Frank Burlison

DALLAS – A year ago as a freshman, barely two months after having migrated to the U.S. from Nigeria, Charles Bassey was far and away the best player at the Pangos All-South Frosh/Soph Camp.

And, based on what was seen of him Saturday afternoon at the Triple A-Focused Learning Academy, it’s much of the same the second time-around at the camp for the now-sophomore at St. Anthony High in San Antonio.

The second and final day of the event tips off at 9 o’clock Sunday morning with four sets of games played across the three courts (meaning each team plays once) and wrapping up at noon before Top 50 (1:15 p.m.)

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COLORADO SPRINGS – A combined 39 members from the high school classes of 2019 and 2020 were on hand Saturday and Sunday during a “mini-camp” held by USA Basketball.

And over the course of the four two-plus hour sessions (which included drills and scrimmaging and also included 15 players from the class of 2017), each player showed why his name was identified and why he earned a round-trip ticket to Colorado Springs.

I went into detail about the 15 seniors who attended during a BurlisonOnBasketball report I filed Saturday night.

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COLORADO SPRINGS – Fifty-four high school players were on hand Saturday during the opening of a two-day USA Basketball “mini-camp”.

The event, which concludes with morning and afternoon workout sessions on Sunday, will help in the formation of international touring teams in the summer and in making decisions on the bulk of the U.S. roster for the Hoop Summit in early April in Portland.

With a handful of McDonald’s All-American voters (including myself, Evan Daniels of Scout.com, Jerry Meyer of 24/7 and Eric Bossi of Rivals.com)

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ORANGE, Ca. – Fall League basketball, of the high school variety, was in full bloom Sunday at Orange Lutheran High.

“The LEAGUE” – hosted by Orange Lutheran and Westminster high schools, coordinated by the Compton Magic organization, sponsored by adidas and, yes, worthy of its all-caps spelling – made its 2016 debut Sunday.

And those in attendance got up-close looks at some of Southern California’s better teams – and players – for the 2016-17 “regular” season that doesn’t debut until Thanksgiving Week.

Highlighting the action at Orange Lutheran was a couple of games involving four teams that almost assuredly can be penciled in a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Division Open Division playoff squads come mid-February.

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NORWALK, Ca. – I can’t account for all of the grade point averages or Advanced Placement Classes enrolled in by players who attended the Saturday-Sunday High Academic Fall Showcase/King of Kings that was put on by Julius von Hanzlik and the Ryan Silver-fronted West Coast Elite program at Cerritos Community College.

But I didn’t need to examine any transcripts to know what kind of basketball futures some of the 150-plus players on hand possess.

There were impressive prospects from each of the four high school classes in attendance but it was the freshmen and sophomore classes that were especially well-repped at the event.

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