Texas D-I Ambassadors (Carter) hit the road for July!!!

Tomorrow the July period begins for the Texas D-I Ambassadors (Carter), as we head to Tulsa, Oklahoma and the campus of Oral Roberts University. Jerry Mullens always holds a fantastic tournament and has great respect from college coaches throughout the country. This is a crucial month for our 2010 players, Gus Leeper, Jean Maurice Blanchard, Carl Meyertons, and Symari Alexander.
Thursday, we begin play against the KC/Ill All-Stars at 4:45pm on the main floor at ORU. This is a very solid team made up of players mostly from Illinois. We play later that evening at 8:30pm against Louisiana Prodigy. Friday, we wrap up pool play against an old friend of mine, Kristen Edwards-Jones’ Kansas Premiere Select. A team based out of Kansas City and should be full of shooters.
Good luck to everyone this month and safe travels. I will update as much as I can!!

Texas D-I Ambassadors Carter Travel to Colorado

We are about to embark on a week long journey to Colorado tomorrow. We will be attending the Colorado State University Team Camp in Fort Collins / June 14th-17th and Northern Colorado University Team Camp in Greeley / June 18th-20th. Both NCAA Division I institutions have excellent team camps and we are playing against some of the top teams in the states of Colorado, Wyoming, and the city of Denver. Our Northern Colorado schedule has us playing against Thunder Ridge HS which was a final four finalist in the 5A State Tournament. Thunder Ridge is also the alma mater of current Gonzaga player Matt Bouldin. Also on the schedule is Sterling High School, who finished in the final four of the 4A State Tournament. Sweet 16 finalist Thomas Jefferson out of Denver is on our schedule as well.

Both Team Camps should provide excellent competition and give our players an opportunity to get better. We will play as many as 16 games over the week and recieve some instruction from staff and former players at Colorado State. I will try and update, if possible.

MANHATTAN CLASSIC SUMMARY!!!!

The Texas D-I Ambassadors (Carter) travelled to Manhattan, Kansas on the campus of Kansas State University this past weekend and finished in the final 8.

Saturday morning, after some of the best blueberry pancakes 2011 Yusuf Abdullah has ever eaten, we play the Tulsa Titans. This was a hard-fought game, of which we hardly trailed. Led by the hot- shooting of 2011 Dylan Elias, we prevailed 76-68. Dylan finished with 31 points and just couldn’t miss.

Our second pool game was against the Omaha Unity Stars. This team caused us match-up problems as they had no player over 6’4″. They spread us out and shot lights out, especially at the beginning. We were down 20-6 at one point. We fought back in the second half and got within two, thanks to 2011 Austin Burch’s 6 three’s in the second half. But we went cold and could not get over the hump. We lost 63-56.

Next up was the Oklahoma Wizards. They had a couple of fantastic shooters which once again, couldn’t miss in the first half. We gave up 49 points in the first half, but the held them to 30 in the second. We were within 6 points, but couldn’t get past that deficit. 2011 Jalen Harris kept us in the game with his shooting and dribble penetration, even with a sprained ankle and all. Final was 79-70.

After about 4 hours off and an opportunity to go back to the dorm and rest for a few, we started bracket play against the Wedman Pumas out of Kansas. Their Coach, Scott Wedman was a former player at Kansas. This was a slow paced defensive battle in which we never trailed. 2010 Gus Leeper controlled the middle along with 2011 Yusuf Abdullah’s penetration and defensive effort, we advanced in bracket play 51-45.

Saturday morning was exciting, we were going to play on the main court at Bramlage Coliseum, where Kansas State University plays. I could tell the boys were excited as were our opponents, the Midwest All-Stars, who lit it up in the first half. I would venture to say they hit 9 three pointers in the first half. We were down by 24 points and it felt like we were all going to be able to make our flights out of Kansas City. The only player who seemed to be keeping us in it was 2010 Jean Maurice Blanchard. He was dominating the middle. Grabbing every rebound and finishing at will. Also in the first half, 2011 Jonathan Heisner played significant minutes giving our short handed guards much needed rest. Jonathan forced three turn-overs. By halftime, we had cut the deficit to 15 points. I told the boys to keep chipping away, make 10 points, then 6 points, then 2 points, then you got a game. Well, with 6 minutes to go, we were still down 14. Then something amazing happened, our strategy was working, Midwest couldn’t hit anything and we were forcing turn-overs. First it’s 11 points, then 9, then 6, then 4, then 1. After Austin Burch’s 2 footer from the middle of the lane, we go up 67-66. Defensively we go down and hold them, as Gus Leeper grabs a rebound and gets fouled with 17 seconds left. He hits both free-throws to go up 69-66. I called timeout and told the boys to foul after a few seconds. Midwest hits both free-throws and we throw the ball in-bounds to Austin Burch……….who travelled!!!!!!! My strategy was going to back fire. However, Midwest missed two attempts at the buzzer and we won 69-68!!

Next up was the tough, athletic, good shooting All Iowa Attack Red. They played a 2-3 match-up zone which we had real trouble figuring out. They started off quickly but we fought with them and were within striking distance at halftime, only down 12. The second half was a little tougher. A combination of their fantastic play and our weariness, resulted in us never recovering from our deficit. However, All Iowa finished 2nd in the tournament.

Overall a great weekend. I want to thank some of the parents who helped keep the boys fed, hydrated, and comfortable. I also want to thank 2010 Andre Roberson for joining us this weekend. He did a great job filling in and definitely helped us, as we were a bit short-handed.

Next up is the our trip to Colorado for Colorado State University Team Camp and Northern Colorado University Team Camp, June 14-20.

Texas D-I Ambassadors Carter take show on the road again.

This coming weekend we travel to the Little Apple of Manhattan, Kansas and the campus of Kansas State University to play in the Manhattan Classic. I am excited to return back to my old stomping grounds for a few days and I’m also hopeful that a few old friends can come and watch us. We will be taking on the North Texas Elite, Omaha Unity Stars, and Oklahoma Wizards in pool play. All three teams are fantastic and we look forward to the challenge. After a few good practices, we are ready to get after it again.

2009 Pearland Classic Recap

This past weekend, the Texas D-I Ambassadors (Carter) travelled again to Houston for the 2009 Pearland Classic. After an amazing performance the previous weekend, it would take our absolute best to have the same kind of success.

Friday night, we played the the J Prince Houston Hoopstars Elite. This was a terrific team, who has been together for four years. They a tremendous inside player (7’0″) and very string guards. This was by far the most physical game we’ve played and it definitely showed our youth, especially at the guard position. However, we kept competing but it just wasn’t our night. It was an extremely disappointing evening, but little did we know that it was going to get worse.

On our way back to the hotel, we not only found out that one of our guards broke a finger, we also had to drive through a flood, caused by a record 8 inches of rain in two hours. Let me put it in perspective, water from 5 inches deep to 5 feet deep across the area. It took most people anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours to drive the 12 mile stretch back to the hotel. Thankfully everyone is safe, some automobiles weren’t so lucky.

Saturday afternoon we played the Louisiana Future. they had beaten J Prince earlier that morning in overtime. This was our opportunity to create a three-way tie for the pool. This was a game we controlled for the most part. We had the lead for 90% of the contest. This was a very scrappy team full of athletes. The hit shots at the end of regulation, to go to overtime. In overtime, we controlled it again, but again they hit a shot to go to a second overtime. In the second overtime, they prevailed for a four point win. It was a heart breaking loss. Our Juniors, Carl Meyertons, Guss Leeper, and Jean Maurice Blanchard kept us in this game. Those three together had a fantastic game.

Saturday evening was our first bracket game against the San Marcos Saints, who won their pool. Fortunately, we were placed in a super pool, which still put us in the Platinum Bracket. We handled San Marcos fairly easy, with exception of the last 8 minutes, when they trimmed the lead of 25 down to 13. We ended up winning by 23.

Later that night we played to Texas Future, out of San Antonio. They were led by fellow Texas Ambassador Paul Garnica. This was a high scoring game and they were a hard playing team. They took us our of our offense early and made us play catch-up. Austin Burch kept us in the game with his dead-eye shooting. But we never could get over the 7 point hump. The Texas Future advanced.

Overall, it felt like a disappointing week, but as I told the boys Saturday night, anything but winning the tournament would have been disappointing. We played against high level teams and competed well. We just need to work better as a team and we will finish two of our three losses.

We now a few weeks off to rest and recover.

Houston Hoops’ H-Town Classic summary

The Texas D-I Ambassadors (Carter) had quite a showing this past weekend in it’s first highly competitive tournament. We finished 5-1 for the weekend and it started defensively by holding teams to 63 points or under in each of our five wins.

Saturday morning we played the Kingwood Park Panthers, a high school team from the area. They ran us off picks, curling and flaring all over the place. They had a big strong post player who was difficult to guard. They consistently made us play defense for 30-45 seconds per possession. Guss Leeper paced us defensively with several blocks to close down the middle. We were in control for the entire game and had a balanced scoring attack. We took a 24-13 halftime score and turned into a 66-39 victory.

Our second game Saturday was against the Texas Select Slam. To be honest, I don’t know that we’ve ever seen a team defend like them in off-season basketball. They were in our grill everywhere we went. We were in control of the game by 6-8 points mostly, until the last 30 seconds. We never could put them away and get that key stop down the stretch. Jean Maurice Blanchard and Carl Meyertons did a great job of scoring inside and keeping us in it. With 8 second left, down 63-61, Alex Reinking made his first free-throw making it 63-62. He missed his second and we fouled quickly. There was about 5 seconds on the clock. The Slam missed the front end of the one and one. Austin Burch dribbled the ball up the floor and got it to Dylan Elias on the right wing. Elias shot the ball from about 22 feet, the horn went off, and……..BUTTER!!!!!! Game over, we won 65-63 and win our pool. That win put us in the Platinum bracket for the first time ever.

Our first game on Sunday morning was against the Hoop Stars. Once again, a game that was controlled by us for the most part, but we could never put them away. One of the hardest working teams we’ve played. They came back down the stretch from a 5 point deficit with 1:23 left and tied the game to go into overtime. In OT, we scored 4 straight points and prevailed 66-62. WHEW!!!

Next up was TCU Select Black. An extremely athletic team who wants to play at a very fast pace. Our guards handled the pressure and we loved the pace. Guss Leeper turned up the offense inside and controlled the paint. Jalen Harris and Dylan Elias broke down the press and were dishing assists left and right. Austin Burch knocked down open three after open three. Alex Reinking and Yusuf Abdullah paced our defensive efforts. We finally completed a game and finished correctly winning 81-62. This win put us into the final four, which was extremely exciting.

Sunday afternoon we are preparing to play our 3rd game of the day without two of our key players, Yusuf Abdullah and Alex Reinking. They both had to leave for an event back in Austin. We were playing the Texas Bluechips Navy. They had beaten the Houston Hoops on Saturday. They were a well coached team with great shooters and strong big guys. Fortunately, they decided not to cover our shooters. Austin Burch, Jalen Harris and Dylan Elias unleashed a bombardment of threes that had people in the gym shaking their heads. I am not sure how many we made officially, but I am confident it may have been as many 13. When the Bluechips took a lead mid-way through the second half, Jalen Harris hit 3 consecutive shots to stop the rally and take the wind out of their sails. Once again, we prevailed 59-55 to go into the Championship against the host, Houston Hoops.

The Championship game was tough. Both teams were exhausted and cramping up. Houston Hoops was just too deep and athletic for our seven man roster. We were not able to hit our shots and completely ran out of gas. Houston prevailed 68-46.

Great weekend over all!! Now we need to build on this success as we travel again to Houston for the Pearland Classic. There the J. Prince Hoopstars Elite and Louisiana Future await us. Let’s do it again!!

2009 H-Town Classic Runner-up / Platinum Division

H-Town Classic

Later today we travel to Houston for the H-Town Classic. We will two quality teams in pool play on Saturday. After a solid scrimmage against the Texas Ambassadors Unsigned Seniors and the Centex Shooters, I think we are ready to get after it this weekend.
I will try my best to update scores during the tournament.

2009 TEXAS D-1 AMBASSADORS (CARTER)

This is the first blog entry for the spring 2009 season.  Please be patient as we build this team site up!!

 

Please check out our partial schedule and team roster.  Wednesday night we will have a three team scrimmage with the Texas Ambassadors Unsigned Seniors and the Centex Shooters.  This weekend we will travel to Houston to play in the Houston Hoops’ H-Town Classic.  This will mark the beginning of our highly competitive spring schedule.  There will be plenty more to come!!!