SoCalHoops Recruiting News

adidas Double Pump West Coast
All Stars, Session I Report--(July 10, 2001)

	What:	adidas Double Pump West Coast All Star Camp
	Where:	Cal State Dominguez Hills
		1000 E. Victoria, Carson, CA
	When:	Session #1:  July 7 through 10, 2001 Session #2:  July 11 through 14, 2001
	Who:	300 top players, many D-I coaches

We can't be in two places at once....or can we?   By the time you read this, WCAS #1 will be over and the all-star games will have been played, but we still were able to get some info on what happened at the camp while we're in New Jersey covering ABCD.  There are 29 players from California in New Jersey at ABCD, but that didn't deter the close to 300 or so other rising players in SoCal and other parts of the country from attending the adidas Double Pump West Coast All Star Camp's first session.  Our friend Dave Keefer who also writes for NorCalPreps.com and CaliforniaPreps.com was down at Cal State Dominguez Hills.  He sent us this report:

Redondo PG Keith Ellison

Summer camps are well under way and we took a look over the weekend at some of the action at Cal State Dominguez Hills where David and Dana Pump were putting on the first session of the adidas West Coast All-Star Basketball Camp. Session one runs from July 7-10 winding up with some all-star games. Session two takes over and runs July 11-14. The Pumps have quite a smooth-running event going thanks to the major contributions of Phil Bryant, Aubrey McCreary, Phil’s wife Jan, and an extensive support staff of coaches, instructors, guest speakers, and other personnel.

In one demonstration Dave Hopla entertained with his shooting skills (the guy doesn’t miss!) while giving pointers and tips to all the campers. Laker Mike Penberthy captivated campers, parents, and fans at another meeting as he gave pointers and took questions. Two questions of interest: "Which Laker is the most intensely motivated?" Mike’s answer wasn’t too surprising. Kobe Bryant, who he said works very hard to get better. Mike pointed out that high school players can really benefit from playing college. Even Kobe, who Mike suggested "might have learned faster [in college] that scoring isn’t everything." Teamwork is one theme of this camp that is stressed over and over.

Another question to Penberthy, "Who is the dirtiest player you’ve played against?" Answer: Utah’s John Stockton. The famous pick and roll with Stockton and Karl Malone usually started with a sneaky elbow pinpointed to the center of Mike’s chest. Also, when he left the game after guarding Stockton, Mike’s arm was usually streaked with bloody scratches that somehow materialized. But another emphasis of the camp was to play fair, have fun, and root for your fellow campers. We saw very little showboating, and displays of anger were rare. Most campers were intent on developing their game and this included setting up their teammates.

The games themselves were run four at a time at one location. The time was kept for all games simultaneously with a running clock of 22-minute halves. Actually, things were so busy and moving so swiftly and we spent so much time looking at rosters and schedules that we never pinpointed the length of the games. Let’s go with 22-minute halves. There were no free throws, no stats were kept, and play stopped very briefly only for substitutions of which there were many (everybody got playing time).

Most of the better players were not here for this first Pump session but we homed in on a few to see how they stacked up against the competition. There were many that we just didn’t get a chance to see because of logistics and time constraints. Even though the competition wasn’t at the highest level there were a lot of good players out there, so to excel above the crowd took some very good efforts. Some of the players who did were no surprise, guys like Frank Robinson (Chatsworth HS) and Keith Ellison of Redondo Union (though I’ve seen him play better). But one guy took many of us folks in attendance by surprise, mainly because nobody had seen him before. 6’8" 205 lb rising senior Trent Wurtz of Sheboygan North HS in Wisconsin was very impressive. He can score, rebound, and pass. No slouch on defense either. We can’t wait to see him against stiffer competition, although he was up against some guys here who were banging pretty good.

Robinson is listed at 6’3" but seems much taller the way he plays above the rim. He seemed unstoppable when going to the hoop or battling underneath to get his shots off, most of which ended with thunderous dunks. He’s also showing a pretty good handle and some nice passing. He’s been working hard on his jumper this summer and it’s beginning to pay off. We witnessed one nice swish from downtown, but most of his shots are created off slashing drives to the basket. He needs to keep improving and working on the jumper to keep defenders honest.

As time permits, we’ll try to post more on the message board and we’ll have more in-depth reports when session two begins. Here’s some more brief comments in the order they appeared in our notes:

Sebastian Andenle from Montclair Prep. He’s listed as 6’1" so a zero must be missing. He’s tall (6’10") and thin (200 lb) and isn’t real athletic but his size alone makes him valuable for getting rebounds and put-backs. He’s one of a number of guys on Montclair Prep that, when together as a unit, will make them a tough team. Of course the addition of Wendell White (not in attendance here) who transferred in from Redondo Union is the key to that team now.

Mark Bradford (a rising junior) 6’4", 180, guard from Fremont HS. Didn’t get to see him until late in Sunday’s session. Our bad! We wish we’d seen more of him; he’s very athletic.

Blaise Louh, 6’10" rising senior. Another big man for Montclair Prep who is still a project but is more agile than Andenle and should contribute a lot for the Mounties, especially on defense and on the boards.

Jake Franzen, 6’4", 180, rising senior combo guard from Capo Valley. He has a good all-around game and keeps improving. We know he can shoot after watching him last year but he seemed to be mixing it up in the paint a lot here. And did well. He’s also got very good court sense.

Keith Ellison, 6’1", 195, rising senior PG from Redondo Union HS. The listed weight looks about right but we wonder if he’s not taller than 6’ 1". Keith has got good skills but didn’t really show all of them while we were watching. He’s only going to get better as the summer heats up.

Matt Sweany, 6’4", 185, rising senior guard from Capo Valley. Listed as guard but played like a forward, strong underneath. Can shoot the jumper and he showed some good man to man defense.

James Matthews, 6’8", 235, rising senior big forward from Fremont HS. Plays very intensely and is built real solidly. Can bang with anybody and loves to dunk.

Ronald Allen, 6’9", 205, rising senior forward from Artesia. Likes to work on his post moves and is pretty good at it. Loves to dunk more. But did a little too much showboating, bordering on taunting. Needs to channel that energy but showed some athletic ability and will get noticed this summer.

Matt Llewellyn, 6’3", 175, rising senior combo guard from Campbell Hall. Matt hasn’t lost his shooting touch and hit some of the longest shots we saw tinkle the twine. But gosh, he’s got to work on his passing too. He seemed reluctant to give it up sometimes.

Jeremy Lake, 6’5", 175, rising senior G/F from University HS. Wasn’t hitting his jumper but showed good court sense and made some nice assists. Not afraid to bang for rebounds even though he needs to get stronger.

Louis Darby, 6’4", 185, rising senior guard from Sylmar HS. Very athletic and likes to dunk when he sees light to the rim. Pretty good with the jumper too, and will get better. Good size for a guard and has a big upside.

There were a lot more players that either played better or worse than those cited above but we obviously can only comment on what we were able to observe.

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