The youth basketball world is abuzz with news of Belmont Shore's 6'4 8th grader Michael Avery committing to Kentucky (he's still in the market for a high school, mind you). Hey, if you have the chance to lock in a spot in one of college basketball's most storied programs, wouldn't you?  Nevermind that the chances are slim that coach Billy Gillespie will still be in Lexington in 2012, he gets to live in Lexington, Kentucky!  Why would anyone bother to wait and see what else is out there?   I mean, can't you tell how excited he is from this picture?? 

In all seriousness, Gossip Girl is quite impressed with Avery and wishes him the best of luck. We're looking forward to seeing him at GBOA West 2009! 

Given all the uproar over Avery's signing, Gossip Girl did some research into other up and coming basketball phenoms we may be hearing about soon... 

*Here's a fifth grader with some impressive ball-handling skills. 
*Or Jamie Nared, a 12-year old girl from Oregon who started playing with the boys because she was too good to play with the girls...then the boys couldn't handle her either!
*Gossip Girl's personal favorite, The Best Six-Year-Old Basketball Player in the World

Our friends at Ball is Life came out to the GBOA West tournament in LA and made some very impressive mix tapes of Jeremy Tyler, Michael Snaer, Timmy Douglas, the Belmont Shore team and the GBOA West Slam Dunk Contest. You can find them all on the GBOA Channel now. These kids are going places, so check it out so you can say you saw them way back when...

The Ball is Life boys have also recently released their own highlight video of some of the best high school and grassroots basketball we've seen. Check out the trailer here. You can find out more about Ball is Life on their homepage: www.ballislife.com.

Gossip Girl has learned that a documentary about Grassroots Basketball featuring GBOA players and alums including Lance Stephenson, Brandon Jennings and Tyreke Evans is scheduled to be premiere in limited release nationwide on June 27.  Just in time for GBOA South.  Coincidence?  I think not. 

From the looks of the trailer, director Adam Yauch has made a film that will do us proud.  He focuses on the Elite 24 game, and you can tell there will be some sick highlights and great insight into the world of grassroots ball.  Kudos to Adam for recognizing that this is stuff people want to see and giving these guys their due. 

Check out the official website for more information: http://www.gunninmovie.com

The NY Gauchos are anxiously awaiting July 1 to find out if they will be awarded a wild card bid to the GBOA Challenge of Champions.  In the meantime, top 2010 prospect Doron Lamb is developing his moves off the court.  Based on this video, it seems he's working on his own version of the Antoine Walker wiggle before his teammate shows him how it should be done. At least we know he's not camera-shy. Gossip Girl's advice?  Doron, keep your day job...

In case you haven’t checked it out, Marcus Jordan has agreed to be a featured player/blogger on gboahoops.com. Marcus will fill us in on what’s going on with him and his Chicago-based team, the Rising Stars. With Father’s Day coming up, it’s only fair that we help Marcus with a little project his dad is working on…an AMA motorcycle team. Check out 23race.com for more info.

You may have seen this photo of UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough gettingup close and personal with a lady friend. Well, it turns out that Tyler isn’t as much of a man about town as it may seem…the lucky blonde is, in fact, Tyler’s girlfriend and a UNC cheerleader. So unlike other players who have been caught in compromising situations (see: Greg Oden), it looks like Tyler doesn’t need to worry about tarnishing his squeaky-clean image. He may, however, want to reevaluate his choice in neckwear.