LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Four fall weekends in Westminster (CA), Dallas, Chicago and Thorofare (NJ) produced four Pangos All-regional Frosh/Soph Camps which, combined, attracted some of the very best players from the Classes of 2021 and ’22 (and a smattering of eighth graders, as well).
I attended each of the West, South, Midwest and East sessions and wrote about each of them on the evening they ended.
Here are my thoughts on the players in those events collectively, beginning with the freshmen (Class of 2022 . . .
As I will do later for the Class of 2021 (sophomores), I’ve selected a “first five, second give and 10 ‘honorable mentions’”.
In the majority of cases, the guys “who played the best” (over the three camp games and all-star contest each played in) over the weekends were also the “best prospects” at the camps.
But there are some guys whose names you won’t find on these who I consider “better (college) prospects” than some of the players who did make this cut.
My selections skewed heavily toward how “consistently well” each of the kids played over the entirety of the weekend.
There wasn’t much in the way of significant “separation” between the five guys on my first team and the next five – or the 10 honorable mentions, for that matter.
Those qualifiers out of the way, my choices for “best performer” in this class came down to guards Richard Isaacs Jr. and Jaylen Drane, and forward Khamari Lands, with forwards Colin Smith and Jalen Washington ever-so-slightly behind those three.
Smith was as “smooth” a freshman as I saw, tremendously productive as a scorer without ever showing a glimpse of selfishness. And – if forced to make the call – I’d go with Washington as the best prospect I saw among Pangos freshmen.
Lands was the best “scorer” among all freshmen – and, perhaps, sophomores, as well – who played in one of the sessions.
And Isaacs and Drane were just two of what I believe were seven exceptional “point guard-types” (with Zion Cruz, Tre White, Jameel Brown, Jason Hart Jr., and Chris Marshall) from the Class of 2022 on the Pangos circuit.
And, although Drane defended better than did Isaacs (who is already a solid defender, by the way it’s just that Drane has a chance to be an elite defender early into his high school career) I gave Isaacs; the edge based on his stunning jump-shooting and playmaking efforts at Westminster High during the All-West Camp (Sept. 22&23).
So that’s why I made the call of Isaacs as the Most Outstanding Freshman on the 2018 Pangos All-Frosh/Soph circuit.
The complete 2022 selections:
First Team
Jaylen Drane 6-2 Chicago Simeon/MIDWEST
Richard Isaacs Jr. 6-2 Henderson (NV) Coronado/WEST
Khamari Lands 6-6 La Porte (IN) La Lumiere/MIDWEST
Colin Smith 6-6 Dallas St. Mark’s School/SOUTH
Jalen Washington 6-8 Gary (IN) Westside/MIDWEST
Second Team
Abdou Halil Barre 6-9 Centerreach (NY) Our Savior New American/EAST
Zion Cruz 6-3 Jersey City (NJ) Hudson Catholic/EAST
Richard Nweke 6-7 New York City Dwight School/EAST
Tre White 6-5 Little Elm (TX)/SOUTH
Kijani Wright 6-8 Los Angeles Windward/WEST
Honorable Mention
Jameel Brown 6-2 Haverford (PA) School/EAST
Andre Casey Jr. 6-8 Chicago Simeon/MIDWEST
Reece Dixon 6-4 Los Angeles Dorsey/WEST
Keyonte George 6-3 Lewisville (TX)/SOUTH
Jason Hart Jr. 6-1 Los Angeles Dorsey/WEST
Chris Marshall 6-3 Houston Thurgood Marshall/SOUTH
Christian Moore 6-4 Los Angeles Brentwood/WEST
Rodney Rice 6-3 Clinton (MD) Bullis/EAST
Nick Smith 6-3 Sherwood (AR) Sylvan Hills/SOUTH
Silas Sunday 7-0 Bronx (NY) Our Savior Lutheran/EAST
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