Reebok Headliner Camp - Jacksonville
There was some concern that there would not be a Reebok Headliner Camp in Florida this spring. When the original list of locations came out, the closest one was in Atlanta. The event that brought Dante Anderson to the final ABCD camp where he was named Co-MVP of the Underclassmen All-Star Game was going to bypass his home state due to poor attendance at last year’s event. Thankfully, Ryan Delafield and the Jacksonville Lee Bulls organization was able to step in and give the Sunshine State another shot.
Consider it a slam-dunk success!! The camp was full at 80 players in attendance and maybe only 30% were from the Lee Bulls. The rest came from as far away as Pensacola to the west and Miramar to the south to create a true state-wide event.
The event took place this past weekend at the Pro Performance Sports Science Academy in Jacksonville, a very nice air-conditioned facility with two full-size courts. Each day started with Dynamic Warm-up and Conditioning drills lead by Jerrian Sanders of High Intensity Training Centers in Jacksonville. After getting warmed up and going through a series of skill development drills, the players were placed on their teams. There were eight teams total, four in the Upperclassmen division and four in the Underclassmen division. Everyone played two games a day and were evaluated by Robert Sumpter of Florida Prospects, Jim Clark of HoopScoop, Rick Staudt of FloridaHoops, and Treig Burke of FlaVarsity.com.
The top player in the upperclassmen division was Dexter Fields of Olympia. While Dex is known primarily as a physical driver and finisher, he showed this weekend that his overall game is developing and that he can do a lot of different things on the court. In the one game I watched, his outside shot wasn’t falling and so he turned his attention to rebounding, getting others involved with some solid passing, and getting to the basket and finishing with contact. After finally hitting a mid-range jumper off the dribble near the end of the game, it seemed that Fields was all the way back. In the first game on day two, the two evaluators on that court raved about his play. Hopefully, his play this past weekend will carry over into the July live period and he will get the credit he deserves on a national scale.
The player some thought was the best performer on day one was Pensacola’s 6’5 wing Terrance Beasley. While he came down a little bit on day two, it was still plenty evident that he is a very talented player. A tremendous athlete with length and strength, Beasley is a skyer for boards on both ends and finishes with authority on the break. He has range past the three point line on the offensive end but is better off the catch than the dribble with his shot. While he did have a few eye-opening assists, Beasley’s passing and dribbling skills are only okay at this time which makes him better suited to a wing forward spot.
Because of numbers, some sophomores had to play up in the Upperclassmen division to balance things out. There was no doubt that 6’8 Patrick Young of Paxon would fall into that category but he ended up as the clear choice for the best big man in the camp. Young is strong, athletic, and his body type suggests he can add more muscle and not lose any of his prolific bounce. It wasn’t so much Young’s skills as his energy and effort that dominated other bigs during the two days. He is fast down the court in transition, attacks the glass on both ends, and is quick off the floor for blocks. Young is still developing his offensive tools, but we are talking about a sophomore at one of the best academic schools in the state. Don’t be surprised if a lot of high major schools begin to follow him around this summer.
Stunning. That is the only way to describe the play of Ocoee’s 6’0 point guard Rodney Blount. Right out of the gate, he became the leader of his team and was the clear top point guard at the event. And he plays the two for both his high school team and the Showtime Ballers!! He doesn’t play around with the basketball like so many of his contemporaries did at the event. He gets the rock up the court quickly and initiates the offense. On penetration, he does a good job of finding open players but can finish in traffic if no other option is available. Blount is also a deadly shooter from deep when left open and averaged about two steals a game which is pretty good when playing only twenty minutes a game. The play that sealed the deal was his offensive rebound over a 6’8 player and quick assist to a teammate underneath for a score. Here’s hoping this wasn’t just a weekend wonder for Blount and that he is the real deal.
Some guys seem to play better in a fast-paced camp setting than with their high school team where things are more controlled. Lake Brantley’s 6’2 combo guard Michael Highsmith is one of those players. The only real player on his team that could run the point at the level necessary to compete in a setting with this much talent, Highsmith proved more than up to the task. Lean and athletic, he gets into the lane and finishes at the rim as well as passing out to open shooters. A good rebounder, especially on the offensive end, Highsmith has the length and foot speed to be a good on-the-ball defender. Not a consistent shooter from deep, he still knocked down a couple of long deuces to show that he at least needs some respect away from the basket.
Probably the biggest buzz from the crowd on day one came when Tyshawn Patterson crossed over a defender, sending him to the ground, and then continued to the basket and finished in traffic. The 6’0 guard from Orlando Christian Prep was a late addition to the event but a very welcomed one. As fast as anybody with the basketball in his hands, Patterson can do more than just get from end to end in record time. His ball-handling and quickness allow him to get to the basket on anyone and he is starting to show the ability to pull up and knock down the mid-range jumper. His shot from behind the arc has good form but is not yet consistent. While he doesn’t normally play the point guard spot, he was forced to at times this weekend and proved that with more experience he’ll be able to fit into that position. A knock on Patterson had been that his aggressive, attacking mentality too often went into overdrive and he played out of control but he didn’t have issues with that this weekend.
It’s a long drive from Miramar to Jacksonville but for 6’7 big forward Thomas Hawkins it was certainly worth it. He doesn’t yet have a solid frame, but he will in the future and already is capable of scoring inside with heavy traffic. Hawkins was as good of an offensive rebounder as we saw all weekend and showed the ability to step away from the basket and knock down shots when given room. Only an average run/jump athlete at this time, Hawkins still managed to block a few shots from the help side and run the court hard on the break. His ball-handling and passing skills when facing the basket could use some improvement but they aren’t bad for this level.
Another player that broke out this weekend was Ian Wilhem from Wekiva High School in Orlando. The 6’2 lefty played both guard spots but was a little more comfortable off the ball than running the point. He had several nice finishes on the break and has good range on his jumper. Wilhem also surprised with his ability to grab offensive rebounds and get them back up and in before the bigs could knock the ball away. While his dribbling skills are certainly solid, he had a few too many turnovers as a result of poor passing decisions. Hopefully, that is an area he can correct before the live July period.
Steady. Not flashy but noticeable. That pretty much describes the weekend play of Oviedo’s 6’4 combo forward Jason Guerier. Despite being undersized, he came away with several buckets after offensive rebounds and knocked down a few mid-range jumpers. Guerier is undersized for the four and not yet skilled enough to play the wing full-time at the next level but his production can not be discounted. He’s pretty solid defensively off-the-ball and isn’t afraid to battle bigger guys inside in regards to getting or denying post position. If he can show some wing skills this summer, his stock will surely rise.
On day one, we got what we expected for 6’9 big forward Darius Morales from Timber Creek in Orlando. He got several blocks because of his seven-foot plus wingspan and scored inside around the basket. Morales also flushed home an offensive rebound with some previously unseen aggression. However it was on day two against a taller and longer Joshkema Nicholas that was most impressive. On more than one occasion, Morales stepped away from the basket and knocked down ten footers of the 6’11 Nicholas, looking like a future Tim Duncan in the process. I understand that is bordering on “crazy talk” but if Morales can do that on a consistent basis then his ceiling is very high.
When you impress a scout during warm-up drills, then you better play well. Trent Stokes, a 6’8 post out of Lake Brantley has excellent footwork and agility for a guy so young and so tall and showed it during the full-court dynamic warm-up segment. He then produced on the court with his rebounding, hustle, and a nice turn-around jumper close to the hoop. While not a great athlete, Stokes has a strong frame and does a good job of carving out space under the basket for rebounds. He won’t block a bunch of shots but he will challenge them. Stokes’ consistent range is about ten feet so hopefully he can extend that this summer and into his final year of high school ball.
While some evaluators argued that Jacksonville Wolfson’s 6’7 combo forward Chris Rozier could have done more during the weekend, he was still very effective. He has the ability to cause match-up problems as he is skilled and crafty enough with the basketball to get by bigger defenders and strong enough to over-power smaller ones. This weekend, he settled a bit too often for mid-range and longer jumpers instead of getting to the basket and collapsing the defense. While it should be noted that he did have some success with those shots, he can do so much more. When he did put the ball on the floor and headed for the hoop, it usually resulted in a bucket and a foul. All the tools seem to be there for Rozier. Now it is just a matter of knowing which tool to use for the job at hand.
Tommorow we will profile the top underclassmen at the event.
