Leonard Houston (191-G-85, agency: Warren Sports International, college: Drake) (191-G-85, agency: Warren Sports International, college: Drake) (191-G-85, the super athletic combo guard signed with Szolnoki Olajbanyasz of Hungary.
This summer in the ESL Leonard was one of the standout performers of the Chicago and Las Vegas events.
He received several offers and interest from a variety of European teams due to his enormous talent level.
Leonard Houston (191-G-85, agency: Warren Sports International, college: Drake) (191-G-85, agency: Warren Sports International, college: Drake) (191-G-85, the super athletic combo guard signed with Szolnoki Olajbanyasz of Hungary. This summer in the ESL Leonard was one of the standout performers of the Chicago and Las Vegas events. He received several offers and interest from a variety of European teams due to his enormous talent level. In the Eurobasket Summer League (ESL) in Chicago Leonard Houston was the Co-MVP of the Tourney and his London team won the championship In the 2007-08 Leonard played for Drake who lost a heartbreaker game in the NCAA Tourney against Western Kentucky. Drake had an outstanding year and Leonard was featured on ESPN Plays of the Week with a unbelivable dunk against Bultler University. Leonard Houston is an outstanding prospect and should have a great year in the Hungarian league.
Reggie Huffman signed for the EuroCup team ALLIANZ SWANS GMUNDEN
Reggie Huffman (201-F-82, college: UAB) (201-F-82, college: UAB) the super athletic player from the University of Alabama- Birmingham that declared early for the NBA draft but instead attended the Eurobasket Summer League in Las Vegas signed for Allianz Swans Gmunden of the Austrian league.
Allianz Swans Gmunden last season played in the ULEB Cup and is one of the premere teams in the Austrian league.
Reggie Huffman (201-F-82, college: UAB) (201-F-82, college: UAB) the super athletic player from the University of Alabama- Birmingham that declared early for the NBA draft but instead attended the Eurobasket Summer League in Las Vegas signed for Allianz Swans Gmunden of the Austrian league. Allianz Swans Gmunden last season played in the ULEB Cup and is one of the premere teams in the Austrian league. This season ULEB and FIBA developed a new format and Allianz Swans Gmunden will compete in the EuroCup version of the competiton. Bob Gonnen the coach of Allianz Swans Gmunden was in Las Vegas recruiting at the Eurobasket Summer League and the various other summer showcase events when he scouted Reggie Huffman. Every summer Bob Gonnen is a coach that will be seen at a variety of summer leagues around the world and he does an excellent job recruiting young and talented players. During the ESL in Las Vegas Reggie Huffman showcased his crazy NBA athleticism by unleashing some eye raising dunks as he excelled in the transition game. He easily had the most dunks in the Las vegas event. He also played great defense and had five block shots in one game. Reggie has amazing potential and will definitely develop playing in Austria and in a European Cup competition against some of the best talent in Europe. We will feature other stories regarding players getting signed as a result of the ESL as the pre-season in Europe begins.
Eurobasket Summer League (ESL) - Las Vegas Co-MVP signs with Plannja Basket
Derrick Stevens (180-G-80, college: Colorado St.) the Co-MVP of the first annual Eurobasket Summer League (ESL) in Las Vegas signed with the Swedish League powerhouse Plannja Basket Lulea.
After having a journeyman type of basketball career playing in the WBA, ABA, Iceland and the NBDL Derrick decided to play in the ESL in Las Vegas in July to get more exposure for the European market.
Derrick Stevens (180-G-80, college: Colorado St.) the Co-MVP of the first annual Eurobasket Summer League (ESL) in Las Vegas signed with the Swedish League powerhouse Plannja Basket Lulea.
After having a journeyman type of basketball career playing in the WBA, ABA, Iceland and the NBDL Derrick decided to play in the ESL in Las Vegas in July to get more exposure for the European market. He surprised everyone in Las Vegas including many of the European scouts with his sheer athleticism, decision making skills, ball handling and scoring ability to lead his team to the championship of the ESL in Las Vegas. He was offered various contracts on the spot in Las Vegas and turned down a six-figure offer from the top team in Mexico to concentrate on playing in Europe.
Matthias Kentta the new head coach at Plannja Basket Lulea was one of the many coaches from the international market who was in attendance at the Tarkanian Basketball Academy to evaluate the forty (40) talented players.
Mattias really liked a few highly talented guards that he scouted at the ESL and was very impressed with the overall talent level of the ESL after going to all of the other events in Las Vegas in July.
However he probably would not have recruited any of the guards based off of their profiles seen on the Eurobakset website but the ESL provided a great scouting and showcase opportunity for Derrick Stevens and the new coach at Plannja Basket Lulea .
Plannja Basket Lulea has been the flagship of Swedish Basketball for the past 15 years as they have participated in the NEBL, FIBA SuperLeague, Korac Cup, Saporta Cup and the FIBA Champions Cup while winning the Swedish League Championship in the process.
Over the years a lot of players have been impressed by the professionalism of the management team at Plannja Basket Lulea , their high-quality basketball infra-structure and their fan support.
Many top players like the great Eric Elliott (182-G-69, college: Hope (MI)), Carl Thomas (192-G-69, college: E.Michigan) and Brent Wright (203-F/C-78, college: Florida) have graced Plannja Basket Lulea prior to landing major contracts with top European teams while playing for the legendary Swedish coach David Visscher who still works as a consultant for the quality organization.
Derrick was a big surprise at the ESL because their were a lot of other players at the Las Vegas event that had NBA, Euroleague, CBA and other international experience with higher quality resumes on paper but over the three day period he was the guy who had the big game.
As a result he has signed a one year deal with one of Europe's most prestigious team with a buy-out clause.
There have been a lot of players that have signed contract as of result of participating in the various Eurobasket Summer League events this summer in the various cities.
Dan Fitzgerald (206-F-84, college: Marquette) who also played in the Las Vegas ESL signed with ratiopharm Ulm in Germany as Mike Taylor was one of the coaches who participated as an ESL coach.
After the ESL in Las Vegas Dan also played in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
Mike Taylor did an outstanding job as an ESL coach and loved Dan Fitzgerald's game as he had an opportunity to work with Dan in the ESL as he was the player's coach in Las Vegas.
Tim Morris (193-G-84, college: Washington) from University of Washington who also participated in the ESL in Las Vegas and made the All Tournament Team signed with FC Bayern Muenchen in Germany as they scouted him at the ESL in Las Vegas as well.
Kyle Lamonte (191-G-84, agency: Beggs and Lane, college: William Carey) the highly talented guard who was a NAIA All-American, ESL CO-MVP in Chicago and made the All Tournament Team in Las Vegas signed this week in Turkey with Banvit Basketbol Kulubu Basketball second team but really impressed their head coach B. Selcuk Ernak of the first team in Las Vegas with his amazing skills and upside potential.
Kyle will have the opportunity to play at the highest level in Europe in the following season while honing his skills in practice this season with the first team and playing with their second team in the Turkish second division.
There were a lot of other job offers and placements from the Las Vegas event and later in the week we will be featuring some of the other placements from Chicago, Salt Lake City and New York City events.
ESL Coach of the Year - 2008 (All Cities included): Glen Hayes
Glen Hayes was the ultimate professional in the ESL this summer and had a positive personality with the ESL staff, players and officials.
He was very entertaining as he coached and often cracked jokes with the referees and opossing players during the game.
He was very well organized and in the Las Vegas event he had the best drill stations according to the players.
ESL Coach of the Year - 2008 (All Cities included): Glen Hayes
Glen Hayes was the ultimate professional in the ESL this summer and had a positive personality with the ESL staff, players and officials.
He was very entertaining as he coached and often cracked jokes with the referees and opossing players during the game.
He was very well organized and in the Las Vegas event he had the best drill stations according to the players.
Our Las Vegas event had the most competiton and he won the event with a team that lost their enforcer in the middle Glen Elliot due to injury.
His pressure defense tactics, organizational skills and offensive schemes was the reason his team won the ESL event in Las Vegas.
He was constantly up roaming the sidelines encouraging his team with positive feedback and he got the best out of his bench using these tactics.
Glen Hayes is a veteran coach with international experience who deserves a quality coaching job in Europe.
Eurobasket Summer League (ESL) Salt Lake City Announces All Tournament Team
The Eurobasket Summer League in Salt Lake City announces the following players to the 2008 All Tournament Team:
The MVP of the ESL in Salt Lake City is Kenny Walker (206-F/C-80, college: Alabama) (206-F/C-80, college: Alabama).
Kenny played extremely well all three games and came up really big in the Championship game vs. Munich with 21pts and 9rbs.
The Eurobasket Summer League in Salt Lake City announces the following players to the 2008 All Tournament Team:
The MVP of the ESL in Salt Lake City is Kenny Walker (206-F/C-80, college: Alabama) (206-F/C-80, college: Alabama). Kenny played extremely well all three games and came up really big in the Championship game vs. Munich with 21pts and 9rbs. Every time the Sevilla (Delta Jammers Play to Win) needed some scoring during critical parts of the game where their momentum was slipping it was Kenny Walker who got them big buckets. In the highly competitive game Kenny was un-stoppable around the basket and showed why he has been playing in leagues like Pro A France.
Eurobasket Summer League (ESL) All Tournament Team (Salt Lake City)
Ryan Williams (196-F-83, agency: Tank Sports, college: St.John's): He only played two games but scored 25 and 36 in each contest and was phenomenal and had some show-time dunks. This guy has a NBA body and the crazy athleticism and attacked the basket with an array of moves. If he would have played the final game he definitely would have been MVP and the game would have been a lot easier for the Sevilla team. He will make a team in Europe looking for a very athletic swing very happy.
Travis Knight (211-F/C-74, college: Connecticut) (211-F/C-74, college: Connecticut): He played extremely well in the ESL in Salt Lake City and was in a lot better shape than in the Las Vegas ESL. Travis was excellent in the pick and pop plays as he shot the jump shot very well. His rebounding and defensive presence was a big factor in all three games and you could see why he played in the NBA for seven (7) years. He will definitely be a still for a team looking for a power forward in Europe. He is better at the power forward spot playing with another quality center in the middle.
Rick Cardoso (201-F-85, college: Cal.St.-Stanislaus) (201-F-85, college: Cal.St.-Stanislaus): He is a very long and athletic player who is very versatile and has a really nice inside and outside game. He is a great rebounder and blocks a lot of shots coming from the weak or help side. We like the way he put the ball on the ground and had some very smooth moves and showed his sneaky athleticism with a lot of dunks in the ESL. He also had a good outside jump shot. He was a nice surprise and can play in Europe right away in the entry level markets and be a star. He has the potential to play at a high level in Europe once he gets some experience.
Marcus Watts (201-F, college: Chattanooga) (201-F, college: Chattanooga): This guy was unbelievable and was an offensive force with a variety of slick moves and ball-handling skills combined with a NBA range jump shot. Marcus was in the wrong system in college and is a nice big guard or small forward for a quality European team. Marcus was the leading scorer in the Salt Lake City event and had people jumping out of their seats with his finishing skil
