IRVINE, Ca. – If the first-ever “Hoops by Ugland Skills Summit” was any more of a smashing success, the Beckman High gymnasium might have been left in a shambles Saturday.
Some 90 or high school players from Southern California (and a notable couple from Milwaukee) were on hand Saturday for the event – run by Devin Ugland and multiple family members – as were some of the most respected “skills” instructors in Southern California.
And players were also able to hear from notable speakers, including broadcaster Casey Jacobsen (a McDonald’s All-American at Glendora High and college All-American at Stanford before being a first-round pick of the Phoenix Suns) and Ronnie Flores (Ball Is Life).
Here’s a brief look at some of the players who impressed not only in the games (each kid got to play in two games although a few may have hopped into a third) but also in the two hours of drill work that started things Saturday morning . . .
The Two Overall “Standouts” (regardless of class standing): Easy selections here in guards Jarred Hyder (Class of 2019/Damien/PICTURED) and Keith Dinwiddie (2020/Culver City).
Hyder and Dinwiddie showed Saturday – as they did all spring and summer on the camp and “travel ball” circuits – that they are two of the very best guards in the west and not just in Southern California in the 2018-19 season.
Top 3 from 2019 (not including Hyder): Justin Rene (Long Beach Poly), Anthony Holland (Notre Dame-Riverside) and Joseph Octave (Mary Star).
Notre Dame – one of the sleeper teams in SoCal in the coming season; it will be in the Platinum division of the Class at Damien – was well-represented Saturday not just by Holland but also by Pierce Sterling, Anton Mozga and Dondre Bausley.
Rene, Holland and Octave scored nearly as easily as did Hyder and Dinwiddie.
And two more I would be remiss in leaving out here: Noel Scott (L.A. Washington) and Jamal Briscoe (Riverside Poly).
Top 3 from 2020 (not including Dinwiddie): Austin Cook (Damien), Clark Slajchert (Oak Park) and Josh Camper (St. John Bosco).
Cook and Hyder are two of the reasons Damien is a threat to be one of the Southern Section’s Open Division squads in 2019.
Slajchert (with brother Wes at Dartmouth and Riley Battin at Utah) will be one of the top scorers in the Southern Section while Camper, one of SoCal’s most improved in the class, banked in a 3 at the buzzer to win the final game Saturday.
And another 2020 player, 6-8 Bradley Ezewiro (Bishop Montgomery), was the best “big” prospect on hand.
Top 3 from 2021: Jahmai Maschack (Etiwanda), Aaron Burgin Jr. (San Diego) and Jessie Campbell (Chula Vista Mater Dei Catholic).
Mashack pretty much over-powered anyone who tried to keep him from the lane Saturday.
And Burgin and Campbell are two of the best in the class from San Diego County.
Top 3 from 2022: Jason Hart Jr. (Dorsey), De’Vontes Cobbs (Phoenix Shadow Mountain) and Isaac Peralta (Santa Ana Mater Dei).
Hart, the left-handed son of the former NBA guard and current USC assistant coach, is the best point guard prospect I’ve seen – anywhere – in the class during the spring and summer.
He could prove to be the No. 1 freshman – period – in Southern California in the coming season.
Cobbs, who recently moved from Milwaukee with his brother (Davon, Class of 2020), was the most dynamic athlete in the building Saturday.
Peralta was solid as both jump shooter and playmaker on Saturday.
Leave a Reply