Basha High School’s 6-foot-9, 225-pound senior post Maurice Kirby is still in the process of planning what he is going to do with his college recruitment, and last week it got much more interesting for Kirby and his family. With offers firmly on the table from two programs currently, from Loyola University Chicago and Brown University, Kirby received another big offer – the biggest of the three. Late last week, Kirby received an offer from Virgina Tech University – a member of the prestigious ACC Conference. The offer was unexpected by Kirby, who had seen his college recruitment tail off a great deal in recent months.…
Author: Anthony Ray
Arizona’s 2013 class of prospects is very loaded with talented performers throughout. With many of the top-rated prospects in the class already having given verbal pledges to division-I college programs already, there are still many prospects in the class that have gone unnoticed by college programs. One of these prospects is Buena High School’s 6-foot senior forward Nidja Thomas. A very talented prospect that has flown well below the recruiting radar, Thomas is a superb talent that division-I college programs need to know about. Buena HS is always known for producing top-rated basketball talent for high school boys and girls,…
Westwind Prep Academy (WPA) underwent a major change in the spring, as the program hired long-time successful head coach Jeff De Laveaga. Immediately the school’s basketball program saw an instant development of the school’s level of talent and commitment to developing it’s student-athletes. With many kids either transferring to the school or moving to the program from outside of the state, the program is loaded with talented prospects that many college coaches are knocking the door down to catch a glimpse of. Already this fall, a large number of division-I college coaches have traveled to the school located in North Phoenix to view the…
As if making history last season in the state of Arizona in girl’s basketball wasn’t already enough for St. Mary’s High School’s head coach Curtis Ekmark. Well, he has done it again. After a perfect 30-0 season last year where the Knights won a state championship in easy fashion, the Nike Tournament of Champions girls tournament during the winter and also an historic national championship (by ESPN) and #1 national ranking, it had seemed that Ekmark and his Knights could do nothing better. But for the controversial Ekmark, there is always more to be done. And why is Ekmark controversial? Simply because…
The commitments continue to keep rolling in for members of the St. Mary’s High School’s top-rated girl’s basketball program. After the recent commitments this spring and summer by St. Mary’s star players Courtney Ekmark (UCONN commit), Danielle Williams (Michigan commit), Dominique Williams (UCLA commit) and Chantel Osahor (Washington commit), now add Chloe Johnson to that list of division-I commits. The talented 5-foot-7 senior guard recently gave a verbal commitment to San Diego State University – a member of the Mountain West Conference. Johnson is another very talented prospect on the Knights’ very loaded roster and helped lead her Knights to an undefeated season…
Very few high school players work as hard or as much as Brophy Prep’s 6-foot-2 junior guard Romano Bottini. One of the better guard prospects in Arizona’s 2014 class, Bottini worked tirelessly this off-season to raise his game and gain exposure to many college coaches, scouts and media. When the 2011-2012 high school basketball season ended, Bottini’s season had just began. The hard-nosed guard prospect laced up his sneakers and went to work – working out with a personal basketball trainer, lifting weights and hitting the spring and summer club circuit in hopes of improving his game and raising his…
Arizona’s 2015 class is beginning to take shape, as several prospects in the class have risen to the top of the class early on in their high school careers. One of these elite prospects in the class is Chaparral High School’s 5-foot-11 steady floor general Brandon Hoffer. After a strong freshman season for Hoffer where he saw immediate success at the varsity level, Hoffer has continued to build on his success and now looks ready for a much bigger sophomore season. As a mere freshman last season, Hoffer was immediately inserted into the Firebird’s varsity lineup. While the school went through…
Westwind Prep’s ultra-skilled 6-foot-4, 200-pound senior guard Josh Braun is on the comeback trail and is looking very good – close to returning back to the basketball court. A lot has happened for Braun since we last saw him play competing on the basketball court this past spring. Among the elite prospects in Arizona’s 2013 class, and with numerous scholarship offers already on the table for himself heading into the summer, Braun was looking to add to his list of offers in the summer months with strong play on the club circuit. Unfortunately for Braun, his 2012 club season ended almost as fast as it…
With many of Arizona’s top prospects in the 2013 class currently looking at recruiting options for themselves this fall, Basha High School’s 6-foot-9, 225-pound senior post Maurice Kirby is still mulling over his options for his future. Once committed to a PAC-12 program in Arizona State, Kirby has seen his college recruitment take an interesting twist over the past couple of years. Kirby committed to the Sun Devils and head coach Herb Sendek and his basketball staff as a mere freshman prospect, while under the leadership and development of former club coach Jeff De Laveaga. But soon after a verbal…
Arizona’s 2014 class of prospects is as loaded a class as there is among states in the West, and while many prospects in the class have already emerged at a high level amongst college coaches, scouts and media, there are still numerous players within the state that have gone well below the recruiting radar. One player that has soared well below the radar is Tucson Amphitheater’s 5-foot-10 junior point guard prospect Yusuf Shehata – and for good reason. Shehata was a contributor last season on Amphitheater’s state championship runner-up team – a team that finished with an impressive 30-4 overall record last…