Former McCluer North basketball standout B.J. Young has signed a contract with the Houston Rockets after a excellent showing at the National Basketball Associations Orlando Summer League.
After not being selected in the recent NBA Draft, young was picked up by the Rockets for its summer league season. Young played limited minutes early, but once he got extended playing time, he started to put in work.
Young scored 20 points in the Rockets’ 85-77 to Oklahoma City in the championship game of the league. In the previous game, he had 15 points and four assists in the Rockets’ victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
The 6’3” Young signed a three-year contract with the first-year guaranteed at the rookie minimum.
Young played for the University of Arkansas for two seasons before entering the NBA Draft.
Peach Jammin’
The St. Louis Eagles 17U basketball team enjoyed an excellent showing at the prestigious Nike Peach Jam in Augusta, GA. last weekend. The Eagles finished with a 3-2 record and ended in a three-way tie for first place with Team Penny (TN) and Team Final (PA). The Eagles did not advance to the Elite Eight due to a points tiebreaker.
Led by coach Rich Gray, the Eagles had a combined 14-9 record in the rugged Nike Elite Youth Basketball League and Peach Jam. That included a 5-3 record against the teams that advanced to the Elite Eight and a 3-1 record against the teams that were in the Final Four.
The team members are Larry Austin Jr. (Springfield Lanphier), Jordan Barnett (CBC), Justin Diecker (Freeburg), Andrew Fleming (Ensworth, TN), Marcus George (Hazelwood Central), Chaz Glotta (Fort Zumwalt North), Cornell Johnston (Ladue), Drew Moore (Duchesne), Ikenna Okwarabezi (St. Louis Christian), Ronnie Suggs (Washington), Robin Thompson (MICDS), Patrick Triplett (Bayless).
The Eagles 16U team competed in the Nike Sweet 16 in Augusta and finished with a 3-1 record, which tied for first in pool play with two other teams. Like the 17s, the 16s also missed going to the championship bracket due to the tiebreaker.
Chaminade standout Jayson Tatum put on a great passing display in Augusta in front top college coaches such as John Calipari (Kentucky), Bill Self (Kansas), Roy Williams (North Carolina) and dozens of others.
It was my first opportunity to go to the Peach Jam and it was amazing. If you want to see my complete updates on the Peach Jam, check out my basketball website, www.earlaustinjr.com.
Lee to coach Career Academy
Kelvin Lee has been hired as the new boys basketball coach at Miller Career Academy. Lee had spent the past 16 years as the helm at Chaminade, where he led the Red Devils to the Missouri Class 5 state championship in 2009.
Lee’s career record is 282-169, which also includes six Metro Catholic Conference titles. At Chaminade, Lee coached McDonald’s All-American and current NBA players David Lee and Bradley Beal.
Lee replaces Dale Turner, who relocated to Texas after leading the Phoenix to a 22-7 record and a Class 4 district championship season.
Miller Career Academy is annually one of the top programs in the Public High League. The advanced to the Final Four of the Class 4 state tournament in 2008.
Camp Maclin
Former Kirkwood High football star Jeremy Maclin of the Philadelphia Eagles is having his football camp on Friday and Saturday at Kirkwood High. The camp is for youth boys between the ages of seven and 16. It will run from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with lunch provided for the campers. There are still some spots available. For more information, you can call (856) 537-8771 or email MaresManagementLLC@gmail.com.
Kim camp
Former University of Missouri basketball standout Kim English will be hosting a camp at Parkway North High (12860 Fee Fee Road) on July 22-23. The camp is for boys and girls. Players going into grades 3-6 will have camp from 10 a.m. to noon on both days. Players going into grades 7-12 will go from 2-4 p.m. The cost of the camp is $80. Current and former Mizzou players will also be working the camp with English, who played last season with the Detroit Pistons. For more information, contact David Devaney at (816) 786-2319 or via email at kimenglishcamps@gmail.com.
Congrats, Eddie
In last week’s St. Louis American, we ran a feature story on Eddie Johnson, who became the first African-American principal at Brentwood High School. I just wanted to pass along my congratulations to Eddie, who was a former basketball standout at Ladue High back in the day. He has worked his way up through the ranks and is truly deserving of his new position. Well done, Eddie.
8-3 in Cleveland
Congratulations go out to the group of area prep football players who represented the St. Louis Rams and STL quite well as the NFL High School Player Development 7-on-7 National Tournament in Cleveland. The St. Louis Rams’ team finished with an 8-3 record and advanced to the championship game of the NFC before losing to the Detroit Lions’ entry. There were 12 players on the team from 11 different high schools in the metro area.
Baseball tryouts
The St. Louis Sting baseball team will be holding tryouts in three sessions. The first session for 15/16U will be on Wednesday, July 24 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The 17/18 will be held from 1-4 p.m at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. On Wednesday, July 31, the 17-18 will be from 2-5 p.m. with the 15/16 will be from 5-8 p.m. at Maryville University. On Wednesday, August 4, the 15/16 will be from 9 a.m. to noon with the 17/18 from noon to 3 p.m. at Maryville University.
(You can also follow Earl Austin Jr. on twitter, @earlaustinjr or on his basketball website, www.earlaustinjr.com.)
