Author: Anthony Ray

The Arizona Magic Elite 17U are heading into the busy recruiting month of July ready to go, after winning this weekend’s Summer Sizzle 17U Tournament Championship at Mesquite High School.  The Magic team of 7-players gave a strong team performance in the event, and now these individuals on the team will look to help themselves this month on the club circuit. The team was led in the tournament by the play of surging 6-foot-6 rising senior wing Elijah Thomas.  Thomas was my recipient of the Surprise Player of the Spring, after he emerged during the spring evaluation period as a…

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Arizona’s top overall girls prospect in the 2016 class is Millennium High School’s terrific 5-foot-7 rising senior guard Raina Perez.  Perez has made a believer out of everyone in the state of Arizona with her superb play thus far in her high school career.  Perez enters the summer evaluation period with scholarship offers on the table, but still looking to improve her college recruitment. I caught up with Perez’s father, Jeff Perez, today and he advised me that his daughter is close to being recovered from a severe ankle injury, and now is focusing on having a strong summer performance.…

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Arizona’s 2017 class is loaded with talent and while college coaches will be primarily focusing this spring on much of what the 2016 class has to offer, many college programs will also be trying to get a jump on the 2017 class as well.  One prospect that has emerged a great deal this spring and now looks to be one of the best prospects in the class is Brophy Prep High School’s 6-foot-9 rising junior post Sean Dunn. Dunn is unlike many prospects in the state, regardless of class.  Standing close to 6-10 in height and possessing excellent size and…

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A 2017 prospect that emerged this spring is Mesa Mountain View High School’s 6-foot-8 rising junior forward Curtis Hodges.  While an almost unknown basketball prospect before the spring, Hodges has emerged this spring with numerous strong performances on the club circuit.  As a result, Hodges reeled in his first scholarship offer. Hodges has been widely recognized throughout the state of Arizona as a serious football prospect – already receiving serious division-I interest as a wide receiver for the Mesa Mountain View football team.  But Hodges is 6-8 in heigth and looks much more the part of a serious  basketball prospect…

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Arizona’s 2017 class of prospects is loaded with talent, and one prospect that has climbed up the ladder in the class after a terrific spring performance is Basha High School’s talented and promising 6-foot-5, 195-pound rising junior wing Gabe McGlothan.  McGlothan made a nice splash this spring – leading his club team to several big tournament championships on the club circuit.  As a result, the gifted wing prospect now has two different scholarship offers on the table for himself. Recently, McGlothan earned two scholarship offers from local rising basketball power, Grand Canyon University and also the Big Sky Conference’s Northern Colorado. …

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I have been covering boys and girls basketball in the state of Arizona since 1995, almost 20 years now, and while we have seen some promise in both boys and girls basketball since I began covering the sport in the state, we still have a long way to go.  When I began covering basketball in the state, Arizona was void of a basketball culture.  There were not many people playing basketball year round and the state was very limited in our approach to the sport.  There were only two high-profile club programs in the state for boys, and girl’s basketball…

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Arizona’s 2017 class has emerged quickly, more than most classes before it, as an elite class of prospects.  While the class lost two of the best prospects in the class this spring, there are many other prospects in the class to watch for. One of the top prospects that I have seen is Mountain Ridge High School’s 6-foot-6, 165-pound rising junior wing Jared Rodriguez. While Rodriguez has yet to put up any serious numbers as of yet, like many other prospects in the class, this young man is gifted and has excellent potential over time. Mountain Ridge HS struggled last…

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With the busy recruiting month of July quickly approaching us, college coaches will be focusing their attention primarily on the 2016 class of prospects in the West. One of the better prospects in Arizona’s 2016 class was a lesser known prospect before the spring evaluation period.  Casa Grande High School’s 6-foot-4, 185-pound rising senior Greysn Rogers emerged this spring  with a solid performance, and now looks to be ready to attract some attention this summer. Rogers is looking forward to having a strong summer for himself, especially after living in southern Arizona and seeing very few college coaches if any…

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According to reports, Basha High School’s 6-foot-9 rising senior post Klay Stall has suffered a summer and season ending injury to his knee.  As a result, the talented post prospect will now miss the summer and his senior season while in recovery. The injury came in recent competition while with his Basha HS team at the University of San Diego basketball team camp.  Stall suffered a torn acl and a torn mcl – both meniscus were torn, while he also suffered a partial tear in his popiteal ligament.  Stall also bruised his fibula bone on fibula.  Stall will wait another…

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The time has finally come for Gilbert High School’s talented 6-foot-6 rising senior wing prospect Chris Bowling, as he receives his first division-I scholarship offer.  While other prospects in the class have seen a lot of college recruitment early, for Bowling the recruiting process has been very slow.  Bowling is expecting a big and busy recruiting month of July for himself, so firs first offer was exactly what he needed to kick off his summer. Last weekend, after speaking with Texas Pan-American assistant coach Jai Steadman, Bowling received a scholarship offer.  Steadman was the former head coach at local prep…

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