Arizona’s 2016 class of prospects is looking to develop into one of the state’s best classes, as a nice group of players in the class are playing major minutes for their respective varsity level teams. One prospect that has emerged recently among the top prospects in the class is Mesa Mountain View High School’s skilled 6-foot-5, 180-pound sophomore forward Zane Jowaiszas. Jowaiszas, while being a mere sophomore prospect for one of the state’s premier basketball programs, is seeing major minutes for legendary head coach Gary Ernst this season. Jowaiszas was inserted into the Toros’ starting lineup at the beginning of the season,…
Author: Anthony Ray
Talented 5-foot-11 sophomore guard Dewayne Russell will stay close to home, once again, and will play the remainder of his college basketball career right here in Phoenix, Arizona, after Russell gave a verbal commitment to Grand Canyon University on Saturday afternoon. Russell, who had been highly sought after by numerous division-I programs recently after deciding to transfer from Northern Arizona University last month, gave head coach Dan Majerle and his coaching staff a nice surprise on Saturday – calling the staff and advising them of his interest in playing for the rising college program. Since obtaining his full release from NAU, Russell became a serious…
Desert Vista High School’s talented and rapidly developing 6-foot-4 junior post Kristine Anigwe is among the top-rated basketball talents in the country for the 2015 class. While Anigwe was quickly seeing her college recruitment begin to soar, the post prospect has decided to end her college recruitment very early – giving a verbal pledge to a PAC-12 program. Anigwe chose to end her college recruitment and give a big verbal commitment to Cal and head coach Lindsay Gottlieb and her women’s basketball staff. “I really liked the coaches there and the players,” said Anigwe. Anigwe is currently rated among the top…
Shadow Mountain High School (7-1) has been terrific this high school season. Sporting a very talented lineup that is very young, Shadow Mountain is the team of the future in the state. On Saturday evening, in this year’s Hoophall West High School Invitational at Grand Canyon University, Shadow would face the team of the present – two-time defending Division-I state champion Corona Del Sol (7-0). Corona is as talented a team as there is in the state this season, led by the play of the state’s premier point guard, 6-foot-3 senior guard Casey Benson (University of Oregon signee), 6-foot-9 senior post Connor…
Desert Vista High School (9-0) is as loaded as girl’s team as there is in the state this high school season. The Thunder have absolutely rolled through their competition this season, and have not been challenged, except for a 64-52 win this week over Highland HS. Second-year head coach Jontar Coleman has Desert Vista playing very loose this season, and looking to put it all together. The Thunder are led by a trio of top-rated prospects – led by the developed post play of 6-foot-4 junior post Kristine Anigwe (Cal commit), who recently gave a verbal commitment to Cal-Berkeley, 5-foot-9 star junior…
Arizona Western Junior College (12-3, 6-1) came into Thursday evening’s road game at Phoenix College tied for first place in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC), and as winners of their last 10 games in a row. But they would face a very focused Phoenix College (9-3, 5-2) basketball team that was looking for their 4th win in a row, and on their home floor. Phoenix College came into Thursday night’s match-up playing their best basketball of the season, and excited about the return of 6-foot-4, 218-pound sophomore forward Brandon Pineda-Morales. Thursday evening’s contest would be Pineda’s first game of the season after suffering a…
Westview High School was flat out amazing last season, as they posted a superb 33-2 overall record. Westview might have won it all last season, had they not run into two of the state’s top teams. They would fall to an unstoppable St. Mary’s team on their home floor in the sectional finals, and then lose to a tough Hamilton team in the quarterfinals. This season, head coach Lisa Contreras, one of the top coaches in the state, returns a very experienced lineup from last season that only lost two seniors from last year’s team to graduation. While the team surprisingly has…
Dobson High School head coach Tyler Dumas and the Dobson girls basketball program have to be very excited as they have started off the 2013-2014 high school basketball season with a big, 8-0 start to the year. With several big blowout victories early in the season already, and key victories over such talented teams as Mesa Mountain View, Mountain Pointe and Gilbert Highland, this year’s group of Mustangs is on a tear and looking to hang a Division-I state championship banner in 2014. Dobson (8-0) returns a loaded and experienced group this high school season, after only losing 4 seniors to graduation from last…
Since departure from Northern Arizona University last month by 5-foot-11 high-scoring sophomore guard Dewayne Russell, the talented guard prospect has picked up loads of division-I college interest for himself. It had seemed that Russell would be a integral part of the basketball program for the Lumberjacks, especially after a stellar freshman season where he posted averages of 14.4 points and 3.2 assists per game as a freshman in 2012-13. Instead, Russell and Northern Arizona head coach Jack Murphy would mutally part ways with one another just 3 days before the start to the 2013-2014 college basketball season. Russell scored a team-high 27 points in…
Gilbert High School (4-1) is among the top-rated teams in the state, once again this season. Led by an experienced coaching staff and a team of talented players, head coach Jay Caserio and this Gilbert team will have their best chance of winning it all this high school season. While possessing the best frontcourt in the state this season, much of the responsibility for winning a state title this season will rest on the shoulders of their tough and physical 5-foot-11 senior point guard Anthony Bryant. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Bryant is one of the state’s premier point guards and has led the team for…