LAS VEGAS, NV – The annual Fullcourt Press Las Vegas Fall Showcase was held at Bishop Gorman High Tuesday.
And, not surprisingly, event was highlighted in large part by the presence of players from the host school and national prep school-power Findlay Prep of nearby Henderson.
The all-sophomore frontcourt of Stephen Zimmerman (6-foot-10), Chase Jeter (6-8) and Nick Blair (6-4) of Gorman were dominant while playing in both the sophomore and junior games.
The left-handed Zimmerman, still working his way back into top-flight playing condition after June surgery on his right knee forced him to spend summer watching instead of playing games, showed off his remarkable versatility.
He hit a handful of jumpers at or just inside the arc, ran and finished well in transition and rebounded well above crowds.
Jeter and Blair (who were outstanding during the 20th Fullcourt Press Hoops Classic in Southern California a couple of weekends ago) consistently got to the rim with the greatest of ease.
Todd Simon was recently elevated to Findlay Prep’s head coaching job after Mike Peck was hired as the coach of the Idaho Stamped of the NBA Developmental League.
Simon and his staff keep the players in his program already committed to colleges – Christian Wood (UNLV), Allerik Freeman (UCLA), Stanford Robinson (Indiana) and Nigel Williams-Goss (Washington) – in spectators’ roles Tuesday night.
But there was still enough of a Findlay Prep representation to make a huge impact on the final (seniors) game of the evening.
Among those performers were a couple of newcomers and a returnee who didn’t get a lot of action last season when the program had the likes of Brandon Ashley (Arizona), Dominic Artis (Oregon) and Anthony Bennett (UNLV) on its roster.
Benas Griciunas (in his second year in the program after migrating from Lithuania), a near seven-footer, showed he is going to be a significant contributor as a senior for Coach Simon while putting his remarkable perimeter touch – he hit a couple of 3-pointers – and rebounding strongly.
And, even with all of the impressive depth on his roster, Simon is going to be tempted to keep post Gavin Schilling (Chicago DeLaSalle) and wing Dion Wade (who is from Belgium) on the court as much as possible.
Schilling could prove to be Simon’s best rebounder and Wade – whose father (Butch Wade) played at the University of Michigan in the early 1980s and had a long professional basketball career in Europe – was especially intriguing.
Wade is an adept, speeding and slashing driver who proved nearly impossible for defenders to stay in front of.
But the standout in the senior game was Julian Jacobs (Las Vegas Desert Pines), the 6-3 guard who once was committed to the University of Utah.
Jacobs, who penetrated and found teammates or scored mostly whenever he wanted to Tuesday night, said that “three or four” schools (he has visited USC and Cornell) remain in his recruiting mix right now and that he hopes to sign in November.
Others who impressed Tuesday night included: (seniors) 6-5 Rashad Muhammad (Bishop Gorman) and 6-3 Sir Washington (L.V. Clark); (juniors) 6-5 Sherron Wilson (Clark), 6-1 Shaquile Carr (L.V. Canyon Springs) and 6-1 Darryl Gaynor (L.V. Palo Verde); (sophomore) 6-6 Nate Grimes (L.V. Cheyenne); and (freshmen) 6-5 Chase Nomaaea (Bishop Gorman) and 5-6 Leslie Long (L.V. Desert Oasis).
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