Arizona's top overall girls prospect in the 2016 class is Millennium High School’s terrific 5-foot-7 rising senior guard Raina Perez. Perez has made a believer out of everyone in the state of Arizona with her superb play thus far in her high school career. Perez enters the summer evaluation period with scholarship offers on the table, but still looking to improve her college recruitment.
I caught up with Perez's father, Jeff Perez, today and he advised me that his daughter is close to being recovered from a severe ankle injury, and now is focusing on having a strong summer performance.
"Her club team is in Oregon right now, but she stayed back," said Perez. "She is only about 60% right now, so she decided to sit it out."
Perez also advised me that his daughter currently has scholarship offers on the table from Grand Canyon, Northern Arizona, Hawaii, Portland and Texas Tech. He stated that Northern Arizona and Portland have been hot on her trail, and that she likes both schools right now. She also would love to play at the highest level, so the an offer from a PAC-12 level program would be ideal.
Perez expects to join her club team, the Arizona Magic Elite, in Tennessee for a club event, and then travel with the team for the remainder of the summer.
The 2013-2014 high school basketball season was a special season for Perez, as she did almost everything for the Millennium High School basketball program – leading the program to a strong 27-4 overall record on the season. As a mere sophomore, Perez would earn First-Team All-State honors by the Arizona Republic. This high school season, Perez was even better - leading her high school team to a runner-up state final finish in the Division-I state playoffs.
A special talent with the basketball in her hands, Perez is a big-time individual talent with a nose for the basketball, a highly developed feel for the game and an advanced skillset.
I will continue to keep you updated on Perez' college recruitment and bring you any updates as they continue to develop.
Arizona Hoop Review Scouting Report: Perez is a high-energy floor general with a superb feel for the game - capable of making players around her better. She sees plays develop before they happen on the floor and is quite capable of making a play for herself or others at any time in the game or during a possession. She has excellent range and a quick release on her shot, and is able to finish plays in traffic against bigger defenders. Perez is a capable lock-down defender as well, as a result of her lateral quickness and quick hands. She has very good on the court anticipation, allowing her to beat offensive players to the spot on the floor. With continued focus in this area of her game, Perez could definitely be a lock-down defender at the collegiate level. What is most exciting about Perez is that she has already achieved many honors, and she is still a mere rising junior prospect. Over the next two years of high school basketball in the state, it could become very interesting for this special young prospect, as she begins to garner serious college recruitment from the highest level.
