There were two NBA lottery picks playing in the Rocky Mountain Revue summer basketball league. There were three other first-round picks playing.
But the best player turned out to be an undrafted guy from Charlotte.
Anthony Morrow, who played at Charlotte Latin and Georgia Tech, was named MVP of the Revue. Morrow, who signed with the Golden State Warriors last month, averaged a league-high 21 points. He shot 49 percent from the field.
Charlotte hasn't produced a ton of NBA talent. Names like Bobby Jones, Haywoode Workman, Junior Burrough, Walter Davis, Byron Dinkins, Jeff McInnis, Todd Fuller and Antawn Jamison come to mind. Morrow is not the physical talent those guys were, but he's a true 6-foot-6 shooter with Dell Curry range. He could stick around the league for awhile. Every team needs a shooter.
South Mecklenburg rising junior Ian Miller is turning into one of the hottest college basketball prospects in the Southeast. Miller, a powerfully built 6-foot-2 guard, has offers from Florida State and Kentucky.
The Eastway Browns and Buckeyes youth football organization (http://eastwaybrownsbuckeyesworld.weebly.com) hope to get inner-city kids off the street and give them some positive outlets. One of this year's players lost a brother in a shooting and organizers say he's using the team to work through his anger over the situation.
The team has 15 coaches and 75 players ages 7 to 15. Besides Xs and Os, the coaches are charged to teach the kids social skills and community pride. And that's a very good thing.
The Mecklenburg County Parks & Recreation Summer Hoops league continues its playoffs with four games tonight starting at 6p.m. at the Grady Cole Center. You can see current and former college and pro basketball players. Admission and parking are free. It's a neat night out.
Thirty members of the Charlotte Heat Track Club went to the AAU Junior Olympics in Detroit last month; 15 came back as All-Americans, finishing in the top eight in their age group.
They are Patton Russell, Kyla Smith, Taylor McClinton (9-year-old girls); Jahquan Fenner (9-year-old boys); Ricky Smith (10); Autumn Drayton (shot put national champ, 11 girls); Jaylon McClinton (11 boys); Tre Williams (12 boys); and Donte Shaw (17-18 boys)
Last month, I wrote about the large number of pro athletes giving back via summer camps in this community. A lot of you wrote back to tell me I left out Jamison, who ran a camp at Providence High last month that he never left. Sean May was at Providence Day all day during his camp there last month. And Dell Curry and Jay Bilas are at the Athletes For Youth camp all day at First Baptist Church uptown this week. It's nice to see.
