AZ Compass Prep is making excellent strides in year two of the program's mission to develop an excellent basketball program in the valley that will be filled with serious player development, on and off the basketball floor. The school's leadership has made a tremendous commitment to the basketball program. The basketball program, led by former NBA/Euro Pro guard Ray Weathers and his wife Angela Weathers, a top-rated Southwest Region trainer, is now on the rise a great deal in year two of the program's national program.
The Weathers' family has an extreme commitment to their faith in the Lord, and has brought that dedication and disciplined commitment to the Compass Prep basketball program and also the school. Their focus is to spread the gospel and to develop today's youth through hard work and faith in every area of their lives on a daily basis, with no compromise. Their first year involved developing the school's high school basketball program, which they did in fine fashion - winning the program's first ever Division Championship during the regular season.
Last season, the program began their first year as a national program, and the school was very successful - winning numerous games against top-rated competition. They produced some serious talent last season for the college ranks, as Both Gach, a native of Minnseota, became one of the hottest prospects in the West and ultimately signed at the University of Utah. Milwaukee transfer Dwayne Walker became one of the top scorers of the basketball in the prep school ranks and eventually signed with Chipola Junior College (FL), one of the elite junior college programs in the country. The success of these prospects helped the program to gain national attention, and the school is continually making major strides now in it's second season.
The program has added a growing team of professionals in their second season with the addition of assistants on the staff, including former NBA Lottery pick Sharon Wright. The program also hired former Villanova product and the nation's former #1 ranked high school player Jason Frazier at the program's sister school, Skyline Prep.
The program also received a major injection as a whole, and so will the state of Arizona's level of competition and notoriety this season, with the transfer this season of such nationally acclaimed prospects as Chol Marial. Chol was once regarded as the nation's top overall 2019 prospect and a definite future NBA Lottery pick, after quickly emerging on the national basketball scene as a mere 8th grader. Marial has been one of the nation's premier prospects for some time, but he has had nagging injuries over the past couple years, causing him to miss a lot of action on the basketball court. A native of Sudan, Chol spent last season at IMG Academy in Florida, after spending two seasons at Chesire Academy in Connecticut.
Chol will return to action this season at AZ Compass and anchor a loaded team that will also feature numerous other top-rated national prospects, including elite 6-foot-9 incoming freshman prospect Sadraque Nganga who recently landed in Arizona from Angola, and has recently gained serious national recruiting attention. Nganga has been regarded also as a future NBA draft prospect as well.
Also joining Chol and Nganga will be numerous other new top-rated prospects to the program, such as talented 6-foot-4 junior guard Xavier Ducell, who recently transferred in from Chaparral HS. 6-foot-7 ultra-athletic guard Fallou Cisse, who is one of the most athletically gifted guard prospects in the country, will be a major addition to the program this season, and also 6-foot-4 junior guard Carlos Ramsey, a native of Milwaukee, will help to provide serious scoring for the team this season.
Also joining this new group of talented prospects this high school season will be gifted 6-foot-3 junior guard Jalin Anderson. Anderson had a strong freshman season for the program and returns as one of the top overall 2020 prospects in the state.
These extreme additions to the program this high school season will be very important to the program, as they have already helped the program to gain serious national attention already, and should help the program make a lot more noise in the basketball community this season, after a serious splash last season. The program will play games this season as part of the nationally acclaimed Grind Session, and should gain more national attention.
Last season, the program had some of the most exciting games of the year when they faced off with such top local prep programs as Bella Vista and Hillcrest Prep, and this season should be just as exciting in year two. The rise of AZ Compass Prep as a national program in the state has done a lot to further the development of Arizona basketball, and has helped the state to advance to completely another level - making basketball in the state today the best it has ever been.
