PHOENIX – Day I of the inaugural NCAA-front “College Basketball Academy” drew varying number of college coaches to its multiple “camp games” played Tuesday afternoon thru late evening.
At least that was the case for the “western” version of the event, which is being held at Grand Canyon University, in the impressive and well-conditioned campus arena and newly built Canyon Activity Center across campus.
The largest crowds of coaches – and schools they represented – were on hand for the games involved high school players already “identified” as well-better-than-average college prospects.
But there’s nothing new in that regard – that’s always been the case, regardless of which “shoe company” (aka, Nike, Under Armour or adidas) or “independent event” (for example, the great – and, apparently, late – Fab 48).
The first two games I watched, in the GCU Arena, featured numerous highly thought-of prospects from the western Class of 2020, which is why (from my unofficial count) there appeared to be 50-plus coaches in the stands, from all of the western-based conferences and handful of non-west programs.
Among those players were Brandon Angel (San Diego Torrey Pines), Robby Beasley (Dougherty Valley High in San Ramon), Jaren Johnson (Lynwood) and Liam Lloyd (Gonzaga Prep in Spokane).
And there also some very good juniors-to-be on hand, too, drawing the coaches’ attention, notably Ben Gregg (Portland Grant) and Kennedy Dixon-Waters (L.A. Dorsey).
A lot of those coaches headed across campus for the second of games in later in the evening but there were still seven colleges (of the “mid-major” variety) represented during those games, when players such as Amound Anderson (PICTURED/Lawndale, CA, Leuzinger), Atin Wright (Anaheim Fairmont Prep) and Devon Jackson (Dublin) played quite well.
Games resume Wednesday afternoon.
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