RENO – Saturday’s first-ever Talent out West Showcase – held at both Reno High and just down the street at the Pennington Boys and Girls Club – proved just that for lot high school basketball players in and around the city, as well as adjacent states.
The 75 or so athletes in attendance included among 20 seniors who have yet to decide upon college destinations.
The most notable of those included 6-foot-10 Octavian Corley (McQueen in Reno) and 6-7 Zach Williams (Galena in Reno).
Corley averaged 18.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots per game this past season as his team finished 18-11.
He apparently had stops at a couple of other high schools before McQueen and, Saturday, appeared if he still has a lot of untapped talent – he’s very slender at about 200 or so pounds but is a quick jumper and has a soft shooting touch – on his long frame.
He’s got several community colleges in pursuit (his academics are such that he won’t meet the NCAA’s minimum eligibility standards) and that list could expand as more coaches see him when he plays for the Nevada Wolverines travel program in April and July.
The 210-pound Williams, a 17-year old senior (a bit of rarity in this era of “hold-backs” in middle school), averaged 16.6 points and 5.6 rebounds for a 17-11 Galena team. He’s physically stronger and more polished right now than is Corley,
He, too, is expected to play for the Wolverines during the April and July “NCAA viewing periods”.
Also on hand were a half-dozen or so players from “Reno International Prep”, a basketball “academy” of sorts in town for post-high school players who have yet to play in college.
The most two noteworthy of those were 6-8 Matthew Williams (originally from Baton Rouge, LA) and 6-4 Jordan Roberson (from Rancho Cordova near Sacramento).
There were also players from the Class of 2017 that stood out, including forwards Tez Allen and Jayden DeJoseph (Carson in Carson City); Nyaabila Apambire (Damonte Ranch in Reno); Marcus Loadholt (Spanish Springs in Sparks); Dillon Voyles (Galena); Drew Rippingham (Reno); Breven Bansuelo (Bishop Manogue in Reno); Kejohn Corley (McQueen); and Malik Youmes (Hug in Reno).
The 6-4 Allen and 6-5 DeJoseph had strong junior seasons for a Carson team that finished 24-5 following its loss to Henderson Coronado in the Nevada State Championship semifinals.
Both were pretty assertive on Saturday, Allen as a driver and “slasher” and DeJoseph, especially, as a deep jump shooter (he hit three 3s in one game I watched).
Rippingham and Bansuelo joined a sophomore, slender 6-6 sophomore Moses Wood (Galena), as perhaps the three most effective deep jump shooters I watched at the event.
Wood’s father, David Woods, is a 1988 graduate of the University of Nevada who played parts of eight seasons for eight NBA franchises.
Aparmbire’s parents migrated to the U.S. from Ghana two years before he was born. He was the first child in the Aparmbire’s extended family born in the U.S.
The 6-4 junior was one of the two or three most explosive (vertically) athletes in the camp and he used that quick lift effectively in finishes in the lane (a couple of wicked dunks) and via a couple of deep jump shots.
The 6-3, 205-pound Loadholt averaged 18.2 points per game as a junior for Spanish Springs and looked like he’d be an effective outside linebacker for the school if, in fact, he actually played football (which he doesn’t, apparently, despite suggestions from the school football coaching staff).
One of Loadholt’s teammates at Spanish Springs, 6-4 Jalen Townsell, joined Wood as the two sophomores who most impressed when I watched Saturday.
The 6-foot Youmes was as polished a point guard as there was at the event and he is expected to start for the Nevada Wolverines 17-U team at the position this spring and summer on the “travel” circuit.
Coach Deonard Wilson from Grant in Sacramento brought four of his underclassmen to the event and the most impressive of those – again, at least when I watched – was a freshman, 6-3 Steven Richardson.
He’s got some edges that need smoothing but he made some nifty passes as well as finishes Saturday and he doesn’t look as if he is anywhere near finished sprouting yet.
Congrats are in order for Dustin Hall and Garry Hill-Thomas of the Wolverines program for staging a well-organized and competitive event in its inception.
Dustin hall does not care about his players.