Tropics' NIKE Travel Team Tryout
Mar 11, 2009
By: Tropics Staff
The Miami Tropics', who are gearing up for their ninth travel team season, held a Saturday tryout to supplement their 17 & Under roster on Saturday at South Dade High School in Homestead.
The club has been one of the elite teams in the nation for years and has compiled a 183-63 record over the past 8 seasons, against the finest competition.
Having competed annually at such tournaments as Boo Williams in Hampton, Virginia, The Kingwood Classic in Houston, TX, The Rumble in the Bronx in New York City, The NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, SC and The Spring Showcase, The Main Event and Las Vegas Championships, all in Las Vegas, NV, the team was looking to amass a solid base of talent to take them to another successful season.
Over the past 8 seasons, 77 players who have donned the Red White and Blue colors have received Division 1 Scholarships. Seven of those players are currently playing professionally.
The Tropics, long known for their great guard play with the likes of J.J. Barea, O.J. Mayo, Denis Clemente, Josue Soto, Javi Gonzalez and David Huertas, were impressed by a number of players looking to replace those past stars.
Angel Rodriguez, a 5'11", 175 lb. point guard from Krop High School, continued his fine play which took Krop to the 2009 GMAC Championship.
Alexander Perez (6'0", 160 lb. Homestead High) showed a great handle and ability to score after his first full season in the states out of Puerto Rico.
Chris Blunt (5'10", 175 lb. Arlington Country Day) proved he could be the physical type point the team is looking towards when competing against the best teams in the country.
Juan Ferrales (American Heritage), Kelvyn Valdez (Choice Academy), Adrian Brown (South Dade) and Rubyne Burrows (Dillard) displayed the physical side needed to compete at this level and Tavaris Simmons (Southridge), Brandon Wilcox (South Dade), Donald Miller (Calusa Prep)and Brayan Delgado (Calusa Prep) all had their moments putting the ball in the basket.
On the frontline Tyrone Houghton, a 6'8", 185 lb. freshman, belied his 16 years of age and was dominant above the rim.
His teammate at Krop, Joseph Thomas (6'6", 230 lbs.) was tough to handle when he got the ball down on the low block.
Paul Morrow (6'5", 195 lb. from South Dade) was active on both ends and had the hops to play with guys 5 inches bigger than he.
Sixteen year olds Damien Dwaine (6'3", 205 lbs. from University) and Gabriel Hernandez (6'4", 170 lb. from South Dade) battled the bigs admirably and will vie for spots on the final roster.
Coaches Art "Pilin" Alvarez, Ed Auricchio, Shakey Rodriguez, John Herron and Hector Ramos will evaluate the session and pool their thoughts to come up with a soft roster to compete locally on March 28th before defintively announcing the 2009 team.
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