The final day of this year’s annual Reebok Breakout Camp in Philadelphia, PA concluded on Friday evening with two games for the participants and the prestigious camp all-star game. The goal of many participants annually, like any camp, is to be selected for the camp’s all-star game. For campers from Arizona historically, just being invited to the camp has been enough. Very few prospects from the state have ever been selected for the all-star game at this camp. An invitation to the camp’s all-star game does wonders for a student-athlete’s opportunity to raise their overall college recruitment, national ranking and evaluation. Recently,…
Author: Anthony Ray
Day two of this year’s Reebok Breakout Camp in Philly saw a lot more action taking place on the basketball court as each camp participant competed in three games on the day, with some training taking place in the morning. Day two is always enjoyable to watch as a scout, because the players settle down from nerves and the coaches of the event begin to gain a better feel for who the players are on their respective teams – allowing for much better team play and better substitution patterns. For each of Arizona’s top prospects in the camp, this is a welcomed…
Wednesday’s action at this year’s Reebok Breakout Camp in Philadelphia was an exciting one, as official camp games began on the evening. Also making things much more official was the fact that at 5:00PM, NCAA Division-I coaches were permitted to attend the camp’s action. It was an interesting sight to behold as hundreds of college coaches waited outside the gymnasium on the campus of the University of Philadelphia until they were permitted to enter the building to observe the campers. With such top-rated head coaches as John Calipari (Kentucky), Steve Alford (UCLA), Shaka Smart (VCU), Johnny Dawkins (Stanford), Cuonzo Martin (Tennessee),…
Arizona’s 2015 class of prospects is still developing a great deal, but there are many prospects in the class that have already made a name for themselves and proven that they are serious college prospects. One of these players is not a household name, as of yet, but he has developed into a prospect worthy of strong consideration among the better overall prospects in the class. Buena High School’s 6-foot-5, 210-pound junior forward Luke Reynolds is one prospect that is becoming one of the state’s better junior prospects. While he has not had a breakout season yet for himself, Reynolds is a well-coached and…
Nothing else kicks off the busy recruiting month of July better than big-time exposure basketball camps across the country. Camps featuring loads of division-I prospects from around the country and large numbers of college coaches in observation. With each of the top shoe companies involving themselves in such camps, it makes for a really exciting situation. Nike has their version of their shoe camps now with Nike’s position camps named after NBA players – Lebron James, Amare Stoudamire and Steve Nash. Currently, Nike just finished hosting their annual Lebron James Skills Academy in Las Vegas and Westwind Prep’s 6-foot-8 senior Zylan Cheatham represented the state of Arizona there…
The busy recruiting month of July is now officially upon us, and this weekend got the month of to a great start as many of the state’s top AAU/club programs faced off with one another in preparation for July at this year’s Summer Sizzle basketball tournament. The tournament was organized by Glenn Mayberry, a local resident and top-rated referee from the state. Mayberry is a basketball product of the state and did an excellent job this weekend in hosting a first-class event for Arizona’s club teams to prepare themselves for July competition. With many of the state’s top 17 & Under club…
In very surprising fashion, Corona Del Sol High School’s star 6-foot-3 senior point guard Casey Benson has pulled the trigger on his college recruitment, and before the beginning to the July NCAA evaluation period. Arizona Preps has learned that Benson has made his college decision on Sunday evening and will elect to sign with the University of Oregon and head coach Dana Altman in the fall – a nice get for the Ducks program. Oregon assistant coach Brian Fish was instrumental in the recruitment of Benson. I caught up with Benson on Saturday afternoon at this weekend’s Summer Sizzle AAU/club tournament at Corona Del Sol HS,…
One of the top overall prospects in Arizona’s 2014 class of girl’s top performers is Dobson High School’s talented and skilled 5-foot-7 senior combo-guard Tori Lloyd. Lloyd is coming off her best high school season of her career and, as a result, garnered serious recruiting attention for herself this spring. After looking over her options for the future, Lloyd has decided to end her college recruitment early – before the NCAA evaluation period in July. Lloyd is one player that would have generated much more recruiting interest during the summer, but she chose to end her recruitment almost before it began – finding…
After a strong junior season for Millennium High School’s senior post player, the summer evaluation period has ended before it even began. 6-foot-9, 220-pound senior post Elston Jones led his Tigers to a strong 24-6 overall record last season and a late playoff push, before falling to eventual Division-I state champion Corona Del Sol HS (47-46) in the state quarter-finals. Jones would have another strong season for himself in the process – averaging 12.9 points and 13.2 rebounds per/game on the season. Jones has been big and consistent throughout his high school career for terrific head coach Mike Lopez, but has struggled with…
With three different events taking place on Saturday around the state of Arizona, I was able to catch some of the action at each event on the day. While I was not able to see a lot of action at any one of the three events, some players did catch my attention on the day. While at this year’s West Coast Hoops Report Showcase at Glendale Community College, an event organized by Chad Groth, there were a few players that caught my attention. The event format was comprised of primarily unsigned senior prospects from Arizona’s 2013 class. One player that…