Thursday, October 15, 2009

Texas Super Showcase: Additional Player Evaluations

In addition to the kids who excelled and made the 1st and 2nd team All Tourny selections there were many additional standouts. Any one of these had the potential of cracking the top 12 performers in the tournament but for some reason or another they didn't make the cut. This is not to say that some of them may not be even better prospects than others I ranked ahead of them based on last weekend's selections. They are in no particular order, just brief evaluations and a shout out.

Below: 2011 SG Austin Birch of Austin St. Michael's. Can shoot the ball with the best of them. Below: 2012 P 6'6" Drew Wikelius of Austin Westlake continues to be one of the area's most intriguing prospects. He looks like he'll grow several more inches. He's had two successive summers of nagging injuries, perhaps stunting his athleticism somewhat but his fundamentals and footwork are sound. Could be a dark horse role player who determines how far Westlake advances.
Below: 2011 G 6'2" Branden Golden of Austin Reagan showed a nice mid range touch and got to the hole most any time he wanted.
2011 G 6'1" Hagen Fell is another Austin Westlake player who befell to injuries last year. He's a high level athlet and if he plays under control and does a good job of taking care of the ball he may be able to spell star PG Cody Doolin from time to time.
2011 G Alex Parrish of Austin Reagan is beginning to assert himself as a guy you just can't leave open at the three point line.
2010 W 6'6" Conner Kemper of Austin Westlake was just a hair away from the All Tourny team. He has a deadly perimeter shot and is starting to be a more aggressive inside presence on the boards. With P Gus Leeper on the frontside as a shotblocker, Kemper is more than capable of cleaning up backside rebounds along with Carl Meyertons.
2010 G 6'0" Max Harford of New Braunfels is a tough nut. He's solid defensively, is built like a linebacker, defends hard and does a lot of little things well. A great guy to have on your team.
Below: 2011 W Royce O'Neale of Harker Heights has a nice stroke from the outside. He's long, and rebounds well. He'll be in the post for a smallish Harker Heights team. That hasn't been a problem as witnessed by last year's HH undersized post, D.J. Stephens who landed a scholarship with the Memphis Tigers.
Below: 2011 WG Malcolm Canada of Austin Akins brings full effort, and a hard driving game every time he steps on the court. He's physical and goes to the rim with abandon.

2011 G 6'2" Jake Kocher of Austin St. Michael's can score with the best of them. Aside from San Antonio Lee's Paul Garnica he was the 2nd leading scorer at the Texas Super Showcase. He's put on muscle and has an ever improving repertoire of ways to get to the basket and score. Now, once he puts a similar premium on defense he could be home free.
2010 G Cameron Gunther was solid for Killeen Ellison. he has developed into a leader. He's physical, shoots the ball well, gets to the goal and rebounds his position well.
2011 F Ian Gulick of New Braunfels, a lanky player just seemed to have a knack for being in the right place on the court. Scored in bunches, one game I watched.
2010 G Dwayne Hutchinson of Harker Heights showed above average athleticism and made a couple of dazzling moves while getting to the goal.
2011 F 6'4" Micha Rainey of harker Heights showed nice footwork, ran the floor well and showed nice moves around the basket.
2010 F Zach Karcewski of Austin Lake Travis competes hard and plays deceptively well above the rim.
2011 F Billy Sharakis of Austin Lake Travis a move in from Denmark plays a tough, and I mean TOUGH game. He's ultra physical and makes no bones about going to the rim.
2011 W Adam Whitlock is a bouncy athlete. He has a beautiful stroke from the outside and is long enough that he can rebound the ball as well.
2011 P Nick Leasure has become a very consistent, hard worker in the low blocks. He's not afraid to mix it up with the best of them and gets his share of points and rebounds.
2010 G Jarrell Turner of Pflugerville was just a shade away from the All Tournament selections. He can get hot from the 3 point line and bury you in a New York minute. he almost singlehandedly brought The Ville back to within two points of Westlake in the championship game before Cody Doolin righted the ship for the Chaps victory.
2011 G Deron Belford of Kerrville Tivy (a move in from Corpus Christi Calallen) added some much needed ball handling and athleticism for the Antlers. This will free up All region player Jonathan Perry this coming year by lightening the ballhandling load.
2010 P 6'6" Tyler Kotson of Kerrville Tivy is a scrappy, physical guy. He's going to get a lot of second effort points around the cup.
2010 P 6'7" Taylor Finlay of Kerrville Tivy is tall and long enough to help Tivy make a deep run this coming season.
2011 G Alex Reinking of Austin High looks to follow in his two older brothers footsteps. He does many things well, including shooting, solid ball handling and a high basketball IQ.