For basketball enthusiasts around the state, the Kirby name has become commonplace and synonymous with basketball in the state of Arizona. A well known name throughout the state over the past 5 years, mother Miki Kirby has helped develop the sport of basketball as well as players in Northern Arizona and now Chandler, while her son Maurice Kirby recently graduated from Basha High School and now currently is on a full basketball scholarship with Virginia Tech University – a member of the ACC Conference. Now it is time for younger brother, Devin Kirby, to now take center stage in the basketball community in Arizona. Currently a very young…
Author: Anthony Ray
For Glendale Junior College’s high-scoring 6-foot-5 sophomore guard/forward Ronald March, a big scoring outburst has become very common this junior college season, as the gifted wing prospect has poured in numerous big scoring efforts this season in almost every game for the Gauchos. But his best performance this season may have come on Wednesday evening, when his surging Glendale (10-8, 7-8) team would knock off one of the conference’s top teams – Mesa Junior College. In a 92-83 home victory over Mesa, March would finish with a game-high 36 points – leading his team to their second big win in a row. Mesa (17-4, 13-2) came into Wednesday…
Westview High School’s girl’s basketball program has been a serious contender to win the Division-I state title the past seasons, and looks to have their best chance to win it all this high school season. Even last season when the program would run into the state’s most dominant team, the St. Mary’s Knights, only to lose on their home floor after going undefeated for some time; the Westview girls still looked to have a chance to take home the hardware. This season, behind the strong off-court leadership of mother and head coach Lisa Contreras, and the on-the-court prowess of 5-foot-4 senior point…
One of the best and possibly the best sleeper prospect in the state of Arizona is Gilbert High School’s athletically gifted and hard-nosed 6-foot-8 senior forward Spencer Nicolds. Nicolds is a superb athletic talent that has developed a great deal over the past two years, and now has become one of the best kept secrets in Arizona’s loaded 2014 class. Nicolds is the man for a talented Gilbert High School (15-5) team that is loaded with college level basketball talent. His blue-collar style of play combined with a nice overall skill level has made him one the better prospects around, and one…
Brophy Prep High School’s hard-working 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior guard prospect Romano Bottini has found a college home for himself for the near future, after he would receive a phone call this week from from a college program – extending an offer to him for next season. After speaking with Point Loma Nazarene University assistant coach Jordan Cornea this weekend, Bottini received an opportunity to walk on next season, as a preferred walk-on to the basketball program – an offer that Bottini will accept next fall. Bottini has helped his Brophy Broncos to a 12-10 overall record this season with tough and hard-nosed…
This Sunday on the campus of Arizona Christian University, the 7th Annual Arizona Middle School Basketball Exposure Showcase took place and in a big way. Directed by basketball tournament organizer Chad Groth and organized on Sunday by John Ortega (Arizona Power), the event was absolutely loaded with top-rated middle school talent and younger prospects. This weekend’s event quickly proved to me that the younger levels of basketball talent in the state of Arizona are absolutely filled with talented prospects, and that there are many kids in the state of Arizona that love the game and want an opportunity to play it. As a…
The 7th annual Southwest Prep Showcase took place this weekend, Friday through Sunday, at Inspire Courts in Gilbert, Arizona. The event was a high quality event and showcased many of the top prep prospects in the West over the weekend. Organized by the hard-working duo of Westwind Prep Academy’s coaching staff, led by Jai Steadman and Nick Weaver, this weekend’s event was absolutely loaded. The event was filled with loads of quality teams and players in participation for the event, and where there are quality players there are college scouts and coaches in attendance. It was a very exciting weekend with over 60 different…
The state of Arizona is always filled with top-rated talent that soars under the recruiting radar, and, as of late, several of these underrated prospects have turned in consistent big performances to raise their overall level of recruitment. After big performances recently this season, Desert Ridge High School’s gifted 6-foot-3 senior combo-guard Hunter Thomas would turn in his best performance of the season on Friday evening, in his team’s big 93-81 road victory over McClintock High School. In the win, Thomas would finish with a game-high 38 points on 13 of 16 shooting from the field. In the performance, Thomas would seem to score…
After last week’s scoring outburst by Westwind Prep’s Lyrik Shreiner, introducing Scottsdale Junior College’s talented 6-foot-2 sophomore guard Kevin Bowman. After numerous recent games where Bowman has shot the lights out, this young man would blow up on Wednesday evening – exploding for 47 points in a big 120-116 come-from-behind victory over visiting Glendale Junior College. All season, I have regarded Bowman as a mid-major division-I guard with ultimate sleeper potential. On Wednesday evening he proved it, as he caught fire in the game’s second half and carried his team on his back en route to a big win. Scottsdale would score an…
The story of Westwind Prep Academy 6-foot-4, 180-pound senior guard prospect Lyrik Shreiner this week was absolutely amazing and was as big a recruiting story as there was in the country, as the talented and hard-working guard prospect reeled in numerous high-major division-I scholarship offers this week. After we reported this week that Shreiner had received a tremendous offer from the University of Louisville this week, his first high-major offer, Shreiner would then receive many more division-I offers immediately following. By week’s end, Shreiner would also receive scholarship offers from Kansas, UCONN, Missouri, Memphis, Washington and Washington State. Shreiner also currently…