NORWALK – There were multiple standouts during last weekend’s Pangos Junior All-American Camp at Cerritos College.
The “best of the best”, though, from the Class of 2024 – at least on Saturday and Sunday – were a couple of kids from Florida and Texas, respectively
Six-foot-two guard point guard Chandler Watts – who started smashing dunks, too, the moment he walked on the floor Saturday afternoon – got the nod as the camp’s Most Outstanding Player following the conclusion of the Best of the Best All-Star Game.
Watts (pictured), originally from New Jersey, is an eighth-grader at Montverde (FL) Academy Middle School and seems like to be among next elite players to come out of that high-profile program.
The runner-up – and it was more like a “1A” and “1B”-kind of deal – was 6-5 Liam McNeeley, who attends Richardson (TX) Junior High.
Don’t be surprised if he’s a 6-7 or 6-8 “guard” by the time he’s a sophomore or junior at Pearce High (also in Richardson), the alma mater of Gonzaga standout freshman center Drew Timme.
Among the other eighth-graders that impressed me (I was only there about two hours on Saturday) were 6-2 Jack Turner (Temecula); 6-0 Bryson Hughes (New York); 5-8 Darrell Morris (Palmdale); 6-2 Stanley Thomas III (Fontana); 6-3 Joel Moore (Des Moines, IA) and 6-1 Souljah Niles (Los Angeles).
Turner and Thomas are the brothers of standout high school juniors Luke Turner (Rancho Christian) and Malik Thomas (Damien), respectively.
The seventh-graders I came away impressed with included 5-11 McKel Shedrick (Rancho Cucamonga); 6-3 Jaison Joyce (Gardena); 6-5 Tyrell Miller (Inglewood); 6-0 Isaiah Cunningham (Spanaway, WA); 6-0 JJ Apathjang (Wasatch Academy, UT) and 6-7 Bryce Kelly (Redlands).
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