I had the opportunity to cover the most recent Bob Gibbon's Tournament of Champions, that was held in the Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill area which is known to locals as the Research Triangle area.  The Southern California All Stars won their second consecutive title having only one true test of their mettle. These guys were loaded and feature sharp shooting Taylor King, soon to be a Blue Devil after his final season at Mater Dei. http://Taylor King

Kevin Love was named the MVP, although my vote would have gone to his teammate Brandon Jennings, a flashy PG from Compton, California.  Love is a heavy UCLA lean in my opinion, but still lists the North Carolina. My take is that UNC is already loaded up front with a truckload of talent coming in this years class, which is often considered to be the best in the land along with Ohio State, who features the monsterously talented Greg Oden.

Anyhow, even if the Mule, Tyler Hansbrough leaves UNC as expected after this upcoming season,  I can't see any of the other front line guys following him to the NBA from a class that features Brandon Wright, Alex Stephenson and Deon Thompson.  That could mean Love would languish on the bench for a season if he chooses to play his college career in Chapel Hill and I don't think he is up for that.

A friend of mine made a comment on the aformentioned Oden a couple of years ago while viewing his game in the Triangle area, laughingly stating "I want to see his birth certificate."  As I watched Oden, it was clear that he was indeed a man among boys.   Ohio State will likely hover in the Top 5 all season long in 06-07.

Recent Ohio State recruit David Lightly  found trouble with a B.B. Gun incident in Cleveland.  Expect a few Driving Miss Daisy signs to appear in Big Ten country if the SF suits up this season.  Scout.com ranks him number eight at his position.

 I have some pictures from the TOC up which were taken with a pawltry 2.4 mega pixel camera and were not edited in any way, as you can see by the darkness, etc.  There are a few Duke targets pictured, like Anthony Crater, a young Michigan Hurricanes PG who plays a very smooth and unselfish game.

Despite the flaws, the pictures still give a pretty good view of Taylor King and his fellow Southern Cal All Star teammates which I will elaborate a bit more on at a later date.  Let's just say they have no less than seven future college players on their team.  Click on the pictures to enlarge or view as a slide show, but keep in mind that the larger pictures are a better view with your computers scrolling method. They are located to your left under TOC Pics.  I hope you enjoy them.

http://myblogdevils.eponym.com/blog/BobGibbonsTournamnetofChampions2006