LONG BEACH, Ca. – The annual Pangos Junior All-American Camp has produced too many McDonald’s All-Americans, college All-Americans and NBA first-round picks to list without my fingers getting cramped typing all of their names.
Will the most recent camp, held this past weekend at McBride High with 183 players in attendance from across the country, follow in its predecessors’ footsteps relative to the high school, college and NBA careers its alumni experience?
I’m not one to look far down the road when it comes to the basketball “futures” of 13- and 14-year-olds.
But there was no shortage of compelling “prospects”, especially among the current eighth-graders, in attendance Saturday and Sunday.
As usually the case, quality guards were in abundance.
There was a plethora of “point guard-types”, with a kid from Florida – Louvens Saint-Pierre – being the quickest and slickest of the bunch at this point in their respective developments.
Five “bigs” – Brannon Martinsen, Samuel Mbingazo, Jaidyn Smith, Tyran Stokes and Maximus VanLaningham – dominated their counterparts through the three “camp” games and the Best of the Best All-Star game that wrapped things up Sunday afternoon.
Orange County was well-represented at the event, with six 949/714 are code kids landing on my Top 20 of the Class of 2026 at the camp.
One of those was the top scorer in the camp, Che’ Brogan.
The left-hander is the son of former Mater Dei and Pepperdine standout Tommy Lewis, who is now the head coach at Valley Christian in Cerritos.
Brogan, who averaged 24 points in his four games, will played for his dad at Valley Christian as a 2022-23 freshman.
He moved from Australia a little more than a year ago to live with his dad. His mother is Michelle Brogan, a standout on the Australian team that won bronze and silver medals during the 1996 and 2000 Summer Games., who later played in the WNBA.
Camp Most Outstanding Player
Tyran Stokes 6-7 Pittsburg, CA
Best of Best All-Star Game Co-MOPs
Jaden Bailes 6-0 San Diego
Isaiah Rogers 5-11 Corona, CA
The Rest of my Top Performers from Class of 2026
(Excluding the MOPs)
Jordan Askew 5-10 Costa Mesa, CA
Kaiden Bailey 6-4 Sage Oak, CA
Che’ Brogan 6-5 Mission Viejo, CA
Jason Crowe Jr. 6-0 Inglewood, CA
Braeden Davidson 6-1 Orange, CA
Justice Griffith 5-11 Corona, CA
Brannon Martinsen 6-7 Aliso Viejo, CA
Samuel Mbingazo 6-8 Las Vegas
Milak Myatt 6-3 Wyncote, PA
CJ Richardson 5-10 Long Beach
Izaiyah Romero 6-0 Thornton, CO
Louvens Saint-Pierre 5-8 Orlando, FL
Jaidyn Smith 6-5 Corona, CA
Maximus VanLaningham 6-7 Roseville, CA
Isaiah Ward 6-5 San Antonio, TX
Markee White Jr. 6-5 Orange, CA
Zachary White 6-4 Northridge, CA
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