COLORADO SPRINGS – Some of the very best prospects in the national classes of 2018 and ’17 were among the 48 players on hand Saturday for the start of the two-day “mini-camp” being hosted by USA Basketball.
And, oh yes: There were 11 were darn good seniors doing their thing, as well.
There were a lot chronological – if not always physical – mismatches with those players often matching up with the freshmen and sophomores who were two or three years young across the board.
But they often went head-to-head (especially in drills), so it was a good opportunity to see four of the half-dozen or best “power forward/centers” in the class in the same setting: Henry Ellenson (Rice Lake, WI, HS), Chase Jeter (Las Vegas Bishop Gorman), Caleb Swanigan (Ft. Wayne, IN, Homestead) and Stephen Zimmerman (L.V. Bishop Gorman).
In my humble opinion, each of the four is about as close to “lock” status as exists to be members of the 2015 McDonald’s All-American team.
And at least four 2015 MDAAs will come from the seven 2015 perimeter players in attendance: Jaylen Brown (Marietta, GA, Wheeler), Jalen Brunson (Lincolnshire, IL, Stevenson), Luke Kennard (Franklin, OH, HS), Charles Matthews (Chicago Saint Rita), Allonzo Trier (Henderson, NV, Findlay Prep), Jimmy Whitt (Columbia, MO, Hickman) and D.J. Williams (Chicago Simeon).
This event is a nice opportunity to get my first looks at some of those players from the ’18 and ’17 classes.
They didn’t disappoint, either.
Among the freshmen, centers Austin Wiley (6-foot-10/Hoover, AL, Spain Park) and Nazreon Reid (6-8/Roselle, NJ, Catholic), along with forwards Marvin Bagley (6-9/Tempe, AZ, Corona del Sol) and Brandon Johns (6-7/Lansing, MI, East), and left-handed point guard Marquis Brown (6-2/Chicago Simeon) each more than lived up to the hyperbole that followed them into Colorado Springs.
And 6-8 forward Michael Porter Jr. (Columbia, MO, Father Tolton), 6-10 center Wendell Carter Jr. (Fairburn, FA, Pace Academy) and 6-2 point guard Matthew Coleman (Norfolk, VA, M.F. Maury) didn’t need a lot of on-court time during the two Saturday workout sessions to show why they are among the best prospects here at their respective positions – regardless of class.
Over time, Porter could prove to have been the best prospect – period – in town this weekend.
His fluidity of motion makes it appears that he is handling, passing, shooting and rebounding so easily that some might suggest that he isn’t playing hard or with much emotion.
To that I’d reply “nonsense”.
If there are five better prospects than Porter in the sophomore class, than the Class of 2017 is primed to be considered of the best produced over the past couple of decades or so.
Among the guys who would lend credence to any suggestion that 2017 has an extraordinary number of prospects with “star potential” are Jarred Vanderbilt (6-8/Houston Victory Prep),
D.J. Harvey (6-5/Hyattsville, MD, DeMatha), Tugs Bowen (6-7/Saginaw, MI, Hill) and Troy Brown (6-5/Las Vegas Centennial).
Each showed considerable improvement since the last time I saw them in action – Vanderbilt so much so that, from my point of view, he now presents the strongest threat to challenge 6-10 DeAndre Ayton (from the Bahamas by way of San Diego Balboa prep) as the No. 1 prospect in the class.
Sunday’s final day will have two sessions getting underway at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
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