adidas Derby Festival Basketball Classic
Freedom Hall
Louisville, Kentucky
April 16, 2005
©2005 Ron Harrison
The Classic began in 1973 and is one of the nation’s finest and most popular high school All-Star games. This year adidas is the new sponsor of the Classic. Past performers in this field have been a virtual who’s who in the world of basketball. Some of the notable members of these teams have included Moses Malone, Clark Kellog, John Paxson, Darrell Griffith, Dominique Wilkins, Sam Bowie, Isiah Thomas, Len Bias, Sam Perkins, Pervis Ellison, Milt Wagner, Chris Mullins, Rex Chapman, Rick Fox, Allan Houston, Damon Bailey, Eric Montross, Anfernee Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn, Damon Stoudemaire, Derek Anderson, Nazr Mohammed, Jamaal Magliore, and Quentin Richardson.
This year’s rosters include four McDonald’s All-Americans in Greg Paulus, Brandon Costner, Mario Chalmers, and Luke Zeller. Five of the players on the rosters have committed to Louisville. The players are Clarence Holloway, Jonathan Huffman, Andre McGee, Chad Millard, and Terrence Williams. Jared Carter has committed to play for Kentucky, and Luke Zeller and Ryan Ayers will continue their basketball careers at Notre Dame. Joey Shaw has committed to play at Indiana.
All-Star Rosters
Gold Team |
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Coaches: |
Jeff Marrow |
Jeffersontown, KY |
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|
Billy Hicks |
Scott County, KY |
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NAME |
HEIGHT |
POS. |
PPG |
HIGH SCHOOL |
COLLEGE |
Jared Carter |
7-1 |
C |
16 |
Scott County, KY |
Kentucky |
Darren Collison |
6-0 |
PG |
21 |
Etiwanda, CA |
UCLA |
Uche Echefu |
6-9 |
PF |
18 |
Montrose Christian, MD |
Undecided |
Alonzo Gee |
6-6 |
WF |
21 |
Dwyer, FL |
Alabama |
Vernon Goodridge |
6-9 |
C |
12 |
Lutheran Christian, PA |
Mississippi State |
Greg Paulus |
6-1 |
PG |
26 |
Christian Bro. Academy, NY |
Duke |
J. P. Prince |
6-7 |
2G |
25 |
White Station, NY |
Arizona |
Brandon Rush |
6-6 |
WF |
21 |
Mt. Zion Academy |
Undecided |
Joey Shaw |
6-6 |
WF |
17 |
Deer Valley, AZ |
Indiana |
Domonic Tilford |
6-0 |
PG |
21 |
Jeffersontown, KY |
Undecided |
Marcus Williams |
6-8 |
2G |
29 |
Roosevelt, WA |
Arizona |
Ryan Wright |
6-9 |
PF |
21 |
Loyola |
UCLA |
|
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Black Team |
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Coaches: |
Ronnie Chalmers |
|
Bartlett HS, Anchorage, AK |
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|
Lloyd Gardner |
Fairdale, KY |
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NAME |
HEIGHT |
POS. |
PPG |
HIGH SCHOOL |
COLLEGE |
Antonio Anderson |
6-5 |
2G |
21 |
Laurinburg Prep. |
Memphis |
Ryan Ayers |
6-6 |
WF |
17 |
Germantown Academy, PA |
Notre Dame |
Mario Chalmers |
6-2 |
PG |
26 |
Bartlett |
Kansas |
Shane Clark |
6-6 |
WF |
17 |
Hargrave Military Academy |
Maryland |
Brandon Costner |
6-8 |
PF |
19 |
Seton Hall Prep, NJ |
NC State |
Clarence Holloway |
7-1 |
C |
22 |
Fenger Academy, IL |
Louisville |
Jonathan Huffman |
6-11 |
PF |
18 |
Central Park Christian, AL |
Louisville |
Andre McGee |
5-10 |
PG |
25 |
Canyon Spring, CA |
Louisville |
Chad Millard |
6-8 |
WF |
22 |
Brewster Academy, NH |
Louisville |
Tyler Smith |
6-7 |
PF |
29 |
Giles County, TN |
Tennessee |
Terrence Williams |
6-6 |
WF |
22 |
Rainier Beach, WA |
Louisville |
Luke Zeller |
6-11 |
C |
20 |
Washington, IN |
Notre Dame |
This game was filled with plenty of offense, slam dunks, and excitement as the Gold squad outscored the Black squad 39-26 in the final quarter to earn a 136-125 victory. The victors shot 51.8% from the field including 11 of 27 from beyond the arc. They connected on 11 of 21 free throws, pulled down 62 rebounds, and scored 36 points off 24 turnovers. The Black squad shot 46.3% from the field including eight of 35 from the three point line. They connected on 17 of 32 free throws, also pulled down 62 rebounds, and scored 44 points off 25 turnovers.
Marcus Williams and Alonzo Gee led the Gold team with 19 and 18 points respectively. Joey Shaw, Domonic Tilford, and Brandon Rush added 17, 15 and 13 points respectively. Greg Paulus was named team MVP as he added 11 points and dished out 10 assists. Jared Carter added 10 points, while Uche Echefu pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
The Black team was led by Louisville signee Terrence Williams who entertained the crowd with several dunks among his game-high 32 points. Williams also brought the pro-Louisville crowd to its feet during pre-game introductions as he knelt at midcourt to kiss the Cardinal symbol. Mario Chalmers added 21 points and 10 assists. Shane Clark chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jonathan Huffman, Brandon Costner, Tyler Smith, and Andre McGee added 12, 12, 11 and 10 points respectively. Luke Zeller turned in a solid performance with six points, nine rebounds, four blocked shots, and four steals.
Chad Millard and Joey Shaw captured the two-on-two championship. Ryan Ayers won the three point shooting contest and Terrence Williams claimed the slam dunk championship. Tonight’s game was played before a crowd of 10,176.
Gold |
27 |
31 |
39 |
39 |
- |
136 |
Black |
27 |
34 |
38 |
26 |
- |
125 |
Gold |
(136) |
- |
Gee 18, Echefu 5, Carter 10, Tilford 15, Prince 8, Paulus 11, Collison 7, Wright 9, Rush 13, Williams 19, Shaw 17, Goodridge 4. |
Black |
(125) |
- |
Clark 12, Williams 32, Zeller 6, Millard 2, Chalmers 21, McGee 10, Anderson 0, Huffman 12, Costner 12, Smith 11, Ayers 5, Holloway 2. |
Conclusion
This was a highly entertaining event with a lot of offense and plenty of crowd-pleasing dunks. Several of these athletes should excel at the college level and eventually some at the NBA level. The organizers and support did an excellent job with every aspect of this event and I greatly appreciated the hospitality extended me during the evening’s festivities.
Please send your comments and questions to Ron Harrison at prephoops@yahoo.com.
Ron Harrison’s reports on this and other basketball events appear on http://www.angelfire.com/ky/prephoops.