A few years ago, if you had asked the top kids at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions to list their favorite teams, you might have heard four or five of the top 40 mention the Florida Gators. My how things have changed. Mention the Gators and that gets a positive response from just about every single kid. Check out the 40 best kids at the tournament and at least half of them have Florida on their list of favorites.
The Gibbons tournament was somewhat watered down this year because Nike staged a competing tournament in Nashville. For years, the Gibbons tournament took center stage and no matter what shoe company sponsored the AAU teams, they all showed on Memorial Day in North Carolina. Gibbons is affiliated now with Reebok (owned by adidas) so the Nike teams aren’t feeling the warm and fuzzies. This year, King of the Court from Akron, Ohio (co-sponsored by LeBron James) was the only Nike team at this year’s event.
Even without the big time Nike teams and so many good players, Gibbons put on another good tournament this year. Here are some leftovers from the tournament this weekend along with a look at how I think the Florida recruiting board is looking these days.
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