SoCalHoops Recruiting News

More Consensus Rankings: Class of 2002
SoCal Shooting Guards--(Aug. 27, 2000)

PacWestHoops and Fullcourt Press have both released their rankings of players for the post-summer evaluation period.  We've previously compared and contrasted their picks for the top point guards in the rising junior class, and continuing in that same vein, we thought it would be interesting to see if there was any consensus among and between the two sites' picks at the 2 guard spot.  Strangely enough though, there is even less consensus among the two sites picks when it comes to this position than with just about any other spot on the court.  While the point/combo guard lists had at least 19 players in common (including some of the combo guard listings from FCP),  these two ranking lists seem to have only 4 players in common, which is, to say the least, pretty odd when you stop to think about it. . . .Which must mean that either (a) there are an awful lot of very good shooting guards in this class and Dinos and Etop on the one hand and Greg and Tracy on the other hand, all went to different events, or (b) when the two sites use the nomenclature "shooting guard" and "combo guard" they both mean something very different.

In any event, here are the two lists, side by side for the sake of comparison. Again, PacWestHoops tries to rank players from all over the West Coast, more than just players from SoCal, so we've edited their list by deleting the players from other regions.   PWH also doesn't list the players who are not numerically ranked (in this case below #12, who was the highest ranked SoCal-based player on their list) in alphabetical order, but FCP does once they get past their #10.  As with the point guards, we've left the order of the lists just as they were published (albeit slightly edited as noted).   Here they are:

So is there really any consensus about what makes a "combo" guard or a "shooting guard"?  We don't know, but many of these players are guys we've listed here at SoCalHoops as not only combos or two guards, but also as three's (i.e., wings).  In this case there are just too many players listed between these two lists to really do any in-depth analysis of each of the players, so we'll just take the top players in each of their lists (i.e., those who are numerically ranked:

Hassan Adams, 6-3 Los Angeles (Calif.) Westchester--Listed as the No. 2 SG in the class by PWH, Hassan is a very strong player, an excellent scorer, with great ability to create his own shot and defend.  PWH still lists him as attending Verbum Dei, but he's transferred to Westchester (at least he played with them this summer, so we anticipate he'll enroll there in a couple of weeks and start attending classes when school opens up for the fall).  

Dante Bradford 6'0" Mayfair (Lakewood CA)--Listed as the No. 9 combo guard by FCP, Dontae (we've seen his names spelled several different ways), had a good summer, and impressed some folks at the Rim Rattler Camp, but beyond that we just did not see him play enough to make much comment.  We saw him play sparingly last season at Mayfair, and with Josh Childress and Edwin Draughan attracting most of the attention on that team, along with some of the other now graduated seniors and rising seniors, it's not surprising that Dante/Dontae gets overlooked at times.

Reggie Butler, 6-5 Long Beach (Calif.) Poly--Listed by PWH as their No. 5 SG, this one is sort of a surprise to us, because long, lean Reggie is, to our way of thinking more of a wing player who is more likely to slash to the hole than he is to shoot from outside.  We saw a lot of him in the spring, but during the summer our viewing of him was limited to one game where his Jackrabbits team lost by about 20 to the Double Pump CA All Star team (not a pretty game for Poly), but Butler showed his great athleticism and speed. Will undoubtedly have a big season so long as he stays healthy.

Nate Carter, 6-4 San Diego (Calif.) Lincoln -- Listed by PWH as their No. 11 SG, Carter played for Lincoln last season and was named All-League, and played this summer for the Alleycats in Vegas and at the Best of Summer.  FCP lists him as their No. 12 among "wings/off guards" and of him Dinos says he "is a slashing scorer" which is exactly what we saw of him this summer, i.e., someone who will slash to the hole more often than not and whose outside shot is not as smooth as one might expect for someone listed as a pure "shooting guard."  We've listed him as among our own Top 10 combo guards, but after getting some additional looks at him during the Palm Springs tournament in late June, we suspect that describing him as a wing/off guard is probably a better designation.  Good handle, likes to drive and is a high scorer, more often than not around the basket. 

Richard Cheney, 6-4 Lynwood (Calif.) High--PWH lists him as their No. 3 shooting guard, but if this is the same guy as "Richard Chaney" then he's really a 6'-5" player who attends Compton Centennial, and he's a rising senior, not a junior.   The rosters we have from Rim Rattler also list "Richard Chaney" as a senior too, and that's the only other independent source of information we besides all of the articles we wrote during the high school season last year where there was any mention of a "Chaney" who happened to be a junior then at Lynwood, which would make him a rising senior now.   Anyway,  PWH describes the guy who spells his name with an "e" in it as someone who "looks physically like a mini-Donyell Marshall and plays a bit like a mini-Josh Childress -- a great spot-up shooter who's very athletic."   Now interestingly, Dinos at FCP list a "Richard Chaney" as a  "Lynwood transfer" who is a player with "the type of long and athletic build that college coaches look for in a wing prospect."  Sheesh. . . we're so confused. . .

Tim Drisdom 6'3" Calvary Chapel (Downey CA)-- Tim is listed as the No. 1 "combo guard" by Dinos at Fullcourt Press--tied at No. 1 with Brandon Heath (see below)--while PacWest shows him as a point guard.  We're not going to debate the relative merits of listing him as one or the other, and in the real world, it's not going to make a bit of difference when it comes to his recruiting, but we do happen to believe that he's more of a combo than a pure point.  He can certainly run a team, has great passing skills and excellent height, but on his high school team he's got much more of a shooter's mentality than we've ever seen him show with Rockfish team, and he can drain the long range shot when he needs to or pull up for the short j too.   The point is, he has the skills to play either spot, and thus, at least in our view that qualifies him as a "combo".

Jamaal Hall 6'2" Muir (Pasadena CA)-- Listed by FCP as their No. 5 choice at the two guard (combo) spot, Jamaal is one of those guys we only saw once this summer, and whom even Dinos describes as a "real sleeper."  Admittedly we need to see him more to say anything useful, so having acknowledged that, we won't.

Brandon Heath 6'2" Westchester (Los Angeles CA)--Both PWH and FCP list him as their No. 1 choice at this spot, and while Brandon can handle the ball, he's a much better shooter than he is a ball handler.  Lanky, lean, quick and tough, Brandon had a great summer, showing excellently at Nike Camp and on the rest of the Nike circuit.

Keion Kindred 6'3" Dominguez (Compton CA)--We've already described Keion's game, at least our take on it from this summer in our Consensus Top Point guards of the class of 2002.

Matt Llewellyn 6'2" Loyola (Los Angeles CA)-- Listed by FCP as the No. 7 SG in the class (but not listed by PWH. . he is listed by us at SoCalHoops as among our Top 10 SG's in the class of 2002 in our last list in the spring), Matt is someone we've watched for years and his steady and solid improvement is nice to see.  He's gained a lot of muscle, toughened his game up and has gotten a lot stronger, while his shot release has remained quick, high and depending on the circumstances, either deadly accurate or just close to accurate.  Matt is very good at coming off a screen and shooting, and is an excellent set shooter as well, but this summer on a very undermanned Belmont Shore West team, he spent a lot of time putting the ball on the floor, which is not his strength.  The team had excellent results in Vegas, going to the "C" Championship game, and had they had a deeper roster, they might have fared better in one of the higher brackets.  If Matt can develop some consistency with a mid-range jumper, he can certainly rise to among the top shooters in this class.  With him, Omar Wilkes, JP Elliot, Sean Crosner, and Josh Flynn Brown, Loyola could have a very good season. 

Matt McCraw 6'1" Mayfair (Lakewood CA)--No. 10 on the FCP list of combos, like Bradford, McCraw is an excellent player, but didn't get a lot of time last season, and he wasn't one of the prime foci (we just can't bring ourselves to say "focuses") of the Mayfair team, but he likely will be someone the Monsoons look to a lot this year, both for offensive production and defensive stability.  FCP notes that he is one of two "important contributors for a very strong Mayfair squad coached by Dave Breig" which is a sort of nondescript way of saying he's a pretty good player.

Donovan Morris, 6-3 Cajon (Calif.) High-- Listed by PWH as No. 8 among the SG's, we've also consistently listed Donovan as among our own SoCalHoops top 10 SG's in this class.  Donovan played for IEBP in Vegas at the Big Time and at the Best of Summer, as well as joining the IEBP II team at the Elite 8x2 at the end of July.  We saw Donovan a couple of times at the Best of Summer and he bounced between the I and II teams during that one, playing very well. He's quick, has good size, and actually may have grown an inch. Morris is not ranked numerically by FCP, but is listed as one of the "Players of Note".

Derron Putnam, 6-3 Anaheim (Calif.) Canyon --Derron is a slashing, athletic player who is an excellent scorer with a good overall shot, who plays the game with toughness, speed and with smarts, a very crafty player.  Ranked No. 12 by PWH, Derron was All-Century League at the end of last season, he is listed by FCP as one of the "Players to Track" in the future in terms of progress but is not ranked numerically.  We saw him several times last season but not enough during the summer to add much.  Hopefully we'll be able to track his progress more closely during the season.

Brandon Rohe, 6-3 Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Santa Margarita--Listed by PWH as their No. 5 SG in the class, Brandon made a somewhat surprise appearance at ABCD Camp this summer after working out for most of June with Howard Avery.  Brandon did impress a lot of people there though and came out as a solid player with an excellent shot.  Another in the long line of excellent shooters from SMCH, only time will tell if he winds up as good or better than his brother Jake. Dinos lists him not as a "combo" but as a "wing/off guard" where he has him pegged as his No. 12 overall in the SoCal class of 2002, and of him he says he's "an excellent three-point shooter with terrific court instincts."

Giovanni St. Amant 6'2" St. John Bosco (Bellflower CA)-- Both PWH and FCP list him as among their top consensus picks, but only FCP numerically ranks him.  He's tough, strong, and as Dinos reminds us, has the lineage to play the game being related to Schea Cotton.  Gio has a sweet shot, can drive the lane, and is smooth in the open floor.  We didn't catch him this summer, but from what we saw in the spring, and from what we heard about him this summer, he's on the verge of having a breakout season.

Fernando Sampson 6'1" Fairfax (Los Angeles CA)--Listed by FCP as their No. 8 SG (combo), we've already said just about all we can say about Fernando's summer in the article on PG's, but he was certainly a consensus pick by both sites, even if they couldn't seem to agree on what his true position really is or should be.  Yes, we know, PWH will tell us that they are not listing players necessarily at the position they currently play, but where they project them to be in college, so perhaps that explains the differences in the lists. . . perhaps not.

Travis Smith 6'3" Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita CA)--Santa Margarita placed a number of guys from the CABC team and the SMCH summer team at the Big Time on both PacWest's and Fullcourt's lists, and Travis is among our favorite players among them.  FCP lists him at No. 6, while PWH lists him as a "Player of Note" but the point is, that he's one of the few players who both sites agree on as one of the top players in this class in SoCal.   We got a chance to see him at the Plyo-City Roundball Extravaganza during the early summer, up at Mats' Madness, and in Vegas, and as always we were impressed with his ability to run, defend and create his shot. A solid player.

Donald Wilson, 6-3 Los Angeles (Calif.) Dorsey--Listed by PWH as their No. 4 SG, Donald we are certain is a rising junior, having just completed his sophomore year, including the last two years as one of the young Rockfish mainstays, along with Tim Drisdom, from the class of 2002.  Donald didn't receive a lot of playing time this summer on a very crowded Rockfish team which was loaded with guard talent, but we saw him several times and when he was in the game, he added measurably to the success of the team.   Reasonably quick, good size and a nice short shot and good moves to the basket. FCP lists him not as a combo or a shooting guard, but as their No. 8 "wing/off guard" and Dinos describes him as a player who "can put the ball on the floor well and can score in transition."

 
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