We continue our new Summer Player Rankings with our next release – the 2014 class summer player rankings for post players - beginning with the power forwards. This post position is solid with talented prospects and has several division-I prospects at the position.
Leading the way for this summer’s rankings at the position is Westwind Prep Academy’s 6-foot-9 rising junior post Connor McDougall. MacDougall recently advised us that he has decided to transfer schools and attend Westwind Prep Academy this fall. MacDougall has developed quickly since the high school season, and is coming off an excellent spring performance for himself - now clearly ranked among the best at his position in the West. As a result of his strong spring performance, MacDougall is generating a lot of division-I interest from such schools as Arizona State, Colorado, Washington State, Oregon State, Utah, Utah State, Stanford, Saint Mary's, Gonzaga and many others. MacDougall is a true power-forward that likes to play with his back to the basket and is also able to face the basket out to 15-18 feet, making him a nice offensive threat. He is very athletic and strong for his size and age already, and should develop a great deal over the next two years of high school basketball before entering the college ranks.
Next among the top small forward prospects in the class is Cesar Chavez High School’s 6-foot-5 rising junior forward Pablo Rivas. Rivas is coming off an excellent sophomore season for himself, after leading his high school program to a Division-I state championship runner-up finish. While Rivas does not play for a high-profile club program, many have not seen him perform, but he is a high-energy prospect that has excellent athleticism. A native of the Dominican Republic, Spanish is Rivas' first language. He is working hard to develop his offensive skills. Standing 6-foot-5 with a long, rangy frame, he will be limited in his college recruitment as a power forward, and will need to develop into a small forward to maximize his college recruitment.
Desert Mountain HS 6-foot-7 rising junior forward Chris Allen sat out last season as a high school transfer, but is very talented physically and has a nice frame. We will be keeping a close eye on him to see how he develops as a prospect. His body and athleticism are very intriguing and suggest that he has the potential to become a nice division-I prospect over the next year.
Catalina Foothills HS 6-foot-6 rising junior forward Chaz Mack is a good looking four-man prospect that knows how to play the position. An active rebounder with a left-handed shooting stroke, Mack has good toughness as a player and a good overall motor. While we did not see him compete this spring, he has the potential to become a very good 4-man prospect for the future, but we will need to see him against much better competition to continue to evaluate him as a prospect.
Here are our Summer Player Rankings for the power forward position in Arizona’s 2014 class. While we have not seen everyone at the position in the state, these individuals have proven to be the best at the position at this point in time.
Arizona Preps 2014 Class Summer Player Rankings – Power Forwards (In Ranking Order)
1. Connor MacDougall 6-9 JR PF Westwind Prep Academy (Phoenix, AZ)
2. Pablo Rivas 6-5 JR PF Cesar Chavez HS (Phoenix, AZ)
3. Chris Allen 6-7 JR PF Desert Mountain HS (Phoenix, AZ)
4. Chaz Mack 6-6 JR PF Catalina Foothills HS (Tucson, AZ)
5. Jordan Natt 6-5 JR PF Hayden HS (Phoenix, AZ)
6. Jackson Jessop 6-8 JR PF Show Low HS (Show Low, AZ)
7. Cherokee Toms 6-5 JR PF The Orme School (Mayer, AZ)
8. Dan Gastellum 6-3 JR PF Rio Rico HS (Rio Rico, AZ)
9. Connor Segneri 6-7 JR PF Scottsdale Christian Academy (Scottsdale, AZ)
10. William Braswell 6-5 JR PF Tombstone HS (Tombstone, AZ)
Summer Player Ranking Notes: Our player rankings have been determined by a body of work from each student-athlete. Each player’s body of work consisted of performances throughout the high school season, and also performances throughout the spring and summer. A top performance throughout the high school season impacts a player’s ranking a great deal. A student-athlete’s performance throughout the spring and summer will have an even bigger impact, since our staff is able to observe Arizona players in competition against much better local, regional and national competition. The complete body of work has been taken into consideration for each of our player rankings. Player rankings are based on a particular student-athlete’s ability to play the game of basketball – not academic performance, although a player can help him or herself if he/she is an excellent student. Rankings are done to help aid college coaches in their ability to identify the top student-athletes by position and class in the state. These rankings are forwarded to college coaches at every level throughout the country. Rankings will be updated throughout the year.
