Arizona’s 2014 class is absolutely loaded with division-I talent for college programs to take a hard look at, and, as a result, there are some prospects that have blown well below the recruiting radar. One of those prospects was Mesquite High School’s talented 6-foot-4, 180-pound senior shooting guard prospect Zach Green. Well, that is before the start to the club season. Green went into the spring evaluation period as one of the lesser known top-rated prospects in Arizona’s rising senior class, but took full advantage of the opportunity to raise his recruiting stock during the club season. Beginning with the first two events…
Author: Anthony Ray
Arizona’s 2014 class of girl’s prospects is very talented, although not as loaded as the previous 2013 class in the state. One of the top prospects in the class is Mesquite High School’s 5-foot-8 senior guard/forward Cecily Wilson. Wilson is entering her senior season this year, only after turning in a strong high school career thus far. As a result of her performance last season and a strong performance this spring and summer, Wilson has given a verbal commitment to Long Beach State University and head coach Jody Wynn and her women’s basketball staff. Wilson is a high-energy and athletic…
In case you missed it, the highly successful group of Ekmarks, St. Mary’s High School head coach Curtis Ekmark and his top-rated daughter, 6-foot-1 senior guard/forward Courtney Ekmark (UCONN commit) will not return to the St. Mary’s girls basketball program this season – beginning a new chapter in both of their lives. Curtis Ekmark has decided that he will pursue another endeavor with Nike – developing a strong Nike-sponsored girls basketball club program in the state of Arizona. The program will be in conjuction with the Arizona Stars and club president Art Dye, and will involve girls ages 4th through 12th grade. Ekmark coached a…
One of the top overall prospects in Arizona’s strong 2014 class is Perry High School’s 5-foot-10 senior point guard Jordan Howard. I caught up with Howard this week in regards to his future college decision and also his list of current schools. Howard burst onto the recruiting scene last spring (2012) after a strong performance on the AAU/club circuit with a then, loaded Arizona Magic 16U ballclub that would win the 16 & Under tournament championship at a major Double Pump event in California. Howard would then also continue his strong play throughout the summer, and then also come back…
With everything that has recently taken place at Westwind Prep Academy, it only seemed pertinent that more changes would be soon to come for the basketball program at the school. On Wednesday morning, they came in a major way as Director of Basketball Operations and head coach, Jeff De Laveaga, resigned from the program. De Laveaga released a statement through Facebook on Wednesday morning, advising his followers of the circumstances. De Laveaga also went on to say,”I feel lied to and deceived. My parents of all our kids that put their trust into a school that said they had it all…
After a busy week last week, where talented 6-foot-8 senior forward Zylan Cheatham transferred schools – leaving Westwind Prep to head back to his former high school program, South Mountain HS, Cheatham has again narrowed down his list of prospective college programs. After trimming down his long list of schools last weekend to 8 schools, this weekend, Cheatham decided to cut the list once again – this time down to 5 college programs. On Sunday, Cheatham reported that he had narrowed his list down to Arizona State, Washington, Memphis, New Mexico and San Diego State. Cheatham has still given every indication that he still…
This weekend was an absolute mess for members of the Westwind Prep basketball program, as the NCAA became the program’s worst nightmare – declaring that the school’s coursework provided for their student-athletes at the program, during the 2012-2013 academic year, did not meet NCAA academic standards. The NCAA’s ruling this week comes after the NCAA gave the same ruling just a year ago, causing many of the program’s student-athletes last season to become NCAA ineligible. Such past top prospects as Demarquise Johnson (Washington State), Kiwi Gardner (Providence) and Richard Peters (Washington State) were all declared academically ineligible after the 2011-2012 academic year, as a result of the…
With everything still up in the air about the academic situation at Westwind Prep Academy, athletically gifted 6-foot-8 senior forward Zylan Cheatham has decided to leave the program and return to his former high school program – South Mountain High School. Cheatham played his sophomore season at South Mountain after spending his freshman season at St. Mary’s High School. Cheatham left St. Mary’s due to the financial obligation that was requirted of the school’s students, but then only decided to leave South Mountain for Westwind Prep after his sophomore season for an opportunity to develop as a player and play better…
When I first saw Chaparral High School’s 6-foot-5 junior forward Ryan Bayster just two years ago as an incoming freshman at his high school program, I was intrigued with this young man’s potential as a future college prospect. Over the past two seasons of high school basketball, Bayster has improved as planned and has developed into one of the better players at his position in Arizona’s 2015 class. Bayster is coming off his best season as a sophomore last season, while seeing very good minutes for a talented Firebird’s team. While Bayster did not put up big numbers in any category,…
Mesa Mountain View High School’s superb 6-foot-10, 235-pound senior post Payton Dastrup has an impressive list of schools in hot pursuit of him for some time now. Dastrup has been one of the top-rated post prospects in the country for the past two years – compiling a long list of scholarship offers from college programs across the country. This week, Dastrup decided to cut his long list of schools down to 7 different college programs, and the list is quite impressive. Dastrup’s list of college offers includes such programs as Kansas, Ohio State, Florida, UCLA, Virginia, St. Johns, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon,…