardless James Harden can also be seen in the group.Via Ballislife.

Check out this preview of “The Doctor”, the story of Julius “Dr. J” Erving that will be airing on NBATV, on June 10th – looks like it’s gonna be sick!

Check out the best play of the Under-16 National Schools Final today, as Barking Abbey’s Calvin Kintu (’97) drops the sick no look dish to Josh Steel (’97) for the nice two handed dunk!

BA would go on to be St Bonaventure’s comfortably to take the title, with Steel being named MVP as he finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds, whilst Kintu added 20 of his own.

Promoting his new book, Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success(aff link), Phil Jackson has been on the interview circuit recently and been opening up about a lot of things never really spoken about in detail before.

Check him out on the Jay Leno show, comparing the differences between Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant; what happened when he set up a meeting between the two, talking the truth about the Lakers gig this season and Shaq turning up to practice naked!Via Hoopmixtape.

Patrick ‘Paddy’ Bell has committed to NCAA Division 1 school Mercer, who compete in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

The 6’9″ big man was last playing for London United-Harefield Academy in England, before heading off to Amelia Academy this season for his senior year in Virginia.

“I chose Mercer because of the great academics and coaching staff,” he said when talking to Hoopsfix. “They recruited me out of high school despite suffering a stress fracture in my foot late in the season, (it was) a big thing for me as they showed they cared and they take good care of their recruits.

“I’m most looking forward to developing as a player, making an impact on the court and seeing how my game develops, also graduating with a degree.”
It will still be another year before the 1994 born Bell suits up for Mercer, as they want him to attend JUCO for one year to allow his foot time to heal and prepare him for the Division 1 game.

Bell also had interest from Alcorn State, Oakland, Rider, USC Upstate, Wofford and Binghampton amongst others.

Hoopsfix wants to wish Paddy all the best with his college career!

Harris Academy Beckenham won the 2013 EB/BCS Under-19 Premier title on Wednesday, after cruising past South Gloucestershire & Stroud (SGS) Academy 80-56 in the final at Fenton Manor Sports Complex, Stoke on Trent.

The side from South London were led by an MVP performance from Terence Mustre, who finished with 21 points, all on three pointers, as he connected on 7 from behind the arc, 5 after the halftime break.

Rowell Graham had 21 of his own, on a number of big dunks, whilst Kavell Bigby-Williams added 14. Harris Academy proved too big and strong for both Barking Abbey in their semi, and SGS in the final, as they dominated the glass and overpowered their opponents.

SGS were led by Jack Griffiths’ 12 points whilst England Under-18s, Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye and Tamas Okros, were held to just 12 points between them.

2013 EB/BCS U19 Premier League Final Standings

1) Harris Academy Beckenham
2) SGS College Academy
3) Barking Abbey Basketball Academy
4) Copleston High School (Ipswich Basketball Academy)

3rd Place Playoff
Barking Abbey beat Copleston High School 85-78
In the third place playoff, both teams gave their benches a good run as BA came away with a 7 point victory.

Abbey had 5 players reach double figures, led by Paulius Satkus’ 14 points. Joe Lockwood added 13, and Roy Downey and Calvin Kintu added 11 each. Jake Eynon led Copleston with 25 of his 28 points in the second half, whilst David Metcalf hit five threes for his 15.

Semi-Final 1
Harris Academy beat Barking Abbey 83-73
It was a case of third time lucky for Harris Academy, after losing both regular season match-ups against Barking Abbey.

Harris, who were without England Under-18 Dwayne Orija, took advantage of the absence of BA’s David Akibo inside, dominating on the offensive glass.

Harris were led by Terence Mustre, who had 28 points on 7 threes, including some ridiculously tough ones, whilst big man Kavell Bigby-Williams added 20 and Rowell Graham had 12. The young Josh Steel (’97) had 21 points to lead BA, with Niall Hegarty adding 18 and Ryan Addison 14.

Semi-Final 2
SGS College beat Copleston High School 78-73
Despite going down by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, SGS College had a remarkable comeback to beat Copleston High School by five to book their place in the final.

Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye, who led the rally, finished with 24 points to lead SGS, whilst Jack Griffiths added 15 and Tamas Okros finished with 14.

Ben Mead had 21 points to lead Copleston, with Jake Eynon adding 17.

Notes

• Harris Academy were just too big and physical for everyone. Rare for one junior team in England to have so much size and strength, they attacked the glass and the rim, finishing with at least 15 dunks across both games.
• Mustre was the deserved MVP, after hitting fourteen threes across both games; providing an important outside threat to complement Harris’ bigs.
• Across the four teams, there are no less than 18 players (as far as I’m aware) involved with England/GB national team links: Harris – Rowell Graham, Kavell Bigby-Williams, Myles Laurent-Smart, Legend Robertin, Dwayne Orija (absent)/SGS – Jack Griffiths, Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye, Tamas Okros, Oliver Hannam/Barking Abbey – Josh Steel, Calvin Kintu, Joe Mvuezolo, Joe Lockwood, David Akibo (absent)/Copleston – Ben Mead, Dylan Johns, Joel Keeble, Luke Mascall-Wright. Additionally, BA have players with other NT links; Robinson Idehen is being looked at by Spain’s Under-16s, Niall Hegarty and Roy Downey have represented Ireland, and Paulius Satkus is on Lithuania’s U19 long list for this summer’s World Championships.
• Recent Texas A&M commit, Dylan Johns, is an athletic freak. Had two posters, and was getting his head near rim level in warm-ups; has a world of potential.
• With it being an Under-19 league there was a big age range in participants; from the likes of Barking Abbey’s ’97 born Josh Steel to ’93 born MVP Terence Mustre.
• Couple of videos already up; Rowell Graham’s nasty putback, and Kavell Bigby-Williams’ two dunks. Much more to come.
• Absolutely crazy to put an event like this after exams have started. At least two junior internationals; Akibo and Orija were unable to play, in part, to this, whilst all those who did take part lost valuable revision time.
• The U19 Premier league is the top junior competition in the country; has a real chance to be made into an attractive league for spectators and sponsors…but needs a lot of work. Putting a marquee event in the middle of nowhere in Stoke, during exams, in a venue that was just terrible, and then having write-ups like this to reward the participants, is far from ideal. I’m always told that a lot of this is down to BCS being involved; if that is the case, and I’m EB – I just set up my own league with no BCS involvement (maybe I’m simplifying matters, but am sure it’s possible if an effort was made)!
• Saying that, I know EB are considering changes to the competition next year to try to maximise its potential; there will likely be a better choice of venue, a semi-final and final spread out across two days, and no exam clash. Onwards and upwards!

Did you make it to Stoke? Thoughts?

Dylan Johns has committed to NCAA Division 1 school Texas A&M for the 2013-14 season.

The athletic 7’0″ centre, who has been playing for Ipswich Tomcats in Division 3 and Copleston High School (Ipswich Basketball Academy) this season, committed to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) school after visiting this past weekend.

“It was an easy choice at the end of the day,” Johns said, when talking to Hoopsfix at the EB/BCS U19 Premier Final Fours on Wednesday, where Copleston finished fourth. “They’re unrivalled with their facilities, the standard they play at; they play in the SEC which is one of the best conferences in Division 1 basketball.

Their facilities are amazing, they have a strength coach that just works with basketball and that’s very rare, even in the NCAA in Division 1. So I’ll be getting bigger and stronger very quickly which is an important addition to my game.”

1993 born Johns, who helped the England Under-16s to a third place finish at the Division B European Championships in 2009 and has also been invited to Great Britain Under-20 training camp in June, feels there is a role he can fill at the SEC school.

“They (Texas A&M) need a shot blocker and I see that as my defensive forte,” he continued. “They need size and athleticism and I feel I can really bring that to the table.”

Johns has spent the majority of his career with Ipswich, but has had a stint in Spain with Fuenlabrada and also a year at Barking Abbey Basketball Academy in East London.

Hoopsfix wants to wish Dylan all the best with his NCAA Division 1 career!

Image Credit: Pavel Kricka at Ipswich Basketball

Check out Kavell Bigby-Williams throwing down two huge dunks against Barking Abbey in Harris Academy’s semi-final game at the EB/BCS U19 Premier Final Fours on Wednesday!

The 6’9″ Bigby-Williams helped Harris Academy to their second trophy of the season as they went on to beat SGS College in the final.

Check out Harris Academy’s Rowell Graham throwing down the huge putback against Barking Abbey in their semi-final game at the U19 EB/BCS Premier Final Fours on Wednesday in Stoke on Trent!

Graham must’ve had at least at least 7 or 8 dunks across Harris Academy’s two games, as the whole team brought highlights all day on their way to the chip! More coming soon.

Check out Dwyane Wade making the nifty pass that goes right through the legs of Birdman to Ray Allen…if only he’d made the shot…