SoCalHoops Recruiting News

5th Annual adidas Mats Madness:
Notes & Observations--(June 1, 2001)

What follows are just some random observations of some of the players we saw this past weekend up in Fresno.  A lot of people have been wanting to know our instant reaction to some of the players we saw, but that's just not our style these days. . . these things take time to percolate, to ruminate over and besides that, there were just a ton of players we got to see, and so many others we didn't who we wanted to, that putting out something immediately after the event was just about impossible. . . And, as we've said before, better late than never. . .

Understand when you read what follows that  we can't be everywhere at once and there were a lot of teams and players we didn't get to see over the course of four days.  First, the pools were played at five different gyms, and some of the teams never made it over to Sunnyside.  Some of the teams, most notably those that wound up in the Bronze (3rd place) or Platinum (4th place) brackets were teams that for the most part we didn't get to watch.  We pretty much split time during the tournament between McLane HS, Sunnyside HS's two gyms, and Washington Union which also has two gyms.  So, right off the bat, we'll tell you that we didn't get to see teams like the Inland I team (we really wanted to catch Richard Cobbs, but didn't get to see him play. . .we did bump into him in the gym, but that hardly suffices for saying anything useful).  We also missed Sam Minor's Inner City Hoops, the Rockfish Hammerheads, South Gate Bum Boys, H-Squad II (although a couple of their players moved over on Monday to help the H-Squad I team in the semis and finals), ARC, and a few others we had hoped to see, but there's still the rest of the summer.  We principally focused on SoCal players only in watching guys,  so that's what these notes really cover (although an occasional out-of-state player or NorCal guy may have snuck in, that's generally because they happen to play for SoCal-based teams, or are of particular interest because of their recruiting situations).  For the most part we just followed SoCal players and prospects.  So, if you're looking for stuff about NorCal or even mostly Central Cal players, you'll have to look NorCal Preps.net for better info.

We've organized our notes alphabetically. Obviously, we didn't get to see every player and there are a great many guys we saw that we didn't have the time to write about (don't worry, we will get to just about everyone at one point or another during what remains of spring and the summer).  There were some really pleasant surprises, and we tried to pick up on most of them below, including a couple of 8th graders who really shocked the heck out of a lot of people.  What follows is just a scratch on the surface of the talent that was at the 5th Annual Mats' Madness. . .

Chris Childress (6'-5" So. F) Mayfair HS--Rockfish Barracudas--Ok, so he's not his brother, but then not many people are as good as Josh is. . . Comparisons are unfair, especially when two players are so completely different, both physically and in the style of ball they play (largely as a result of those differences in physique).  Josh is a smooth, super perimeter shooter who has extremely long arms which enable him to swoop in for killer dunks on unsuspecting defenders, while Chris is more of a linebacker type,  a big-bodied, tough inside player,  who is not afraid to hit someone on a pick or set the screen to free up a teammate. Even with his size (we don't mean to make him sound immense, but in comparison,   Josh is a toothpick), he's very mobile and gets up and down the floor on the break.   Again, comparisons are really unfair, but in this case, when your brother is a McDonald's All-American headed for Stanford, they're hard to avoid.   We like his upside potential and Mayfair is going to be really good next year with him and Justin Hawkins. 

Lenny Collins (6'-4" Jr. G/F)  Santa Margarita HS--Double Pump-- Lenny is sort of a tweener, a big-ish guard type who is capable of shooting with a nice stroke but who doesn't often do that (at least he didn't this past weekend in the games we saw).  But the good news is that he didn't hesitate to take it inside or push it on the break, and was very effective on the boards, especially for a team with no true center this past weekend.   He's got a strong, wide frame, goes to the basket well, can use either hand equally well to go with solid footwork.  He had a very productive weekend and we watched him and Frank Robinson demolish the CV Outlawz in a 92-53 win, and then take over again with Robinson in a game against 805. But unfortunately, on a not very deep team, DP didn't have enough to take the Soldiers I team in the Gold Bracket semifinals. Lenny ought to get some solid recruiting this summer, the only question is how high.  

Nick Debban (6'-5" Jr. F) Clovis West--Hustlin' Eagles-- We've seen tougher and more tenacious players, but not in a while.  Debban had a terrific game on Sunday morning against the Pump N Run team.  He must have scored at least 20, and they were mostly on hard drives through tons of traffic and tall trees to the basket or on put backs off other's misses.  Has a real nose for the ball and a solid toughness.  Wouldn't be at all surprised to see Nick become the next big-time solid player out of CW, especially if he keeps doing what he did in the game we saw on Monday.

Tim Drisdom (6'-3" Jr. G) Calvary Chapel Downey--LA Rockfish-- For the past year we've been watching Tim closely, both with his high school team, Calvary Chapel and with Rockfish, in the RSL and on his travel team at various tournaments, including the Spiece Run N Slam in Indiana and here at the Mats' Madness.  While there have been times that we have not been as high on him over the past year as we were when he was a freshman and a soph,  in the past two months he's really made a believer out of us, and dang, it's just hard to argue with his success.   Tim has excellent size, and even though a lot of "gurus" have said he doesn't have great quickness or isn't a good enough defender to play at some of the places who are said to be recruiting him, we say "Hogwash."  Tim is the real deal and he's got a great (no, make that an excellent) feel for the game.  Terrific sense for pacing and rhythym offensively, a great feel for the game, usually knows where his teammates are at all times, and while we don't agree with every pass or shot selection he makes, he shows a real understanding of the point position,  and can be effective either on the break or in the half-court.  Makes excellent entry passes, good ball-control, and is a saavy and sometimes deceptive floor leader with an uncanny knack of finding the open guy or inviting the double to free up a teammate for the score.  One other sidenote:  We spoke with his dad at some length on Monday, and just to dispel any rumors that have been spread by some other folks all over the internet about whether he's "ready to commit", the answer is that he's not.  His dad says it will be a family decision, and it won't be made before the end of the summer.  Look for USC, Utah, maybe Cal and some east coast schools (like one or two in the State of Georgia or perhaps Virginia) to get involved.  Again, it's hard to argue with success.   D-V State POY, D-V CIF-SS POY (twice), Wooden Award winner, all-everything.    Among the top 5 in the class on the West Coast.  No doubt about it.

Johnny Dukes (6'-7" Jr. F) Eisenhower IEBP-- Dukes, McJimson, Morris and Marshall. . .IEBP's trademark is getting out on the break and running a team to death, and like the others, Dukes has excellent athleticism, can runs like lunatic and dunk like a madman. We'd like to see him shoot the ball more from the perimeter, because he has a very nice stroke, but sometimes you can't have everything. . . long arms, good hands, and makes good decisions on the floor

Baker Dunleavy (6'-6" Sr. F/G) Portland Jesuit/Lawrenceville Prep--Double Pump--Baker recently had surgery and was not nearly close to 100% for this tournament.  He is long, runs well, and can shoot about as well as his brother, but is not yet as court-saavy. Perhaps a year of Prep School will help with that.  Baker has grown, but needs to work on his defense and court vision before he can be a high-major player, but he still has tons of potential.

Keith Ellison (6'-1" Jr. G) Redondo Union--Double Pump--Keith has gotten a bit stronger, looks bigger, and played literally every minute on the floor for Howard Avery's team, which was due to the lack of any other true point.  Keith could improve his decision-making some, as the couple of games we saw he had an inordinate amount of turnovers but that could just as equally have been due to the fact that none of the guys he was teamed-up with had ever played together before, and it sometimes takes a while to get used to the timing and rhythym of a point guard's passes.  We'd like to see him develop an outside shot as well as being able to drive to the basket which he did very effectively. Ran the team well, and they won, making it to the semifinals, and there's really little else you can ask for in a tournament like this.

Khalif Ford (6'-0" So. G) Diamond Bar--LA Rockfish--Could he be the best rising point guard in the current soph class (2003)?   There are a lot of people who think so, and we might even be persauded to jump on that bandwagon from what we saw this past weekend.  Khalif has very long arms, great ball control, excellent ability to push it, and the intelligence to know when not to and back it out instead and work it around the perimeter.  He's definitely quicker than his teammate Tim Drisdom, and is probably a better defender as well, and there's also little doubt that what Dave B and Mark B have been telling us is true which is that Khalif has also helped Drisdom improve his own defense, which is the mark of a good player in that he's making others around him better. If he continues to develop, he could be among the top guards in next year's class.

Duane Fortune (5'-10" Jr. PG) San Marcos HS--Carl's Jr. Superstars--Duane is one of those kids who reminds us a lot of another point guard we enjoyed watching this weekend, Keith Ellison of Redondo.  Duane and Keith are about the same size (ok, so Keith is listed at 6'-2", but it looks like the 'fro is adding an inch or two), and they have similar styles of play, pushing the ball well and finding open men in traffic.  Duane could use some work on his handle, but generally he makes very good decisions on the floor and is certainly worth taking a look at.  He led his team through a surprising run, losing one game in pool play and winding up in the Silver bracket. We didn't see much in the way of jump shooting, but we'll have to take another look at him in Vegas.  Can get to the basket and communicates well with his teammates.

David Gale (6'-1" Jr. G) Buckley--Pump N Run--Shot the ball well from three and covering the point in the absence of teammate CJ Watson, he made some nice entry passes and lobs for the bigs (Padgett, Soderberg and McKinney) in the post and showed some good penetration,  driving and kicking to Rohe, Wilkes or Soderberg on the wing.  Showed improved strength and quickness and a solid feel for pacing and offensive rhythym, pushing the ball when it was there and slowing it when the numbers weren't (unlike a lot of super-quick speedsters who just push it no matter what else is developing on the floor).   It's a style you either love or you don't (watch Drisdom's pacing, sometimes a push, more often a careful look and controlled dribble up the floor to see what's developing;  again you either love the style or you don't).  Does little things that you see with guards who understand the position, e.g., intentionally drawing the double team to free up a teammate for a score, or drawing a defender in the key to free a man on a back-cut.  Solid handle and when he squares up for the pull up jumper has a nice touch.  In Monday's game against Clovis West, he shot the ball well, including sparking an offensive run with two quick threes, a couple of assists and two steals in the first 6 minutes.

Steve Graybill (6'-2" Jr. G) Dos Pueblos HS--Rockfish Barracudas--We continue to be puzzled by Steve: Is he a point, is he a wing, or a combo, or something in-between. . . actually it hardly matters because there are few players who have his shooting touch and ability to move the ball as well as play aggressive defense and while Graybill didn't show any flash or flair, he just went out and got the job done.  The couple of games we saw in Fresno were kind of weird, at least it seemed that way because when we were watching him, he spent either long stretches in the game and or long stretches never touching the ball, which evidently is something that happens when you're playing with all new guys for the first time who all like to handle the ball a lot.   He moves well without the ball, and when he has the ball in his hands, he's very effective. One of our favorite players, he's worth watching this summer if you get a chance to see him in Vegas or at the Best of Summer.

Justin Hawkins (6'-6" So. F) Mayfair HS--Rockfish Barracudas--A very athletic shooter and slasher, this was one of the first opportunities that we had to see Justin play, and unfortunately, we didn't get to see him for more than one game, so it's hard to say just how good he really can be. What we saw though was impressive, and he's got a good nose for the ball and nice size, which enabled him to rebound effectively and he's also got some hops too. If he and Chris Childress stay at Mayfair (which they probably will), the Monsoons ought to be pretty good. 

Billy Hofman (6'-1" So. G) La Canada--Rockfish Dolphins--Billy's game is impressive for a young player, but then he's got the court sense and understanding of the game that comes with being the son of a high school coach. He's still pretty slight, but underneath he's tough and even tougher mentally, rarely making mistakes on the floor.  Nice handle, good size (he was listed at 5'-11" but he's clearly bigger than that, although maybe not quite the 6'-1" that we have him at), and improving defensively. 

Ryan Hollins (6'-10" Jr. F/C) Muir HS--Carl's Jr. Superstars--Ryan was with Rockfish at the Spiece Run N Slam tournament at Ft. Wayne, Indiana which took place in early May, but he's now apparently switched teams and will play with Carls Jr. through the summer.  Ryan is very slim, almost to the point of being skinny and he will need to hit the weight room to gain some strength and bulk to avoid being pushed around in the key.  That's the bad news. The good news is that he's very long, very agile, can run the floor well, and has decent hands and good instincts around the basket, and even looks like he's developing a little turn around jumper.

Marc Holmquist (5'-9" Jr. G) Saugus HS--Rockfish Dolphins--One of the toughest small point guards around, he combines good quickness and a nice handle and what he lacks in size he more than makes up for with tenacity and toughness.  Not many guys like to play against him, because he constantly applies pressure on defense with a real in-your-face style. Not a prolific shooter from outside, but he will not hesitate to pull up for the short jumper if he gets open and he will push the ball on the break.

Odell Howard (6'-4" Jr. F) Pomona--N. Riverside Slam N Jam--Odell was killing people off the dribble this weekend.  A strong dribbler, he likes to set up at the top of the key on the left side, and take his man one-on -one to the basket, and his team was largely running a spread offense and with the refs not allowing even any help defense (not even a foot near the key from any other defenders), Odell was able to take great advantage of his opponents.  We didn't see the one game which Riverside eventually lost in the Gold bracket that knocked them out of the tournament, but someone must have figured a way to stop him.

Onye Ibekwe (6'-6" Jr. F) Crenshaw HS--  H Squad-- Onye had a great tournament, and he continues to impress. A lithe, agile wing foward, he can score in a variety of ways, slashing to the basket, or pulling up for a medium range jumper and he's a tremendous rebounder as well.  He and Steve Moore were probably the two best players for H-Squad that we saw this weekend.

Antonio Lawrence (6'-5" Jr. F)--Jacksonville, Fla--EBO/EA Sports--Ok, he's not from SoCal, but he plays for EBO, so we feel justified writing about him, as much for that as well as the fact that there's a lot of talk been bandied about by "gurus" who have mentioned Lawrence and UCLA in the same breath.  Whatever. . . Much has been written about Antonio, and not a lot of it not really good after this weekend.  People either love his game or they despise it.   We love his athleticism and his pure talent, and in the environment that was the Mats' Madness tournament, which gave Antonio the opportunity to do a lot of one-on-one stuff, he certainly was given the stage to perform on.  We understand that his style of play had a somewhat deleterious effect on some of his teammates (most notably Richard Midgely, the English junior point guard who is indeed talented and who is being talked about by half the Pac-10, who apparently had a meltdown on the court on Saturday as he wasn't getting his hands on the ball, and reportedly also wasn't defending his man either), but that's what makes this summer travel stuff so unpredictable. Antonio was likely one of the top 10 players at the tournament, athletically speaking, and he won the dunk contest handily.  A real showman, no doubt about it.

Sean Marshall (6'-4" So. G/F) Eisenhower--IEBP-- We love Marshall's game, really love it. He just seems so fluid, so athletic, he's really a pleasure to watch and one of the nicest kids you'll ever meet.  And besides that he's a great athlete, dunks it like a madman, shoots the ball well, defends and has the whole package. . . sounds like he just ought to skip school and go to the league, right?   No, he's still really young, but he has a chance to be one of the best players in his class on the West Coast if he continues to work at his game. 

Andre McGee (5'-9" 8th PG)--Inland--Andre was killing guys all weekend, and we continue to hold the opinion which we espoused last weekend that Andre will be a big time player in three years. . .Heck, he's already a big-time prospect and he's still just in the 8th grade.  He's got a great crossover, is blindlingly quick, even quicker than some current college players, and on Saturday at Washington Union, he hit about four NBA-range three pointers hitting nothing but net.   Huge. . .

Corey McJimson (6'-6"Jr. F) Fontana--IEBP-- IEBP has three guys who all sort of remind us the other.  McJimson, Dukes and Morris, not to mention super soph Sean Marshall, are the real stars of the IEBP stable this summer, and while each of them does something just a bit unique, they all have that tremendous athleticism and ability to run at a break-neck pace that characterizes the IEBP teams. McJimson is a slender, agile and tough wing player, more of a slasher and leaper than a real straight outside shooter, and he's got excellent quickness.  We only saw him in one game this weekend, but he was impressive.

Seamus McKiernan (6'-5" Jr. SF/SG) San Marcos HS--Carl's Jr. Superstars--Seamus was a complete surprise to us, and were just love finding out about these hidden gems from the Santa Barbara-Ventura area.  Seamus is a strong, solid player who literally shot his team back into a couple of games we watched on Saturday.  Solid to the basket and able to exert good body control in traffic, he had several "scout" types raving about how good he was, although some of them were saying that he might be better suited for D-III (e.g., Occidental, Claremont, etc) than low D-I's (maybe that's because he also looks like a really smart player. . . and if you ask these "scout" types they'll tell you that "smart" = D-III).   Whatever. . he is certainly worth checking out for a school that's looking for a solid, smart wing type.

Matt McKinney (6'-8" Jr. F) Santa Ynez HS--Pump N Run--Pump N Run was missing a lot this weekend (Nik Caner-Medley, Brad Buckman, CJ Watson, Brandon Worthy) so they didn't get the rematch with the Soldiers to avenge the loss at the Easter Tournament, but it wasn't due to anything that McKinney did or didn't do, and he was phenomenal.  Matt missed the first game on Saturday because he was in the CIF Section Finals for volleyball (he's among the top 5 volleyball players in the U.S.), but P&R won that by about 70 points over the local host hs team (actually the score was 88-16, but who's counting). So he was a bit tired when he showed for the Saturday night game against N. Riverside, which was a one-point loss in overtime.   McKinney then regrouped the next day and with some tremendous dunks and put-backs, he had plenty of occasion to show his 40" vertical.  Matt is being very highly recruited right now by UCLA, USC and UCSB for volleyball, and the word is that if he goes to any of those schools he will also play basketball (but according to one source, the NCAA rules would require him to sign in BBall to be able to play his first two years).   A big time player who will be a standout in both sports.  Really, a 40" vert to go with 6'-8" size so you can imagine how high he gets up.

Ryan Meiulleur (6'-8" Jr. F) Artesia HS--H Squad--Ryan has gotten better, that's for certain. Last year, he was sorta, kinda mobile, not a big dunker, but able to get up and down the floor well, and now he's added some post moves to his repetoire.  Strong, physical, and getting tougher and stronger than we remember him from the season, he will attract some looks this summer and should wind up getting an offer, given the scarcity of really good big men in the class of 2002 (at least in comparison to the class of 2001).

Evan Moore (6'-6" So. F) Brea Olinda--Rockfish Dolphins--Another one of our favorite players, he's just developing into a solid, solid prospect, and he has the potential to be better than his brother Ryan (who by the way will be playing next year at UC Davis according to dad Moore, which is a great place for Ryan. . he'll be a star there).  Good size, excellent mobility and a very good rebounder, Evan can also step out to the short-corner and take the baseline shot as well as burn rubber to the basket.  We haven't seen him putting down any killer dunks like Ryan did, but it's only a matter of time.

Steve Moore (6'-3" ?? SG/SF)--Compton Dominguez--H Squad--While Antonio Lawrence won the dunk contest, Steve had the crowd roaring and actually had the more accomplished dunks, and why not, he's a bit older and more mature (not that there's anything wrong with that).  His presence at this tournament created somewhat of a stir, because he has already played four years of high school ball, and then attended Dominguez last year as a 5th year senior, and rumors were circulating all weekend that he still might not graduate even in June.  According to his club coach Rick Issacs, those rumors are dead wrong, and Steve will graduate and enroll at Cal State Northridge.  We're not sure if he will be eligible to play as a freshman but if he is, CSUN just moved way up on the RPI considering the other great athletes they picked up this spring.  Hugely talented leaper, excellent handle and a nascent shot which is just coming back into form after a year's layoff.

Donovan Morris (6'-3" Jr. G) Cajon--IEBP--see our evals of McJimson, Dukes and Marshall.  Donovan Morris is the real leaper among this group, capable of incredible bursts of speed combined with very good leaping ability, he will break down a defender and take him to the rack and dunk if given half a chance and he's got a pure scorer's mentality.  A good defender too. 

Jayson Obazuaye (6'-3" Jr. G)     Andrew Hill HS--Next Level--Probably the best player on Next Level (in our humble opinion, and yes, probably a shade better than even Worthy), he's agile, quick, has terrific hands and lateral movement, jumps well, and there's really very little that he can't do either offensively or defensively.  Only saw one game but he played well.   Certainly worth following this summer.

David Padgett (6'-11" So. C) Reno, NV--Pump N Run--Probably the best big man in the tournament, certainly the best big soph there, and likely the best big soph on the West Coast, David is developing nicely even if he did get absolutely hammered in the two games (Riverside Slam N Jam, where he fouled out on some honest-to-goodness phantom calls, and in the Clovis West game, where he was quadruple-teamed most of the game every time he touched the ball). . . .The latter observation leads us to our only criticism and that is that like a lot of young big guys who are actually pretty adept at playing with their back to the basket, they sometimes tend to forget just how tall they are, and if David would keep the ball over his head, turn, locate and drop it in, rather than bring it down to put it on the floor in the paint with three guys on him, he'll be an absolute monster, simply unstoppable. . which is exactly what he's going to be in two years, and you have to keep in mind that he's still just a sophomore, still getting used to what he can do.  And what he can do is considerable.  He already has pretty good footwork and excellent rebounding skills, and when he does keep the ball up and out of reach of smaller players and gives himself the time to focus, he's got a very nice little hook shot, reminiscent of a young Bill Walton (hopefully he's got better feet than Walton did) and he also has some sharp elbows too which are very effective on the boards.  He may not wind up as the most proficient big man you'll see this summer, but he will be next year and the year after, which is to say he'll be looking at schools like Duke, UCLA, Stanford and Arizona, and they'll be looking at him.

David Patten (6'-8" Jr. F) El Dorado HS--LA Rockfish--The "Tom Green" of travel basketball, David had an excellent tournament for the Fishies, and even got a chance to display some of his own humor in the games (like at the end of the 805 v. Rockfish quarterfinal game, where he and Drisdom did their Abbott and Costello routine with the ball). . . But aside from being a great young man (and really, really funny) David also has some serious big man skills. Great footwork around the basket, excellent rebounder, big body who can get inside and move others around (he will need to get bigger, but he's got a great base to work with), and a terrific shooter out to three-point range.  With Shewmake also inside, he didn't really get to do much with his back to the hoop, but he has the footwork and skills to develop.  We hear that Utah, Utah State and maybe BYU will get involved, and there will doubtless be others who will flock to pick him up this summer.  Great upside, an excellent student too. Oh, and did we mention that he's really funny. . . 

Mark Pratt (6'-5" Jr. F) Modesto Christian--EBO/EA Sports-- While most of the talk of the EBO team this weekend was either about Antonio Lawrence or Richard Midgely, the real star of this team was Mark Pratt.   An agile, tough forward who can really score, he runs very well, defends and just about has the whole package.  One "scout" there told us that he thought Pratt was the best player, hands down, at the tournament.  We only saw him in one game, but he was impressive.  He's originally from London, England, as is Liam Hughes and Midgeley, and not surprisingly, all of them are at Modesto Christian.

Franklin Robinson (6'-4" Jr. G) Chatsworth HS--Double Pump-- Shades of Cecil Brown and Gilbert Arenas rolled into one.  Well, maybe not quite yet as smooth or as good as Gil, but he's getting there, and he will be the Valley's next Cecil Brown especially if Chatsworth can get a solid point guard to replace Shayne Berry.  There's not much that Robinson doesn't do well at:  He can shoot from inside or outside, has great hands, picked off a number of steals, drives to the basket, sees the floor, and understands the game, which is a very nice package.   The only real question with him will be how highly he will be recruited.  If his Double Pump team can continue to win the way they did in Fresno, he'll have a lot of coaches all over him.

Mike Roche (6'-6" Jr. F) Long Beach Poly--Double Pump--Mike has decent size, great hands, pretty good rebounding ability and eats up some space in the key, which was really his designated role on this team, and he did an admirable job.   He was sort of a surprise "guest" on the Double Pump team  which actually had Marcedes Lewis listed on the roster, and so a lot of people who had never seen Marcedes thought Mike was Marcedes.  He's not, but he's actually very, very good, at least good enough to play in the WCC or WAC or Big Sky for a guy his size if he can develop a dependable shot.   Good footwork and as we say, he needs to develop a dependable shot, but when he does, he ought to be pretty much the real deal. Runs the floor very well and is an excellent athlete.

Brandon Rohe (6'-3" Jr. G) Santa Margarita HS--Pump N Run--One of the best pure shooters on the West Coast, Brandon had an up and down weekend, with three really excellent games, one ok game and one not so great game. He's got great form on his shot and rarely misses when he can get into a rhythm, but this weekend was slightly hampered with a groin pull.  An excellent spot-up shooter and quick enough off the dribble to create his own shot by stepping back and getting space from his defender, he rarely misses when he's focused.  Brandon is getting a lot of attention from some excellent schools, some WCC's, some Pac-10's, even some Big-10's and by the time the summer is over, there will be a lot more involved in his recruiting.

Thomas Shewmake (6'-9" Jr. F) Cathedral City--LA Rockfish-- Thomas has grown huge over the last year, and when we first saw him at RSL this past spring, we thought he had perhaps been lifting or just taking some supplements (or both) because the change between last year and this year is startling.  He's really gotten big, as in large, and must weigh close to 240, possibly more.  Very agile, very mobile (remember, we used to write about him as showing a lot of good guard skills when he was a 6'-7" freshman?), and he's got great hands, so he can catch most of those passes thrown to him by Kalief Ford, Donald Wilson or Tim Drisdom..  He's really worked hard to develop his inside game this past year and it's showing, as he's able to push other people out of his way and get to the basket pretty effectively.   Tremendous potential.

Joel Smith (6'-5" Jr. F) Lompoc HS--LA Rockfish--Where did this guy come from? We mean that only as a compliment by the way;  we watched him in the RSL (a lot) and then got a better chance to see him again this weekend, and aside from displaying great dunking ability in the Sunday dunk contest,  he also had a very good tournament for the Fish.  Joel is very lithe, agile, and has very long arms and long legs, with great body control and a lot of confidence too, and with Bryant Markson injured, he's probably played himself into a spot on the No. 1 team for the rest of the summer (that's not "official" but we'd be surprised if he's not on this team in Vegas and at the Best of Summer). He's a good defender, not great, but runs really, really well and so he can contain pretty good too.   We have no idea what his recruiting is like right now, but we'll certainly hear more shortly.

Lance Soderberg (6'-8" Jr. F) Corona Centennial--Pump N Run-- Had some great games this weekend and showed that he's one of the most mobile big men in this class, with a vertical not quite as high as Matt McKinney's (which is at least 40"), but it's darn close. Lance is likely still growing, and he still has the look of a young colt at times, where he looks like he's on the verge of being out of control, but his footwork around the basket has improved tremendously.   He's one of the better outside shooters for a big-ish guy, and is also surprisingly quick to get to the basket on drives from the baseline. If he continues to grow, he could wind up as big as his dad (Mark played at Kentucky and Utah, and then overseas for years, and is about 6'-10" or 6'-11"), but even if he doesn't there are plenty of colleges who will be drooling over a 6'-8" agile, mobile wing player with a good shot or the ability to drive to the basket.  We'd like to see him improve his ability to play with his back to the basket, as well as improve his shot-selection (he launched a couple of three-point attempts which just weren't, shall we say, the most appropriate shots at the time), but he's a tremendous player and ought to get recruited highly by the time the summer is over.

Drew Spaventa (6'-1" So. G) San Marcos HS--Carls' Jr. Superstars-- We were also impressed by this young man, who doesn't look overly athletic, but has a very good understanding of the game.  Slight, almost to the point of skinny (hey, someone take these Carl's Jr guys over to McDonalds or somewhere else and feed them), he runs the floor well and was excellent at containing on defense. May never turn into a huge major prospect, but has the sense and sensibility to become a college player and has a real chance.  Excellent perimeter shooter too.

Sterling Steagall (6'-1" So. G) Canoga Park HS--Rockfish Barracudas--We've heard rumors that he'll be transferring to Chatsworth, and if so, they will have picked up a quality guard who can help run the team now that Shayne Berry is graduating.  Steagall is a solid ball-handler, not much of a penetrator (not that he can't but just didn't do much of that in the game we saw) and he can really get out on the break.

Armando Surratt (6'-0" Jr. PG) Oakland Tech--805 Basketball--Armando another kid who isn't really a SoCal player (unless Oakland has suddenly moved a lot), but he's playing for a SoCal-based team, so we feel compelled to talk about him a bit. We've seen him several times last year when he was playing with 805 and Dommanic Ingerson, and he was a good player, solid with a good handle. We missed him in his game this time out against the Rockfish Hammerheads where he apparently was playing like a pro, and it was evidently that game, and the one against the Anaheim Canyon Commanches (a high school team) in which he had people absolutely raving about how good he was.  One coach came up to us and said "He's got a pro game."  Ok. . . So we went out and watched 805 play against the LA Rockfish on Monday in the quarterfinals, and it was not a pretty sight.  Armando is being mentioned by some as a high-major prospect, and a lot of people are saying he's going to be a huge prospect this summer, but we'll have to see a bit more

Kevin Stacey (6'-3" Jr. G)     Woodbridge HS--Double Pump--Kevin has moved over to Double Pump from the Rockfish and he had an excellent tournament, shooting the ball well, defending tenaciously, and running the floor.  We didn't see any of his trademark half-court shots at the buzzer (honestly, we've seen him do that about 5 times in two years, all in tournament games), but he looked stronger, bigger and quicker than he has in a while and seemed to be enjoying this Double Pump team very much.

Jonathan Todd (6'-8" Jr. F) Chaminade--Rockfish Dolphins--Jon played for the Dolphins which wound up in the Silver bracket after losing one game in pool play, but he played better than we've seen him play in a while.  A big-bodied kid with a nice developing touch around the basket, he's made huge improvements to his footwork, and is probably a better prospect than his brother JJ was while in high school and even though he's not as tall as JJ (who, at 7'-0"  is currently a rising soph at UCSB on scholarship--he redshirted his freshman year), he probably has more upside given his greater mobility and quickness around the basket.  Steadily improving, he should draw some serious attention from WAC, WCC and similar conferences. We don't know what his grades are like, but he's smart on the court, and might be a nice Ivy League prospect.

Omar Wilkes (6'-3" So. G/F) Loyola--Pump N Run--Omar is likely to wind up at UCLA, Kentucky or some other high-major, but it's also important to remember that he's just a soph and has two more years to develop and show what he can do.  His talents are already considerable and they will only get better.   He played a bit of point guard this weekend, and showed an excellent handle and the ability to break down his defender, and some very nice moves to the basket, but his real strength wasn't in getting the ball to others, it was his ability to create his own shot and score off the dribble.  Time after time when one or another of his big-men teammates would miss inside, Omar was there for the putback or the tip-jam, and he has great leaping ability. In fact, we saw him sky for a slam dunk off of a lob which we thought was sure to sail over the backboard (okay so that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it was reallllly high off the glass), but Omar extended completely, caught it over his head and jammed it with authority.  We've said this often, but as he matures, it becomes even more apparent that he has picked up the same smoothness, the same silky style of play that his dad was known for when he was at UCLA and with the Lakers, but Omar is a far better jumper than Jamaal ever was (and he'd also be the first to tell you that).  Immensely talented and tremendous upside. 

Dwain Williams (5'-10"  8th PG)--Jr. EBO/EA Sports--Dwain continues to be one of Mats' youngest proteges and there were times when he just struggled against some of the bigger and older players, but having said that, he is certainly confident and is learning to make better decisions on the floor.  Still has an excellent handle, and hopefully he'll continue to grow in size and stature which will help his defense.  Played this weekend with a lot of really selfish players, so he didn't get to show too much "stuff", but he's still young and his time will come.

Donald Wilson (6'-3" Jr. G) LA Dorsey--LA Rockfish--Donald missed a lot of the latter half of the RSL, didn't travel to Indiana for the Spiece (he was out with a minor heel injury sustained in track).  He's really, really quick, which is what you'd expect from a track athlete, and also jumps out of the gym, but honestly, we only saw him in one game this past weekend, and while we liked what we saw, it wasn't enough for us to say much more about him than we've said in the past.   He has great skills, takes it to the rack with authority, and has very good quickness, although we'd like to see him shoot more for a 6'-3" guy who really isn't a point, at least not on this team with Drisdom and Ford.  Dave B and Mark M tell us that he's going to get a lot of high-major to mid-major attention and we believe them, because this guy is as athletic as they come. 

Brandon Worthy (6'-2" Jr. G) Mt. Pleasant HS--Next Level-- Brandon was back playing with his old Next Level team for this tournament (whether he will stay with them or play with the Pumps in Vegas is an open question).   He is slowly but surely getting himself back into the groove of playing.   Brandon has the largest, softest hands of a player his size, you'd think they belong on a guy 6'-10".  He's listed at 6''-2" but is probably somewhere between 6'-0" and 6'-1", but he's very well developed, really a man.  His shot was off at this tournament, but he is another with a lot of upside.

William Wynn (5'-10" Sr. G) JW North--N. Riverside Slam N Jam--A tough little point guard, he and Odell Howard were largely responsible for leading North Riverside Slam N Jam into the Gold Bracket (where they got pounded anyway). Wynn is a speedster with a good handle, and the S&J guys were running a three man weave at the top of the key in most games, trying to set up Howard for the dribble penetration.  Wynn didn't shoot much from the outside, but when he did he was pretty effective.  We have no idea where he's going to school next year, but he could really run a team somewhere so we hope he catches on.

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