The first day of high school basketball practice/camp will be tomorrow(Monday) and today, I made out like Lewis and Clark and headed off to Lewisville, N.C., on a special expedition/assignment, to see the Phenom 150 Basketball Showcase/Camp, at the Forsyth Country Day School…
Rick Lewis is the man in charge of the Phenom 150 Hoops Shocase and Hoop Report and we are here to report, that on the day before all the players hit camp, for the first time this season, there was action going on at Forsyth Country Day this afternoon…
The local players that people were talking about this afternoon were James Chapman(Greensboro Day School) and Carlos Rankins(Oak Ridge Military Academy)…Both young men were in camp today at FCD for the showcase and they did look to be very talented…..Rankin is a guard and he was showing his backcourt skills and up and down the court transition and Chapman was doing his thing inside and he has some solid “around the basket” skills….
We will have other names for you coming out of camp and we also hope to have Rick Lewis’s notes on what happened today, with info on the players from around the state…Starhoopers, and their hoops guru Mike, were there and he told me he should have a list of the Top 25 coming out of this one-day showcase and we will try and post that for you too….
Again, the two men on the map today, that we got a chance to see, were locals Carlos Rankin(ORMA) and James Chapman(GDS)….
The talk around the gym and it is a nice one at FCD, in fact the entire physical plant at Forsyth Country Day, gives off the appearance of a small-college, the talk going around today was, that we should watch for the Greensboro Day School coming around strong and challenging The Christ School out of Asheville(Arden) for the State NCISAA 3-A title…
That’s not saying that Oak Ridge won’t be the best private school, talent-wise around, but on the NCISAA level, GDS could will be settling back into the Boss’s spot at the top of the charts….
The talk around the gymnasium says, that with Quayshad Williams, Jordan Robertson and Jaleel Roberts inside and Jalen Ross, Reed Lucas, Robert Kleinmann, John Terry and Christian Hairston outside and around the perimeter, the Bengals will be very hard to stop…Add in the aforementioned James Chapman who can go inside and Hairston might be finding his way inside some too, you might just find out that Greensboro Day, is the top NCISAA team in the state…
The hoops talkers over at FCD, said that the three big men, Williams, Robertson, and Roberts are for real this year and that all three of them had very productive summers and that they worked hard and showed a load of improvement, in the off-season….
The word also was, be on the look out, for the Hargrave Military Academy…..With PJ Hariston, CJ Barksdale and Desmond Wells, they may be the top boy’s high school-level basketball team in the nation…..Hargrave will the be and beat the cream of the crop, all across the country this season….The word is that PJ Hairston has been dropping weight and as he has been shedding the pounds, he is dropping that outside shot of his, like he has never been able to do before, in his high school career…
The Word on Word of God, out of Raleigh is that they have TJ Warren and Torrian Graham and even though they lost Wells to Hargrave, they still will be one of the toughest teams in this state….Mount Zion, in Durham, picked up both Lee Sweeney and Rashad Sweeney from Grimsley and they are due to get Demone Harrison from Page, before they suit up for their first official game….The other Harrison kid from Page(Demone’s brother) was supposed to be at ORMA, but I have no confirmation that this has taken place….
The word I got today, is that Page will still be very competitive and their dynamic duo of Jackson Kent and Frankie Eaves will be one of the best public school backcourts in recent years and if Jackson can stay in the backcourt and not have to go up front and help out, this Pirate team may be even better than they were last year with the Harrisons….James Summers will give the Pirates a big boost, when his football work is complete, but Jon Spain’s power game will be missed….Give me a Page team in their prime with Mitchell Oates, Marsharee Neeley, Jordan Weethe, Christian McCain and Julius Brooks and I will take that team to the 4-A Finals, please don’t get in my way….As for this year at Page, there are a couple of new kids that will be shiners too, with I believe there’s a kid Carter Stanley that will play and another kid that came up ready to run and pop, from Mendenhall….(Jackson Kent threw up a shot, high in the air and off of the gym wall, at the Page gym the other day and it wildly went in and YouTube is still looking for that gem from the Mac Morris Gym, to post up on their site….)
Just a little looking back, while we look ahead…..
Another name that came up today was Josh Level from Dudley, now at Westchester Country Day and the insiders say, that he is ready to play and play well, with CJ Plummer, Deuce Bello, Quincy Miller, Ike Nwamu and more at Westchester….The insiders that I talked to, also said they really like the way that Level has been working and he was on the road this past summer, with some very talented travel teams…..
Dudley will look to Reggie Dillard and Sam Hunt to carry them this year and from all indications, Reggie is ready and they say Hunt is going to shoot the lights out, on the Metro 4-A foes….
Two kids that we have followed for several years, will finish up their high school hoops at Oak Ridge this year and that’s Jacob Lawson and Michael Neal….We have been watching those two for a long time and I believe they have already made their collegiate declarations, with Lawson heading to Cincinnati and Neal to Appalachian State Univeristy….
That’s a dip into the talent pool for today and we’ll try and take another shot or two tomorrow….
Another helpful edition of the “Hoops Report” for you…..
I seen another local guard there, did you see him?
I went to the phenon camp today at FCD and I do agree with Andy. Carlos Rankin was all over the court. Coach Stan should be happy to have him.
James Chapman was also a standout. He played on the wing showing a good midrange shot and beating his man off the dribble. I think he is only a 10th grader.
Also a quick guard who out hustle everyone with his speed. I am not sure of his name but I think he is a transfer to Northeast.
His name is Kai Shaw, he is a sophmore who transfered from GDS to Northeast. I
John Terry will be a productive player on the perimeter for GDS this year.
I knew GDS had another key guard(John Terry)….Always a super player and a great kid……Comes from very good guard stock…
One kid that impressed was from around Charlotte. He played really tough defense and always got the ball to the open man. He was a real deal.
If you want to see the up and coming players in the area really go at it. Come to the Bryan YMCA on Saturday afternoons. Greensboro has some talented ball players.
I always make my12 year old stop and watch these guys play. They even let him and some of the younguns get in on the late and last games.
Where can we find more feedback from the camp ?
Check out this web site and E-mail Rick Lewis…..
http://www.ncjrphenomcamp.com/
Did anyone find out who that kid from around Charlotte is. He was a pure talent.