DALLAS – Saturday’s first day of the Pangos All-South Frosh/Soph Camp was held at the oh-so-cool Drive National multi-court facility just a couple of deep 3-point shots from DFW Airport.
And, with approximately 260 players on hand, most of the better players in the classes of 2021 and ’22 from Texas were on display during the 28 games that were played.
Some of the notables on hand among the players about to start their sophomore seasons included 6-foot-8 Arthur Kaluma (Coppel Universal Academy), 6-5 Alec Zambie (Plano West), 6-6 K.J. Adams (Austin Westlake), 6-5 Latrell Moore (Houston Willowridge) and 6-5 Jaden Jones (he lives in Dallas and is home-schooled).
Kaluma (PICTURED) is making his third appearance in the camp and, based upon his performance in his two games Saturday with “Tennessee”, he seems determined to end things Sunday afternoon as the top-ranked sophomore at the event.
He overwhelmed any defender that dared try to check him with his forays to the rim and a much-improved jumper from just about any distance.
Zambie may not have scored with quite the bounce and power that Kaluma utilized Saturday but he scored just as readily with his on-target jump shooting and smooth, either-hand finishes on drives or off cuts.
The 15-year-old spent most of the summer with the Lebanon National Junior program (he’s third-generation Lebanese) and was a standout during the Pan-Asian competition in August in Thailand.
Adams was terrific during the West Coast Elite Rising Stars Camp (at Coronado High in Henderson, NV) in July and was every bit as impressive – and forceful with his rim-distorting dunks – Saturday here.
No one played with more controlled aggression Saturday than did Moore, who attacked – figuratively, of course – opponents off the dribble and got into a lot of grills on the defensive side of the court.
And even as Kaluma was over-powering folks with the greatest of ease Saturday, his teammate on Tennessee, Jones, also put his deep bag of tricks on display as a handler, playmaker and scorer.
Members of the Texas Class of 2022 who quickly seized my attention Saturday included 6-5 Tre White (Elm City), 6-3 Keyonte George (Lewisville) and 6-3 Chris Marshall (Houston Thurgood Marshall).
White will be a high school teammate of one of the more touted players in the Class of 2020, guard R.J. Hampton.
If his two-game (with “LSU”) effort Saturday is a reliable gauge, White may evolve into every bit the prospect – regionally and nationally – that Hampton has become.
George hit three or four deep jumpers when I watched him (with “Mississippi”) and also pressured the heck out of ball handlers, too.
Marshall one just one of several Houston-based players who make strong on-court arguments for inclusion into one of Sunday’s two all-star games.
Texas wasn’t the only state well-repped Saturday.
Sophomore forward David Dixon (Memphis Briercrest), Arkansas swingmen Jalen Ricks (Sherwood Sylvan Hills) and Terran Williams (Mariana Barton), and Oklahoma point guards Devon Barnes (a sophomore from Lawton Christian School) and Kasai Burton (a freshman from Tishomingo) could each earn a spot in the Top 30 all-star clash to wrap up the camp Sunday afternoon.
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