FRISCO, Tex. -- Shooting guards Antonio Blakeney and Shake Milton both
enjoyed big first days at the Dallas session of Nike's EBYL on Saturday at
Fieldhouse USA. Four-star Blakeney solidified his reputation as one to watch,
while Milton created his own reputation. Both players are members of the class
of 2015.
Blakeney
feeling no pressure
 |
 |
 |
Antonio Blakeney is getting interest from
several high-major programs. |
When you are a
scorer, it is important to have a short memory, plenty of confidence and to not
be rattled by pressure.
Antonio Blakeney checks
the box in the all of those areas.
The No. 29 player in the class of 2015, Blakeney is a 6-foot-3 shooting guard
from Orlando (Fla.) Oak Ridge who scores with ease at all levels. He drains
threes out to 22 feet, shows tremendous burst on drives to the rim and is
developing a nice pull-up game between 12 and 17 feet.
The Floridian has been on a steady rise since bursting onto the scene last
summer and doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. He went for 18 points,
five rebounds and two assists in an afternoon game as Each 1 Teach 1 pulled away
late to handle Expressions Elite 97-84.
Blakeney mentioned that
Florida,
Louisville,
Kansas,
North
Carolina,
Memphis,
USC,
Florida
State and
LSU continue to
chase hard and he has his recruitment in perspective.
"I probably won't cut it down until after the summer sometime," Blakeney
said. "I just want to focus on my last summer of AAU and finishing well in the
classroom."
When he does sit down to cut his list and make a decision, Blakeney will play
close attention to the relationship he is able to develop with his future head
coach.
"A good situation to me is somewhere that I have a real good relationship
with the head coach because he'll be making the decisions with the team and me,"
said Blakeney. "Also I know that I am going to have to work for playing time
wherever I go but I'm looking for a good situation playing time wise."
Shake it up
 |
 |
 |
Shake Milton has offers from SMU, Texas A&M
and Oklahoma. |
While
recruitniks may be slow to catch on, Oklahoma shooting guard
Shake Milton isn't a total
unknown with college coaches. The 6-foot-4 junior who plays with MoKan Elite
already lists offers from
Texas A&M,
Creighton,
SMU,
Oklahoma,
Oklahoma
State and
Tulsa.
Saturday, Milton -- who will certainly factor into the next batch of 2015
rankings -- began to build his national profile with two strong performances in
MoKan wins.
Highly skilled with the ball, Milton is a deft ball-handler, slick passer and
dangerous pull-up jump shooter. He doesn't overwhelm with athleticism, but his
feel for the game and sense for when to turn on the offensive juice makes him a
load to deal with.
In the final game of the evening, his team was locked in a tight contest with
the Spiece Indy Heat and he scored eight of his team-high 20 points in a
one-minute span that included two and-one plays. The first came on a nasty step
back move that he set up with a back-to-front, between-the-legs dribble before
getting fouled on a jumper and the next came when he shielded his defender with
his body, turned the corner and finished at the rim.
"I knew that the team needed me to make plays late," Milton said. "We had
gone through some dry spells on offense and coach called my number to make
something happen."
Maybe most impressive about Milton is the efficiency with which he plays. He
doesn't seem to force anything and his naturaly ability to be aggressive while
under control has to be frustrating for defenders.
"That's something I've done my whole life," said Milton of his efficient
play. "I think I can play a combo guard role. I really like to pass to my
teammates. I stay in the gym and work hard and I try not to take bad shots."
More Saturday
notables

At No. 56
in the country,
Henry
Ellenson is simply ranked too low and that is something that will be
rectified. The 6-foot-9 big man for Playground Elite was quite impressive on
Saturday for several reasons. He has always been able to shoot the ball, but at
times he settled too much for deep jumpers. Now, the rising senior is doing a
better job of mixing his jumpers with working in the paint and crashing the
glass. Most of all, Ellenson has worked hard to get himself into terrific shape
and that has improved his athleticism and stamina making a huge difference in
his overall game.

When
D.J. Hogg has his jumper
clicking like he did on Saturday, the 6-foot-7 four-star wing can be a load
offensively. When he mixes in smart drives and uses his size to shield
defenders, he is almost impossible to stop. When you add in the attention that
big man
Tyler Davis
commands in the post, well then defenders have a big problem on their hands. In
a win over Nike Team Florida, Davis established early post dominance and then
Hogg did his thing from the perimeter at a high level. While Hogg can shoot and
has offensive skill, Davis' ability to set up, hold position and then score with
skill on the low block is something that you don't see in many young bigs.

Four-star
junior big man
Raymond
Spalding is a long-term proposition. While skinny, he has good size, moves
extremely well and gives flashes of the future. He will rise above a crowd for
an offensive rebound on one possession and the next he'll jab step a defender
and rise for a 15-footer. Now, the key is to put it all together and become more
consistently productive. Make no mistake, though, it is easy to see why Spalding
is coveted by high-major programs.

Early in
Team Scan's game against Each 1 Teach 1 in the morning session, Scan was in big
trouble. Then, five-star big men
Thomas Bryant and
Cheick Diallo took total
control of the interior. The duo used their combined 13 feet and seven inches of
size to totally dominate. Diallo is all fast-twitch muscle with a non-stop motor
while Bryant has a great motor and strength to go along with it. By the time
they were done, Diallo and Bryant combined for 40 points and 14 rebounds and
completely turned a game that wasn't going their way.

It is
obvious why there has been a recent feeding frenzy over the play of
Malik Beasley. The
Rivals150 wing has really filled out, improved his athleticism and likes to bury
left-wing jumpers. He'll be making a move up in the next set of rankings.

Recent
SMU commit
Matthew
McQuaid had it rolling during the afternoon session. The 6-foot-5 shooting
guard was cutting hard off screens, catching and burying jumpers from deep.
McQuaid isn't the thickest guy around, but he has some wiry strength and is a
tough customer. He'll be counted on to make shots at the next level and there is
no doubt that the four-star wing can do that.

One of
the top players in the class of 2016,
V.J. King's strength is
how easy he makes the game. That, and his ability to bury pull-up jumpers. There
is little wasted motion in the five-star small forward's game and he doesn't
play around off the dribble. If he doesn't find something within two or three
dribbles he gets rid of the ball and lets the offense get started all over
again. He was big in a win over Team Texas.
Also big for the King James Shooting Stars was
Ohio
State-bound point guard
AJ Harris. What Harris
lacks in size he makes up for with long arms, tremendous heart and clever
playmaking ability. He is a major competitor and played mistake-free basketball
in a 77-73 win over Team Texas to finish with 18 points and eight assists.
Connecticut-bound wing
Prince Ali needs to
continue to work on his left hand. But, the 6-foot-4 guard is a hard-charger
with a great frame, plenty of athleticism and desire to get to the rim. He is
awfully tough to stop off the dribble and his physical tools allow him to be one
of the most physical finishers in high school basketball. He's continuing to
work his way up the charts.
No comments:
Post a Comment