Post by less1brain on Jul 21, 2021 15:57:57 GMT -8
EBO 17: EBO stands for Elite Basketball Organization and Darren Mats Matsubara once had one of the elite adidas-sponsored club teams in Cali: Ray Young, Matt Barnes, Carlos Boozer, Trajan Langdon and Chris Jeffries among them. It's been awhile and Demetrius Porter, who I scouted in high school (he was there, not me) is now the head coach though the game I saw Omari Pringle was the head guy.
They had two guys out injured and the refs hosed them, but they lost at the very end.
#33 Lejaun Watts, 2022 6-6 215 2/3/4 Fresno Bullard High, maybe he can play a 1 is a very impressive player. Deep range from 3, can beat you off the bounce, and makes like Montrzel on the glass. I was told he went from zero offers to 38 in 3 days. The 3.8 GPA might help, but he doesn't need much help to get a scholarship. I imagine he'll play in the WCC or Mountain West and then the Pac-12 schools will try to get him to transfer.
#16 Jaden Haire, 2023 6-5 W Hanford West High, 3.9 GPA, quick, athletic, can knock down the midrange, explode in the lane, needs just a 3 to be a very high level player and he just finished his SO year of high school.
#1 Terik Sheets, 2022 6-3 SG Fresno Central High, 3.5 GPA, deadly shooter from deep, middle and dunks are deadly too, very quick, fast, long arms, big shoes, big hands, great balance, very intense on d and I'm told he should go low D 1/high D 2. Um, okay. When he's 6-5, what happens then? But I've sent word out on him to a number of schools who fit that profile and I think they will be very happy.
#4 Aaron Scruggs, 2022 6-0 PG Fresno Central High, 3.5 GPA, decent shooter, needs to get better, outstanding playmaker and very intense and smart defender. Very good athlete, but not Terik Sheets level. Yet. But I think having two very unselfish high school teammates at guard gives this team cohesion that some of the AAU teams just don't have.
The guys out injured have 4.1 and 4.2 GPAs. I wonder how good they are as basketball players?
15 games on Baller TV by July 26, so when I get a chance maybe I'll find out. One wasn't on the roster, but I got his name from a helpful parent from one of the younger EBO teams.
I guess Mats has gone to school on people.
I wrote about Inland 17 down below in the Dennis Evans section.
I'm very curious to watch more of their games on Baller TV, but I also want to watch Inland 17 Rotary. I was told this is a team to watch, with two guys having just finished middle school, 6 guys having finished their FR year and two old men in the class of 2023... but they played in the top division. I think I will check them out when I have the time.
Los Angeles Rockfish: This is usually a well-run above-board team, but somehow it got hijacked by the pandemic, 2021 graduates feeling heat of zero offers because zero chances to get seen for so long plus wide open transfer portal. Add Wigintons to the mix and everything go boom.
#23 Kenton King, 6-6 W 2021 Los Angeles Ribet Academy, and #24 Kristopher King, 6-6 W 2021 Same Ribet Academy: My understanding is that both came here from Baltimore to play for Ribet Academy and someone forgot to tell them they had to sit out for year. They're now at Fork Union in Virginia and they maybe can play alike in all the good ways and not in all the bad on a more consistent basis. If so, they could be Mid to High D 1.
#34 Pierre Gneste, 2023 6-11 C Ribet Academy. All he can do is dunk, but he can run and jump and defend. I mentioned the impact he had when Coach Tookey Wiginton actually let him play at Ribet when tall teams were wiping the floor with that Academy. I see UCSD in his future.
#21 Jay'len Carter, 2021 6-5 W Los Angeles Manual Arts, 4.2 GPA legit, interning at Keck, hadn't played organized ball since February 2020 and it showed. Two WCC coaches told me they would trade some guys on their current roster for him but they're on scholarship not in the NBA and no rides available. He's grey-shirting at Riverside CC while playing a schedule against JC teams with Corona Prep which is under new management after the last guy had "issues" with the law. I sure hope Corona Prep sticks to playing against nasty teams like West LA College and doesn't schedule truly deeply nasty teams like Antelope Valley JC... or the whole team might have to call the cops to protect them if they're ahead of that two year school with less than 5 minutes left to play. Young Mr. Carter wants to be a neurosurgeon and he'll get into UCSD for sure. They just moved from D 2 to D 1, so every year more D 2 guys graduate and more D 1 guys replace them.
#14 Ryan Hoffman, 2021 6-2 SG Valencia High. He can shoot and has great grades. Maybe Oxy, Pitzer, Pomona? After a gap year or a year grey-shirting.
#2 Snookie Wiginton, 2021 5-7 PG Ribet Academy: He was off most of the tournament (5-7 trying to just jump and shoot over a 6-3 to 6-10 guy doesn't work), broke the team chemistry and then the Wiginton clan ended the Rockfish season with a Covid-19 outbreak. Not surprisingly, he's off to IMG Academy in Florida which will likely have 8 High D 1 players on the roster. Which sort of explains a lot, if you think about it.
On the Rockfish Navy team, they have #24 Huge Vandeweghe, 2024 6-6 ? who's at Los Angeles Loyola Prep (Thomas Welsh, James Keefe, Parker Jackson-Cartwright, more). Yes, he's one of THOSE Vandeweghes. I might watch this team on Baller TV and I will be able to get to Loyola pretty easily during the season. This is a very young team, but they had a Wookey Wiginton who Covided them all too.
So, at least 9 games were played by this team on Baller TV.
And a 6-6 Vandeweghe with 3 more years of high school can't be a bad thing and might be a good thing or better. One never knows.
He isn't defined by his name.
But I remember when Kiki Vandeweghe (Uncle of this one) was labeled a "legacy scholarship" when he arrived at UCLA.
Ocean City Elite: I promise to watch all their teams when I get a chance. They are rostered by guys who go to very good schools where the players often get under-recruited for basketball. So, I will check them out.
Players Play Elite: Same as Ocean City though they have guys from Oregon and Arizona on the rosters. Egad.
They had two guys out injured and the refs hosed them, but they lost at the very end.
#33 Lejaun Watts, 2022 6-6 215 2/3/4 Fresno Bullard High, maybe he can play a 1 is a very impressive player. Deep range from 3, can beat you off the bounce, and makes like Montrzel on the glass. I was told he went from zero offers to 38 in 3 days. The 3.8 GPA might help, but he doesn't need much help to get a scholarship. I imagine he'll play in the WCC or Mountain West and then the Pac-12 schools will try to get him to transfer.
#16 Jaden Haire, 2023 6-5 W Hanford West High, 3.9 GPA, quick, athletic, can knock down the midrange, explode in the lane, needs just a 3 to be a very high level player and he just finished his SO year of high school.
#1 Terik Sheets, 2022 6-3 SG Fresno Central High, 3.5 GPA, deadly shooter from deep, middle and dunks are deadly too, very quick, fast, long arms, big shoes, big hands, great balance, very intense on d and I'm told he should go low D 1/high D 2. Um, okay. When he's 6-5, what happens then? But I've sent word out on him to a number of schools who fit that profile and I think they will be very happy.
#4 Aaron Scruggs, 2022 6-0 PG Fresno Central High, 3.5 GPA, decent shooter, needs to get better, outstanding playmaker and very intense and smart defender. Very good athlete, but not Terik Sheets level. Yet. But I think having two very unselfish high school teammates at guard gives this team cohesion that some of the AAU teams just don't have.
The guys out injured have 4.1 and 4.2 GPAs. I wonder how good they are as basketball players?
15 games on Baller TV by July 26, so when I get a chance maybe I'll find out. One wasn't on the roster, but I got his name from a helpful parent from one of the younger EBO teams.
I guess Mats has gone to school on people.
I wrote about Inland 17 down below in the Dennis Evans section.
I'm very curious to watch more of their games on Baller TV, but I also want to watch Inland 17 Rotary. I was told this is a team to watch, with two guys having just finished middle school, 6 guys having finished their FR year and two old men in the class of 2023... but they played in the top division. I think I will check them out when I have the time.
Los Angeles Rockfish: This is usually a well-run above-board team, but somehow it got hijacked by the pandemic, 2021 graduates feeling heat of zero offers because zero chances to get seen for so long plus wide open transfer portal. Add Wigintons to the mix and everything go boom.
#23 Kenton King, 6-6 W 2021 Los Angeles Ribet Academy, and #24 Kristopher King, 6-6 W 2021 Same Ribet Academy: My understanding is that both came here from Baltimore to play for Ribet Academy and someone forgot to tell them they had to sit out for year. They're now at Fork Union in Virginia and they maybe can play alike in all the good ways and not in all the bad on a more consistent basis. If so, they could be Mid to High D 1.
#34 Pierre Gneste, 2023 6-11 C Ribet Academy. All he can do is dunk, but he can run and jump and defend. I mentioned the impact he had when Coach Tookey Wiginton actually let him play at Ribet when tall teams were wiping the floor with that Academy. I see UCSD in his future.
#21 Jay'len Carter, 2021 6-5 W Los Angeles Manual Arts, 4.2 GPA legit, interning at Keck, hadn't played organized ball since February 2020 and it showed. Two WCC coaches told me they would trade some guys on their current roster for him but they're on scholarship not in the NBA and no rides available. He's grey-shirting at Riverside CC while playing a schedule against JC teams with Corona Prep which is under new management after the last guy had "issues" with the law. I sure hope Corona Prep sticks to playing against nasty teams like West LA College and doesn't schedule truly deeply nasty teams like Antelope Valley JC... or the whole team might have to call the cops to protect them if they're ahead of that two year school with less than 5 minutes left to play. Young Mr. Carter wants to be a neurosurgeon and he'll get into UCSD for sure. They just moved from D 2 to D 1, so every year more D 2 guys graduate and more D 1 guys replace them.
#14 Ryan Hoffman, 2021 6-2 SG Valencia High. He can shoot and has great grades. Maybe Oxy, Pitzer, Pomona? After a gap year or a year grey-shirting.
#2 Snookie Wiginton, 2021 5-7 PG Ribet Academy: He was off most of the tournament (5-7 trying to just jump and shoot over a 6-3 to 6-10 guy doesn't work), broke the team chemistry and then the Wiginton clan ended the Rockfish season with a Covid-19 outbreak. Not surprisingly, he's off to IMG Academy in Florida which will likely have 8 High D 1 players on the roster. Which sort of explains a lot, if you think about it.
On the Rockfish Navy team, they have #24 Huge Vandeweghe, 2024 6-6 ? who's at Los Angeles Loyola Prep (Thomas Welsh, James Keefe, Parker Jackson-Cartwright, more). Yes, he's one of THOSE Vandeweghes. I might watch this team on Baller TV and I will be able to get to Loyola pretty easily during the season. This is a very young team, but they had a Wookey Wiginton who Covided them all too.
So, at least 9 games were played by this team on Baller TV.
And a 6-6 Vandeweghe with 3 more years of high school can't be a bad thing and might be a good thing or better. One never knows.
He isn't defined by his name.
But I remember when Kiki Vandeweghe (Uncle of this one) was labeled a "legacy scholarship" when he arrived at UCLA.
Ocean City Elite: I promise to watch all their teams when I get a chance. They are rostered by guys who go to very good schools where the players often get under-recruited for basketball. So, I will check them out.
Players Play Elite: Same as Ocean City though they have guys from Oregon and Arizona on the rosters. Egad.