BURBANK – Deep groups of quality players from Arizona and Nevada, as well as all of California, populated the roster for the West Coast Elite 32 Middle School Camp Sunday at John Burroughs High.
The camp is a co-opted effort of WCE Founder and Director Ryan Silver, and Julius Von Hanzlik of the Cali Stars club program.
Some notable performances were turned in by several future high school point guards, including those by D.J. Thomas and Antonio Burns of Las Vegas, Gavin Hightower of Gardena and John Patrick Kerrigan of San Francisco.
Both Thomas (pictured/he’s the son of 1989 Taft High All-L.A. City selection and UNLV point guard Dedan Thomas, circa 1990-93) and Burns are left-handed sophomores.
Burns was outstanding, especially as a jump shooter, but Thomas was superb across the board – as jump shooter, penetrator and play-maker – and, IMO, was the post impressive player I saw Sunday.
Hightower, just a seventh-grader who doesn’t turn 13 years old until Dec. 15, played with a lot of the poise and soundness at the position that Thomas exhibited so well.
And Kerrigan shined as both a bouncy finisher, playmaker and jump shooter.
Some of the better “taller” (mostly, in the 6-foot-1 and above range) players on hand were Vyctorius Miller, Isaiah Elohim, Jovani Ruff, Hugh Vandeweghe and Bryce Cofield – all from Southern California and all among the 15or so best long-term prospects I saw among the Class of 2024 at the event.
Also falling into the “top 15ish or so” eighth-graders in the 6-1 or taller range at the camp were Jamari Phillips (Modesto), Dominic Williams (Reno) and the Arizona duo of Kendre Pride and Christian Washington.
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