203 0 0
THE RIVALS150: Class of 2014 - Class of 2015
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- This April, only one weekend is open for Division I coaches to evaluate talent at grassroots events. With one less April weekend than in the past to impress coaches, it is important that teams be sharp. Friday night at the Real Deal in the Rock, Malik Monk, Melvin Frazier, Skal Labissiere and the Arkansas Wings looked ready to turn coaches' heads when they are out next weekend.
Wings talent overwhelms
During the first half, it looked like we were going to have a great Friday night game on our hands. The loaded Arkansas Wings, who feature five-stars Malik Monk and Skal Labissiere to go with four-star Melvin Frazier and several others, were in a close one with a tough RL9 team from Houston. Both teams feature several deluxe athletes and the Wings held a 31-26 lead at halftime of tough played game where neither team was particularly hot from deep.
![]() | |
![]() | |
Labissiere missed most of his junior season with a stress fracture in his back. |
Because he had the best night, we'll start with Monk. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Bentonville (Ark.) High currently ranks No. 12 overall in the class of 2016 and he looked every bit the part. After settling for deep jumpers when Rivals.com watched him in December, Monk was playing in attack mode. He has added at least 10 pounds of muscle since the winter and uses his electric step and big time hops to get to the rim. Monk is also playing some point and said that even if he never plays the position long term, the ball handling focus can only help him. After making noise at the rim, Monk showed off his smooth jump shooting from deep and also locked in defensively.
If Monk's Friday night play is any indicator of how he will play this spring and summer, opposing shooting guards are going to be in for a long summer. He mentioned that Arkansas, Connecticut and Florida were among those that have been by to see him.
A five-star like Monk, Labissiere ranks No. 6 overall in 2015. A 6-foot-11 big man from Cordova (Tenn.) Evangelical Christian, Labissiere was playing in his first game since November after missing almost all of his junior season to a stress fracture in his back. The Haiti native played limited minutes, but his skill on both ends of the floor was evident. He has gotten much stronger and while he isn't a high flyer, he can really move his feet, is fast and has great length. He doesn't bite on fakes and causes a lot of problems in the lane as a rim protector. On top of that he rebounds well and doesn't need a ton of offense run for him in order to be productive. He has soft touch but the back foot, spin and fadeaway jumper from about 12 feet on the left baseline was ridiculous.
With more thought, we can probably come up with a better comparison for Melvin Frazier than Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. However, the 6-foot-6 wing does share some similarities to RHJ. Mostly, he is an athletic, touch and hard working utility forward who just tracks down loose balls, finds openings and makes plays. Like Monk and Labissiere, he can lock in defensively and he is definitely a leader on the floor. Frazier listed offers from Texas A&M, Arkansas, Oklahoma, UTEP and LSU.
"In the first half you could see that we had only really had one practice together and we had to come together," Frazier told Rivals.com. "In the second we turned it up on defense and got running."
Friday night notes from the Real Deal
![]() |
|
![]() | |
Gilder scored 21 points on an off shooting night. |




No comments:
Post a Comment