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As the Sports University 15-and-under boys
basketball team continues to receive raves on the AAU scene for its rise
among the top teams in the Metropolitan area, the Fairfield, N.J.-based
squad showed once again how it does indeed keep getting better as the
spring turns into summer as the Essex County team exacted a bit of revenge
on the Pocono Trailblazers, defeating the Bergen County power in the
finals of this past weekend’s Gym Ratz Hoop Jams AAU Tournament at the
Dwight-Englewood School.
“Revenge is a dish served cold,” said an ecstatic Sports U
President/General Manager Ed Bright, who helped coach the 15-and-under
team this past weekend. “We beat Pocono by more than 20 points and it was
a great way to wind up the Gym Ratz tourney by defeating them in a
championship setting.”
Back in May, in an exhibition between the state’s Division I champs
(Pocono) and the top D-2 squad (Sports U), the Blazers came out on top in
overtime.
“We feel everything is really coming together for us as we get closer to
the AAU nationals (July 6 in Little Rock , Ark. ),” said Bright. “We have
a nice mix of talented players who have really come together as a solid
unit and still have their best basketball ahead of them as the AAU season
continues.”
Sports U will compete in the highly-regarded “Rumble In The Bronx” at
Fordham University this weekend (June 13-15), with 160 teams from all over
the East Coast along with from the Southeast and Midwest, followed by the
Reebok Invitational in Boston , Mass. , June 20-21, and then the Adidas
Phenom Tournament at Fairfield University in Connecticut , June 27-29.
Sports U is led by its St. Anthony contingent of rising sophomores Lucious
“Lucky” Jones, a high-scoring 6-2 swingman, 5-9 point guard Jordan Quick
and 6-4 center Tyuon Williams.
“Tyuon has really given our team a lift over the past few weeks,” said
Bright. “He gives us a solid inside presence along with Roxbury’s terrific
(6-4, 265-pound) Angelo Mangiro, who is a real ‘man-child’ underneath with
his great size and fine basketball skills combining to make him an
unstoppable force at times for us.”
Two other strong additions to the Sports U squad have been Khalid Jones, a
6-3 soph, and Craig Davilla, another athletic 9th-grader.
The Gym Ratz Hoop Jams AAU tourney also included fine Metropolitan area
teams as the Jersey Jayhawks, Porchester (N.Y.) Kings, Bergen Cougars and
the Hoop Star Gym Ratz.
Sports U Coach Brian Coleman missed Sunday’s action due to a
dental-related, health situation, but he will be on the coaching sidelines
along with the legendary former NBA star Daryl Dawkins as the summer AAU
court action continues to heat up for the Sports U squad.
Bright reported that Sports U has also added a second 15-U “B” squad with
area players in order to provide more game opportunities for youngsters
involved with the burgeoning AAU hoops program.
“We couldn’t be any happier with the way our 15-U players keep
progressing,” said Bright. “It’s been a great season already and we still
have so much more basketball ahead of us, highlighted by the AAU nationals
in Little Rock , Ark. , in July!” .
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