NORWALK, Ca. – The first stop on the 2016 national Pangos All-Frosh/Soph circuit wrapped up Sunday afternoon at Cerritos Community College, with many of the West’s best in the Classes of 2019 and ’20 on display in a couple of all-star games.
And, after a few hours of deliberation after watching the 180-plus players in action, I’ve pared what I saw over Saturday and Sunday into my perspective on the “Best of the Best” at the event.
Both my top sophomore and top freshman selections could have easily been co- or even tri-selections in each category.
But, hey, picking multiple players in each instance would have been the easy way out and I’ve rarely opted for the “easy” options in my life – or so it seems.
And, as a reminder, these picks are based upon how the players performed when I watched them Saturday and Sunday, not upon short- (relative to the rest of their high school careers), long- (how I think they might fare in college) or evener longer-term (what I think of their chances at NBA futures) “potential”.
Studio City Harvard-Westlake captured a California State Division IV championship in Sacramento last March due in large part to the presence of one of the very best freshmen in the 2015-16 season in Cassius Stanley.
And Coach David Rebido’s Wolverines could be in pursuit of the CIF Southern Section’s biggest basketball team prize next March – the Open Division champion – with the help of another freshman who will be among the state’s best this season.
That’s 6-foot-6 Johnny Juzang, who was credited with 43 points (with seven 3s) in the last of his three “camp” games on Sunday morning before helping the black jersey-wearing team roll to a 116-63 win over its white jersey-wearing opponents in the Top 30 Cream of the Crop All-Star game that wrapped up things at about 3:30 or so.
The camp featured a lot of tremendous “scorers” but none who did so in so many ways and in what often appeared in such “no fuss or ‘muss” fashion as did Juzang, without seemingly forcing or “hunting” shots.
Juzang got the slighted of edges for “Top freshman” designation over two other players who will be near the top of California’s Class of 2020 come next March: 6-4 Jalen Green (San Joaquin Memorial in Fresno) and 6-4 Jaylen Clark (Centennial in Corona).
Green will be playing for a program that, to the best of my recollection, has produced five players selected in NBA drafts (Clifton Pondexter; his brother Roscoe and Roscoe’s son, Quincy; and twins Brook and Robin Lopez).
He is schedule to participate in USA Basketball’s Mini-Camp early next month in Colorado Springs.
And Clark has already been a standout (in summer and fall action) for a Centennial program that has turned out numerous college players over the past 10 years or so, and will be led this season by a UCLA-bound senior in 6-9 Jalen Hill.
My options for Top sophomore were even deeper before I decided upon tabbing 6-8 Darren Jones (Cajon in San Bernardino) for that honor over three other Southern California residents in 6-6 Jaime Jaquez (Camarillo), 6-3 Jarod Lucas (Los Altos in Hacienda Heights) and 6-0 Ethan Anderson (Fairfax in Los Angeles).
A compelling argument could be made that Jones is the most physically gifted high school athlete at his size in California, as he was also a standout wide receiver as well as hoopster as a freshman last season at Upland High.
But those of us who watched him over the weekend got a better look at his basketball skill than anyone else will see of him this school year:
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) ruled ineligible to play varsity in either sport for Cajon in 2016-17 following the transfer.
Jaquez (whose package of dribbling, passing and scoring skills, in combination with his horizontal and vertical explosiveness, may have exceeded any other player in the camp) will challenge the likes of Cassius Stanley (Harvard-Westlake), Onyeka Okongwu and Melo Ball (both Chino Hills), Lucas and Anderson for Southern California and State Sophomore of the Season honors in March.
Lucas was the best jump shooter I saw over the weekend, from mid- and especially from deep-range.
Anderson beats his opponents off the dribble in the same fashion Stanford’s Christian McCaffery evades would-be-tacklers: He’s too quick, too strong and too cleaver to be slowed by them.
My “Best of the Camp” selections:
TOP 25 PERFORMERS (alpha listing)
SOPHOMORES (Class of 2019/15 players)
Ethan Anderson 6-0 (Los Angeles/Fairfax)
Julien Franklin 6-4 (Villa Park, CA)
Sedrick Hammonds 6-2 (Las Vegas/Clark)
Gianni Hunt 6-2 (Torrance, CA/Bishop Montgomery)
Jaime Jaquez 6-6 (Camarillo, CA)
Darren Jones 6-8 (San Bernardino, CA/Cajon)
Jamon Kemp 6-6 (Seattle/Garfield)
Jake Kyman 6-7 (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA/Santa Margarita)
Samba Kane 6-10 (Aurora, CO/Regis)
Jarod Lucas 6-3 (Hacienda Heights, CA/Los Altos)
Robert McRae 6-4 (Los Angeles/Fairfax)
Isaiah Mobley 6-8 (Temecula, CA/Rancho Christian)
Abdul Mohamed 6-7 (Seattle/West)
Kirkland Smith 6-6 (Los Angeles/Fairfax)
Marcus Tsohonis 6-4 (Portland/Jefferson)
FRESHMEN (Class of 2020/10 players)
Joshua Christopher 6-3 (Lakewood, CA/Mayfair)
Jaylen Clark 6-4 (Corona, CA/Centennial)
Isaiah Cottrell 6-7 (Las Vegas/Bishop Gorman)
Keith Dinwiddie 6-2 (Los Angeles Verbum Dei)
Ryan Evans 6-2 (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA/Santa Margarita)
Jalen Green 6-4 (Fresno/San Joaquin Memorial)
Johnny Juzang 6-6 (Studio City, CA/Harvard-Westlake)
Evan Mobley 6-7 (Temecula, CA/Rancho Christian)
Aidan Prukop 6-3 (Santa Ana, CA/Mater Dei)
Noah Taitz 6-1 (Las Vegas Bishop Gorman)
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