My interview with Denver Nugget Kenneth Faried and Morehead State great Demonte Harper. Also request me on Facebook at Los Paige and join the Sportaholic sports topic page!!
Showing posts with label Demonte Harper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Demonte Harper. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Updated: Join the Sportaholic on 104.5 the Zone radio June 22, 2011
To listen to full interview click here: https://www.yousendit.com/dl?phi_action=app/orchestrateDownload&rurl=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.yousendit.com%252Ftransfer.php%253Faction%253Dbatch_download%2526send_id%253D1155337527%2526email%253D6f1ef133ad1913e97308dfb164c65e85&s=19105&cid=tx-02002208350200000000
I will be featured on Nashville’s leader for sports, 104.5 the zone radio tomorrow at 9:00 am. I will be discussing the 5th annual All-Around Basketball camp and the Elite Football camp held here in Nashville. The Sportaholic team will be covering both events. The 5th All-Around basketball camp expected guesses include Vandy’s Jeff Jenkins, Brandon Wright of the New Jersey Nets, Wayne Ellington of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Gerald Robinson of the Georgia Bulldogs, Ed Davis of the Toronto Raptors, Demonte Harper of Morehead State. Camp will be held at Brentwood Academy and the cost is $200.
The Elite Football camp expected guess include former TSU star and current starting cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Cecil Newton (Brother of Cam Newton) of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Anthony Levine, and Jarvarris Williams. The focus of the Elite Football camp will be to promote health and fitness for children and young adults. Each day the 1st 45 minutes of the camp, they will have a seminar/meeting about the importance of nutrition and hydration, especially in sports. The Elite Football camp team will also provide mentoring opportunities. Participants for this camp will range from 4th grade to 12th and it will be held at Maplewood High School. Register at www.elite3.org or call Riley Howard at 496-1594Both Camps will be held the week of June 27th-June 30th. Make sure to tune in to 104.5 the Zone at 9 am if you’re by your radio to hear the Sportaholic discuss both of these premier camps.
Editor’s Note: If you are holding any type of sports camp or sporting events feel free to contact me by way of e-mail at carlos.paige@hotmail.com and I will be sure to contact you back. The Sportaholic team in collaboration with Noomizo.com will cover your event including live recordings, photos, interviews and written articles at no charge to you. Thanks for all your continued support Nashville. Monday, April 18, 2011
Highlights and Interviews from 4th Annual Music City Classic
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Game Summary:
Both teams came out with high energy which is to be expected at these types of events. Micah Williams of ETSU set the tone early for the away team with a couple of acrobatic dunks. The Morehead State contingency of Kenneth Faried and Demonte Harper would also get into the action as both players took turns dominating the game. Faried, a potential first round NBA draft pick, punished the basket and brought the crowd to its feet with a number of ferocious dunks. Harper, who you may remember from his buzzer beater against Louisville, made a couple of early jumpers and got a big slam of his own during the first half.
Things really heated up in the second half as Atlantic Sun player Mike Smith dialed up a few 3-point bombs. As the game settled down, both teams picked up their defensive play. Cedric Austin of Freed-Hardeman was inserted in the game and immediately picked up the tempo. He would match-up against Harper of Morehead State and slowed down the Eagles star. When coach Ricky Collins of the home team gave Kenneth Faried would a breather, the game would turn in favor of the away team. Micah Williams would hit a 3-pointer and follow it up with an alley-oop jam on the next play. The teams played to a 108-105 score with the away team up by three. The stage was set for another late-game buzzer beater from Morehead’s Demonte Harper. Harper would receive the ball at the top of the key and take one dribble to sink a game-tying 3-point shot, almost exactly as he did against the Louisville Cardinals in the NCAA tournament.
However, that would be the last celebration for the home team as Justin Tubbs of ETSU and Caleb Brown of Austin Peay secured the lead for the away team and sealed the victory of a couple of key baskets. It’s was a great game and even better effort given by both teams.
Interviews:
I had the pleasure of interviewing event coordinator Cecelia Shell after the game. Shell is a Fisk alum who along with former Belmont point guard Brian “Penny” Collins developed this great occasion. She spoke about making the event more open to the public and how the event has grown over the last four years. Shell spoke on how she thinks this is the premier showcase of college basketball talent in the mid-state. She also said she would like connect with the local high school all-star game that was also held at Fisk, and make it an entire weekend event, showcasing both high school and college stars. Shell was a bundle of energy and a joy to speak to.
Brian “Penny” Collins was unable to attend due to a schedule conflict, but he has built this game from the ground up. I had a chance to catch up with the former Belmont Bruin over the phone. He stated that he wanted to make this a showcase game for all of the college basketball seniors in the state. His vision is to get further sponsorship and eventually land the game on one of the ESPN networks as a featured showcase game. Collins said he will continue to recruit the top talent in the state and the rest should take care of itself. I will agree with him on that statement. When you have the type of talented players he is brining in, then the sponsors will follow.
I also spoke with future NBA players Kenneth Faried and Demonte Harper. Those two guys were easily the funniest guys I spoke with the entire evening. They have a certain chemistry between the two that reverberates on and off the court. Faried explained how he thinks he will be successful in the NBA. He said his tenacity and determination hopefully will take him a long way. I asked Harper what with him and his flair for the dramatics and let’s just say he believes in his abilities. For more on this interview be sure to watch the attached video of this article. Those two guys are hilarious together.
Ricky Collins is the former coach of the Pearl-Cohn Firebirds. He gave his opinion on who he thinks has the best pro potential out of all players from the game. He also stated that he enjoyed the energy and effort that both teams displayed and hopes to be back coaching again in next year’s game.
I cannot state enough how much I enjoyed myself covering this event. Everyone from the players, coaches and fans all were in high spirits and made this a successful and highly enjoyable function. Everyone in Nashville and Tennessee as whole should come out next year and support this great event. If you enjoy basketball in fun family atmosphere, then your doing yourself a disservice by not attending. Special thanks to Robert Snelling for his splendid camera work and Fisk University for hosting such a great event
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The 4th Annual Music City All-Star Classic
The 4th Annual Music City All-Star Classic will be held April 16, 2011 8:00 pm at Fisk University. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students with IDs.This is Tennessee's premier college basketball All-Star game and this year’s event expects to be the best yet as it features some of the top names in the state for college basketball. The classic will kick-off with a 3-point contest and slam dunk contest as well. The lists of names include March Madness hero Demonte Harper of Morehead State and high-flying Micah Williams of ETSU. (Full list of players at bottom of this page)Brian “Penny” Collins, former point guard of Belmont University and current assistant coach of Cumberland University will be hosting this event. Please come out and support your local Tennessee college all-stars. Noomizo.com and Sportaholic.com will be there in full support of this event and hopes to take it to the next level with coverage of all the events and post stories featuring the players and sponsors. This event is a great celebration for the Nashville community and provides an opportunity for the Music City to host senior athlete talent from various Universities in Tennessee.
HOME TEAM
JAMES WASHINGTON MTSU
DEMONTE HARPER MOREHEAD ST.
CHRIS GOODWIN MARTIN METHODIST
JON HOUSE BELMONT
JEREMY SAFFORE CHATTANOOGA
LINDAL YARBROUGH CUMBERLAND
CHRIS LEGGETT MARTIN METHODIST
JORDAN CAMPBELL BELMONT
AWAY TEAM
CALEB BROWN AUSTIN PEAY
JUSTIN TUBBS ETSU
MIKE SMITH ETSU
ALFRED JONES TN TECH
JOHN FIELDS TENNESSEE
CEDRIC AUSTIN FREED HARDEMAN
JESSE MOULTON FREED HARDEMAN
MICAH WILLIAMS ETSU
Monday, March 21, 2011
So How Is Your Brackets Looking?
So after the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, my bracket is looking like a high-school kid’s algebra test as it is filled with x’s at this point. My carnage ravaged bracket isn’t surprising when I think about it. Every year I believe I have the formula for the perfect bracket and every year it all goes downhill after the first few rounds of games. I may have drunk too much of the Belmont Wisconsin Morehead State
The tournament is so much fun because in a year like this, there are no favorites. You could argue that Ohio State, Kansas and Duke are but do you really think any of these teams are unbeatable? This is as an open field as I as I seen in recent years. I doubt that even Joe Lunardi could pick a perfect bracket at this point The NCAA has been watered down with the one-and-done rule to the point where good teams can be borderline great with the given circumstances. Think about this, if most of the underclassmen that have declared over the last four year had to stay in college, how different would the tournament be? Kentucky would feature the likes of John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight and Terrance Jones. That’s just a scary proposition. Then again maybe Kentucky doesn’t because John Callapari stays at Memphis with Tyreke Evans and Derrick Rose at his expense. Ohio State would even bigger inside with Greg Oden (Do you still think he would hurt in some sort of fashion? I do) and better at the point with Mike Conley Jr manning the ship. Things would definitely different that’s for sure.
How about some the controversial calls in this year’s tourney as well? Pitt got jobbed in the Butler game and I don’t care what you say. There is no way those types of calls should determine the outcome of the game as they did but Butler deserves credit for making their free-throws. Memphis fans still think Derrick Williams fouled Antonio Barton, Louisville feel the same about Kenneth Faried’s block on their last second 3-point attempt and what on earth was John Henson thinking for North Carolina? Henson couldn’t figure out if he wanted to be the hero or the goat against Washington as he stole an inbound pass that looked to seal the game then inexplicably touched a half-court heave from Washington’s Isaiash Thomas that had no chance of going in. His mistake gave the Huskies the ball with 0.5 seconds left on the clock and Henson again decided to touch the ball, this time almost receiving a goaltending violation but it wouldn’t have mattered as the Huskies needed a 3-pointer to tie but still you don’t want to chance those type of things John.
As for the rest of my picks, I still have a chance. I did have down a few upsets that happened like Richmond over Vandy. The Commodores are always a safe pick for an upset in the opening rounds. I had George Mason over Villanova. That made since as you had a surging mid-major that has been here before against a down on their luck Wildcats team that the wheels fell off of a long time ago. I still love Jay Wright’s suit selections I must say. Who could have predicted VCU’s run from first four in to Sweet 16 team? The Rams got in and are making the most of it. That is what this entire festival is about. The little team that could and everyone always roots for the underdog. The Sweet 16 is usually the best match-ups of the season and this year looks up to par. When you have Uconn vs. San Diego State, Ohio State vs. Kentucky and BYU vs. Florida you can expect some fireworks.
Stay tuned is all I can say because as more games are played there will be more upsets. Looking at the President’s bracket I’m inclined to think how is he able to pick a 26-2 first round and handle everything else in the world. His bracket was in 98 percentile and he was 431st in ESPN’s bracket challenge. That means that the President is better than me and most people at picking college basketball and I call myself an expert in this field. That’s tells you that this is nothing more than crap shoot. So I finish with the question I began with, how are your brackets looking?
Monday, March 14, 2011
Q and A with Morehead State Standout and NCAA tourney player Demonte Harper
It is a feel good story for me as far as being able to see him fulfilling the potential I noticed in him as a high-school freshman. It makes me proud as a former Whites Creek basketball alum to see Harper keeping the tradition of Whites Creek Cobra basketball alive.
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| Harper with the block in the above photo. |
Question: What is your first take on Louisville?
Answer: They are similar to us in that they like to get up and down the floor like us and it should make for an exciting game.
Q: Do you think playing in the high altitude of Denver will affect your teams approach, as you guys usually go about 7 deep?
A: Maybe a little bit. Coach (Donnie Tyndall) has instructed us to drink more water but other than that I think we will be ok.
Q: Do you think you guys will be rusty since you haven’t played in two weeks?
A: We had a few days off but we have had some tough practices and I definitely think we will be prepared.
Q: Did playing Louisville and going 1-9 in 37 minutes two years ago as a sophomore help as far as scouting and experience are concerned?
A: Definitely, when I played them as sophomore I got a feel for their style of play. This time I should be ready to make more of a contribution
Q: How does it feel to be playing in the hotbed of college hoops in Kentucky?
A: It can be overwhelming to play in front of 20,000 people as we did when we traveled to the University of Kentucky in Lexington, but this is an experienced team that isn’t afraid of the moment.
Q: Did playing Florida to within 6 points of the win help build confidence in playing another big time program such as Louisville?
A: We played them tough but we just had a bad shooting night. Things could have been different had we shot better. It does give us confidence knowing that we are a capable team
Q: They say momentum is the most underrated aspect of the tourney, you guys won 13 of 14 entering the tourney, and does it give you guys an extra bump entering the big dance?
A: Yeah definitely, I think the momentum we are taking with us in the tournament will carry over and give us an additional boost.
Q: How was it to be to get the chance to play in-front of friends and family in OVC tourney here in Nashville? And speaking of Nashville as you being a native of the city did you feel any extra pressure to perform and represent for your city?
A: It was the greatest feeling in the world man. I played in the in the OVC tournament the last three years that it was held in Nashville and so its no pressure to me. I’m just happy to be able to perform in front on my family and friends.
Q; You have scored at least 25 points in your last two games, what has been your key to success in those games?
A: Just being aggressive man. I actually rather make my teammates better if it’s my scoring, rebounding or passing, just whatever I can do to help the team win.
Q: What current NBA player do you think your games most resembles?
A: I would say Derrick Rose. I know I am not as fast as he is (Chuckles) but our styles are similar in attacking the rim and getting up and down the floor.
Q: How do you and Kenneth Faried compliment each others game?
A: I think we compliment each other a lot. He is the best rebounder I have ever had the chance to play with. In my opinion I definitely think he is a first-round NBA pick. Maybe even lottery pick.
Q: Is there anything you would like to say to your fans in the city of Nashville?
A: Thanks for all the love and support from the city.
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