PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Friday morning,
Rivals.com made our annual post Christmas trip to the West Coast for various
Southern California area events. After a quick stop at the Under Armour Holiday
Classic in San Diego, it was on to the Maxpreps Holiday Classic in Palm Springs.
With 37 points in the day's first game, relatively unheralded sophomore
Richard Polanco was the day's breakout player.
 |
 |
|
| Richard Polanco had a huge day on
Friday. |
Polanco seizes
opportunity
The biggest reason that Rivals.com drove down to San Diego from Los Angeles
for the Under Armour Holiday Classic before making the trek to Palm Springs for
the Maxpreps event was to check out four-star sophomore point guard
Jaylen Hands of Chula
Vista (Calif.) Mater Dei. That fellow sophomore
Richard Polanco of San
Diego (Calif.) Army & Navy was taking the floor was an added bonus. As it
turned out, Polanco ended up stealing the show.
A strong 6-foot-6 wing, Polanco went absolutely nuts from deep. He made eight
three-pointers and at one point over the course of the second and third quarters
he made seven straight. When he wasn't bombing threes, Polanco showed that he
can handle the ball, rebound and be a crafty playmaker for others.
Obviously, he's not going to shoot the ball like that every time out, but
with his size and sturdy frame, that he can shoot is a huge selling point when
it comes to college coaches that will eventually have interest. Polanco isn't a
high flyer, but already has a pretty good feel for how to use his body and
mostly needs to eliminate a little extra flash from his game that can lead to
careless turnovers. A native of the Dominican Republic, Polanco has been in the
States for a few years now. He said that the only school he has really heard
from at this point is
Virginia.
The only downside to Polanco's big outing was that there weren't any college
coaches in the building. The 26th is the end of a short dead period on the
recruiting calendar, so nobody was allowed to be there. However, it is a safe
bet they will find their way to see him throughout the rest of the tournament
after word of his big day spreads.
As for the previously mentioned Hands, the 6-foot-1 floor general was playing
with a taped right wrist and at times went to great lengths to avoid using his
right (natural) hand. He is lightning quick and explosive, but didn't shoot the
ball very well and was clearly less than 100 percent in his team's blowout loss
at the hands of Polanco and Army & Navy. One other Mater Dei player actually
showed some promise despite losing 67-39. Six-foot-7 freshman combo forward
Miles Norris has good
size, long arms and soft touch around the rim. His team got rocked on Friday
morning, but he looks like he will be a good one down the road.
More Friday
notables
|
 |
|
| Chance Comanche dominated the interior
Friday. |
Future
Arizona big
man
Chance Comanche
looks to have settled in quite nicely at Beverly Hills (Calif.) High. The
6-foot-10 insider was pretty much as dominant as he wanted to be against an
overmatched and undersized Redmond (Wash.) High squad. That's the key, though.
In the past, Comanche might have been prone to floating to the perimeter when he
wasn't tested but on Friday he went to work on the interior and scored at will.
The No. 32 player in the class of 2015, Comanche runs well, has soft touch and
is still quite thin. However, it was also clear that he has been in the weight
room and the added muscle on his frame was easily identifiable. Chalk it up as a
good outing for Comanche in his first game at the Maxpreps event.
The game
between Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon and Sacramento (Calif.) High featured
five players currently ranked by Rivals.com in either the class of 2016 or 2017.
Sierra Canyon had point guard
Devearl Ramsey (No. 46 in
2016) and power forward
Cody Riley (No. 10 in
2017) while Sac High countered with power forward
Solomon Young (No. 84 in
2017) and shooting guard Christian Terrell (No. 120 in 2016). As it turned out,
the game was a bit sloppy and none of the highly rated guys ever really got off.
Ramsey hit some tough jumpers off the dribble while Riley was under the weather
and Young proved that he's a no-nonsense power broker -- albeit a bit undersized
-- in the low post while Terrell showed flashes on offense. Late, the difference
looked to be Sierra Canyon sophomore point guard
Remy Martin's ability to
simply take his man one on one and go make a play.
A
four-star prospect who currently ranks No. 55 in the class of 2016, Friday
wasn't
Daron Henson's
best day. After making some early shots, the 6-foot-7 small forward from Bishop
Hills (Calif.) Alemany went cold from deep. Cold streaks are going to happen it
is how Henson handles them moving forward that will shape his commitment. Live
bodied and long armed, he has to get more active on the glass and develop more
in between game for those days when his deep jumper isn't falling. Once he
balances out his game, his recruitment will soar.
During the summer, Henson's teammate
Earnest Sears caught
Rivals.com's attention playing for the Dream Vision 15U squad. A 6-foot-4
shooting guard who can't weigh much more than 160 pounds, Sears again intrigued.
He's only a sophomore and has to get much stronger, but Sears has a knack for
making plays going towards the rim off the dribble.
 |
|
|
| Derek Ogbeide plays like a man on the
interior. |
The
Georgia staff is
pretty certain that they have stolen one in
Derek Ogbeide and the
6-foot-9 center from Mableton (Ga.) Pebblebrook is on watch list for the final
Rivals150 in the class of 2015. A bully with strength who plays with tenacity in
the lane, Ogbeide is all big man and stays in the lane. During the first half of
his Friday game, he was mostly ignored by teammates as they jacked on three
after another so it was hard to get a good feel. Apparently, he was more
involved by teammates during the second half and Rivals.com will get a chance to
watch him again on Saturday.
La Verne
(Calif.) Damien has a nice perimeter trio in four-star senior combo guard
Jeremy Hemsley, senior
small forward
Malik
Fitts and junior three-star
Bryce Peters. Headed to
San Diego
State, Hemsley is very athletic and very aggressive. He's looking to make
plays off the dribble but at times is a bit out of control which leads to
turnovers. Fitts had the hot hand from three on Friday night and looks like
somebody that mid majors should be on. Peters, narrowly missed the 2016
Rivals150 coming out of the summer and will be in major contention again. He is
athletic, can make some shots and has some pop off the bounce.
Hands
down, one of the biggest steals on the West Coast is UC Riverside landing
6-foot-4 shooting guard
Eric Rwahwire out of
Saddleback Valley Christian. The three-star prospect can fill it up from deep,
has a great frame and plays hard on both ends of the floor. It will be a pretty
big surprise if he doesn't go on to have a big career at Riverside and prove to
be a thorn in the side of "bigger" West Coast programs who passed on him.
Next up at Saddleback is thin but athletic and active power forward
Irshad Hunte. Standing
around 6-foot-8, Hunte is a high energy four man who can really run up and down
the floor. He attacks the glass, tries to block shots and doesn't mind getting
in the mix physically despite his skinny build. A three-star prospect, he will
be one to monitor on at least the upper mid major level.
Finally,
the other player that we wanted to see in San Diego early Friday was junior four
man
Tim Harrison.
Checking in at around 6-foot-7 or 6-foot-8, he is a thin power forward at San
Diego (Calif.) Francis Parker. A three-star prospect, Harrison runs well is a
good enough athlete and looks like he has some touch. Early foul trouble and a
guard dominated game kind of limited him but the overriding thought from
watching him is that he has to be more physical on both ends of the floor.
Strength will come with physical maturity, but physicality and toughness are a
mindset. Harrison's already solid recruitment will be even more interesting if
he can unleash his inner pit bull.
No comments:
Post a Comment