Samardo Samuels (born January 9, 1989 in Trelawny) is a Jamaican professional basketball player with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA. He is a 6-foot-9-inch, 260-pound power forward/center who attended college at the University of Louisville.
Samuels attended Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey, United States. Samuels was ranked 9th in the nation by Rivals.com and 2nd in the nation by Scout.com. He, alongside class of 2010 star Tristan Thompson led St. Benedicts's Prep to a 24–1 record in the 2007–2008 season. At seasons end St. Benedict's was ranked #2 in the nation by USA Today. He played in the two top all-American games, the McDonald's All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic.
Samuels decided to attend the University of Louisville for college. He chose the Cardinals over Connecticut, Florida, Georgetown and North Carolina. At Louisville, Samuels started every game that he played in and led the 2009-10 team in scoring and rebounding. After his sophomore year, he decided to skip his final two years of college eligibility and enter the 2010 NBA Draft.
Gerald Green, Jr. (born January 26, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Boston Celtics with the 18th pick of the first round in the 2005 NBA Draft. He has performed well in many slam dunk competitions, having won the 2005 McDonald's All-American Slam Dunk Contest and the 2007 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, while finishing as the runner-up in the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
Green did not play high school basketball until his sophomore year, when he played junior varsity for J. Frank Dobie High School. In his junior year he made the varsity team, but his play was cut short because of academic issues.[citation needed]
He transferred[citation needed] to a charter school, Gulf Shores Academy in Houston, where he repeated his junior year.[citation needed] In his senior year at Gulf Shores, he averaged 33 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 blocked shots per game. He was named an All-American and was the high scorer in the 2005 McDonald's All-American game scoring 24 points., which features two teams composed of the best high school basketball players in the US. Green also won the McDonald's All-American Slam Dunk Contest that year, defeating future Duke player Josh McRoberts.
Tristan Trevor James Thompson (born March 13, 1991) is a Canadian professional basketball player with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association. He played with the 2010–11 Texas Longhorns men's basketball team. Thompson was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 4th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
Tristan was born in Brampton, Ontario, and is the eldest of four sons of Trevor and Andrea Thompson, who are of Jamaican descent. His brother Dishawn Thompson currently plays high school basketball in Canada where he is a highly rated prospect. He is also the cousin of former Virginia State University Trojan football standout, and current Canadian Football League Defensive Tackle Jemal Thompson of the Toronto Argonauts.
Thompson started his high-school career playing basketball at St. Marguerite d'Youville Secondary School in Brampton. After driving from Brampton twice to visit a prep school in the United States, he decided to attend Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey for his sophomore year along with fellow University of Texas at Austin commit Myck Kabongo. He cited the increase in exposure and skill level as his reason for transferring schools.