Davis and Schwartz among WCE/Denver standouts

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DENVER – The fourth West Coast Elite High School Camp, held at Manual High in Denver on Sunday, provided the perfect venue and opportunity for NCAA Division I coaching staffs to get a first-hand look at some of the best hoops talent in Colorado.

The only problem with my premise, of course, is that the event wasn’t held during one of the “live” evaluation periods – for non-high school-sponsored events – that the NCAA certifies in April and July.

Those in attendance (mostly parents, high school and club coaches, event organizer Ryan Silver and his staff, and assorted talent evaluators – including yours truly), though, had the opportunity to peruse a lot of players who already are, or will be, targeted by a lot of college recruiters.

Here are some of those players who impressed me Sunday:

*Many props are in line for DeRon Davis, the 6-foot-9 senior who has helped lead Aurora Overland to the state 5A championship last March.

Davis played at each of the four WCE camps (the first three were held at Legend High in near-by Parker) and getting to the fourth took a little doing on Sunday morning – he went directly from Denver International Airport Sunday morning to Manual High after his weekend visit to Mississippi State.

Davis, who is expected to sign with the MSU Bulldogs or Indiana during the “early” NCAA national letter of intent signing period that begins on Wednesday, mostly toyed with his opposition during the three “camp” games he played Sunday.

His jump shot has improved to the point where he is likely to make an ideal “pick and pop four man” in either Bloomington or Starkville. But he got a bit too casual deeper into Sunday afternoon, often settling too often for jump shots that were either forced or a step or so beyond his range.

And the head-up competition was a bit tougher during the Top 20 All-Star Game that wrapped up the game as he got was challenged by one of the region’s best Class of 2017 posts, 6-10 Hunter Thompson (Pine Bluffs in Wyoming).

*I’ve seen Thompson at multiple venues, most recently during Silver’s Elite 100 at Pomona Pitzer in Southern California last July.

His improvement since the summer, in both skill development and assertiveness, was immensely obvious during his camp contests and the Top 20 Game Sunday.

He’s a Top 100 prospect, at the very least, in the national Class of 2017

*The other “true post” – with considerable size – on display Sunday was senior Relando Rodgers (6-9 and about 240 pounds, by way of the College Prep Academy in Denver).

This one the first time I had the opportunity to see Rodgers in action – I’d never heard of him prior to seeing him Sunday.

But he will intrigue any of the Division I coaches who have yet to see him just as readily as he impressed me on Sunday with his good hands, soft shooting touch and decent footwork.

Rodgers migrated to Denver from the Virgin Islands in March of 2014.

*By far and away the best player – and prospect – on display Sunday was another veteran of each of the four WCE/Denver camps, D’Shawn Schwartz (Colorado Springs Sand Creek).

The left hander was one of the standouts at each of those camps but his game has made quantum leap, even since last summer.

I’m now inclined to believe he’s one of the half-dozen or so best prospects in the Class of 2017 in the west and somewhere in the range of one of Top 25 prospects in the class, nationally.

Offensively there isn’t anything he doesn’t do quite well right now.

*Two other Class of 2017 prospects who were quite impressive were guards Braxton Bertolette (Fort Collins Fossil Ridge) and Jaizec Lottie (Aurora Cherokee Trail).

If Schwartz wasn’t the best jump shooter on hand Sunday that it was Bertolette.

Lottie was the best point guard prospect at the event – unless, of course, we want to label Schwartz as a “point guard prospect” which I believe a lot of college recruiters are apt to do.

But Lottie was terrific on Sunday and, at least on the first viewing, would seem to be an upper-tier prospect at the position in the west.

*A couple of senior “point guard-types” who impressed on Sunday were Riley Matticks (Parker Legend) and Reggie Gibson, who helped DeRon Davis lead Overland to that Colorado state title last spring.

*No one played any harder – at both ends of the floor – on Sunday than did seniors Chudier Bile (Denver South) and Jordan Cothran (Denver Rocky Mountain Lutheran) as junior Keegan Crosby (Seattle Blanchet).

Bile was especially outstanding in the Top 20 Game – in fact, he was as effective as any player in that contest.

He reminds me a tad of NBA forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute in both body-type, quickness of the floor and approach.

Cothran was quite effective both off the dribble and via mid- and deep-range jump shots on Sunday.

Crosby joined Thompson (Wyoming) and junior Rodolzo Lewis (Marietta Wheeler in Georgia) as non-Colorado residents selected to the Top 20 Game.

My Top 30 Camp Selections

Seniors

Malik Bar 6-4 SF/Denver Collegiate Prep Academy

Chudier Bile 6-6 SF/Denver South

Jordan Cothran 6-2 SG/Denver Rocky Mountain Lutheran

DeRon Davis 6-9 Post/Aurora (CO) Overland

Reggie Gibson 5-10 PG/Aurora (CO) Overland

Riley Matticks 6-3 PG/Parker (CO) Legend

Jordan Phillips 6-6 SF/Colorado Springs Sand Creek

Tyrei Randall 6-6 SF/Aurora (C) Rangeview

Relando Rodgers 6-9 Post/Denver Collegiate Prep Academy

Will Wittman 6-3 SF&SG/Arvada (CO) West

Juniors

Braxton Bertolette 6-2 SG/Fort Collins (CO) Fossil Ridge

Elijah Blake 6-3 SG/Aurora (CO) Rangeview

Keegan Crosby 6-5 SF/Seattle Bishop Blanchet

Calvin Fugett, Jr 6-1 PG/Denver George Washington

C.J. Jennings 6-3 SG/Colorado Springs Sierra

Rodolzo Lewis 6-3 SF/Marietta (GA) Wheeler

Jaizec Lottie 6-1 PG/Aurora (CO) Cherokee Trail

Oscar Maldonado 6-3 SF/Greeley (CO) Northridge

Zual Noi 6-3 SG/Denver East

D’Shawn Schwartz 6-6 PG, SG&SF/Colorado Springs Sand Creek

Hunter Thompson 6-10 C/Pine Bluffs (WY) Pine Bluffs

Sophomores

Will Becker 6-6 Post/Aurora (CO) Smoky Creek

Jon’il Fugett 6-0 PG/Denver George Washington

Zach Hidalgo 6-4 SF/Greeley (CO) Frontier Academy

Keonte Kennedy 6-2 SG/Aurora (CO) Cherokee Trail

Sam Masten 6-3 PG/Littleton (CO) Rock Canyon

Tyson Gilbert 6-0 PG/Highlands Ranch (CO) Highlands Ranch

Freshmen

Jaedon Bowles 6-4 PF/Denver Manual

Stephen Hayes 6-2 PG/Aurora (CO) Overland

Jamil Safieddine 5-10 PG/Aurora (CO Regis Jesuit