Marcos De Niza High School's skilled and sharp-shooting 6-foot-2, 150-pound senior guard Mason Stark has had an excellent high school career. While averaging impressive numbers this high school season and leading his program to a 16-10 overall record on the season, Stark is one true student-athlete that gets it done on and off the court.
The Stark name is synonymous with high school basketball in the state of Arizona, as Marcos de Niza long-time successful head coach David Stark has made Marcos De Niza a consistent top performing basketball program in the state. He is the uncle of Mason Stark. Mason has done his job to project the name even higher, as he has also been a consistent top performer throughout high school career.
Stark is among the top individual scorers this high school season in the state - averaging an impressive 23.2 points, 6 rebounds and 1.8 steals per/game.
Stark is very impressive as a player, as he simply gets a lot done on the basketball court. Among the better rebounding guards in the state, especially for his size, Stark is a true competitor that competes hard and does what it takes to win. He is also among the elite shooters of the basketball in the state, and can catch-and-shoot the ball, or knock down shots with regularity off the dribble as well. Stark is a big-time shooter with unlimited range and a very quick release, which allows him to make shots even under serious defensive pressure.
Stark is definitely not just a shooter, as he is a flat, out scorer. While being keyed on defensively throughout high school career, he has put up strong numbers consistently. Stark is also capable of playing both guard positions on the floor, which he as done throughout his basketball career, but he should see his time at the point guard position primarily in college.
Stark is also a very good ball handler and passer that pushes the ball up the floor to the open teammate, and sees the floor very well. He is capable of making plays for himself and others. He is a very fundamentally sound performer.
Off the court, Stark is even better than he has been on the basketball floor. Stark is among the very prolific students in the state, in comparison to athletes and non-athletes. This young man has better than a 4.5 CUM GPA - as high a GPA as I have seen from a top-rated basketball prospect in my 22 years of covering Arizona high school sports.
As a result, Stark already has several offers for himself from smaller college programs, as he will not have to worry about money for school. This youg man will draw scholarship offers for basketball and academics for himself.
While Stark is small in physical size, his ability on and off the floor are worthy of a nice division-II offer. This young man is a winner in everything he seems to do, and he will absolutely help a program win at a high level. The better players he plays with, the better he seems to become as well - a nice attribute.
Stark is a true leader and also an inspiration to student-athletes today and for the future - establishing a true and strong example of what it takes to be successful in sports and life.
