nike news

The Nike National Championships will be held in San Diego on the campus of USIU at the SportCenter. The tournament starts tomorrow, July 30, and continues through August 29. It is an invitation only tournament, and it features some great travel team consisting of some of the top all-stars in the country, not all of them affiliated with Nike. We published the pools yesterday, and have some additional information which we just received from the High Five America folks, who help put on this great event.

Eight teams received automatic invitations based on spring tournament championships that they won. They are:

Atlanta Celtics		Atlanta, Georgia
Bloomington Red		Bloomington, Indiana
Bray Center		Racine, Wisconsin
High Five America		San Diego, CA
Illinios Warriors		Chicago, Illinois
KC Rebels		Kansas City, Missouri
New York Riverside Church		New York, New York
Southern California All-Stars		Los Angeles, California

Apparently the KC Rebels were invited, but did not accept, at least that's what we've been told. We're pretty sure that they're in Arizona right now for the BCI Championships, so whether they come will be known tomorrow when the tournament starts.

According to the promotional materials we received from High Five, some of the top "national" players will include:

Michah Brand (6'-11" Sr. C) from Milford Academy, Tyson Chandler (7'-0" So. C) from Dominguez, Omar Cook (6'-0" So. G) from Christ the King, Donnell Harvey (6'-8" Sr. F) from Randolph Clay High in Georgia, a favorite of Kentucky, Casey Jacobsen (6'-5" Sr. SG) from Glendora, Jason Kapono (6'-9" Sr. G/F/C) from Artesia, Abdul Mills (6'-3" Jr. G) from Milford Academy , Wei Ming (7'-5" ??? C) the talk of the Nike Camp from China, who will be playing for High Five America, Kareem Rush (6'-6" Sr. G/F) from Pembroke Hill in Kansas (brother of JaRon), Zachary Williams (6'-7" So. F) from Christ the King in New York, and a bunch of other top national talent.

High Five's materials also identified some of the top "local" players who will be appearing. Some of these we know, a couple we haven't seen. They include:

Andre Porter (5'-10" Jr. PG) from San Diego's St. Augustine High, who attended Nike All American Camp this summer, Dietrick Watts (6'-2" Sr. G) from Horizon Christian High School, who was named 2nd Team All-CIF last season, Mike Hausmann (6'-6" Sr. F) from the Bishop's School, named 3rd team All-CIF, Nick Booker (6'-5" Sr. G) from the Bishop's School, who was named 2nd Team All-CIF, Donyare Mayfield (5'-8" Jr. G) who last year as a sophomore was named to the 2nd team All-Palomar Legue, Wayne Bernard (6'-2" Jr. G) from Horizon Christian, and Chris Monroe (6'-8" Jr. F) from Granite Hills High.

High Five America has fielded two teams this summer, the Red Team and the Blue Team, and we believe that it will be the Red Team that will be playing in this one, but it could be a mix of players, including the sensation from China, Wei Ming, and just to see a 7'-5" guy has to be worth the price of admission, right?

Wayne Bernard (6'3" Sr. G) from Horizon Christian
Nick Booker (6'-5" Sr. F) from Bishop's
B.J. Hart (6'-3" Jr. G) Rolling Hills Prep, Palos Verdes
Mike Hausmann (6'-6" Sr. F) from Bishop's
Teyo Johnson (6'-7" Jr. F) from Seattle Mariner
Donyare Mayfield (5'-8" Jr. G) from San Diego Vista, who Mike Miller insists is actually 5'-6" because Donyare is at least 2 inches shorter than he is;
Wei Ming (7'-5" C) who weighs 240 lbs, from Shanghai, China
Chris Monroe (6'-8" Sr. F) from Granite Hills
Andre Porter (5'-11" Sr. G) from St. Augustine
Detrick Watts (6'-2" Sr. G) from Horizon Christian
Liu Wei (6'-2" Sr. G) from Shanghai, China

Justin Austin (6'-3" Sr. F) from Oceanside
Anthony Bolton (6'-5" Sr. F) from Vista
Mike Bonwell (6'-6" Sr. F) from Santa Fe Christian
Victor Esquer (6'-1" Sr. G) from Bonita Vista
Brian Faulstich (6'-0" Sr. G) from La Costa Canyon
Ryan Fellows (6'-3" Sr. G) from Horizon Christian
Trevor Jensen (6'-6" Sr. F) from Horizon Christian
Zack Jones (5'-10" Sr. G) from Horizon Christian
Jeremee McGuire (6'-8" Jr. F) from San Diego Lincoln
Roy Morris (6'-2" Sr. G) from Bonita Vista
Brad Nelson (6'-2" Jr. G) from Torrey Pines
Blake Perry (6'-0" Jr. G) from Torrey Pines
Jamaal Williams (6'-5" Jr. F) from San Diego St. Augustine

Expect some of the Blue players to show up on the High Five team, but then again, because rumor has it that the KC Rebels didn't show, maybe they'll let an extra High Five team play. There should be a bonus for being the host after all.