LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Each year the Pangos All-American camp serves a
bridge between the spring travel ball circuit and the summer's All-Star camp
circuit and live evaluation periods. On opening night, five-stars
Tyler Dorsey and
Isaiah Briscoe went head
to head and
Jacob Evans
left his mark.
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Tyler Dorsey dueled with Isaiah
Briscoe. |
Dorsey and
Briscoe trade blows Maybe the most intriguing matchup on opening
night was the one between five-star guards
Tyler Dorsey and
Isaiah Briscoe. Headed to
Arizona,
Dorsey is a 6-foot-4 combo from Los Angeles who currently ranks No. 7 in the
class of 2015 while Briscoe is a tough 6-foot-3 point guard from New Jersey who
checks in at No. 19 nationally.
On the spring travel circuit, Briscoe
made a strong case that he should be considered the best point guard in the
class of 2015 and he will be moving upwards in the rankings. Early on, he took
the fight right to Dorsey. Perhaps Briscoe didn't finish as well as he usually
does, but he got anywhere he wanted to go and he did it anytime he wanted. Maybe
most impressive early was the message Briscoe was sending defensively. A few
early Dorsey drives were met by Briscoe beating him to the spot, getting his
chest out using it to knock Dorsey back a few feet.
Like Briscoe, Dorsey
came out aggressive. But, in the first half he lost a little bit of steam as
Briscoe got off to his hot start and chatted up Dorsey and anybody else in the
gym who wanted to listen. However, halftime gave Dorsey a chance to regroup and
he came out and had a much better go of it in the second half. Mostly, Dorsey
drove the ball and by the end of the game he had pretty much evened things out
with Briscoe after Briscoe had gotten the better of him early on.
Evans announces presence Each year, the Pangos
All-American camp serves as the launching pad to national notoriety for a player
or two who entered the camp relatively unknown. Based on Friday night's results,
small forward
Jacob
Evans from Baton Rouge (La.) St. Michael is putting himself in position to
be one of the players who sees his stock take off.
During Friday night's
mostly wild and out of control play, Evans skill based game, basketball IQ and
ability to use his body to create space and finish with either hand were
impressive.
Evans does most of his damage attacking off the dribble
where he can best utilize his size and he dictates the pace of things on the
floor.
"I felt pretty good out there," Evans told Rivals.com. "My team,
we can all push the ball and that's my type of playing style."
While
Evans doesn't yet attracted a bunch of national coverage, he's getting hit hard
by college coaches and that's what matters the most. Evans listed offers from
Oklahoma
State,
South
Carolina,
UTEP,
Houston,
Richmond and
Memphis. He
also listed interest from
LSU,
West
Virginia and
Florida.
Currently an unranked three-star, Evans is going to be somebody to watch
much more closely this weekend and during the summer with the Louisiana Dynasty.
He is certainly a kid who has a good feel for his own game.
"I feel like
I can get to the rack," said Evans. "Then along with my driving I can shoot
pretty well. I'm working on my shooting more and want to be better with my three
point jump shot.
More Friday notes 
Oklahoma shooting
guard
Shake Milton
continues to build his case for the national rankings in the class of 2015. At
this point, he's a safe bet to make his way into them and it is just a matter of
where he settles in. The beauty of Milton's game is in his efficiency and even
in a camp setting where some wild shots are going up around him, Milton stays
dedicated to taking good shots, using his quickness and making things happen. He
was hot from three on Friday night and had a rock solid outing.

The No. 79 player
overall in the class of 2015,
Horace Spencer is one of
the most athletic big men in the country. The 6-foot-8 Philly area native who
attends Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep is bouncy, strong and has great quickness
in the lane. He was tearing down rims and dishing out some intimidation in the
lane on Friday night.
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Paris Austin played well on
Friday. |

Another
impressive big man on Friday night was
Marquese Chriss. The
6-foot-9 power forward lacks strength but he is a high end athlete who has touch
on his jumper. For the most part, Chriss played above the rim and beat opposing
bigs from block to block with regularity. He's had a good grassroots season and
is under-ranked a bit at No. 76 nationally.

During the first
game of the night, the stage was set for a battle between two of the West
Coast's top players in the class of 2016, point guards
Lonzo Ball and
Derryck Thornton. As it
turned out, 2015 three-star
Paris Austin outplayed
both of them on Friday night. Paired with Ball, Austin showed an alpha dog
mentality and took over primary ball handling duties. A sidekick of five-star
Ivan Rabb at Oakland
(Calif.) Bishop O'Dowd, Austin isn't the tallest point guard but he is tough,
strong and very fast with the ball. He attacked the lane and did a nice job of
blending his offense with setting up teammates to finish with 11 points and
seven assists.

On Thursday,
Jeremy Hemsley committed
to
San Diego
State and not surprisingly the four-star shooting guard played very well on
Friday night. Something about getting a commitment out of the way always seems
to take the edge off of things for a prospect and allows them to just play free
and easy. Friday night, Hemsley focused on getting to the rim and used good
first step quickness to lose defenders.

Friday night was
Rivals.com's first look at 2016 small forward
Micah Thomas. The slender
wing from Eads (Tenn.) Briarcrest Christian is definitely one to monitor going
forward because of his fluid athleticism and open floor ability. High major
programs will surely be getting to know more about him this summer.

No. 39 in the
class of 2016, 6-foot-7 combo forward
Vance Jackson is one of
the country's premier jump shooters from deep. If he gets a clean look --
particularly from the corner -- he isn't going to miss very many of his
three-point attempts. Thought of as more of a wing up until now, Jackson has
started to bulk up and he is an interesting option as a four man who can stretch
the floor. He was one of the night's most productive players with 20 points and
six rebounds.