Burlison on Basketball

Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

My “All-LeBron” selections

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NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Led by Nigel Williams-Goss, the Georgetown team rallied from 17 points downs in the first half to knock off Michigan State, 80-77, in the championship game of the LeBron James Skills Academy Monday night.

The comeback – with James and Anthony Davis, who led Kentucky to a national title last spring before being the first pick in the NBA Draft last month, looking on – continued an impressive summer for Williams-Goss, who plays for Henderson-based Findlay Prep about 20 minutes southwest of the Rancho High campus on which the event was held.

Williams-Goss, a point guard who committed to the University of Washington last month, was a Top 12 selection by the camp’s players after the NBA Players Association Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, VA, June 13-16.

After watching all of the drills (that ran Friday afternoon through Sunday morning) and games (each team played five times over Sunday and Monday), here are my choices as the 15 players who turned in the best performances over the four days.

Remember, these aren’t necessarily those players are consider to be the 15 best prospects in the camp – just the 15 guys that played the best while I was watching.

And here we go (alphabetically):

*Anthony Barber (2013/6-foot-3/Hampton, VA)

Frank Says: Remains in strong considered to ultimately be rated the best point guard in this class after capping strong performances in Hayward, CA (during the final weekend of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League) and Charlottesville, VA (for the NBA Players Association Camp) with a mostly outstanding long Las Vegas weekend.

*Stevie Clark (2013/5-10/Oklahoma City Douglas)

Frank Says: His jump-shooting range – and accuracy – continued to amaze, as did his leadership skills. He’s the top prospect out of his state since that kid who does all the high-flying for the L.A. Clippers was attacking rims in Oklahoma.

*Wesley Clark (2013/5-11/Romulus, MI)

Frank Says: The floor leader for the Michigan-based “The Family” program was oh-so-close to helping Michigan State – ironically enough – to a camp title. No point guard was a consistently good over the four days of the camp.

*Isaac Hamilton (2013/6-4/Bellflower, CA, St. John Bosco)

Frank Says: The jump shots weren’t falling with a lot of regularity during the Pangos All-American Camp (in Long Beach, June 1-3) and NBA Players Association Camp. Not only were the jump shots on-target, but so was his overall offensive game as he penetrated to create high-percentage shots for himself and teammates.

*Parker Jackson-Cartwright (2014/5-8/Los Angeles Loyola)

Frank Says: No one played better than he did on Sunday. He wasn’t quite as dynamic or effective on Monday but still has to be rated as good as any point guard in his class heading into the three July “long evaluation weekends”.

*Kevon Looney (2014/6-7/Milwaukee Hamilton)

Frank Says: Has any junior-to-be done more to help his national standing during the past five weeks (during the Pangos, NBA Players Association and, now, LeBron James events)? That’s a rhetorical question.

*Kennedy Meeks (2013/6-8/Charlotte, NC, West)

Frank Says: I’m hard-pressed to recall a high school big man who passes as well as Meeks does – in half-court situations and while out-letting the ball – since Kevin Love was a senior at Lake Oswego in Oregon some five years ago.

*Austin Nichols (2013/6-8/Eads, TN, Briarcrest)

Frank Says: This was the first time I had the opportunity to watch Nichols – and the pleasure was all mine. In my humble estimation he’s a strong candidate to be a 2013- McDonald’s All-American.

*Bobby Portis (2013/6-9/Little Rock, AR, Hall)

Frank Says:  Portis is one of 10 players in this group who also played at event in Charlottesville last month. He’ll end the summer, I suspect, as a consensus Top 25 player in the Class of 2013.

*Julius Randle (2013/6-8/Plano, TX, Prestonwood Christian)

Frank Says: He can be nit-picked in many ways – he tends to float a bit too much on the perimeter; he over handles the ball frequently; and he has the habit of “double-clutching” shot attempts on drive to the rim instead of just powering the ball over or through defenders. That being conceded, he’s easily the most physically gifted prospect in the Class of 2013 (until the day, that is, that Andrew Wiggins “reclassifies” to 2013, as is the speculation.

*Tyler Roberson (2013/6-7/Roselle, NJ, Catholic)

Frank Says: He’s got to get a bit stronger and he needs to become a consistently good jump shooter. But, after watching him in Charlottesville and here, he’s also on my short list of 2013 McDonald’s candidates.

*Andrew Wiggins (2014/6-7/Huntington, WV, Prep)

Frank Says: The only thing that can knock him out of his perch as the overwhelming best in the Class of 2014 as he if decides to accelerate his “get to college” process by becoming a senior in the fall. What a freakin’ talent!

*Sindarius Thornwell (2013/6-4/Mouth of Wilson, VA, Oak Hill)

Frank Says: Ultimately, it could come down to “should James Young be called a ‘shooting guard’?” But Thornwell demonstrated in Hayward, Charlottesville and Las Vegas that he is going to make a strong push for “best shooting guard in the class” consideration.

*Nigel Williams-Goss (2013/6-3/Henderson, NV, Findlay Prep)

Frank Says: Other than Aaron Gordon (San Jose, CA, Mitty), there isn’t a senior-to-be in the West who does more to impact the outcome of his teams’ games. He’s clearly the best point guard prospect in this class from the West.

*James Young (2013/6-6/Troy, MI)

Frank Says: If he isn’t a consensus choice of all the national “gurus” and what-not following in the end of this month as a Top Five player in the senior class, the credentials of the “gurus” and especially the “what-not” need to be re-examined.

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