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Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

New Yorkers among Pangos headliners Saturday

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WEST DEPTFORD, NJ – Brooklyn’s Bishop Loughlin High had a couple of standouts on Saturday during the first day of the Pangos East All-Frosh/Soph Camp at the RiverWinds Center in this New Jersey suburb located about 15 miles north of Philadelphia.

It may have actually had more than just two standouts among the five players that represented it during the 200-plus player event whose second day begins Sunday morning at 9:30 and wraps up with its Top 30 All-Star Game that is scheduled to tip off at 2:30 in the afternoon.

But sophomores Justin Champagne and Idrissa Bivens were the only two of those I was able to get up-close look at during their Saturday evening games.

The 6-foot-5 Champagne has a twin, Julian, who I didn’t get to watch Saturday. I hope to get a chance to on Sunday morning.

And if his skill and effort mirrors his brother then he too is already a heck of a player and college prospect.

In the first half alone for his “VCU” camp squad, Justin Champagne blocked five shots – spanking attempts away in and around the lane while also closing out niftily to slap away jump shots.

He didn’t have to show off an extensive variety of scoring skills because he pretty much dunked every time he caught the ball within 10 feet of the iron.

And the 6-3 Bivens was as impressive a “point guard” prospect as I watched Saturday, making the “right” passes, on the money and on time, utilizing his skill as a handler to get by defenders at will but never over-handling for the sake of creating video highlight material.

The first day of the camp also was highlighted by the presence of several players who were outstanding here a year ago as freshmen.

And two those – 6-2 Cole Anthony (Queens, NY, Archbishop Molloy) and 6-6 Eric Dixon (Abington, PA, Abington) – were among the 20 players from the Class of 2019 who participated in the USA Basketball Mini Camp earlier this month in Colorado Springs.

Anthony, the son of former UNLV and NBA guard and current television basketball analyst Greg Anthony, is the consensus No. 1 point guard prospect in his class right now while the left-handed Dixon is among the very best of the “undersized power forwards” in the class.

Another son of a former NBA standout (Shareef Abdul-Rahim) who was also in Colorado Springs is 6-6 Jabri Abdul-Rahim (Orange, NJ, Seton Hall Prep).

The 14-year-old Abdul-Rahim scored almost too easily Saturday with nary a selfish attempt, knocking is mid-range jumpers, following in misses and finishing one very nice up-fake and step-thru move inside the lane.

Three other 2015 veterans of the camp who played quite impressively Saturday night were 6-5 Marvin Price (who was at DeMatha High in Hyattsville, MD as a freshman but now attends Patterson High in Baltimore); 6-8 Jason Murphy (Chapelgate Christian in Marriotsville, MD); and 6-10 Qudus Wahab (Virginia Academy in Ashburn, VA).

Joining Abdul-Rahim as some of the Saturday night standouts from the Class of 2020 were 6-3 Cartier Bowman (Notre Dame in Lawrenceville, NJ); 6-8 Lance Ware (Life Center in Burlington, NJ); 6-6 Noah Collier (Westtown, PA, Westtown); and 6-0 KeShaun Hammonds (Philadelphia Constitution).

Another 2019 standout point guard Saturday night was 6-3 Jordan Livingston (Life Center in Burlington, NJ) who, like Isaiah Bivens, impressed as much for his willingness to pass up makeable shots for himself to dish layups to teammates as he did anything else.

Pennsylvania powerhouse Neumann Goretti is represented by seven players, including freshmen Cameron Young and Zahmir Carroll, both of which played well when I watched Saturday night.

They had a high-profile senior teammate watching them in action Saturday – McDonald’s All-American candidate point guard Quade Green, a standout at this camp in 2013 and ’14.

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