Shoe companies have now officially taken over the spring and summer AAU/club circuit with major shoe-sponsored events around the country – allowing only club programs that are sponsored by the shoe giants such as Nike, Adidas and Under Armour. If you are not a heavily sponsored shoe team with an invite and financially capable of making the trip, then, like many other club teams, you made the treck to Las Vegas, Nevada or Los Angeles, CA last weekend to compete in the Double Pump or Pangos events, which have become common place now for all the rest of the teams. As a…
Author: Anthony Ray
The state of Arizona received a nice boost in our basketball reputation this weekend with the superb success of prospects from the 2017 class. With the combined success of the D-1 Nation 16U squad and also the Arizona Magic 16U team, both teams have steamrolled their competition on the AAU/club circuit and should garner much recruiting interest for the state. This weekend, after recently winning the last Pangos Spring Spectacular event in Vegas, the Arizona Magic Elite 16U team, coached by Kenny Mullins was back at it again this weekend, but this time in Los Angeles, CA. His team went…
The state of Arizona received a nice boost in our basketball reputation this weekend with the superb success of prospects from the 2017 class. The Arizona D-1 Nation 16U squad is one of the best teams of their age group in the West, and they have steamrolled through their competition recently – wining their last 3 tournaments they have played in. Led by terrific head coach Glenn Mayberry, this group is very talented, cohesive and well coached. Mayberry, also a tournament organizer and very accomlished basketball referee, organized this group and has been able to keep much of the team together for several…
The state of Arizona has never been known for the sport of basketball and Arizona State University has not done much over the past 30 years to change that fact. Mediocrity in the sport has been good enough for Arizona State basketball fans, while just miles down the road, the University of Arizona has flourished – reaching Final-Fours and ultimately winning a national championship. While the University of Arizona has created numerous NBA players and all-stars, Arizona State has been lucky to have players continue playing after their college careers. While the University of Arizona has consistently sold out their…
Three visists have now been scheduled for 6-foot-3 senior combo-guard Sammy Barnes-Thompkins. After recently re-opening his college recruitment from a former commitment to St. John’s University, Thompkins’ phone has been ringing off the hook. ince Thompkins changed his mind, college programs have been in hot pursuit of Thompkins. Since Thompkins released the news of his de-commitment, he has heard from numerous college programs. I caught up with Thompkins this week and he advised me that he has scheduled three visits for himself, and plans to decide from these three programs. Thompkins will visit Kansas State, USC and Nevada. He is…
This is not the nationally recognized and top-30 nationally ranked performer Elijah Thomas from the state of Texas, but instead this talented Arizona prospect is quickly making a name of his own. Sunrise Mountain High School’s athletically gifted 6-foot-5, 200-pound junior wing prospect Elijah Thomas is a player in his own right, and he proved it recently in the Pangos Spring Spectacular in Las Vegas, Nevada. While I had not seen much of this young budding star prospect, he more than made up for lost time, as Thomas played inspired basketball and helped lead his Arizona Magic ballclub to a…
Elite 1 Academy 6-foot-5, 205-pound prep guard/forward Leo Goodman has been his program’s top prospect all season long, and one of the state’s most unheralded wing prospects. Recently, Goodman took part in the NCAA certified Las Vegas Shootout held in Las Vegas, Nevada, for unsigned junior college and high school prospects in the West. Organized by legendary top-rated national basketball scout Jerry Mullen and Area Codes’ organizer Chad Groth, this event was very good and involved many unheralded prospects that helped themselves over the weekend. Each of the prospects in attendance improved their college recruitment on the day, and earned…
It has been almost like a mix-tape for star 6-foot-3 senior combo-guard Sammy Barnes-Thompkins, who has had to change his mind several times regarding his commitment to a college program. After recently verbally committing to St. John’s University, Thomkins considered re-opening his college recruitment, but then decided that he would stick with his college pick. On Sunday evening, Thompkins decided to change his mind and re-open his college recruitment once again. The decision came after Thompkins and his family thought things over. “After thinking it over, (Chris) Mullin didn’t recruit Sammy originally, and we didn’t feel right playing for a coach that didn’t recruit him…
Next weekend, the Arizona Preps recruiting staff of Anthony Ray and Chris Buchanan will take the road once again – this time to cover this year’s Double Pump Spring Classic. This year’s event will be held Friday through Sunday, April 24-26th at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas. Last weekend our staff ventured to the same place, Las Vegas, Nevada and Bishop Gorman High School for the Pangos Spring Spectacular. The Spring Spectacular had a variety of different club teams last weekend from the West, and next weekend’s event will have an even different mix. We will be covering…
Gilbert Christian High School’s talented 6-foot-9 junior post Mitch Lightfoot is coming off a nice season where led his high school program to a Division-II state championship. It was a challenging year for him though, as he had to sit out the beginning to the 2014-2015 high school basketball season due to transfer rules. Lightfoot did have something to hang his hat on though, as he had already verbally committed to the University of New Mexico last summer. With a commitment already in place for him, Lightfoot continued to work hard and play through this spring evaluation period – looking…