Texans among All-Frosh/Soph Camp standouts

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LEWISVILLE, TX – One thing that was almost immediately quite obvious about the second annual Pangos All-South Frosh/Soph Camp Saturday at the Metro Athletic Center (MAC):

There was no shortage of very tall young men on hand and all of them appeared quite anxious to show how much skill and effort came along with that impressive size.

Among the best of the big fellows were a couple of non-U.S. citizens who are sure to have a lot of U.S. institutions of higher learning – academic and the kind acquired in arenas and gymnasiums – in pursuit of them before too long.

Schneider Herard (who was listed 6-foot-10) and Gracin Bakumanya (listed at 7-foot) impressed in both the afternoon and evening sessions of games, and even matched up for awhile in one of the games.

Herard, who is originally from Haiti and attended Boyd in McKinney, TX last season, is now enrolled at Plano’s Prestonwood Christian Academy – alma mater of University of Kentucky freshman forward Julius Randle.

Bakumanya is originally from the Congo but most recently lived in Spain. It was speculated in the spring that he would attend St. Anthony in Jersey City, NJ as a sophomore (Herard is also listed as being part of the Class of 2016). But his “school” as listed on the camp roster is Pantego Christian Academy in Arlington, TX. Something tells me this is a fluid station. Regardless of where he attends high school (and plays) in the U.S. – if he does – he’ll remain a terrific prospect as he demonstrated quite succinctly on Saturday.

Both players are “true 5s (centers)”, with the physical dimensions and tools to be strong low-post performers on the major college-level – and, perhaps, beyond.

Several other high-quality post prospects from the Class of 2016 on display Saturday were 6-9 Marcus Bolden (DeSoto, TX), 6-8 Harrison Henderson (Triple-A Academy in Dallas) and 6-9 Austin Meyer (Mustang, OK).

Bolden, like Herard and Bakumanya, was strong and forceful in the low post, and an aggressive shot blocker. But he was also very comfortable putting the ball on the floor and attacking off the dribble. His drive and then dunk over the top of another promising big sophomore – Nate Morris (Lancaster, TX) – provided the first day of the camp with one of its more eye-popping moments.

Henderson already possesses well-advance handling and passing skills from the perimeter while Meyer was easily the best jump shooter of all of the posts on hand.

Terrence Ferguson (6-5/Dallas Prime Academy) and De’Aaron Fox (6-3/Cypress, TX, Cypress Lakes) came into the event with the strongest reputations, within the state and nationally, of all of the members of the Texas Class of 2016.

Both showed off a lot of the reasons why on Saturday, Ferguson as a “wing-type” who handled and passed pretty well but rarely hit a jump shot and Fox as a left-handed “combo” who is more likely to be a “point guard-type” in college who needs to show Sunday that he is adept at things other than throwing lobs to Ferguson and getting crowd-reacting, leak-out dunks himself.

Other sophomore perimeter-oriented players who had nice first days included 6-4 Mark Crowe (Dallas Wilson); 6-3 Josh Parish (Arlington, TX, Sequin); 6-1 Andrew Jones (Irving, TX, MacArthur); 6-2 Jamar Sandifer (Dallas Triple A Academy); 6-foot Niekie Thomas (Springfield, MO, Kickapoo); 5-11 Michael McGraw (Plano, TX, West); and 6-4 Jacoby Pemberton (Lancaster, TX).

Crowe and Parish were among the impressive jump shooters in the event while Jones was one of the better defenders and also readily beat defenders off the dribble and out-hustled a lot of foes, as well.

Among the Class of 2017 – current freshmen – some of those who wasted little time in standing out were 6-2 Jordan Myers (North Crowley, TX); 5-11 Jeremiah Wiley (Hebron, TX); 6-3 Chris Giles (Plano, TX, West); 6-foot Ricky Nelson (Houston Episcopal); 6-8 Jarred Vanderbilt (Houston Victory Prep); 6-9 Isaiah Jacey (Killeen, TX, Ellison); 6-5 Winston Nelson (Norman, OK, North); 6-foot Ashton Logan (Temple, TX); and 6-foot Shawn Williams (Dallas Prime Prep).

Myers was as good-looking a jump shooter as there is in camp while Wiley is the son of former NBA (including Dallas) point guard Morlon Wiley.

The 6-8 Vanderbilt is among the intriguing prospects in camp, largely because of the left hander’s skill as a handler and passer.

And make a hand-written, hand-held or laptop note of the name of Deshang Weaver (Cypress, TX, Cy-Falls). Not only was he the most productive and impressive eighth grader Saturday he is also likely the best prospect in the Texas Class of 2018 and one of the better ones, nationally, as well.

The second and final day of camp actions gets underway with games at 9 Sunday morning, and wraps up with Top 40 and Top 20 all-star games at 2 and 3 p.m., respectively.