While it had looked as though Willow Canyon High School’s talented and skilled 6-foot-7 senior forward Nick Allen would be one of the more sought after recruiting targets in the West this spring, Allen has different plans in mind after enjoying his first official recruiting visit over the weekend. Allen enjoyed his visit enough to give a verbal commitment to a mid-major plus college program in the Conference USA Conference. With many schools looking to get involved with Allen this spring, one school stepped up early and made a commitment to Allen. As a result, Allen would make his verbal commitment…
Author: Anthony Ray
Chandler High School’s 6-foot senior guard Riley McKinnis was this year’s Surprise Performer from the Arizona Preps Fall Showcase. McKinis played very big in this year’s event. McKinis plays with loads of confidence and plays much bigger than his size suggests. He is a combo-guard prospect that can play either guard spot on the floor, and has a knack for scoring the basketball off dribble-drives and strong finishes at the basket. He is able to finish strong at the rim against bigger defenders, and uses very good body control to finish plays inside the lane. A good shooter with range…
With the beginning of the 2014-2015 junior college basketball season upon us, we will be looking at the players to watch for this up-and-coming season, as well as each of the teams in the conference as well. With that in mind, there is no player in the conference this season that will do more for their team, and no player in the conference that is better than Phoenix College’s 5-foot-10 sophomore point guard Brandon Brown. Last season as a mere freshman for head coach Matt Gordon, Brown led his Bears to the Division-II National Championship in fine fashion. Brown’s season…
With the start to this year’s 2014-2015 junior college basketball season in the mix, one player will not have to worry about his college recruitment this season. Central Arizona Junior College ultra-athletic 6-foot-6, 220-pound sophomore forward Deshawn Jones is already off the recruiting board, after signing this fall with a strong division-II program from his hometown. Before his college recruitment would really get started, Jones would elect to sign this fall during the early signing period with the University of Minnesota-Duluth – another huge signing by the division-II program, and an absolute steal. Jones is regarded by myself and our…
The 2014-2015 junior college basketball season in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) is now in full swing. Here are this week’s Players of the Week in women’s basketball in the conference . . . ACCAC D-I Player of the Week: Chukwuma Chiamaka – Eastern Arizona Chukwuma Chiamaka scored 34 huge points and grabbed 28 rebounds as the Gila Monsters went 3-0 last week with wins over South Plains, Midland and Salt Lake. Chiamaka shot 50% from the floor and had 6 steals as well. ACCAC D-II Player of the Week: Caitlyn Hetrick – Glendale Glendale JC went 1-2 during…
Willow Canyon High School’s talented and skilled 6-foot-7 senior forward Nick Allen will be one of the more sought after recruiting targets in the West this spring, especially if he can get it done academically this high school season. While many schools will be looking to get involved with Allen this spring, one school is looking to get it done much sooner. This week, Allen received a nice division-I offer from the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA), a member of Conference-USA. Allen will also take an official recruiting visit to the school this weekend. UTSA will look to get Allen on…
Now that each of our other scouts have completed their player evaluations from this year’s 16th Annual Arizona Preps Fall Showcase, here is Part II of my player evaluations for the top prospects I watched from our recent, exciting event for boys . . . Billy Jordan 6-5 SOPH SF Desert Ridge HS – 2017 Class – Jordan comes from excellent basketball bloodlines, as his father, Billy Jordan Sr., was a big-time prospect back in his day. Jordan is a skilled and tenacious wing prospect that competes at a high level and has great energy on the floor. Jordan has…
Now that each of our other scouts have completed their player evaluations from this year’s 16th Annual Arizona Preps Fall Showcase, here are my player evaluations for the top prospects I watched from our recent, exciting event for boys . . . Sammy Thompkins 6-3 SR PG Sunnyslope HS – 2015 Class – No player in the event impressed more than Sunnyslope High School’s superb 6-foot-3 senior guard Sammy Thompkins – earning Thompkins this year’s Tournament Most Valuable Player Award. Thompkins played with superior confidence in this year’s event, while also displaying terrific sportsmanship and a great attitude in the…
Recently, the Arizona Aces Invitational took place at Rio Solado High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. Organized by Arizona Aces club coach Austin Nelms, one of my closest friends in the business, the event was held for free for each of their participants. Nelms raised the money for this year’s event, allowing each of the players, coaches, and fans the ability to watch competitive club basketball games, and also eat delicious bar-be-que in between games. Nelms had almost lost his life just two years ago after complications took place with a previous heart implant. After being in ICU for more than…
One of the top overall girls prospects in the state is now off the recruiting board, as Boulder Creek High School’s talented and gifted 5-foot-10 senior guard Darian Slaga has made her college decision. While it looked as though Slaga might wait until the late, spring signing period to make her decision, Slaga decided to pull the trigger – choosing to verbal to the University of Portland and head coach Cheryl Sorenson and her women’s staff. Slaga had indicated that the University of Denver was in the lead during the spring and it had looked as though she would eventually verbal…