BEAVERTON, Ore. – Approximately 150 boys’ high school basketball players, based in the Pacific Northwest, hooked up in Saturday during the first of the two days of the James Johnson-fronted The Hoop Circuit Prospect Camp at the Beaverton YMCA.
The players were divided among 16 camp teams. I was able to watch half of those teams during the four games I was court-side for Saturday evening.
Action resumes Sunday morning at 9 o’clock, and I’m determined to see as much of the other teams the other eight teams as possible. Wish me luck . . .
The first game I watched on Court 1 Saturday night was “Utah” vs. “Arizona”.
Utah was led by three current juniors (Class of 2023) in 6-foot-10 Blake Buchanan (Coeur D’Alene, ID, Lake City), his 6-1 high school teammate Kolton Mitchell and 6-6 Jaylin Stewart (Seattle Garfield).
Buchanan (pictured), who played for the Eastern Washington Elite club program over the summer, was – by way of his combination of size and athletic and basketball skill – the most compelling “prospect” I saw Saturday.
He and Mitchell (a skilled playmaker and scorer) helped take Lake City to the Idaho State 5-A final on March 6, where it was beaten by Meridian, 68-54.
With the bulk of its roster returning, Lake City should make another deep run in the state tournament this spring.
Stewart, whose father (Lodrick) and uncle (Rodrick) were twin standouts at Seatte’s Rainier Beach High and USC, already has a long list of college coaching staffs following his development at both Garfield and with the Nike/EYBL Rotary Select program.
Arizona was led by two quality, “wing-type” 2022 prospects in Devon Malcolm (South Medford in Oregon) and Caden Harris (Summit in Bend, OR).
The 6-4 Malcolm was the most vertically explosive athlete I saw Saturday night (he slammed over the top of several helpless defenders) while the 6-5 Harris showed off a fluid and accurate jump shot as well as the ability to get into the lane for high-percentage attempts.
There were numerous quality jump shooters on display Saturday – none more prolific than Jacob Axmaker, though.
The 6-foot senior (Stayton High in Oregon) dropped seven 3s while scoring 31 points for New Mexico in its game with Washington.
The Colorado team was led by two Washington-based Class of 2023 prospects with the last name Williams though they are not related.
Six-three Mason Williams, with a nifty jump shot and mid-range game, should be one of the top scorers in Seattle for O’Dea this season while 6-4 Keegan Williams (Lynnwood) demonstrated his ability to score off the drive, catch and via post-up opportunities.
And 6-3 Zoom Diallo (Tacoma Curtis) did a nice job of living up to his pre-camp reputation as one of the better Class of 2024 (sophomore) prospects in the West with the Oregon team.
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