Former St. Mary’s High School graduate and Westwind Prep post-grad George Matthews has found a new college home. After signing a division-I scholarship in the fall of 2010 with the University of Utah and spending a freshman season under first-year head coach Larry Krystkowiak, Matthews got his release from the PAC-12 program last month. After mulling over his options, Matthews has decided to sign a national letter of intent with the University of Texas-San Antonio and head coach Brooks Thompson. UTSA assistant coach Jeff Renegar was instrumental in the recruitment of Matthews, after developing a close personal relationship with Matthews since his high school days.…
Author: Anthony Ray
Many tourists travel every year up to northern Arizona to see the Grand Canyon – one of the world’s great wonders. Little did anyone know that high school basketball was being played very near by and at a high level. Very soon, college coaches will be making the trip as well, but to take a peek at one of the state’s top young prospects in the 2014 class. Grand Canyon High School’s 6-foot-5, 190-pound sophomore forward Joey Bankston has quickly developed into one of the state’s top young prospects, while still being an almost unknown prospect within the state among local basketball…
In between watching a boys basketball tournament throughout the weekend, I was also able to catch much of the action on Sunday at this year’s Venom Classic – held at Sierra Linda High School and hosted by tournament director Carolyn Jones. Jones assembled a lot of top young girls’ talent in this weekend’s event, and while I was unable to observe much of the top upperclassman prospects in the event, I was able to catch some of the action from the 17U level on Sunday. Here are the top prospects that I observed on the day in the Venom Classic … Ashley Lomavaya 5-6 …
I spent my entire weekend covering much of the action in the boy’s 16U and 17U Divisions at this weekend’s Southwest Showcase Summer Championships at Avondale Sports Complex. Another club tournament organized by long-time valley resident Ron Coleman, this weekend’s version of the Southwest Showcase included 72 teams for the weekend, while another event organized by Coleman last weekend had 102 teams. No one in the state works harder at creating playing opportunities for Arizona’s youth than Coleman. I caught up with Coleman this weekend, as he moved throughout the gymnasium – running from court to court. “It’s a lot of…
The wait is finally over for one of the top prospects in Arizona’s 2013 class. Westwind Prep International and former Westwind Prep Academy graduate, gifted 6-foot-1 post-graduate point guard prospect Juwan Moody had a very interesting college recruitment throughout his playing career in the state of Arizona. Moody, a native of Detroit, Michigan and a guard with loads of star quality in his hometown, moved to the state of Arizona to attend Westwind Prep alongside close personal friend Demarquise Johnson (Washington State signee). After venturning to Westwind Prep, Moody saw several coaching changes at the school and even changes in the school’s administration. As a…
Westwind Prep 6-foot-7, 210-pound prep forward Tuff Barnes is now officially off the recruiting board after playing himself into a full athletic scholarship with his play this spring on the club circuit. Barnes advised Arizona Preps on Friday evening that he has signed a national letter of intent with Seton Hill University, an NCAA division-II program located in Greensburg, PA. Barnes, the younger brother of current Arizona State sharp-shooting guard Bo Barnes (University of Hawaii transfer), was among the top available 3/4 prospects still on the recruiting board this spring. Barnes helped development his college recruitment this spring while leading a team of Arizona…
Former Arizona high school basketball product and former star guard Damin Lopez has had an interesting coaching run over the past year. After a storied playing career at Apollo High School in the late 1980’s and then helping his father David Lopez build a powerhouse basketball program at St. Mary’s HS in the late 1990’s and throughout the past decade, Lopez accepted a division-I assistant coaching position at his former college – the University of Pepperdine. Lopez served four seasons as an assistant coach with the Waves before resigning in December 2011. Lopez left to return to his home state of Arizona, where…
Saguaro High School’s 6-foot-1, 180-pound junior guard Ryan Berg is coming off an excellent junior season for himself and is beginning to raise eyebrows of college programs with his unique ability to shoot the basketball and flat out play the game. Berg has been a starter at the high school varsity level for three straight years now, and will enter into his fourth year as a starter for head coach Bob La Rue during the 2012-2013 season. This past high school season as a junior, Berg had his best season of all – averaging a team-high 20.8 points, 3 rebounds, 3…
Arizona’s 2014 class of prospect is absolutely loaded with talent across the board and at every position. Another one of the top prospects in the class that you need to know about resides at one of the state’s smaller high school programs. 6-foot-1, 175-pound sophomore guard prospect Kris Lamberson of Arizona Lutheran High School is a lesser known name in the class amongst college coaches at this point in his young career, but he is definitely one worthy of your attention. While playing at a smaller program in the Division-IV Class at Arizona Lutheran HS, many basketball enthusiasts around the…
WHAT: 2012 Venom Classic Basketball Tournament WHEN: May 18-20, 2012 WHERE: Sierra Linda High School – 3434 S. 67th Ave Phoenix, AZ 85043 – (Three air-conditioned courts in one location) COST: $275.00 per team GAMES: 3 Games guaranteed – Two 20-minute halves running clock REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Tuesday May 15th, 2012 AWARDS: Trophies for 1st place teams DIVISIONS: Divisions: Girls Divisions: 12U / 13U / 14U / JV / Varsity * Varsity includes unsigned seniors RULES: High School Rules Register Today: https://www.hostmytournament.com/index.cfm?load=tournament&tournament=130 For more information, please contact: Caroline Jones – AZ Venom Basketball – Tel: 602-502-9711 www.azvenom.net Join the Forum discussion on this post