arizona stars rosters

SoCalHoops Tournament News

Nike National Championships:
Arizona Stars Rosters--(July 30, 1998)

One of the teams invited to the Nike National Championships is the Arizona Stars, the No. 3 team in Pool A. There were three "Arizona Stars" teams entered at the Slam-N-Jam NIT last week at Long Beach, but we're going to assume that it is the Arizona Stars I team that will show up in San Diego.

The Arizona Stars I feature:

Justin Adams (6'-5" Sr. G/F) from Brophy, a pretty decent athlete with good post up moves, who can play either the 3 or the 4 spot pretty well;

Doug Damore (6'-4" Sr. G) from Mountain View, a very good passer, with a nice handle, who is a pretty good athlete, probably at least a low to mid D-1, possibly D-2 player;

Jon Howard (6'-4" Jr. F) from Brophy, who can play the 3 pretty well, and can also step out and shoot;

Donnell Knight (6'-8" Sr. SF/PF) from St. Mary's, a pretty dominant player, who can pass very well, block shots, dunk, and is a superior athlete. Donnell just committed to Arizona State;

Josh McKibben (6'-2" Sr. G) from Arcadia, another nice player who can shoot, and plays very good defense;

Bobby Norman (6'-3" Sr. G) from Brophy, who was on the roster, but we didn't see him play last week at the game we attended; he may be hurt, or maybe he was sick;

Hakim Rasul (6'-7" Sr. F) from Pueblo, a very athletic player, great rebounder, has tremendous vertical and good hops, who knows how to play the post pretty well;

Tommy Smith (6'-9" Sr. F/C) from North, really a true center, one of the few in this year's senior crop, he's got pretty good touch and has great potential, but he still needs to hit the weight room as he's a little bit skinny;

Jimmy Tricco (6'-6" Sr. SG/SF) from Brophy, he's a nice athlete, good passer, has a decent shot, and could play the point, since he's got a pretty decent handle;

Sammie Wade (5'-10" Sr. G) from Pueblo, a pretty good little guard, with a great shot, penetrates well, and also shows some flair;

Chris Walls (7'-0" Sr. C) from Thunderbird, about 300 pounds, he's just a huge space-eater on the floor, not real quick, but then how quick does he need to be?

Kevin Woodberry (6'-0" Sr. G) from Trevor Brown, he's got a pretty nice shot, can shoot the J out to three point range, has a very good handle, passes and penetrates with excellent ability, seeks the floor well, and in general can run the show. And best of all, he's not really selfish with the ball and gets everyone involved.

The team is coached by Art Dye. It's possible that they'll have a couple of the kids from the other Arizona Stars teams available, but we wouldn't count on it. Nevertheless, if they do, here's who they might call on:

Arizona Stars II

West Carlock (6'-7" Sr. F) from Cactus Shadow, a decent athlete, plays defense well and can block;

Chris Craig (6'-1" Sr. PG) from Horizon, a pure passer, he has excellent court vision, shoots well, drives and is a fine athlete, and best of all, for a point, he moves well without the ball;

Arthur Daniels (6'-7" Sr. F) from Thunderbird, a decent athlete who can rebound, and plays the 4 spot well;

Prilieu Davis (6'-2" Jr. G) from Moon Valley, an excellent point with good size, passes, shoots, penetrates, and runs the floor extremely well

Shah Davis (6'-2' Sr. G) from Central, we actually didn't take any notes on him, and it's possible that he wasn't at the NIT??:

Vaser Elhabashe (6'-1" Sr. G) Int'l School, Egypt, we also don't have a clear picture of him, and it's likewise possible that we just overlooked him.

Jason Johnson (6'-6" Sr. F) from Thunderbird, a very good penetrator for a guy his size, he also has a decent shot and nice hands, and is pretty strong, could play the 3 or 4 possibly;

Rex Koehler (6'-4" Sr. G) from Shadow, is also a fine player who can run well, defend and pass the ball;

Dominic Payne (6'-5" Sr. G/F) from McClintock, a good athlete who played very well at the NIT;

Preston Ross (6'-5" Sr. SF/SG) from McClintock, a very good J shooter, with a good handle for a 6'-5" guy, very athletic who runs the floor very well;

Daniel Sandell (6'-2" Sr. G) from Shadow Mountain, a very strong player, drives well and penetrates, a good handle and decent touch;

Marcus West (6'-6" Sr. F) from McClintock, a thin, but athletic three who rebounds well, has a decent shot from about 15' and can run the court well.

Arizona Stars III

Josh Cramer (6'-3" Sr. G) from Ironwood
Mark Bowens (6'-2" So. G) from Cactus, a very good athlete with a nice handle, penetrates and drives well, rebounds
Zach Brodt (6'-3" Jr. G) from Desert Mountain
Ryan Haggerty (6'-10" Jr. F) from Saguaro, a good defender and rebounder
Anthony Hill (6'-5" Jr. G) from Peoria
Daryl Isaac (7'-0" Jr. C) from Peoria, a tremdously talented kid, with great upside, good post up moves for a junior, can run, rebound, drive, and has good touch around the basket, but needs to put on some weight
Jon Kavanaugh (6'-3" Jr. G) from Fountain Hills, a good rebounder
Tamarcus Mitchell (5'-10" Jr. PG) from Trevor Brown, strong, drives to the hole well, and communicates with everyone on the floor
Nader Mahrish (6'-4" Jr. G/F) from Int'l School Egypt
Jamal Scott (6'-5" Jr. F) from Shadow Mountain, a nice rebounder
Rayan Walcott, (6'-3" Jr. G) from Shadow Mountain, has a very good handle, shoots the ball well, and also not afraid to penetrate and drive, good decision-maker
Ronnie West (6'-4" Jr. G) from Brophy
Shawn Yassie (5'-10" Jr. G) from Tuba City
John Yeager (5'-8" Jr. PG) from Brophy, a very aggressive little player who runs the break extremely well, sees the floor, and passes very well.

That's it for now, although we might have missed one or two of the guys. Actually we think we missed Tyler Ojanen who played for the Arizona Stars III, but we can't remember any of his numbers, grade or school, because he was an add-on to the printed rosters and we didn't get his stuff.

Anyway, some of these guys, certainly most of the Arizona Stars I team will be appearing today and this weekend.

See you there.