Post by less1brain on Jul 19, 2021 15:54:23 GMT -8
Not so much for UCLA fans although maybe some guys will pop on UCLA's radar as they get older. Or not. Who can really tell with very young players?
Because I was there only one day and had some "obligations" I only saw a limited number of teams play. But I ad-libbed a few times and I was glad I did.
Belmont Shore 17. This is Dinos Trigonis's A team though he didn't have all his A-team guys there (the best one missing just finished middle school and had a family event planned) and none of these guys look like Pac-12 players except two:
#5 Varick Lewis, 6-4 SG 2023 SoCal Academy (this is one of those prep schools which is actually a basketball team attached to a high school). He's from Sacto (you can always tell from the area code of the cellphones) and he's a pretty good beast, might already weigh close to 190, quick, strong, fast, athletic, needs work on his 3 but it's already working and he's into dropping dimes and playing d, a rare commodity for many teams. Hard to stop him from getting into the paint.
#8 Jorge Ochoa, 6-7 PF 2022 La Mirada High. Probably not going to stand out as a Pac-12 level player at first, but he might weigh 230 and he can shoot it to 17 feet. Very fundamentally sound, works his ass off, sets screens, knows pick and pop and pick and roll, and calls out to teammates on defense. Did a good job on athletic 6-11 guys and also on quick 6-3 guys when forced to switch. Likely, he'll go into the WCC.
Others:
#7 Justin Daniels, 6-4 SG 2023 Woodland Hills Taft (the last survivor after Alpha Chibambe went to Sierra Canyon and Jason Hart III went to Burbank Providence). I keep hearing doubts from WCC coaches, but he keeps getting better at all the guard skills including the 3 and scoring from midrange and at the rim and can definitely defend 1, 2 and 3.
#9 Jalen Pitre, 6-9 C 2022 Long Beach Poly. His J needs a lot of work, but he doesn't seem to think it does. Might need an attitude adjustment; a lot of coaches don't like certain stuff you do on the floor when you should just ball.
Cal Supreme 2022. Sorry, Gary Franklin, I missed you. I'll see you in Vegas. A lot of guys who will go D 1 for sure. Have to see them to have a clue.
Carson Lightning 17. This is a fun team to watch because it has guys who play together in high school.
#22 Elijah Price, 6-9 F/C 2022 St. Anthony. If the Pac-12 schools sleep on this guy, they should maybe stay asleep or retire. He can create off the bounce and his Js going in, very fast from end to end and I think he's only going to get more explosive and athletic as he hits 20 and gets in a weight room with real trainers. He'll start knocking down 3s while still in college. Has the grades that certain schools crave.
#33 Marcel Hayes, 6-3 W 2022 Long Beach Poly. I can see coaches saying, "He's a tweener." Okay, so he is. Low D 1, High D 2 should be all over him. He'll get taller, get stronger, and add skills as he gets older.
#77 Isaias Buchanan, 6-4 W 2022 Long Beach Poly. Same analysis.
#4 Booda Henry, 5-7 PG 2022 Long Beach Poly. If he has great grades, he should do D 3. If not, he's better than DJ Polk who might start for Pepperdine this year as a SR (he started as a SO). DJ also went to Long Beach Poly and he was 5-8 when he left and he's just 5-9 now. Long Beach Poly has this habit of producing skinny little PGs that surprise people some day.
#28 Mosiah Hunter, 6-0 PG 2022 St. Anthony's. He has to be D 1 too.
Basically, this team took Belmont Shore to school.
Coastal Elite 15. I met a parent whose son sits on the bench and I guess this was his first big-time AAU event and I filled him in. He pointed a player I should watch and I thanked him. The player I watched was #6 Leodrick Sims, 6-0 PG 2024 San Marcos High (San Diego way): SOMETIMES YOU JUST KNOW. RED ALERT RED ALERT. HIGH MAJOR PG IN THE HOUSE AND HE JUST FINISHED HIS FR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL. It's hard to tell with most players this young, but #3 Mazen Bissat, listed at 6-1, looks more like 6-3, has a beautiful stroke from 3 and plays the game the right way at both ends. Also 2024 San Marcos High. Some other guys caught my eye in this game, but I'm going to check out this team on Baller TV through all 3 of the events they're at in July. San Marcos Mission Hills has a couple of guys, #20 Shakespeare Taylor, 5-9 PG 2024 and #35 DeAngelo Macalino, 6-4 W 2024 who look like they could become really good players in high school that a lot of college coaches will want to hear about and I'll make sure they do.
They were playing one of those teams where the refs know if they want to stay employed they make sure the other team wins. That was the only way that team with some guys listed as in Middle School or First Grade clearly needing a shave were able to win this game: 8 on 5.
This whole program strikes me as a RIGHT WAY TO DO THINGS PROGRAM so I'm going to check out all of their teams. I've seen # 21 Prince Adjei, 6-7 CF 2022 San Diego St. Augustine and they're one of the top 3 programs in San Diego year in, year out. They've got 3 guys from Sam Marcos High on the team. San Marcos was 25-2 this season and its two losses were close losses to Cathedral Catholic and to Ribet Academy which has Tre White, 6-7 F 2022, ranked in top 100 nationally, getting recruited Pac-12.
The head coaches of Coastal Elite 17 are both high school coaches.
More notes tomorrow.
Because I was there only one day and had some "obligations" I only saw a limited number of teams play. But I ad-libbed a few times and I was glad I did.
Belmont Shore 17. This is Dinos Trigonis's A team though he didn't have all his A-team guys there (the best one missing just finished middle school and had a family event planned) and none of these guys look like Pac-12 players except two:
#5 Varick Lewis, 6-4 SG 2023 SoCal Academy (this is one of those prep schools which is actually a basketball team attached to a high school). He's from Sacto (you can always tell from the area code of the cellphones) and he's a pretty good beast, might already weigh close to 190, quick, strong, fast, athletic, needs work on his 3 but it's already working and he's into dropping dimes and playing d, a rare commodity for many teams. Hard to stop him from getting into the paint.
#8 Jorge Ochoa, 6-7 PF 2022 La Mirada High. Probably not going to stand out as a Pac-12 level player at first, but he might weigh 230 and he can shoot it to 17 feet. Very fundamentally sound, works his ass off, sets screens, knows pick and pop and pick and roll, and calls out to teammates on defense. Did a good job on athletic 6-11 guys and also on quick 6-3 guys when forced to switch. Likely, he'll go into the WCC.
Others:
#7 Justin Daniels, 6-4 SG 2023 Woodland Hills Taft (the last survivor after Alpha Chibambe went to Sierra Canyon and Jason Hart III went to Burbank Providence). I keep hearing doubts from WCC coaches, but he keeps getting better at all the guard skills including the 3 and scoring from midrange and at the rim and can definitely defend 1, 2 and 3.
#9 Jalen Pitre, 6-9 C 2022 Long Beach Poly. His J needs a lot of work, but he doesn't seem to think it does. Might need an attitude adjustment; a lot of coaches don't like certain stuff you do on the floor when you should just ball.
Cal Supreme 2022. Sorry, Gary Franklin, I missed you. I'll see you in Vegas. A lot of guys who will go D 1 for sure. Have to see them to have a clue.
Carson Lightning 17. This is a fun team to watch because it has guys who play together in high school.
#22 Elijah Price, 6-9 F/C 2022 St. Anthony. If the Pac-12 schools sleep on this guy, they should maybe stay asleep or retire. He can create off the bounce and his Js going in, very fast from end to end and I think he's only going to get more explosive and athletic as he hits 20 and gets in a weight room with real trainers. He'll start knocking down 3s while still in college. Has the grades that certain schools crave.
#33 Marcel Hayes, 6-3 W 2022 Long Beach Poly. I can see coaches saying, "He's a tweener." Okay, so he is. Low D 1, High D 2 should be all over him. He'll get taller, get stronger, and add skills as he gets older.
#77 Isaias Buchanan, 6-4 W 2022 Long Beach Poly. Same analysis.
#4 Booda Henry, 5-7 PG 2022 Long Beach Poly. If he has great grades, he should do D 3. If not, he's better than DJ Polk who might start for Pepperdine this year as a SR (he started as a SO). DJ also went to Long Beach Poly and he was 5-8 when he left and he's just 5-9 now. Long Beach Poly has this habit of producing skinny little PGs that surprise people some day.
#28 Mosiah Hunter, 6-0 PG 2022 St. Anthony's. He has to be D 1 too.
Basically, this team took Belmont Shore to school.
Coastal Elite 15. I met a parent whose son sits on the bench and I guess this was his first big-time AAU event and I filled him in. He pointed a player I should watch and I thanked him. The player I watched was #6 Leodrick Sims, 6-0 PG 2024 San Marcos High (San Diego way): SOMETIMES YOU JUST KNOW. RED ALERT RED ALERT. HIGH MAJOR PG IN THE HOUSE AND HE JUST FINISHED HIS FR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL. It's hard to tell with most players this young, but #3 Mazen Bissat, listed at 6-1, looks more like 6-3, has a beautiful stroke from 3 and plays the game the right way at both ends. Also 2024 San Marcos High. Some other guys caught my eye in this game, but I'm going to check out this team on Baller TV through all 3 of the events they're at in July. San Marcos Mission Hills has a couple of guys, #20 Shakespeare Taylor, 5-9 PG 2024 and #35 DeAngelo Macalino, 6-4 W 2024 who look like they could become really good players in high school that a lot of college coaches will want to hear about and I'll make sure they do.
They were playing one of those teams where the refs know if they want to stay employed they make sure the other team wins. That was the only way that team with some guys listed as in Middle School or First Grade clearly needing a shave were able to win this game: 8 on 5.
This whole program strikes me as a RIGHT WAY TO DO THINGS PROGRAM so I'm going to check out all of their teams. I've seen # 21 Prince Adjei, 6-7 CF 2022 San Diego St. Augustine and they're one of the top 3 programs in San Diego year in, year out. They've got 3 guys from Sam Marcos High on the team. San Marcos was 25-2 this season and its two losses were close losses to Cathedral Catholic and to Ribet Academy which has Tre White, 6-7 F 2022, ranked in top 100 nationally, getting recruited Pac-12.
The head coaches of Coastal Elite 17 are both high school coaches.
More notes tomorrow.