PARKER, Co. – Sunday the opportunity was at hand for the high school hoopsters to show their – uh, no pun intended – stuff on Day II of the first-ever Pangos All-Colorado Camp at Legend High.
And a whole bunch of them did just that.
Four seniors who plan to sign national letters of intent this week didn’t need to show up.
After all, they’ve already earned their scholarships.
But show up they did – while showing out quite impressively, thank you very much.
One of those 12th-graders, Dominique Collier (Denver East), could have driven to Boulder to watch his future college program, the University of Colorado Buffalos, play host to Tennessee-Martin late Sunday afternoon.
But the point guard, who turned in strong performances at the Pangos All-American Camp in Long Beach, CA last June and during the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, VA in July, was at Legend High, instead – working every bit as hard as any of his fellow members of the Class of 2014 in search of a free college education.
And, although his jump shot wasn’t falling with regularity, Collier did give a nice presentation as to why he could be a backcourt starter for Coach Tad Boyle’s program in 2014-15.
His East High classmate and teammate, 6-foot-6 Ronnie Harrell, also plans to sign this week – with Creighton.
And, who knows? Maybe he’ll follow in the footsteps of other players at about his size who played (Kyle Korver) or are still playing (Doug McDermott) for the Blue Jays.
He’s got the kind of jump shot that is both of those players’ calling card.
Harrell banged in a few shots well beyond the 3-point arc on Sunday – as in 25-feet and beyond away.
The University of San Francisco is going to get one of the more spectacular athletes in attendance Sunday in 6-5 Chase Foster (Highlands Ranch Valor Christian). The left hander had both impressive dunks and deep jumpers.
Weber State is expected to sign a quality post prospect this week and 6-8 Zach Braxton (Highlands Ranch) showed why the Wildcats will be landing one of the more underrated prospects in the western region in this class.
During his second game on Sunday (each player played twice) Braxton had a nice matchup against the most noteworthy sophomore in the state in like-sized De’Ron Davis (Aurora Overland).
In one sequence in their interesting matchup, Davis tried to deflect a post pass into Braxton, missed and Braxton caught the ball, drop stepped into the middle of the lane and ferociously dunked with two hands.
The 220-pound (give or take) Davis used his game to show off a jump shot that has improved considerably since early August – when I last watched him in Garden Grove, CA during the four-day adidas Nations – in both range and accuracy.
Before I pontificate further on juniors, sophomores and freshmen, a few more seniors who impressed on Sunday included:
*Sherron Wilson (6-5/Las Vegas Clark); Treyvon Andres (6-8/Denver Thomas Jefferson); Isaiah Martin (6-11/Denver Montbello); Tim Ladwig (6-7/Littleton); Ibrahim Sylla (6-10/Denver South); Chris Williams (6-0/Aurora Smoky Hill); Austin Hall (6-5/Aurora Gateway); Brandon Wilson (6-6/Columbine); Injiya Crawford (5-9/Highlands Ranch ThunderRidge); and Broderick Robinson (6-0/Grand Junction).
Sherron Wilson – one of the better scorers on hand on Sunday – and his freshman brother, DeShawn Wilson, were two of the few non-Colorado high school players in attendance (their family used to live in the state, though).
The left-handed Andres racked up more dunks than anyone else on Sunday, although one attempted bang was gloved by Martin – who apparently has grown something like five or six inches since the spring.
Ladwig was one of the better rebounders and low-post scorers on display Sunday while Robinson was equally effective as a playmaker and scorer.
The junior class was well-represented by two terrific sub-six footers in Brian Carey (from that extremely gifted Denver East squad) and Michael Sparks (Denver Lincoln).
Sparks, one of the more consistent jump shooters on hand Sunday, was the most impressive point guard not named Dominique Collier.
He’s also got a 4.2 grade point average with a transcript loaded with Advance Placement courses.
Rivaling Foster and Andres as the most impressive high-flying dunker on Sunday was 6-4 junior Troy Green (Denver Montbello).
He sure reminded me a lot of the Toronto Raptors’ Demar DeRozan – facially, physically and, of course, vertically.
And one of the most complete forwards in the camp was 6-6 junior Jake Holtzman (Parker Chaparral), who knocked in jump shots, rebounded strongly and scored well in the lane. And he has a 4.1 grade point average, to boot!
The other sophomores, along with Davis, who also had nice Sunday performances included Ladarius Thomas (6-1/Aurora Central); Riley Matticks (6-1/Parker Legend); Alpha Diallo (6-4/Denver West); Danny Garrick (6-4/Parker Legend); Nathan Davis (6-4/Denver Mullen); and Michael Ranson (6-2/Pueblo Central).
Matticks’ mid-range game – floaters and runners – was quite impressive on Sunday.
And Ranson’s jump shooting – in both range and accuracy – was spot-on in both games.
A day after some strong performances by sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders during the Middle School version of the camp, several players barely into high school had their turn to impress on Sunday.
Freshmen guards with names to remember, based upon Sunday, are Calvin Fugett Jr. (Denver George Washington); Braxton Bertolette (Ft. Collins Fossil Ridge); and Larry Thomas (Aurora Central).
Fugett was outstanding at the point on Sunday, just a day after his eighth-grade brother (Jon’il) looked equally impressive at the position.
Bertolette scored effectively, both on deep jump shots and short pull-ups.
And Aurora Central is going to have a very good – if young – backcourt by way of the Thomas brothers.
The two biggest freshmen in camp were also two of the more eye-catching players, regardless of class.
Six-seven Landon Walker (Scottsbluff in Nebraska) rebounded and scored, inside the lane and with mid-range jumpers, well enough on Sunday to make me imagine that he could evolve into one of the better forwards in the Class of 2017 – in the Midwest and beyond.
And the left-handed 6-4 D’Shawn Schwartz (Colorado Springs Doherty), along with DeShawn Wilson, is one the very best ninth graders in the entire west.
Schwartz’s feel for how the game should be played, at such an early stage of his career, reminds me considerably of where James Harden was at when the Houston Rockets’ all-star was playing high school basketball at Artesia in Lakewood, CA.
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