SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Double Pump Discovery Shootout Notes:
First Installment--(March 23, 1999)

The Double Pump Discovery Shootout for High School boys took place this past weekend at Cal State Dominguez Hills. We've got the rosters and some random notes and thoughts on some of the players who played for each team.  First, the worst thing about a "shootout" format is that sometimes the jersey numbers don't match the jersey numbers being worn by the players.  Having seen most of the guys on this roster before though, we can say that there were some absences and some additions.  So we're not going to comment on every player on a roster, just those who stood out above the crowd.  Having said that, let's get started:

4D Hoopriders

Leland Dodd (6'-3" So. F) Bishop Montgomery
Ryan Love (6'-6" Fr. F) Long Beach Poly
DeJournett Wyatt (5'-8" So. PG) Serra
Daniel Campbell (6'-0" Jr. G) Morningside
Tracy Cathey (6'-0" Jr.  G) Morningside
Thomas Brossard (6'-5" Jr. F) Hawthorne
David Colbert (5'-11" So. G) Bishop Montgomery
Felipe Williams (6'-4" So. F) Crossroads
Alexander Monroe (6'-1" So. G) Hawthorne
Abraham Cruz (6'-0" Jr. PG) St. Paul's
Ricky Rico (6'-7" Jr. C) Morningside
Dwayne Trotter (6'-4" Jr. F) Morningside
Mischa Taylor (6'-5" Jr. F) Crossroads

Mischa Taylor and Felipe Williams were clear standouts on this team when we saw them on Saturday playing against a much younger and shorter OCP team.  Williams can clean the glass, dunks, runs the court very well, has a nice shot out to about 17' but is really most effective in the open court. Taylor's strong suit is his defensive ability, and he's got good footwork and can play the three or the four.  DJ Wyatt is an explosive point guard, with an excellent handle and a very quick first step capable of beating all but the quickest defenders.

Air Southwest

We didn't get a chance to see this team play, but here's the roster anyway:

Stanford Anderson (6'-4" Jr. SG/SF) Oakland
Wesley DeCoite (6'-3" Jr. F) El Toro
Patrick Vaz (5'-9" So. PG) Tracy
Aaron Hecht (6'-2" Jr. G) Marin Catholic
Christopher Vasquez (6'-2" Jr. G) St. Joseph
Jermaine Washington  (6'-4" Jr. G/F) Oakland
Kris Powers (5'-10" Jr. PG) Woodcrest Christian
Tommy Tatom (6'-7" So. F/C) Oakland
T.J. Arterberry (6'-7" So. F) Herlong
Nick Garcia (5'-8" Jr. PG)  Westwood

ARC Burbank

This was the ARC team which will be coached by Ron Quarterman the Burbank High coach this summer, and which in the meantime for this event was coached by Andrew Moore's dad.  Here's the roster:

Keith Jarbo (6'-2" So. F) Burroughs
Eric Geffner (6'-5" Jr. F) Harvard-Westlake
Scott Barwick (6'-4" So. F) Notre Dame Sherman Oaks
Brandon Duplessie (6'-6" So. C) St. Bonaventure
Greg Gunther (6'-7" Jr. C) Crespi
Andrew Moore (6'-1" So. G) Crespi
Michael Jenkins (5'-9" So. G) St. Francis
Frank Reed (5'-9" So. G) Burbank
Mike Luderer (6'-2" So. G) Crespi
Robert Herrick (6'-0" So. G) Alemany
Cody Pearson (6'-4" So. SG/SF) Notre Dame Sherman Oaks
Damien Jordan (6'-2" G/F) Burbank

We didn't see all of these guys play, but over the two day period several stood out.  Eric Geffner is still a ball-hound, lanky and thin, he's an excellent slasher to the hole with a decent outside shot, quick on defense, and he can also effectively push the ball on the break, but definitely needs to start hitting the weights.  Brandon Duplessie doesn't need to worry about the weights at all, and he's a big-bodied stud, who can pound the boards, box out and drive. Brandon also played with Pump N Run II in their first game on Saturday along with Cody Pearson and both of them turned a lot of heads. For a big guy, Brandon runs the court well and moves without the ball.  Cody has improved his shot selection and is now driving more and finishing better, and when he misses he's recovering better and not treating it like the end of the world as he did when he was just a freshman.   Along with more maturity, he's also passing the ball a lot more now. Cody is extremely athletic and as we said last year, if he improves his scoring, he could be the next Gilbert Arenas from the Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks area.   Greg Gunther who also is playing Rockfish Spring League, and who has outstanding invitations to travel with a number of teams including Rockfish, Pump N Run and the ARC squad during the spring and summer, is a guy who will be in great demand when it comes to signing letters and getting committments this summer.  We've been told by a lot of coaches that they'd love to see him come to their schools, and we understand that Greg is interested in playing football at USC, and if that's so, we'd also expect a spot to be open for him on the Trojan basketball team.  Andrew Moore played his usual tough defense and scored some too, and we like his game and the way he's improving and he has the potential to be a potential WCC type player by next year if he continues to progress, as does his school teammate Mike Luderer of whom, we only caught brief glimpses this weekend.

ARC Los Angeles

The name "Los Angeles" is probably a misnomer with this team since the guys were either from Pasadena or Moorpark, and neither of those places is really in LA, but who knows, maybe it's because Robert Icart, who coached them, lives in LA.  Here's who was on the roster, although we know there were some no-shows:

Derek Andrews (6'-2" Jr. G) Rancho Cucamonga
Todd Tomlinson (6'-1" Jr. PG) Moorpark
Charles Gillig (6'-5" Sr. F) Harvard-Westlake
DeVerion Mackey (6'-5" Jr. SG/SF/PF) Pasadena Marshall
Shawn Corkery (6'-0" Sr. PG) Moorpark
Jason Sanford (6'-6" Jr. F) Pasadena Marshall
Peter Dalrymple (6'-8" Jr. C) Moorpark

We didn't see Gillig or Dalrymple and are pretty certain that they were no shows. There were a couple of other guys whose names we didn't catch, but by and large there were four players who stood out and we'll take them in order: Todd Tomlinson really played the two guard a lot more this year than the point, although he could be one of the best pure combo guards in the junior class.   Quick, with an excellent handle, the only thing we would have liked to see was better passing selection in the lanes, but then a shootout format, which is pretty disorganized, isn't necessarily the best way to judge a player's ability to pass in a set offensive scheme, especially a half-court offense since not many teams really slow down much beyond running up and down the court.  Todd was very effective off the dribble penetration, and loves to attack the basket from the left side, something he did with great regularity. His shot was also working when we saw him on Sunday against Pump N Run.   Could be a mid-major by the end of the summer.  His Moorpark teammate Shawn Corkery also plays the point, and if Todd loves to attack the left side, Shawn goes right better than most we've seen. He's got an excellent handle, and in our view is one of the better unsigned seniors.  About the same size as Kyle Dodd, he's tough, quick, and makes good decisions on the court.  When we saw this team on Sunday, they were pretty much unstoppable with DeVerion Mackey and Jason Sanford running the floor and dunking just about every chance they got.  DeVerion is an excellent mid-range shooter, very athletic, strong, and can take it to the hole, and if you want to get a chance to see him, he's playing RSL also.  Sanford has very long arms, runs the floor, moves without the ball well, and loves the high-flying slam dunk routine.   Will need to improve his defensive skills and footwork, and his only real drawback is that he's a sort of "tweener" that is he's the right size for a shooting guard or wing player in college, but doesn't have much outside shot. He does have an excellent handle and can drive the basket or penetrate and dish so he'll make somebody a nice 3-4 man.

Arizona Heat Blue  

We didn't get to really spend any time checking out either of the Arizona teams (Black or Blue) but presumably they will return this spring for the Double Pump Spring Tournament in two weeks.  Here is the roster for the Blue team:

Randy Real (5'-10" Jr. PG) Mesa
Dirk Walker (5'-10" Jr. PG) Cactus Shadows
Mickey Dyer (5'-11" PG) Flagstaff
Alvin Antonio (6'-0" Jr. G) San Carlos
David Gillette (6'-5" Jr. F) Saguaro
Rusty Carter (6'-2" Jr. PG) Thatcher
Danny McEuen (6'-2" Jr. PG)  Ft. Thomas
Connor Benedict (6'-5" Jr. F) Mountain View
Jeremy Schlau (6'-7" Jr. F) Desert Vista
GT Turley (6'-10" Jr. F/C) Chino Valley

Arizona Heat Black

Ricky Aragon (5'-9" Jr. PG) Globe
Lars Havens (5'-11" Jr. PG) Buena
Matt Maiden (5'-11" Jr. PG) Phoenix Christian
Jared Kavlie (6'-2" Jr. G) NWC Christian
Greg Hibberts (6'-2" So. G) Cactus Shadows
Paul Oltroggee (6'-4" Jr. F) Sinagua
Matt Ericksen (6'-3" Jr. G) Mountain Ridge
Collin Seay (6'-3" So.  G) Horizon
Adam Griffith (6'-5" So. F) Page

BWBA I

The BWBA (Branch West Basketball Academy) teams were, as usual, pretty much stacked with talent, and that includes the older and the younger teams.  We saw BWBA I play a couple of games but the funniest and most ironic moment of the weekend (for some) was in the Sunday BWBA v. Pump N Run I game,  in which Bob Gottlieb and Dave Goosen of Venic High (coaching Pump I) had a coaching duel going in the last few minutes of the game.   In a shootout format, it's a running clock, no foul shots, so anyone who coaches these things recognizes that the only reason to call a timeout is to kill the clock.  The game was way out of reach by the end of the first 20 minute half, and BWBA was up by almost 20 points.  Pump looked terrible.  Lou Wright was missing his shots, Branduinn Fullove looked like he had stayed out too late the night before, Travon Bryant who played with Pump I the day before was nowhere to be seen and in general, BWBA I was killing the Pump I team.  That is until the second half.  The Pump guys woke up, started playing the way they're capable of playing, and steadily chipped away at the lead.  With about two minutes to play, Pump finally went ahead by one, and then the lead changed hands several times.   With about 40 seconds remaining, and BWBA up by a point, Gottlieb called a timeout, pulling his team off the floor and protecting the lead.  But Pump came back, scored a basket themselves, and Goosen promptly called a timeout, also freezing the ball, and preserving the Pump win.  You had to be there, because it was really a great use by both coaches of the unique format and rules of the shootout. In any event, here's the roster for BWBA I:

Shaun Michel (6'-2" So. PG) Simi Valley
Brett Michel (6'-6" Jr. SG/SF) Simi Valley
Jonathan Steven (6'-5" Jr. SG/SF) Esperanza
Eddie Draughan (6'-5" So. SG/SF) Mayfair
Steve Miller (6'-3" Jr. G) Orange
Chad Carter (6'-7" Fr. F) Riverside Arlington
Jamaal Barnes (6'-2" So. SG) Rowland Heights Rowland
Jason Carter (6'-9" So. PF) Las Vegas Bishop Gorman
Jamaal Williams (6'-6" So. F) Corona Centennial
Joeseth Dawson (6'-2" Sr. PG/SG) Fontana
Jerett Skrifvars (6'-5" Sr. SG/SF) Brea Olinda

This was the better and older of the two BWBA teams, and when we say it was stacked with talent, we mean it. Remember this name:  Jason Carter.  Roll it around on your tongue, and etch it into your gray matter indelibly, because this guy is going to be a high, monster-high D-I prospect, and an immediate impact player in three years at a major program. UCLA, Duke, Kentucky, Utah, Stanford, North Carolina, this guy is your man.  Even Mike Miller who sat next to us on Saturday morning watching Jason Carter slam, drive and in general run the court like a two or three year veteran,  agreed that he reminded him a lot of a younger version of Carlos Boozer.  Major upside potential, not a true scoring threat immediately, but he can do a lot of things, like rebound, move guys out of the paint, defends exceptionally well, and in fact there wasn't anyone who was rebounding better on Saturday. Shaun Michel ran the point, alternating with Joe Dawson, and Michel demonstrated why he's going to be one of the steadier junior point guards next season. He's improved his passing, especially entry passes to the post and working with Rafael Berumen on the inside-outside game has vastly improved his skills. He's got good size, runs the floor well, and sees things some other points might miss. Not exceptionally flashy, but a solid point guard who is steadily improving and who already does some very nice things.  Brother Brett Michel though is the real workhorse and he rarely came out of the game we watched. His shot is deadly from out to three-point range and he's also got excellent quickness and with his size will make a great combo-wing guard, and by the end of the summer we'd expect to see college coaches all over him.  Jamaal Barnes also had an excellent game, not as athletic perhaps as older brother Julius, Jamaal is still a big-time D-I prospect in his own right.  Excellent outside shot, jumps out of the gym, can dunk and finishes, great lateral quickness and mobility, nice size for a developing two guard.  Jamaal Williams has so greatly improved his post skills, particularly his defensive footwork, that we hardly recognized him. He's moving very well without the ball, rebounding like a maniac, and can take the ball to the hole with a great drop-step turnaround . For a sophomore he's got nowhere to go but up.   We didn't really get a look at Jonathan Steven, Eddie Draughn or Steve Miller, but we've seen most of these guys during the season and we'll make a point of looking at them a bit closer when the teams play next at either RSL or at the Pump Spring Tournament   on April 9, 10 and 11 at Dominguez.  Dawson and Jarrett Skrivfars are both top quality unsigned seniors:  Joe can help a program as a shooter, he's lightening quick, an excellent defender and can shoot out to three with great accuracy; Jarrett is a solid wing man who can step in and help a program immediately.

BWBA II

We only saw brief glimpses of this team, not enough to meaningfully (or otherwise) comment on any of the players.  So here's the roster without further comment

A.J. Jackson (5'-9" Jr. PG) St. Anthony's
Kris Maxie (6'-2" So. SG) Lake Elsinore
Bryan Gonzalez (6'-3" So. SG) Corona Centennial
Alex Rasmussen (6'-4" Jr. SG/SF) Foothill
Rogber Hogan (6'-0" Jr. PG/SG) Canyon Anaheim
Ryan Wilbur (6'-4" Jr. F) Brea Olinda
Dave Sybesma (6'-5" So. F) Corona Centennial
Marques Crane (6'-3" So. SG/SF) Artesia
Regan Arroyo (6'-4" Jr. F) Woodbridge

We'll have more on the rest of the rosters and players we saw this weekend shortly.

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