With the evaluation period halfway
done, we thought we’d
recap some of the top stories from the first nine days of the period. Here’s a
look at some of the more notable developments from around the west.
After last summer, most people
penciled in Martell Webster, 6-7 SR SF Seattle (Wash.) Seattle
Prep, as the top prospect in the west for 2005. Some had him as the top prospect
in the country. Arizona,
Washington, North Carolina and UCLA are all involved to some degree. But a series of injuries has limited
Webster’s
effectiveness so far this summer.
If he’s
healthy, Webster still figures to end up the top prospect in the West Coast
class of 2005. But until he regains his pre-injury form, Jon Brockman, 6-7 SR PF Snohomish
(Wash.) High, is the #1 prospect
in the west. Brockman was terrific at the Nike Camp and followed that up with a
very good performance at the Peach Jam. Brockman’s
toughness, intensity and underrated athleticism allowed him to outplay some
highly regarded prospects at each event. Brockman is hearing from schools such
as Washington, Gonzaga, UCLA,
Duke, North Carolina and
Arizona.
One prospect who took himself off
the board is Harvey Perry, Jr., 6-5 SR SG/PG Las Vegas
(Nev.)
Cheyenne. Perry, who was originally
part of the class of 2004, will attend prep school for one year and then play
for Washington. Perry committed to
Lorenzo Romar and the Huskies after a solid showing at the Fullcourt Press
All-West Camp. A shooting guard who will try to make the conversion to point
guard, Perry has a great body and his skills show marked improvement. With
continued development, he has a chance to be an impact player in the
Pac-10.
Big men are always a little slower
to develop than the guards and wings, and this year is no different. However, a
couple big men who seem to be coming into their own are Coby Leavitt, 6-9 SR C/PF Washington
(Utah)
Snow
Canyon and Chris Oakes, 6-8 SR C Oakland
(Calif.) Castlemont. Oakes opened
some eyes at Nike with his length and athleticism, while Leavitt impressed at
the Three Stripes tournament. Both players are hearing from multiple mid to high
majors throughout the west.
Three Pac-10 schools –
Washington, Stanford and Cal –
are waiting anxiously for a decision from Jordan Wilkes, 6-11
SR C Los Angeles (Calif.) Loyola.
Wilkes had hoped to have a decision prior to the evaluation period, but he’s
still apparently mulling things over. Wilkes played at the Adidas Superstar
camp, but did not play in the West Coast camps or tournaments after returning
from Georgia.
Wilkes’s
brother, Omar, transferred recently from
Kansas to
Cal and some observers believe
that could give the edge to the Bears in the battle for
Jordan.
We’ve
been big fans of Joey Shaw, 6-6 SR SG Chandler
(Ariz.) High, since last summer
and we didn’t
see anything in the past couple weeks to change our minds. He’s
among the top couple shooters in the west and he’s
an underrated athlete. Oregon
State has been on Shaw for some time
now, along with schools such as
Arizona
State, USC and
San Diego
State, among others.
Diamon Simpson,
6-7 SR PF Hayward (Calif.) High, is creating quite a buzz among mid to high
major programs after a series of terrific performances at the Fullcourt Press
camp and Pangos tournament. Simpson is the rare West Coast player who plays hard
every time out and coaches have noticed. His skill level still needs to improve,
but he’s a
very good rebounder and defender. Don’t
be surprised if Simpson’s
stock continues to rise in the next couple weeks.
Another power forward who helped
himself recently is Shaun Green, 6-7 SR Salt Lake City
(Utah)
Olympus. Green played very well at the Pangos tournament,
showing off a versatile game in a match-up with Lawrence Hill
and the Arizona Magic. Green is one of the better outside shooters among post
players in the west, but he’s
also an underrated rebounder and defender. New Mexico,
Utah and
San Diego
State have all offered Green, but we
wouldn’t
be surprised if more schools get involved before the end of summer.
After giving out most of their
scholarships in the last two years, the Oregon Ducks are now looking primarily
at younger players. Kevin Love, 6-7 SO C Lake Oswego
(Ore.) and Kyle Singler, 6-7 SO SF Medford
(Ore.) South
Medford, are two players that Ernie Kent was watching at the Nike
camp. Both players figure to be among the elite prospects in the class of
2007.
Michael Roll, 6-5
SR SF/SG Aliso Viejo (Calif.)
Aliso Niguel, had a great showing at the Stanford camp and followed that up with
an impressive performance at the Adidas camp. Roll is on Stanford’s
list of players to watch, as well as being a serious target for a number of WCC
and Mountain West programs.
We saw coaches from
Washington
State at a number of games during the
first couple weeks of July, as the Cougar coaches were out evaluating players
such as Michael Roll, Steffan Johnson,
Jerry-Davon Jefferson and Ike Okoye, among
others.
Mitch Johnson, 6-1
SR PG Seattle (Wash.) O'Dea, is coveted by both Washington and Stanford,
although the Huskies situation may have changed with the addition of
Harvey Perry. Both programs reportedly have offers on the
table, though, and Johnson could be important for a reason other than what he
brings to the table as a prospect. Johnson is close with Friends of Hoop
teammates Jon Brockman and Martell Webster.
Some close to the situation say that Johnson’s
choice, if it were Washington,
could possibly influence Brockman and Webster. We’re
not a big believer in package deals –
since they rarely come to fruition –
but this wouldn’t
necessarily be a package. It would be more along the lines of Johnson’s
presence at Washington being one
more factor in the decisions of Brockman and Webster.
USC apparently got some good news
recently, with the reported qualifying test scores for Gabriel Pruitt, 6-3 PG/SG Los Angeles
(Calif.)
Westchester and Nick Young, 6-6 SF
Reseda (Calif.)
Cleveland. Both players are elite
talents, with the potential to impact right away in the Pac-10.