On October 13th on the campus of Phoenix College, Hillcrest Prep Academy’s post graduate and national teams played two games separately. The 1st game of the night was Hillcrest’s National Team, featuring the #1 player in the country, DeAndre Ayton (University of Arizona commit) vs. Phoenix College.
It was a great night of basketball, and good to get a glimpse of each of these teams before the 2016-2017 basketball season starts here in just a few shorts weeks.
Of the games I personally saw, here are my notes/ observations of the top players:
Hillcrest (National) Prep Evaluations
2019 6-foot-5, 175-pounds CG Josh Green is really turning into an elite on-the-ball defender. He has very good intuitions on defense and really plays passing lanes very well, as he had 5 steals in the game vs. a very good Phoenix College team. He looked more confident shooting the ball from 3-point distance from when I last saw him, and he is one of the most athletic players in the 2019 class on the West Coast and beyond, as he put down a big-time poster dunk in transition. Green took an unofficial recruiting visit last weekend at the University of Arizona for the annual Red-Blue game.
2017 6-foot-6, 185-pound SF Alfred Hollins is a long, athletic wing who has very clean shooting mechanics from 3-point distance (Catch and shoot), and hit some shots from the wing. He also displayed that athletic ability, as he had a big dunk on a back-cut in the lane. He currently holds offers from New Mexico State and Arizona State.
2017 7-foot, 250-pounds C DeAndre Ayton (University of Arizona commit) is a very special individual, and will be a top-3 draft pick whenever he decides to enter the NBA Draft. Ayton possesses a clean, consistent shooting stroke from 3-point distance (catch/shoot), but also can put the ball on the deck and create shots for himself off of the bounce as well (creates great separation from defenders when he needs to). No one was able to do anything once he got the ball in the post, as well as Ayton has great hands and a soft touch over each shoulder around the basket. He also had some big dunks on the night, and had one monster put-back off of his own miss, which almost brought the house down (Extremely good twitch off of the floor in reference to following up his own misses). When he is engaged on the defensive end, no one was able to get a single shot off on him, due to his pure length and how massive he is.
2017 6-foot-6, 230-pounds SF Shamiel Stevenson (pictured) was above and away one of the most impressive players on the evening. Stevenson possesses a massive upper body, in which he used it to bully defenders off of the dribble and easily finish a variety of plays at the rim through contact, sometimes getting hit as many as twice in one drive. He also has a good mid-range game, as he was able to knock down some shots off of the dribble and effectively created space for himself to get his shot off (good FT shooter as well). Stevenson is also a good athlete (gets off floor very easily for his size), as he hand one big dunk in transition. He also was effective on the glass, as he came away with a few big boards, and is capable of pushing the ball out in transition. Stevenson is a prospect that I look forward to watching very closely this season for Hillcrest. He currently holds offers from Arizona State, Georgia Tech, and USC.
2017 6-foot, 165-pounds PG Virshon Cotton is one of the shiftest guards around. His handle is very tight/precise, and he can frankly do whatever he wants to with the ball. He has blow-by speed off of the dribble and really is tough once he is in the lane (finishes through contact/ uses body as shield to score over bigger and stronger defenders). He is a capable shooter from 3 (good lift), but really looks at his best when he is getting into the lane - looking for other players flashing to the basket. He holds offers from UC-Davis, Southern Utah, NJIT, Robert Morris, North Dakota and Winona State.
Phoenix College Evaluations
Fr. 6-foot-1, 190-pounds CG La’Vette Parker could be one of the best shooters in the ACCAC this up-coming season. Parker hit a variety of shots from 3-point distance (drags, curls, catch-shoot) during the game. He always was good at getting in the lane and looking to dish off to other teammates. He has a high basketball IQ (looks to make right play every time when he has the ball in his hands), and should be the most productive offensive player this year for the Bears. He holds an offer from UTEP.
Fr. 6-foot-6, 180-pounds Rashaad Goolsby had a very productive game scoring the ball in different ways. Goolsby is a long athlete with a good motor, and had some big put-back dunks on the night. He also hit a few tough shots from the mid-range - displaying good lift and rising over the outreached arms of defenders.
