On October 14th at Precision High School, Max Ivany came in from the state of Texas to run the I-10 Cactus Challenge. Ivany is going all over the West Coast to help run these events. He already has organized events in Texas and New Mexico, and will finish up in the state's of Oregon, Nevada and Colorado. We were honored that he stopped by in Arizona. Helping him run the Arizona event were John Ortega and Killy Mims. Killy Mims is a 2–time state champion with a lot of knowledge to give to kids from his amazing experiences. Killy also is an U.S. Army graduate that brings tremendous discipline to his teachings. John Ortega is Mr. Ivany’s head coach for the Arizona D1-Ambassadors. He is in charge of organizing his AAU teams in the summer. Ortega has coached AAU for 13 seasons, and also has coached or assisted at 4 different high schools in the valley. Ortega’s 2 AAU teams went 75-15 in 17 events with 15 final 4 appearances and 9 tournament titles. 15 of the 21 players are now receiving college interest after the summer. Both men are from the David Grace coaching tree. David Grace is now the men’s assistant coach at Oregon State University.
Tournament Director Max Ivany (left) seen here with John Ortega (middle) and Killy Mims (right) at this year's event.
The event had amazing training in the 5 hours to work on the players’ games, IQ work, speed, quickness and stamina. One of the main helpers of the day was Lonnel Baisey, who just so happens to train Floyd Mayweather(boxing star),and trains the Arizona Cardinals in the off-season as well. He brought many unique ideas to show the kids how to really work on their bodies. The players ran through many stations for about 15 minutes a session to improve their games. Here were some of the star players at the event ...
Top performers from the event, SG Ryan Richardson 6’5” 2014, PG Rolando Rhymes 5’11” 2014 and SG Terrence Johnson 6’4” 2015.
Also coming from Sacramento, California were the Duplechan twins - Elijah and Isaiah Duplechan. Elijah is rated #36 in the country for 8th graders and happen to be the cousin of NBA star guard Monte Ellis (Milwaukee Bucks).
Duplechan twins, Elijah and Isaiah Duplechan.
Lastly, the great thing about this event is that is was open to everyone. These coaches are just concerned about helping and guiding kids to the next level. You didn’t have to be a D1 Ambassador to be at this event, as you see one of the top teams from the 14U level was present. Here are some of EV Magic’s players.
Left to right, Walter Tindal IV, Bryan Battle, Maurice Walton, Chris Wright and Tyler Tindal.
After the event, players were more prepared to start their upcoming seasons in High School or Middle School. Kids left feeling more confident that they will produce during the season.
