The Phenom Hoop Report with AJ Hammons(Oak Hill), Freddy Johnson(GDS) and Anthony Davis(Kentucky)

This is today’s edition of the The Phenom Hooop Report with Rick Lewis and today Rick will take a look at the big man from Oak Hill, AJ Hammons, plus Rick has thoughts on the job that Freddy Johnson has done at the Greensboro Day School and there’s a look back at Kentucky freshmman Anthony Davis……

Phenom Hoop Report

Scouting Report: Thursday, January 19th, 2012

Event: Player Profile- AJ Hammons

Evaluator: Rick Lewis

Twitter: @Coach_Rick57

Website: www.phenomhoopreport.com

Phenom Quote of the Day: “Play as a team and eliminate all thoughts of
personal glory.”

Phenom Hoop Report Philosophy: “Balanced, thorough and detailed evaluations
based upon the 3 P’s philosophy of Performance, Production, and Potential”

While the Phenom Hoop Report is a relatively newcomer to the scouting
business, no one in the business provides a more thoroughly and detailed
evaluation of prospects. We have been in business for approximately three
years and our service has grown tremendously in this short period of time.
First, the Phenom Hoop report provides evaluations based upon the 3 P’s
philosophy of PERFORMANCE, PRODUCTIVITY, and POTENTIAL and has used the 3
legged approach of using evaluations from high school, AAU and exposure
events as a basis for our thorough and detailed evaluations. Second, we have
provided an in depth analysis of player’s intangibles and discovered players
before they became household names on the national recruiting circuit.
Third, we dive into the fact that the most important intangible in a recruit
is their ability to produce WINS and make their team better! (What a novel
idea!) Fourth, we try to provide both positive and constructive evaluations
based upon their actual play, and not always on their sheer potential. There
is no question that many of today’s showcased/hyped players simply don’t
know how to win and simply don’t know how to play team basketball. At the
end of the day, basketball is still a team sport and we will continue to
report how prospects perform in terms of performance and productivity and
not just hype and potential. The words of former great UCLA Coach John
Wooden are a perfect example of my illustration today. “The more you give,
the more you get. Everyone wants to be around those who give because they
are winners. You can gain great satisfaction from helping someone/ your
team reaches their goal. Basketball is a great opportunity to help your
teammates. You can help them score by passing them the ball, help them out
on defense if they get beat and in general make the other players around you
better by being unselfish. Also remember that helping others can be small
acts of kindness every single day, not just big ones.”

First order of today is to dedicate today’s issue of the Phenom Hoop Report
to Coach Freddy Johnson of Greensboro Day School. On January 7th, Coach
Johnson recorded his 819 career victory making him the winningest coach in
North Carolina high school history. I first met Coach Johnson four years ago
when both my sons were playing for Forsyth Country Day. At the time,
Greensboro Day was the school’s biggest rival. Over the past four years,
FCDS and GDS had some great contests, but the thing that stood out about
Coach Johnson is he is a great high school coach, but even a better human
being. His teams are all about fundamentals and playing the game the right
way. Without question, Coach Freddy Johnson is a class act and a true friend
today.

BLAST FROM THE PAST MOMENT

Often, we like to go back to the Phenom Hoop Report archives and examine our
comments when many players were not household names. In today’s “Blast from
the Past” moment we will look at current freshman Anthony Davis of Kentucky.

June 21st, 2010 Issue

Player: 6’10 Anthony Davis

High School: Perspective Church

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Commitment: Undecided

While watching Davis, I was impressed with his overall skill sets. He has
good ball handling and passing skills for a young 6’10 prospect, plus he had
good mechanics on his jump shot and especially his free throws. Davis was
named the camp’s MOP (Most Outstanding Prospect) and deservingly so! There
is little doubt Davis is a top 10 prospect and could easily be a top 5
prospect after his consistent and impressive performance at the 4 day event.
While Davis is long and athletic, one cannot question his ability to his
physical attributes, but also the intangibles. On the defensive end, his
length causes problems for opposing offensive players, and once the ball is
rebounded, you can count on Davis running the floor in transition. He has
extremely good hand-eye coordination, but also possesses extremely soft
hands. While Davis is effective on the interior, he can step out and knock
down the open jumper, but more importantly is his ability to put the ball on
the floor. Remember, Davis was 6’3 last year and grew 6 inches in one year
so this may explain his ability to handle the ball and make excellent
passes. He is also fundamentally sound and has outstanding basketball IQ.
When you add this athletic ability along with his size and length plus his
fundamentals, you are talking about one of the high elite level players in
the 2011 class.

PHENOM HOOP REPORT FEATURE PLAYER

Our feature player today is 7’0 AJ Hammons of Oak Hill Academy. We will
examine the future Boilermaker with earlier evaluations and today’s
evaluation of the talented center. The first time we observed AJ Hammons was
the summer of 2010 at the Nike Hoop Jamboree in St. Louis, Missouri.

June 23rd, 2010 Issue

Player: 6’11 A.J. Hammons

High School: Carmel HS

City: Carmel, IN

Class: 2012

Phenom Hoop Report: HM

6’11 big man that runs the floor and has good hands is truly a blessing.
Hammons has solid fundamentals and has good moves in the paint. He
displayed a jump hook using either hand. Hammons has the ability to step out
and knock down the mid range jumper, and displays a rather nice soft
shooting touch. On the other hand, Hammons needs to improve his “toughness”
and play at a higher level on a more consistent basis. Hammons has all the
physical tools and a compliment of fundamentals and skill, but definitely
needs to develop more passion and heart during an event. Hammons started off
the event with a bang, but his play definitely tampered off after each camp
game. Hammons best game was his first & second game.

September 2nd, 2011 Issue

Player: 6’11 A.J. Hammons

High School: Oak Hill Academy

Hometown: Carmel, IN

Class: 2012

Phenom Hoop Report: We first watched Hammons two summers ago at the Nike Top
100 camp in St. Louis, MO. Without question, Hammons has tremendous size. He
is a wide body center that can occupy a lot of space on the low block.
Hammonds has a “super soft” shooting touch around the basket and has the
ability to use either hand. In addition, one of his strongest attributes is
his “soft hands.” Over the past 2 years, Hammons’ rankings have dropped due
to his “perceived lack of effort” at times. It is very difficult to argue
that his young man has a tremendous upside when he is motivated to being as
good as his potential. Simply put, this young man is a “sleeping giant” and
once the “light bulb” goes off on a consistent basis, Hammons has the
ability and potential to be as good as he wants to be. If yesterday was any
indication, he looked motivated and played with the ability many expect out
of his young man. He was dominant in the post as he continually used his
wide body and big frame to post up on the low block. He worked hard to gain
an advantage and if the opposing player plays behind him, he has an
excellent shooting touch around the basket. Definitely a top 100 prospect or
higher in the 2012 class!

When asked what schools were his favorites, he mentioned he was “wide open.”
He did state Purdue, Minnesota, Cincinnati, and Wake Forest have all showed
a lot of interest in his services. While we currently have Hammonds ranked
#77, he does have the ability to be much more of an impact at the college
level if he brings it every game and if his determination matches his skill
set, watch out!

October 27th, 2011 Issue

Player: 7’0 AJ Hammons

Hometown: Indianapolis, IN

School: Oak Hill

Class: 2012

Verbal: Purdue

Evaluation: The best way to describe Hammons is “Doctor Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde.” Hammons tallied 7 points, 8 rebounds, and blocks several shots. He
just needs to give 100% effort 100% of the time. He has the physical
presence to dominate high school games and at times shows glimpses of
stardom

November 29th, 2011 Issue

Player: AJ Hammons

Grade: 168

PPG: 7.7

RPG: 7.2

APG:

FG%: 63%

FT%: 68%

Comment: Hammons has shown signs of dominance especially on the defensive
end of the floor. He is averaging 5.1 shots per game and has gone 32-51 from
the floor for 63% while hitting 13-19 from the free throw line for 68%. He
leads the team in rebounds (72) and blocked shots (45) Hammons has developed
a nice jump hook shot on the low block and has been efficient and effective.
The next step in his development is to continue to play with passion and
purpose for the entire game. His presence in the middle will be crucial to
the overall success of Oak Hill this season against bigger and more athletic
teams.

January 19th, 2012

Player: AJ Hammons

PPG: 7.5

RPG: 7.9

BPG: 3.6

FG%: 64%

Evaluation: With the exception of the game against Millers Grove on national
TV, Hammons has excelled in all of Oak Hill’s key match-up games against
nationally ranked teams. Against Millers Grove, he got whistles for two
quick “nickel dime” calls and his foul problems prevented him from playing
his normal game. While Hammons does have a tendency to play down to the
competition, but he also has a tendency to play up against the best
competition and it has been his steady improvement and development that has
projected Hammons into a Top 50 player nationally in our opinion. While his
overall stats will not “wow” you, it is his presence on the defensive end of
the court that is impressive. In the blowout win over Prestonwood, his sheer
presence on the interior set the tone for the Warriors of Oak Hill and his
play on the second half of the season will help determine the
chances/opportunity of giving Coach Steve Smith and Oak Hill its 8th
National High School Championship.