Friday, September 19, 2008

September 18 Leander HS Boys Preview

The Leander-Cedar park area has been a football hotbed in recent years, with not much of a boys basketball tradition to speak of. However, that may just be about to change. Coach Clint Bradley's Lions return some extremely talented kids from last years squad. They have great athleticism, and 4 of their key guys got some critical seasoning during the spring and summer season with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors.

The senior leadership will come from Combo Guard 6'4" Joel Smith. Unknown going into the summer he now has several D-1 offers under his belt including Stephen F Austin, Sam Houston State and Lamar. Joel handles the ball well, is a superior perimeter shooter and can get to the rack in a hurry.

Senior P 6'6" wide body A.D. Jones can really make a difference on the boards. Motivation seems to have held him back in the past, but I sense a new found maturity in A.D. that will allow him to propel his Leander team to new heights.

2010 6'5" Jean Maurice Blanchard also gives the Lions an under rated leaper who is tough on the boards.

2011 6'5" Mark Nwakamma will be one of the better prospects in the State in his class. He's athletic, is coachable and has one of those streaks where he just wants to dunk on your head every time he's around the rack. Mark's a straight "A" student. Go ahead and pencil this kid in for big things. He lists his highlight of the summer being when his team beat the highly regarded New York Metro Hawks in front of most of the Big East coaches. Goals are to get the boys from Leander into the playoff mix, and to personally work hard and get better every day.