NORWALK, Ca — The 2013 edition of the Fullcourt Press All-Frosh/Soph Camp wrapped up Sunday afternoon the way it tipped off some 24 hours earlier:
A lot of the best freshmen and sophomore high school basketball players in Southern California — and beyond — showed why the classes of 2016 and ’17 are pretty special, indeed, out west.
And two kinds, in particular, put on convincing on-court arguments as to why they’re the most outstanding California players in those respective classes.
Lonzo Ball (Chino Hills High), at just a bit short of 6-foot-5, is not only the best sophomore in California (and, actually, all of the west) but there is also a very strong likelihood that there isn’t a more physically or intuitively gifted guard in the region.
His play over both days left the distinct impression that he is fully capable of doing pretty much anything he wants to on the court, with or without the ball in his hands.
When Ball missed a jump shot — and that was a rare occurrence over the weekend — it was but moment of reprieve for the defense.
With 6-9 DeAndre Ayton (who spent the past year in San Diego) apparently back in his native Bahamas for the time being, the hunch has been of late that 6-7 Billy Preston of Bellflower St. John Bosco was the best ninth-grader in California.
And, based upon his Saturday and Sunday efforts, it would be tough to find anyone who was at Cerritos College to counter that hunch.
As was the case with Ball, Preston seemed to almost mostly toy with defenders.
When is the last time a ninth grader, with his physical dimensions, was such a consistently accurate jump shooter from mid- to deep-range?
I’d have to spend more time researching that question than I have free right now.
How many high school (or prep school) coaches have four players with the kind of perimeter scoring skills to put on the floor at the same time that SJB’s Derrick Taylor has in senior Daniel Hamilton, juniors Tyler Dorsey and Lorne Currie, Preston?
That’s a rhetorical question, by the way.
There were plenty of other standouts among the gathering of 150 or so kids in attendance.
Among the sophomores, the two that most stood out after Ball (in my humble opinion) were 6-8 T.J. Leaf (El Cajon Foothills Christian) and 6-1 Milan Acquaah (Pasadena La Salle).
Leaf shut things down at about halftime of his Sunday morning game (he was on the same team with Ball and it’s a safe assumption that a whole lot of Top 25-caliber college programs love to have then as teammates one day) — when he was locked in a terrific head-up battle with Preston — because, apparently, of a tendonitis issue of sorts in his left knee.
I might be exaggerating a tad but it seemed as if every shot Leaf missed he rebounded and scored.
And, in a camp loaded with impressive point guards (or, if you will, “point guard-types”), Acquaah — after Ball, of course — was the one that most consistently impressed me with his variety of ways of impacting the game when he was on the floor.
As for the other two freshmen who most impressed me over the weekend, Ethan Thompson (a shade less than 6-1 but closing rapidly on 6-3) of Torrance Bishop Montgomery and Jalen Harris (6-footish) of L.A. Windward feel free to take bows!
Here 12 more sophomores who (I don’t want to dilute this praise by going too deeply into the camp roster; listed alphabetically):
Point guard-types – Dikymbe Martin (6-0/Riverside JW North); Jonah Mathews (6-1/Santa Monica); Eric Monroe (6-0/San Diego St. Augustine); Alize Travis (5-11/Victorville Silverado).
Shooting guards/wings – Chris Barnes (6-3/Torrance Bishop Montgomery); Brandon Cyrus (6-3/San Diego Torrey Pines); Johnny McWilliams (6-4/San Marcos); Chase Nomaaea (6-5/Las Vegas Bishop Gorman); Eyassu Worku (6-1/Los Alamitos).
Posts – Zach Collins (6-8/Las Vegas Bishop Gorman); Tim Harrison (6-8/San Diego Parker); Lucas Siewert (6-8/L.A. Cathedral).
And a dozen more freshmen and eighth-graders:
Point guard-types – Myles Franklin (6-0/Villa Park/2017); Spencer Freedman (5-9/Pacific Palisades/2018); Jamal Hartwell (5-9/Inglewood/2018); Devin Newton (5-11/L.A. View Park/2017); Christian Popoola (6-0/Las Vegas Bishop Gorman/2017).
Shooting guards/wings – Harrison Butler (6-3/Huntington Beach/2018); Charles O’Bannon Jr. (6-3/Las Vegas Bishop Gorman/2017).
Posts – Greg Floyd (6-6/Las Vegas Clark/2017); Jacob Hughes (6-9/Orange Lutheran/2017); Ryan Kiley (6-4/Las Vegas Bishop Gorman/2017); Darian Scott (6-7/Las Vegas Bishop Gorman/2017); DeShawn Wilson (6-6/Las Vegas Clark/2017).
Leave a Reply