AAU National Basketball Championships
July 27th, 2007 Posted in AAU BasketballThe AAU National Basketball Championships tip-off Friday morning at Orlando-area venues such as Disney’s Wide World of Sports. Our home page for the AAU National Basketball Championships willl have the photo and video highlights grouped by state, and the our Florida Sports blog will be the primary news link for the event, but we’ll link to coverage of the NC teams here as well. In fact, the first post on the Florida Sports Blog touches on the powerful NC Gaters, often one of the favorites for the AAU Basketball National Championship. This is the excerpt from Ron White’s post that focuses on the Gaters AAU basketball team:
The North Carolina Gaters bowed out of the 2006 AAU Junior Division National Tournament with a 56-37 loss to the D-1 Greyhounds, the eventual national champions. While that heartbreak still resonates, Gaters Coach Stan Kowalewski sees 2007 as a clean slate. The Gaters, based in Summerfield, N.C., won the AAU North Carolina state championship and now stand ready to rise to the top when play kicks off Friday at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. “If we play well, I think we have a good chance,” Kowalewski said. “We did very well in North Carolina. I like the cohesiveness and chemistry we have.” It helps that the Gaters feature a multi-faceted attack. Steady 6-foot-1 junior point guard Jairus Simms has two excellent weapons at his disposal. Nick Barbour is the primary source of his dishes. Barbour, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard, is receiving considerable attention from Div. I Mid-majors as he prepares for his senior season at G.W. Danville High in Danville, Va. “His stock continues to rise,” Kowalewski said. “Nick is a great shooter and good all-around scorer. He can shoot it deep and also take to the hole. He’s our go-to guy.” Around the rim, the Gaters feature 6-foot-9 Eladio Espinosa, who is set to finish his prep career this winter at Victory Christian in Charlotte, N.C. “Eladio really attacks the basket. He has an incredible wingspan and great leaping ability, which makes him very active around the basket. But he can also step out and shoot the 3,” Kowalewski said.
