Courtesy of Rick Lewis at the Phenom Hoop Report……
Phenom Hoop Report
Scouting Report: November 7th, 2011
Event: Scout Focus Elite 80 Showcase Part 2
Evaluator: Rick Lewis
Phenom Quote of the Day: “What you achieve through the journey of life is
not as important as who you become.”
Phenom Hoop Report Philosophy: “Balanced, thorough, and detailed evaluations
based upon the 3 P’s philosophy of Performance, Production, and Potential”
In today’s issue, we will look at part 2 of the Scout Focus Elite 80
Showcase that was held on Saturday, October 29th at Proehlific Park in
Greensboro, North Carolina. In our first issue, we took a close look at
Dante Buford, Tony Nunn, Logan McLane, Sharwyn McGee, and James Demery.
Currently, Buford and Demery have high major talent; the player that has a
huge upside is 6’8 Tony Nunn. As we previously stated, Nunn is a young and
growing prospect. He wears a size 18 shoe and has a 7’2 wingspan. While he
is listed as a possible mid major prospect, he has two more years of
development, growth, and improvement and I wouldn’t be surprised that Nunn
is not a hot prospect for high major’s schools two years down the road. Nunn
stated he has received offers from UNCC, ECU and Wichita State while getting
interest from ACC schools Miami and Clemson and SEC interest Tennessee and
LSU. But before we get started, I went into the Phenom Hoop Report archives
and pulled up my evaluation from August, 2010 on my guy Anthony Gill. First
of all, it is no secret that I had the opportunity and pleasure to coach
Anthony Gill for 3 summers. During the 2009 AAU season, the Carolina Flight
placed 6th at the 15U AAU Nationals in Cincinnati, Ohio (losing a
heartbreaker to the eventual AAU Champions) Memphis Stallions. On this team
were Anthony Gill (South Carolina) Jackson Simmons (UNC) John Cannon
(Georgia), Tyler Lewis (NC State) Darius Lipford (UNC football) Tyler Poole
(Coastal Carolina) and TJ Thorpe (UNC football). A few weeks later we took
basically same group of players and finished 10th at AAU Nationals in
Orlando, Florida losing the 6th place game to the Indiana Elite by 1. Then,
in 2010, the Carolina Flight placed 8th in AAU 17U Nationals. At that time,
very few of our players were getting national recognition and I could never
understand why. First of all, during the time frame, we were the most
successful AAU team in North Carolina. We had won 6 out of 8 AAU state
championships and placed at AAU nationals 5 of the 8 years. That being said,
our team had some epic battles against high profile teams and against high
profile players and in most situations we came out on top. I would love to
take credit for the coaching, but we have a special group of young men and
also very talented and under-rated players. I also had a saying, “if you
continue to outplay the higher ranked kids, you should be given the same
amount of consideration.” One young man that I always felt was vastly
underrated was 6’8 PF Anthony Gill. When I first started the business, one
of the first schools to take my subscription was South Carolina and they
immediately jumped on the Anthony Gill bandwagon, but the best part of this
was hearing that Gill is now part of the starting rotation for the
Gamecocks. Gill is now listed at 6’8 and 240 pounds of muscle and in last
night’s exhibition game, Gill tallied 14 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in an
impressive performance. No one was happier for Gill’s performance than me.
As one coach once told me, “Rick , trust your gut,” and on this young man, I
trusted my gut and I have no doubt Gill will be one of the top players to
ever play for South Carolina.
August, 2010 Summer Edition
Player: 6’8 Anthony Gill
High School: Charlotte Christian
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Class: 2011
Commitment: South Carolina
Phenom Hoop Report: HM
PHR Ranking: #40 Nationally
Anthony Gill joined Team Loaded and his impact was felt immediately. Gill’s
biggest improvement is his mid range jumper. After his performance in Las
Vegas and Phoenix, one ACC coach stated, “Rick, you were on the money in
regard to Gill, he is a tremendous talent,” and another compliment came from
one ACC coach that stated, “we need to find some more Anthony Gill’s.” That
being said, Gill is a tremendous talent, but he is even a better young man.
As I have stated on several occasions, I have never coached a more humble
and caring kid than Gill. He may be under rated even at the #40 spot!
Remember, this is the same young man that outscored Anthony Davis at the NBA
Players Camp 14-8 and won his head to head matchup against Baru. Against
Baru in Charlotte, Gill had 17 points, 13 rebounds and 5 block shots and to
take it one step further, he clearly outplayed DeAndre Daniels of Belmont
Shores in their head to head matchup. As some would say, IT WAS A NO
CONTEST! So, my point is simple, when you continuously outplay other top
names, then you should be given the same consideration. His 28 point
performance against Team Philly in Phoenix and the 4 NBA type alley oop
dunks sent home a clear message among college coaches in attendances, “damn,
this kid is legit! And can play.”
OK, enough of the past, let’s get started with the presence and the future:
Player: 6’7 Gary Clark
Hometown: Clayton, NC
School: Clayton
Grade: 10 (Class 2014)
Evaluation: We first watched Clark at the Dave Telep Carolina Challenge back
in March and wanted to get another look at the promising young sophomore.
Clark is an athletic wing with good length. Clark will surprise you with his
shooting and ball handling abilities for his position and was excellent in
transition especially making nice passes off the dribble to open teammates.
Clark didn’t seem as motivated and assertive as his performance at the
Carolina Challenge, but I found out later that he lost his cousin earlier in
the week and that probably affected him greatly. We’re not ready to put him
in a high major category just quite yet, but he should be a prospect that
mid majors should be recruiting heavily and high majors may want to monitor
over the next few years. He stated UNC-W, ECU, and Tulane have offered and
Wake Forest was recruiting him from the ACC.
Player: 6’6 Donte Reynolds
Hometown: Raleigh, NC
School: Word of God
Grade: 11 (Class 2013)
Evaluation: This was the first time watching the athletic WF from Word of
God and we came away impressed. Granted, it was a camp setting and sometimes
players do “show out” in exposure camps vs. a regular high school game. That
being said, He is really good in the open court and he can put the ball on
the floor and go court to court. More importantly, Reynolds played hard and
was motivated. He was aggressive and assertive on both ends of the court. He
stated offers from ECU, NC Central, and Rutgers. In our opinion, he should
be a can’t miss mid major prospect.
Player: 6’3 Jaquan Brownridge
Hometown: Raleigh, NC
School: Word of God
Grade: 11 (Class 2013)
Evaluation: Brownridge is an athletic WG that was dialed in from the
perimeter. He was knocking down shots from all spots on the court and has
really good ball handling skills for a WG. Brownridge played with a high
motor and was a hardnosed competitor. It was an impressive day for him and
stated he was being recruited by Appalachian State, VCU, ECU and UNC-G.
Player: 6’7 Jermore Simmons
Hometown: Washington, NC
School: Oakwood
Grade: 12 (Class 2012)
Evaluation: One thing is for certain, Oakwood School in Washington, NC is
loaded with five legit D1 prospects and Simmons is included in the bunch.
While Simmons is an undersized PF/C, the lefty is battle tested and a
complete warrior in the paint. While he has lost some of his explosiveness
(due to knee surgery) he is still a run-jump athlete. He is physically
mature and will give you 100% effort. While he is somewhat raw in his
offensive moves, he does have a knack for getting loose balls and rebounds
for put back points. Schools in the Southern Conference and Big South that
need an athletic PF that loves to compete should look no further.
Player: 6’9 Karl Overstreet
Hometown: Lynchburg, VA
School: E.C. Glass
Grade: 11 (Class 2013)
Evaluation: Overstreet is a fundamentally sound player and has a solid
understanding of the game. He has a high basketball IQ and the slender PF is
fluid and mobile. He runs the floor well and does a good job of posting up
on the low block. He did a good job of establishing position and showing two
hands as a target and called for the ball. He has been well coached as he
talks much on the court. Once the shot goes up, he is immediately looking
for someone to box out. In almost every sequence when his player shot the
ball, he closed out properly and got a hand up and even called out a “shot
call.” How often do you see that these days? The next step in his
development is to get physically stronger. He needs to add weight and muscle
to his frame. If he continues to develop, he should be a nice target for mid
major schools looking for a skilled 6’9 PF.
Player: 6’9 Joel Ndondo
Hometown: Durham, NC
School: CFCA
Grade: 12 (Class 2012)
Evaluation: Ndondo has good size and strength, but is raw offensively. He
runs the floor well and has excellent timing on rebounds. He plays hard and
tries to block every shot in sight. (Both good and bad) but has not been
properly been taught the art of boxing out. He is an unselfish player and
rarely brings the ball down once he secures a rebound. He did a good job on
his outlet passes to start the fast break. He will be a “project” player,
but he does play with a high motor and competes hard and low majors should
definitely monitor his progress his senior season.
Player: 6’0 Robert Story
Hometown: Durham, NC
School: Southern Durham
Grade: 12 (Class 2012)
Evaluation: His height may be a little generous, but Story is one of the
most “freakiest” athletes in the state of North Carolina. His young man is
super athletic and has as good of leaping ability that we have seen. He was
quite impressive in attacking the rim and threw down over a dozen thunderous
dunks for the day. He is built like a professional halfback and is quick on
quick. He has good court vision and is very unselfish. He is intense and
plays with a passion and purpose. The next step for Story is to develop a
midrange game. He may have one but he rarely took a jump shot all day. He
really should be recruited hard by schools in the Big South and Southern
Conference.
Player: 5’11 Donell Diggs
Hometown: Takoma, MD
School: Takoma Academy
Grade: 11 (Class 2013)
Evaluation: Donell Diggs reminded me a lot of 2012 PG Mo Watson of Team
Philly and Boston University verbal. Diggs has excellent speed and quickness
and is the ultimate playmaker. He is a pass first PG that has tremendous
court vision. He talks and communicates well on the court and plays
aggressive on the ball defense. Can he become another Mo Watson? We think
so!
Player: 6’6 Bobby Brown
Hometown: Lithia Springs, GA
School: Lithia Springs
Grade: 12 (Class 2012)
Evaluation: Brown is definitely a high flyer with crazy bounce and
athleticism. (Check out the You Tube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld9eK6LtAB0 He is a hardnosed competitor that
plays with a lot of emotion and passion. The next step in his development is
to become more consistent with his perimeter jump shot. That being said, he
is a legit D1 prospect.
Player: 6’3 Larry Richardson
Hometown: Garner, NC
School: Garner Magnet
Grade: 12 (Class 2012)
Evaluation: Richardson is a smaller version of Bobby Brown of Lithia
Springs, Georgia. He is extremely long and plays much taller than his 6’3
frame. We like his competitive spirit and skill level at camp and we feel is
a D1 prospect.
Below is a list of other prospects that should be on the radar screen for D1
schools:
* 6’5 Sophomore Tedros Hailu-Mitiku of Mountain Mission School in
Grundy, VA
* 6’3 Sophomore Shaun Thompson of Victory Christian in Charlotte, NC
* 6’3 Sophomore Justin Sellers of Audrey Kell HS in Matthews, NC
* 6’2 Freshman Brandon Johnson of Sanderson HS in Raleigh, NC
* 6’4 Sophomore Darryl Martin of Point Pleasant HS in Point Pleasant,
WV
* 6’2 Junior Camden Scott of Word of God in Raleigh, NC
* 5’11 Sophomore CJ Wiggins of Highland Springs HS in Highland
Springs, WV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va4jTXGZliI