Left to Right:
2010 W 6'5" Joe Monroe
2010 W 6'4" Julian Stallworth
2009 G 6'2" Brandon Thompson
2009 G 6'0" Dejon Taylor
In his 4th year (3rd year fielding a varsity) as the only coach in the history of Stevens HS, Coach John Hirst has arguably the most talented outfit in the Alamo City. In terms of pure basketball talent, only Madison is in the same class. Of course time will tell if that translates into the first playoff win in the school's history, as well as a potentially deep playoff run .
Stevens lacks a true post presence, although 6'6" Aaron Plunkett can provide mismatches down low with his athleticism and ability to alter shots on the defensive end. Much of Stevens success will depend on the desire of Wing type players Monroe and Stallworth to rebound the ball.
Stevens strength is at the guard spots and with their ability to shoot the ball from the perimeter. This includes 2009 W Julian Stallworth, who along with Taylor and Thompson ran with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors in their club ball. Stallworth has a D-1 body, and can shoot the ball from the perimeter. As he improves his decision making as a senior, it will lead to more recruiting looks. Coach Hirst also gets senior leadership from PG 2009 5'10" Josh Orta who is a solid player.
Defensively, 2009 G 6'0" Dejon Taylor is the stopper. There is nobody better in the City at getting in the other guys jersey than Taylor, whose Pop coaches over at San Antonio Lee. Gotta love those coach's sons. Big Sky Conference's Montana State is recruiting Taylor at the moment. We'll keep an eye on that.
The quiet leader of the Stevens team is 2009 G 6'2" Brandon Thompson. This kid can do it all. He's deceptively long, and a very good defender. He's always under control, can handle the ball in traffic, has a deceptive change of pace and can shoot the ball; from the perimeter, mid range, and can get to the rack. In short, he has no weaknesses. I've had the pleasure to be able to coach numerous Division 1 guards over the years and he can be as good as any of them. Brandon is a great team mate, is humble, and he's clutch too. Twice this summer he hit shots at the buzzer to beat the Dallas Mustangs and Houston Elite in front of packed houses of Division 1 coaches.
Brandon has been offered by Colorado State and Colorado out of the Big XII. Amazingly, no Southland school has jumped on him. That's ok though, because he's a much better player than that. In the preseason, I would pick Thompson and Southwest's Kendric Robinson as co- San Antonio players of the year. We'll save more of that for another post though.
