OCEANSIDE, CA – The first-ever Area Codes Basketball/Gamepoint Basketball/San Diego Super 80 Showcase – held Oct. 14 at Mira Costa Community College – proved a wonderful opportunity for a lot of San Diego-area hoopsters to put their skills on display.
There were quality prospects across the board, with freshmen and sophomores (with a couple of eighth-graders also showing out well) playing in the first four games and juniors and seniors on stage for the final four.
Here are some of the players that most impressed me:
*Evan Fitzner (6-foot-9/San Diego Parker) had long since convinced me that he was one of the best of the forwards in the Western Class of 2014.
And his play at the event just served to emphasis that his rating category shouldn’t be just limited to “West” when it comes to 2014 – a year from now he’ll be a consensus choice as one of the very best prep “pick-and-pop” or “stretch” 4s in the nation.
His jump shot continues to impress from deep and he runs as well as any player at his size, regardless of class, in the West.
His ball-handling skills are also remarkably improved.
He said that he has “about 10” scholarship offers from NCAA Division I-affiliated programs. He’ll have three times that many come spring.
*Other juniors that played particularly well included 6-6 Adam Turner (Eastvale Roosevelt/he played as well as he ever has when I’ve had the chance to watch him); 6-3 Alec Wulff (one of the better 3-point shooters on hand/he’s from Del Mary Torrey Pines); 6-foot Devin Watson (San Diego Army-Navy Academy), an impressive jump shooter; Jean-Luc Williams (a 5-10 point guard from San Diego Mission Hills who is a solid defender); 6-4 Chad Morrison (who recently transferred from La Costa Canyon to Oceanside El Camino and is an exceptional jump shooter and driver); and 6-5 Fritz Eibel (an outstanding rebounder at La Costa Canyon).
*Justin Simon (a 6-3 combo guard from Eastvale Roosevelt), Torin Webb (a 6-foot point guard from Temecula Linfield Christian) and Tommy McCarthy (a combo guard from La Costa Canyon) were the players from the Class of 2015 that most impressed me.
Simon is a strong and superb athlete who handles and passes well but needs a lot of work on his jump shot. If the latter pays off he’ll be rated one of the best 2015 prospects in California by the spring.
Webb – who played well at the Fullcourt Press All-West Frosh/Soph Camp a few weeks ago in Corona – reminds me a lot of Darren Collison, both in body-type and skills. Like the former UCLA standout and current Dallas Mavericks point guard, Webb impacts the game as much on the defensive side as he does with the ball in his hands.
McCarthy (another standout at the Frosh/Soph Camp) is only about 6-foot but is as good a backcourt “scorer” as there was in the building.
*Other sophomores that caught my eye were 6-6 Travis Fuller (La Costa Canyon); 6-5 Sam Bockman (Oceanside El Camino); 6-4 Kris Wixted (La Jolla Scripps Ranch); 6-5 Brady Twombly (La Costa Canyon); 6-foot Timmy Saunders (Del Mar Torrey Pines) and 5-6 C.J. Cadua (National City Sweetwater).
*IMHO, one of the four-best prospects (along with Fitzner, Simon and Webb) on display was 6-3 freshman Brandon Cyrus (Del Mar Torrey Pines).
Cyrus, a late-summer move-in from Toronto, was quite impressive when I watched him in Corona during the Sept. 2 Scoutsfocus.com event.
And he was even more impressive – and, at times, downright dazzling –at Mira Costa.
There wasn’t a better “vertical athlete” on hand, nor one with his lateral quickness.
He is an advanced ball handler and passer and, like Simon, is only a consistent jump shot away from getting into the conversation as one of the best prospects, anywhere, in his respective class.
*Other nifty players in the 2016 class on hand were 6-3 Malik Smith (from Eastvale Roosevelt); 6-5 Reid Johnson (San Diego Cathedral Catholic); 6-3 Riley Schaefer (Temecula Valley); and 5-10 Jamal Brower (Temecula Rancho Christian).
Despite his age, the left-handed Smith’s low-post scoring savvy was as good as was seen.
*Top seniors included 7-footer Kameron Rooks (San Diego Mission Hills); 6-1 Jeff Van Dyke (the La Costa Canyon jump-shooter deluxe is committed to Pepperdine); 6-2 Justin Byrd (San Diego Santa Fe Christian/as polished a guard as was on display); 6-5 Niksha Federico (a very gifted scorer from San Diego Cathedral Catholic); 6-7 Brandon Rosser (Temecula Valley); and, the player who surprised me most, 6-foot point guard Izzy Wagner (San Diego Mt. Miguel).
Congratulations to Chad Groth of Area Codes Basketball, as well as Charlie Mercado and Sunny Ra Deen and the entire Gamepoint Basketball organization, for an enlightening eight or so hours of basketball.
