Frank Burlison

CULVER CITY, Ca. – The first-ever Culver City/Take Flight Summer Spectacular basketball tournament is set for June 30-July 2 at Culver City High.

Sixteen high school programs, including 2017 State Open Division champion Torrance Bishop Montgomery, are scheduled to participate during the three-day event for which the teams will compete in pool play with a guarantee of three games apiece.

The four pool winners will play in semifinals with the winners hooking up in the championship game.

Other programs sending teams to the event are Compton Dominguez; Studio City Harvard-Westlake; Chatsworth Sierra Canyon; L.A.

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 24^th National Basketball Players’ Association Top 100 high school camp tipped off Wednesday afternoon in John Paul Jones Arena on the University of Virginia campus.

I watched, from start to finish (instead of staggered viewings between contests), four games over the afternoon and evening sessions, meaning I was able to take long looks at seven of the 10 teams assembled from the 110 or so players in the camp.

Guys who clearly stood out, at least to me, were 6-foot-9 Simisola Shittu (Camp team Warriors/Canada by way of Vermont Prep Academy); 6-5 Colby White (76ers/Wilson, NC, Greenfield); 6-5 Cassius Stanley (Warriors/Chatsworth, CA, Sierra Canyon); 6-10 David McCormack (Bucks/Mouth of Wilson, VA, Oak Hill Academy; and 6-5 Jules Bernard (Celtics/Los Angeles Windward).

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NORWALK, Ca. – The three-day, 15^th Pangos All-American Camp wrapped up Sunday afternoon with a couple of all-star games that provided final moments in the Cerritos College spotlight for some of the very best prep high school basketball players in the country.

To paraphrase a question I got asked often over the weekend, “How does this camp compare to some of the others that Dinos (Trigonis, the camp founder and director) has put together?”

A definitive response can’t really be offered up for at least three or four years, when the makeup of several McDonald’s All-American rosters and NBA drafts are etched into our collective consciousness.

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NORWALK, Ca. – A couple of players from the respective East and West coasts had a pair of strong efforts each during Saturday’s second day of the 15^th Pangos All-American Camp at Cerritos College.

Representing the East quite nicely, thank you very much, was Class of 2019 big man – very big man – Kofi Cockburn of Middle Village (NY) Christ the King.

Cockburn goes at least 6-foot-10 and looks all of, say, 270 or so well-sculpted pounds.

And he put good use to all of that ample size, strength, surprisingly nimble footwork and assertiveness while helping “USC’ split its games with UCLA (losing 70-62) and Cal (prevailing, 64-52).

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NORWALK, Ca. – Night 1 of the 15^th Pangos All-American Camp proved a nice showcase, regionally and nationally, for multiple players Friday night at Cerritos College.

Two of those athletes were already well-known on the high school and grassroots hoops circuit and were on the floor at the same time late Friday night, on Court 2 (center) of the three-court setup for the event in which approximately 110 to 120 players are separated into 12 teams.

And in that one, the “Arizona” squad, led by 6-foot-10 Charles Bassey (San Antonio), rolled over “UCLA”, 97-68.

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