DAY 1 I Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
St. Joe’s Prep in the heart of North Philadelphia was the site of Dinos Trigonis’ Latest PANGOS ALL EAST FROSH/SOPH event. Past campers include: Rondae Jefferson (Arizona/Nets) Derrick Jones (UNLV/Suns) Ja’Quan Newton (Miami), as well as, Kyle Anderson and Wade Baldwin (Grizzlies) Isaiah Briscoe (Magic) Trevon Duval (Bucks) ect…Play back is available to watch @BallerTV.com
This years day one was dominated by Keiner Asprill, a 7’0 freshman from Don Bosco High School in New Jersey. He is a physically gifted athlete with a strong core and upper body. Keiner keeps a low base, establishes position early in the possession and has the ability to explode off the floor like a much smaller guard. His physical gifts, hips and explosion off the floor separated him from the other elite big men at the camp. Kid just makes it look easy. loves to duck in and roll’s out of the pick and roll with textbook precision. Potential through the roof, few kids I’ve seen make me say… thats a unicorn. Best prospect I’ve seen since Oscar Tswiebe (Kentucky) at 15/16 years old.
The next two bigs went head to head in an evenly matched contest. The All-Star format had them on the floor together for a few minutes each half. Although their games were different, each definitely dominated when alone on the floor and held there own respectively head to head. The first, 6’7 Shareef Jackson is a sophomore at Roman Catholic. He is young bol’ thick right now, but when that man body appears underneath that youth physique Look Out! Huge upside… Shareef is the best passing big I have seen in several years regardless of class. He thrives setting up his teammates, with great recognition of doubles-possessing guard-like tendencies when distributing the rock Ala Kevin Love or Greg Monroe. He uses his body well and finishes through contact but its his passing that jumps out as ELITE!!! His opponent was The Pennington School’s 6’8 sophomore Cheikh Falls, Cheikh was raw, high energy and an absolute stud on the block. He dominated the event with sheer “bigger stronger faster” athleticism among peers, relying little on his expanding offensive game. Here at PREP SCENE we are excited to see him this season on the HS trial.
Another sophomore big to keep an eye on this season will be 6’11 Luke Bevilacqua at the George School in Newton, PA. Luke was effective all day using his size to score easily with both hands often without much resistance around the rim. He demonstrated the ability to step away from the basket and make the long ball as well. Moreover, Luke was equally productive on the glass, playing with a high motor and consistently scoring in transition.
Depending on your style, needs and team dynamics, here are 4 bigs worth tracking and monitoring their progression as the winter nights heat up.
*Sidenote: Roman Catholics Schedule not located at time of print, but will be added when received/located.
Phil Jukovic will be under center on Saturday, playing in another football State Championship. The Notre Dame Football recruit wont take long to get his basketball legs back under him… and when he does Pine Richland should be one of the teams standing at the end of the season. Winning is contagious and PR has done a lot of it lately in Football & Basketball.
The Little Lions will open up the 2017-2018 season in the always competitive Skip Coleman Tip-Off Tournament this weekend along with trips to Central Dauphin East and a Friday night home game vs previous #22 Harrisburg High. Count on Drew Friberg to spear head a successful start to the season.
Coach Perez’ troops open the season in the York High Tip-Off (York, PA) vs Franklin Learning Center out of Philadlephia, on Saturday they will play either host William Penn (York) or Williamsport.
Coach Arrigale group will scrimmage PREP SCENE Top 5 Imhotep Charter on Wednesday before opening the season in the Scholastic Play by Play Showcase on the 9th vs Prep Scene honorable mention Shipley (Bryn Mawr) and Sam Sessoms a Binghamton signee.
BeCaHi’s production comes in bunches from 6-7 inside out threat Ryan Young. Young is a math-up problem at both ends of the floor. The District 11 powerhouse will also look for heavy productions from a pair of 2019’s in Justin Paz (6-0) and Kyle Young (6-7). Games: 12/9 Martin Luther King @ Archbishop Carroll in the Scholastic Play by Play.
The Haverford School finished last week with huge margin’s of victory over the Hun School (NJ) by 20+ and by 30+ over Friends Central. Christian Ray, Gavin Burke and Kharon Randloph have led the way early. Games: 12/4 vs Friends Central, 12/7 @Perkiomen, 12/8 Don McBride Classic vs PREP SCENE honorable mention – Academy of New Church and 12/9 @ LaSalle.
