The annual selections for this year's prestigious 2014 Reebok Breakout Camp, held in Philadelphia, PA from July 8-11, during the NCAA certified NCAA Evaluation period, took place this weekend after the action at this year's 2014 Reebok Arizona Open Run. While many of the state's top performers did not attend this weekend's exciting tryout, there were many top-prospects in attendance, including prospects from the state's of New Mexico, Washington, Colorado and California.
The Reebok staff in attendance, led by myself as Tournament Director, evaluated the players in attendance thoroughly in an attempt to select the top overall prospects from the day to advance to the big stage. The top prospects to perform on the day would earn an invitation to the big camp - the 2014 Reebok Breakout Camp.
Arizona superstar basketball product Royce Woolridge, is the youngest Arizona high school performer to commit to a division-I program - giving an early verbal pledge at the age of 15 to the University of Kansas, then the defending national champions. Woolridge talked to the campers about his experiences in college basketball. Woolridge who will play his final college season at Grand Canyon University this fall.
The annual Reebok Breakout Camp, formerly known as ABCD Camp, has been widely known as the premier camp annually for the nation's elite prospects. Top performers from this camp annually are considered future NBA Lottery draft picks. The camp also does a lot for a young man's national ranking, while also providing maximum single-court exposure to more than 300 college coaches from across the country.
This camp has also done a lot for the state of Arizona's top prospects over recent years, as such formerly unknown prospects as Jonathan Milligan and Michael Humphrey (Stanford signee) both would see their lives change as a result of their top performances at this camp. Both prospects became household names nationally as a result of their emergences at Reebok.
It could not have happened to a better kid, as Sunnyslope High School’s rapidly developing and talented 6-foot-10 senior post prospect Michael Humphrey saw his college recruitment, and even his life ultimately, change in last year’s Reebok Breakout Camp in Philadelphia, PA. Humphrey had a monster performance for himself in the annual camp – earning an all-star selection. As a result, Humphrey saw college offers begin to pour in for himself.
Top-rated national scout Clark Francis of HoopScoopOnline stated during the event that he believed Humphrey was the top overall sleeper at the camp.
Humphrey would reel in scholarship offers from such schools as Stanford, Indiana, UCLA, Louisville, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Virginia, Washington State, Vanderbilt, Oregon, USC, Gonzaga, Tulsa, San Diego, Loyola Marymount, PENN, Utah State, Grand Canyon, Weber State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Nebraska, San Diego State, UNLV and Notre Dame each offered scholarships to Humphrey during last year's camp. Humphrey would eventually sign with Stanford, but not before a barrage of college coaches hunted down the talented post prospect.
While understanding the importance of this year's selections for the annual Reebok Breakout Camp, here are our staff selections for this year's 2014 Reebok Breakout Camp from this year's Arizona Reebok Open Run - Sammy Thompkins, 6-foot-3 junior guard from Sunnyslope HS, Deion James 6-foot-8 junior forward from Empire HS in Tucson, Arizona, Christian Cunningham a 6-foot-6 junior from Albuquerque HS in New Mexico and Nick Allen 6-foot-7 junior post from Willow Canyon HS in Surprise, Arizona. The two alternates for this year's camp that could earn invitations are Independence HS 6-foot-3 junior guard Kaveon Moore and Catalina Foothills HS 6-foot-3 junior guard Dakota Kordsiemon.
Thank you to each of this year's camp participants and we look forward to seeing each of this year's invitees at this year's Reebok Breakout Camp.