CARSON, Ca. – The 13th version of the Pangos All-American Camp tipped off Friday night at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
Roughly 100 players were on hand, with some expected attendees unable to play because of illness or injury and some others expected to show up on Saturday morning.
The players are spread over 12 teams, split between “ACC” and “Pac 12” school names.
Of the six games played Friday night, I zeroed in on the two played on Court 1, beginning with the “ACC” clash between “Duke” and “Georgia Tech”:
*Mustapha Heron (Class of 2016/Waterbury, CT, Sacred Heart) is a 6-foot-5 left hander with the body making him look like one of those “big” modern National Football League receivers, a la Larry Fitzgerald, who catch 80-plus footballs per season.
He missed all three of his shots behind the arc but had few other problems doing whatever he wanted, with 26 points, in Duke’s 66-55 win.
Not only was he making his way to the basket with absurd regularity, he also executed a nice side pick-and-roll bounce pass to Cameron McGriff (2016/Grand Prairie, TX, South) for a big dunk.
Also impressing for Duke were 6-9 Nate Morris (2016/Lancaster, TX, Lancaster) and point guard Spencer Freedman (2018/Santa Monica, CA, Santa Monica).
Morris had five buckets, three by way of jump shots (one, after a couple of dribbles, from the left wing; one after an offensive rebound, on a turn-around from the right baseline; and another, from the foul line, after a penetration pass from Freedman).
The left handed Freedman hit a couple of 3s, and had at least three passes that led directly to baskets (although, in the “official” statistics, he wasn’t credited with an assist).
For Georgia Tech, three Southern California-based players from the Class of 2016 had some impressive moments.
Guard Leland Green (Redondo Beach Redondo) scored 11 points, mostly via some hi-speed and change-of-pace drives past defenders and was credited with three assists.
Michael Cage Jr. (Santa Ana Mater Dei) and T.J. Leaf (El Cajon Foothills Christian), both 6-9, combined for 17 points and seven rebounds, with Cage blocking two shots.
Leaf had one of the more eye-catching sequences of the night, snatching a defensive rebound, pushing the ball quickly and rising up and knocking down a 3.
*In the Pac 12 game I watched, “Cal” edged “Stanford”, 59-58.
Stanford got 13 points apiece from guards Christian Popoola Jr. (2017/Highland, UT, Lone Peak) and Cassius Stanley (2019/Encino, CA).
Popoola struggled with his jump shot (he missed 10 of 13 shots) but was credited with three assists and may have actually had more than that.
Stanley, one of the more impressive vertical athletes in the camp, used that leaping ability to fly over or around defenders for well-above-the-rim layups. He may attend Harvard-Westlake (Studio City in Southern California) as a freshman.
And their teammate, 6-6 Terrence Ferguson (2016/Dallas Prime Prep), may be the biggest jumper in the camp.
He had a couple of you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me slams and also knocked in a deep, deep 3.
Six-six Curtis Hollis (2016/Mansfield, TX, Summit), like Heron in the game before, seemed to fly to the glass with the greatest of ease, too, while scoring 23 points via bangs and high-flying layups.
Xavier Tillman (2017/Grand Rapids, MI, Forest Hills Central), at 6-7 and about 240 pounds or so, came to the camp with the reputation of being one of the best power forward prospects in his national class and he looked the part Friday night for Stanford with nine points and four rebounds (he had more than that).
Here are some of the (statistical) performances from players in games I didn’t watch last night:
*Andre Rafus (6-8/2017/Newark, NJ, St. Benedict’s) and Isaiah Washington (6-0/2017/New York St. Raymond’s) of “North Carolina State” went for 24 points (Rafus, including five 3s) and seven points and five assists (Washington).
*Mario Kegler (6-7/2016/Arlington, FL, Country Day) had 21 points and six rebounds for “Washington”.
*Billy Preston (6-9/2017/Dallas Prime Prep) was credited with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists for “USC”.
*East Coast shooting guards Myles Powell (2016/Trenton, NJ, Catholic), Rawle Alkins (2016/New York Christ the King) and Keith Williams (2017/Brooklyn Bishop Loughlin) combined for 49 points of the 69 “UCLA” scored in its 72-69 loss to “Arizona”.
*Six-ten Taurean Thompson (2016/Jersey City St. Anthony) racked up the most impressive statistical performance of any post Friday night for Arizona: 23 points (11 of 13 from the field) and 10 rebounds.
Camp games action resumes at 3 o’clock Saturday afternoon.
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