Fullcourt Press Showcase Comes to
Sacramento
By Lee Hubbard
Sacramento, California was site of the Fullcourt Press
Showcase on May 10th. The event, sponsored by
Dinos
Trigonis, the founder of the Belmont Shore Club team,
Fullcourt Press All-West Camp and head of the Fullcourt Press
College scouting service, was his first foray into Northern
California to see the talent in the Delta region. "I decided
to come up to the area I wanted to focus on other areas that
have traditionally been under exposed," said Trigonis.
The showcase was run by Trigonis with the help of former
Division 1 assistant coach
Bob Steinberg and
highlighted not only the talent in Sacramento but players from
other areas of the Delta region including Stockton and even
the San Francisco Bay Area. The showcase had a top freshmen
game, a top sophomore game, a top 40 junior game and a top 20
junior game and all were all very solid games.
"Sacramento has a growing base of young talent that colleges
need to look at and tap into," said Trigonis. "The city has a
lot of basketball talent that people need to start paying
attention to."
Top Freshmen Game
The freshmen game was the best game of the Showcase. The
game featured seven players ranked in Clark Francis's
Hoopscoopoline.com rankings in the class of 2009 and 2010. The
game was very good, especially when you consider that other
top freshmen in the area including Sheldon High's Marcus
Jackson, a 6-foot-2 point guard, Oakridge High's Brett
Thompson, a 6-foot-3 wing and Ryan Syphkens, a
6-foot-1 combo guard at Franklin High School, were not at the
showcase.
Brendan Lane, a 6-foot-8 power forward from Rocklin
High, whose style will remind you of a young Vladimir
Radmanovic but with more of an inside game, was the
headliner of the event going into the game. Lane has the size
and skill level to become an elite high major recruit, and
colleges such as Arizona and other Pac 10 schools have already
taken note of his ability.
However, the freshmen showcase turned into a battle of the
guards between Xavier Thames, a 6-foot-2 point guard
from Pleasant Grove in the Sacramento area against Chase
Tapley, a 6-foot-2 combo guard Sacramento High. Thames is
a Jason Terry like scoring guard who has high major
like skills on the offensive end. Tapley on the other hand is
an old school guard in the mold of a Vinnie Johnson
type. He has a solid fundamental game, but what makes him
stand out is that he defends, rebounds, passes and makes
plays.
Thames and Tapley went after each other with abandon. Thames's
Black Squad team got off to a fast start after he hit two
jumpers to begin the scoring. He was aided with the help of
his schoolmate Ra Shauwn Brooks, a 6-3 (Pleasant Grove)
lights out shooting guard, who shoots it like a young Ray
Allen. These two should make an exciting backcourt on the
High School scene for the next three years.
The Black squad also had the services of Lane, who banged
down low, and other promising potential Division 1 prospects
in Caleb Johnson, a 6-foot-5 athletic wing at El Camino
High School, Adam Eakles, a 6-foot-7 skilled wing at
Woodland High and Chris Browning a 6-foot-4 banger at
Oakridge High School.
Besides Tapley, the White Squad featured Glen Akerland,
a bruising 6-foot-5 Greg Ostertag like banger who also
attends Pleasant Grove, Kyle Oddister a 6-foot scoring
combo guard at Rio Americano and Darrin Payne, a
6-foot-2 athletic wing who plays above the rim at Del Campo
High School. The Black team could not stop the White team down
the stretch. Thames finished with 21 points, while Tapley
finished with 15 points.
One of the most memorable points for Tapley featured him
splitting two defenders and rising in the lane for a one
handed dunk.
The showcase also saw four promising eighth graders who will
make noise in Northern California within the next few years.
They included Cyrus Stutts Jr., a 6-foot-2 wing,
Ammitpal Dttaliwal, a 6-foot-5 skilled power forward,
Ramon Eaton, a 6-foot-6 forward and Darius "Boo" Nelson,
a 6-foot-3 guard.
Both Eaton and Nelson are first cousins who have basketball
genes. Eaton is a cousin to Duke guard Demarcus Nelson
who helped to put Sacramento basketball on the national radar
and Darius is the younger brother to Demarcus. Eaton is
long, lean and wiry, and looks like a young Chris Bosh
like talent, while Darius is a skilled big guard who has a
good feel for the game.
Top Sophomore Game
The sophomore game came on the heals of an exciting freshmen
game and it frankly was something of a let down, but this was
still a very exciting game. If the freshmen game was a battle
of the guards, the sophomore game was a battle of the big men,
with Tim Williams from Antioch High School in SF Bay
Area, being a major factor in the game for the Black Squad.
Williams is an athletic 6-foot-7 inch combo forward who
looks like he is still growing. He is in the mold of a young
Devon Hardin but Williams is a bit further ahead in his
development at this stage in the game then Hardin was as an
10th grader. Williams has the ability to hit the jump shot and
bang down low. He was helped with the presence of Norman
Wilson, a 6-foot-6 athletic highflying wing from Natomas
High School in Sacramento. Wilson is a run and jump athlete
who is a highlight reel in the open court.
Another nice prospect for the Black team was Angelo Bridges,
5-foot-6 freshman at Monterey Trails High School, who played
in the sophomore game because the rosters for the freshmen
game were set. Bridges is a diminutive guard, but he has the
ability to beat defenders off the dribble and run a team.
While Williams's upside looks bright, the player of the game
was Armond Armstead, a 6-foot-5 inch power forward from
Pleasant Grove High who will remind people of Jai Lewis
of George Mason, a recent NCAA final four team. Armstead's
play was a huge factor for the White Squad, which defeated the
Black Squad. Armstead is a lefty who has a nice jump hook and
he has all of the fundamental post moves needed in the paint.
He is also a relentless rebounder who hit the glass hard to
make plays for his team.
His hard-nosed play was helped by the play of Kyron
Brown a 6-foot-3 combo guard from Elk Grove High School
and Drake UU from Rio Americano High. Brown is very
athletic and he has a nice build for a guard. He is a physical
guard who likes to attack the basket and he knows how to use
his body to punish smaller guards who try to defend him. UU
from Rio Americano is a 6-foot-5 scoring guard whose play was
a pleasant surprise. He is an attacking guard who can beat you
inside our out. He hit two three-point shots at the showcase,
and then he showed that he could attack the rim. He dunked
once in the lane on a break over a defender.
While he did not do anything on the statistical side, Andy
Shannon, a 6-foot-9 sophomore may become an intriguing
prospect down the road. Shannon is very long and already a
factor on the defensive end of the floor, as he blocks and
alters shots consistently. On the offensive end his skills are
raw but he has solid footwork and a solid attitude about
getting better.
In part 2, Lee covers the two Junior games.
You can also read more coverage soon on the
Fullcourt Press website
.
