Eight local basketball players reigned supreme at the Future Top 150 camp last weekend in Birmingham, Ala.
South Georgia King coach Derrick Brook said he took 11 kids to the camp and eight were ranked among the top 40 prospects. Of those eight, four made the top 20 list.
SGK players Aaron Scott, Jaquez Motley, J. J. Frazier and James Sinclair made the top 20, and Derrick Brooks, Jamal Anderson, Saadiq Muhammad and Tracey Jester made the top 40 team.
Brooks said the eight players earned the recognition and will be invited to the National Top 150 Camp in October in Atlanta.
"I would like to give a little praise to Aaron Scott," Brooks said. "He just received a little packet from Jacksonville University so he is starting to get some offers of interest from a lot of people."
In fact, the coach said since his team started hitting the tough AAU circuit, the boys have impressed several college scouts and recruits.
"They (scouts) talk to me about these kids all the time," Brooks said. "But by them having the chance to go out and watch these kids perform … they (the players) are starting to get a few more accolades. It’s our intent to keep them going and hopefully one of these days one of these kids is going to go out and do something special."
And keep going they will as the coach will take a few players to the Georgia Southern Camp on Sept. 18-19.
"We are going to Georgia Southern to attend a camp run by Gannon Baker," Brooks said. "He does skill camps, exposure camps, Nike Elite camps, and he works with some of the top stars in the NBA."
The coach said his team did well and he had the opportunity to coach the top 20 kids for their games at the camp.
"There was an abundance of talented kids there," he said. "I had kids on my team from all around the country like Texas, Michigan and Las Vegas. They were talented kids so to have our kids receive that kind of honor was an accomplishment."AAU season is over, but Brooks will stay busy working with a few players from Long County High School and assisting coach Deshon Brock with fundamentals and conditioning. After a few hours in Long County, the coach will trek back to Liberty County where he will work on conditioning with students from Snelson-Golden Middle School and Liberty County High School as they prepare for the upcoming season.
"The first thing we want to do is be able to develop their athleticism," he said. "Once they can do it physically, they become mentally stronger and confidence is built by building skills. That is our focus right now."
Brooks said he is grateful for the support he receives from the Sellars family at Faith Baptist Christian Academy in Ludowici, Long County High School’s coach Brock and Karen Swindell, Carolyn Kelly from LCHS and the Liberty County School System.