Class of 2024 shows out at Pangos AA Camp

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LAS VEGAS – How strong is high school basketball’s national Class of 2024?

The collective performances of the soon-to-be juniors during the three days of the 20^th Pangos All-American Camp at Bishop Gorman High would suggest very strong, indeed.

Twenty-five of the 60 players selected to play in the camp’s two all-star games Tuesday afternoon are c/o 2024 members.

In that group is a player who attends Liberty, which is in Henderson and located about 16 miles southeast of the Bishop Gorman High campus.

Dedan Thomas Jr., whose father was an all-L.A. City selection at Woodland Hills Taft and the last “great point guard” Jerry Tarkanian coached at UNLV, was an easy selection to the Top 30 Cream of the Crop game that closed out the event that was attended by reps from every NBA franchise as well as every website and “media” outlet that reports and write about high school and “grassroots” basketball competition and recruiting.

The left-handed Thomas (pictured), who helped lead Liberty past Gorman for its first state title in March, did everything I needed to see in four games with “Stanford” and in the Top 30 all-star clash to keep me firmly in the belief that he’s the best “true” point guard in the western class of 2024.

Another player in the camp, 6-2 Styles Phipps (Phoenix St. Mary’s), played well enough for “Notre Dame” to land in the Top 60 Cream of the Crop game (the first of the all-star affairs played Tuesday) and show that’s he’s one of the guys who’ll be chasing Thomas in the “best 2024 PG in the west) race over the next two seasons.

The national junior-to-be class at the position was also well-repped at Bishop Gorman, with Rob Wright (Philadelphia Neuman Goretti), Elliott Cadeau (Oradell, NJ, Bergen Catholic), Johnuel Fland (White Plains, NY, Archbishop Stepinac) and Tahaad Pettiford (Jersey City Hudson Catholic) each landing in the Top 30 Cream of the Crop.

And Ahmad Nowell (Philadelphia Imotep) should have in the Top 30, too.

History – by way of how the aforementioned fellows in their final two seasons in high school (or “prep school”) and in college and beyond – could suggest this group of point guards is as deep as any in the camp’s history.

As for my choices as the “best” in the camp . . .

I’ll go for 6-6 Ian Jackson (Bronx Cardinal Hayes) edging Rob Wright, 6-5 Isaiah Elohim (Chatsworth, CA, Sierra Canyon), 6-10 James Brown (Chicago St. Rita) and 6-5 Dylan Harper (Ramsey, NJ, Bosco Prep) as the top “Class of 2024” performer over the three days.

As for the seniors-to-be (2023), I’m opting for 6-2 Jeremy Fears (La Porte, IN, La Lumiere) over 6-10 Xavier Booker (Indianapolis Cathedral), 6-11 Baye Fall (Denver Accelerated Schools), 6-6 Devin Royal (Pickerington, OH, Central) and 6-4 Marvel Allen (Montverde, FL, Academy).