Top Combine Performers Girls Class of 2015

Top Left: Brittany Leonard

Right JaPreece Dean

Bottom Left: Kennedy Harris

2015 W 5'5" Kennedy Harris of Austin has a 5'9" wingspan. Athleticism just oozes out of this youngster as she completed her 20 yd dash in 3.29, 19.7" vertical and a 74" standing broad jump. Like most of the girls, she seemed quite attentive to coaching and was a whirlwind on the floor during the scrimmages. Look for Kennedy to be a success in whatever sport she chooses to pursue.

2015 G 5'2" Japreece Dean of Austin was a shooter deluxe at our camp. Hitting 9 of 10 shots in the Hot Shot Competition in a time of 38:28 Japreece had only two other shooters in the camp who remotely appraoched her score and time. Those two boys were in the Class of 2010 and 2011! She has a smooth release, making her dangerous shooting the ball from any spot on the floor. Ballhandling was superior with her left and right hand, as well as her court vision. Her 20 yard time of 3.08 was tops in the Class of 2015 as was her vertical leap of 21.7". In fact, it wasn't until the Class of 2013 Boys where someone exceeded her vertical.

2015 G 5'0" Brittany Leonard of San Antonio didn't score particularly well in the measurable events, but I was impressed by the fact that she was coachable, had a good understanding of the game and was an above average shooter. As a coach's daughter, expect her to be a "gym rat" who keeps working to get better.

Top Combine Performers Class of 2016 Kianna Ray

Class of 2016 5'1" G Kianna Ray, put on quite a nice showing at the Inaugural TexasRecruit.com Basketball Combine/Showcase this past weekend.

With a vertical of 17.5", a standing broad jump of 79" and a pro agility shuttle time of 5.61 seconds gave her raw numbers that exceeded many of the participants in the Class of 2015 and 2014, including some of the boys.

The raw numbers alone are impressive, but she also shows a court savvy beyond her years and a nice skill set of ballhandling and good shooting form.

This makes Miss Kianna Ray one to watch, in the Class of 2016!

TexasRecruit.com Basketball Showcase Event Results

Left: Winners of various timed and skill events conducted at the Inaugural TexasRecruit.com Basketball Showcase held on October 19th at Austin Akins HS. (Details to be posted on winners) Pictured are the winners from the Class of 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013.

Right: Coach Max Ivany & Coach T.J. Garza of TexasRecruit.com ready the 20 yard dash electronic timing device prior to the start of camp. All systems go!

As stated previously, although players from all over the State are welcome our focus is on the player from the Waco, Killeen, Austin, Bryan, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Rio Grande Valley area. There is plenty of talent, but they tend to get overlooked and underexposed compared to players from DFW and Houston. Our mission is to evaluate these kids in an objective way and then provide the results to colleges nationwide and ideally enhance the players recruiting opoportunities.

130 players from all over the State of Texas came together Sunday, October 19th at the Inaugural TexasRecruit.com Basketball Showcase. It was successful beyond our wildest dreams. With limited time invested in getting the word out about the event (20 days) we weren't sure what to expect. Walk up registration numbered about 40 players!

Over the next several days we'll have more in depth info on different players who attended. This is a brief overview.

Our girls attendance was limited to about 20 players. The ones who showed up could really play though! On the boys side we had some great talent including one NATIONAL RECORD BREAKING performance which we'll highlight shortly.

20 Yard Dash

Class 2013 Male:

Lir Galanti 2.79

Vinay Reddy 3.12

Class 2014 Male:

Aubrie King 3.07

Cameron Delaney 3.13
Class 2014 Female: Madison Wright 3.23

Class 2015 Male: Rashard Odomes 2.99
Class 2015 Female: Japreece Dean 3.08




Vertical
Class 2013 Male:

Vince Villa Gomez 26.9

Vinay Reddy 22

Class 2014 Male: Joshua Delaney 21.6

Class of 2014 Female: Mileena Vega 17.0

Calss 2015 Male: Rashard Odemes 24.2
Class 2015 Female:

Japreece Dean 21.7"

Kennedy Harris 19.7"

Class 2016 Female: Kianna Ray 17.5

Standing Broad Jump
Class 2013 Male:

Shane Lacaille 103

Vinay Reddy 95

Class 2014 Male:

Aubrie King 80"

Joshua Delaney 79"

Cameron Delaney 79"
Class 2014 Female: Tiffany Fowler 63"

Class 2015 Male: Kevin Owens 85
Class 2015 Female: Kennedy Harris 74

Class 2016 Female only: Kianna Ray 79

Pro Agility Shuttle

Class 2013 Male: Lir Galanti 4.83 and Vinay Reddy 4.93
Class 2013 Female:No female in this age group

Class 2014 Male:

Joshua Delaney 5.06

Cameron Delaney tied at 5.06

Class 2014 Female:

Mileena Vega 5.48

Class 2015 Male: Harrison Hackey 5.34
Class 2015 Female: Japreece Dean 5.35

Class 2016 Female only: Kianna Ray 5.61

Hot Shot Drill: (Number of shots made out of ten/time to completion)

Class 2013 Male:

Lir Galanti 7/ 39:25

Vinay Reddy 7/ 40:13

Class 2014 Male:

Aubrie King 7/38:81

Cameron Delaney 5/ 39:12
Class 2014 Female: 6/40:00

Class 2015 Male:

Harrison Hackey 6/ 40:90
Class 2015 Female:

Japreece Dean 9/ 38:28

Brittany Leonard 6/45:72

Class 2016 Female only: Kianna Ray 4/ 43:22

High School

20 yd dash
Class 2012 Male:

Miles Williams 2.68

Jarrin Johnson 2.68
Class 2012 Female: Maria Galindo 3.11

Class 2011 Male: Tarale Murry 2.59
Class 2011 Female: Oriana Wright 3.29

Class 2010 Male: Romando Garcia 2.58
Class 2010 Female: Courtney Duever 2.96

Class 2009 Male: Raheem Odoms 2.45 Copperas Cove

Vertical

Class 2012 Male: Spencer Phillips 31.2 Austin Hyde Park
Class 2012 Female: Maria Galindo 16.6

Class 2011 Male: Tarale Murry 33.6
Class 2011 Oriana Wright 18.3

Class 2010 Male: Romando Garcia 33.8
Class 2010 Female: Courtney Duever 21.9

Class 2009 Male: DJ Stephens 41.8 Harker Heights

Standing Broad Jump

Class 2012 Male: Spencer Phillips 8'5 Austin Hyde Park
Class 2012 Female: Maria Galindo 5'5

Class 2011 Male: Yisuf Abduliah 8'7
Class 2011 Female: Oriana Wright 6'0"

Class 2010 Male: Romando Garcia 8'11
Class 2010 Female: Courtney Duever 6'0

Class 2009 Male: DJ Stephens 10'6 Harker Heights

Pro Agility Shuttle

Class 2012 Male: Matt Tyson 4.69
Class 2012 Female: Maria Galindo 5.38

Class 2011 Male: Sean Voss 4.69 Belton
Class 2011 Female: Oriana Wright 5.53

Class 2010 Male:

Nathaniel Velasco 4.59 Gregory-Portland

Antonio Clemons 4.59

Michael Farace 4.59 Liberty Hill
Class 2010 Female: Courteny Duever 5.5

Class 2009 Male: Austin Mosley 4.63 Austin Hyde Park

Hot Shot Shooting Drill: Number of shots made out of 10/ time to completion

Class 2012 Male:Collin Tubbs 6/ 37:00
Class 2012 Female: Maria Galindo 4/ 39:03

Class 2011 Male: Deon Mitchell 9/ 31:75 Pflugerville

Class 2010 Male: Jacob Horton 9/ 39:75 Houston Clear Lake
Class 2010 Female: Courteny Duever 3/ 45:50

Class 2009 Male: Zach Mims 8/ 38:34 Killeen Ellison

San Antonio Lee HS Boys Preview

Top Left: 2010 PG 6'0" Paul Garnica

Top Right: 2010 G 6'2" Ryan Pierce

Middle Left: G 6'3" Ryan James

Middle Right: 2009 G 5'10" Henry Garcia, Coach Tommy Hines, & P 6'4" Adam Muro

Bottom: Coach Hines instructs Lee players during the athletic period.

Today I dropped in on San Antonio Lee's morning athletic period. It was like stepping back in time to 6 years ago when current Lee Head Coach Tommy Hines was a key Assistant to Coach Romy Vela at San Antonio John Jay HS. The Jay Mustangs had just won a 5A State Championship, with Hines playing a key role on that staff. They beat a talented Dallas Lincoln team with future NBA star Chris Bosh. Many of you will remember John Jay's Chris Ross' half court game winning shot that stunned the crowd at the Erwin Center.

Back to today. I saw the same scrappy, feisty group of undersized kids, many of them undersized Hispanic kids that reminded me of Jay Circa 2003. But Holy Cow, were they hungry at practice! Coach Hines is in his 4th year now as Head Coach at Lee. I think it's fair to say he took over a program which was in disarray. The kids did not have a sense of pride in the program. Let me tell you folks, that's out the window. Hines is the new sheriff in town and has taken these kids, believed in them as youngsters (he started a couple of freshmen on varsity back three years ago) and molded them into a very competitive crew. They took some lumps over the last couple of seasons but they are poised now to make a playoff run. Madison and Reagan will likely be the class of the district, but I predict that Lee will be right there for a playoff spot.

Lee has a much varsity experience as anyone. The drawback is their overall lack of height, but Hines will "coach 'em up" by playing a lot of 4 out, incorporating a lot of Dean Smith's old Carolina stuff and getting after it man to man defensively with lots of pressing and trapping. The Lee kids have a toughness and scrappiness about them that reminds me more of Dallas and Houston kids.

The closest thing Lee has to a post presence will be 6'4" Adam Muro. Rebounding will have to be by committee.

2009 G 5'10" Henry Garcia will provide senior leadership. He's a solid D-2, D-3 type kid with Trinity and Grandview (Iowa) recruiting him at the moment.

Look for G 6'3" Ryan James to log major minutes.

Along with Garcia, there are two other players who will be three year starters this coming season. 2010 G 6'2" Ryan Pierce is a natural scorer, who just gets the job done.

The key guy for Lee is 2010 PG 6'0" Paul Garnica. In late May, Garnica got promoted to the top Texas D-1 Ambassador group. He was simply too good to keep out of the lineup. Keep in mind that to this point we've had guards off that group commit to Arizona, Lamar, and two others who have been offered by San Francisco and Colorado. Garnica belonged in this group! He hit 10 three pointers in a game as a freshman at Lee. It goes without saying he can heat it up from the perimeter. As I got to know Paul, what became obvious is that he is a real student of the game while also possessing an "annoying street edge" to his repertoire. Annoying that is to the opposition. He's a great team mate and very unselfish. He prides himself on deflections and steals defensively, many times drawing the assignment on the other team's most talented offensive player. One drawback Garnica has is he can occasionally be nonchalant when handling the ball. As he continues to mature though, I see this occurring less and less. He has above average grades, even drawing the interest of the Ivy league's Cornell who were in the Lee gym watching him in last week's athletic period.

TexasRecruit.com Showcase.. October 19th

Put this Sunday, October 19th on your calendar for you and your child to attend the Inaugural Basketball Ranking Camp & Showcase being conducted by http://www.texasrecruit.com/ Coach Garza and myself are so excited about the response, and with only a few days left until the event gets underway time is short to get registered. The location is Akins HS in Austin, and the cost is only $80 in advance. $100 for walk ups at the door.

Itinerary:

1. Document Height, Weight, & Wingspan
2.Testing:
a. Vertical
b. Standing Broad Jump
c. Pro Agility Shuttle
d. Hot Shot Shooting Drill
e. 20 Yard Dash

3. Skill Stations
4. Scrimmage Evaluations

5. Wrap Up:

Understanding The Recruiting Process

All timing will be done with Nike Sparq products. Manual timing is inappropriate for verifiable results, that is why we use Nike approved digital timing system with infrared accurate start and finish lines.

Vertical is measured by the State of the Art Digital Jump System.

Finally, you are being tested and evaluated by two of the most influential Recruiting Analysts in the Country.

Coach T.J. Garza has evaluated and trained countless college level football players.

Coach Max Ivany has personally coached close to 100 Division 1 basketball players and has placed kids in every Conference in the Country. Some of the prmonient recent alumni, (to name only a handful) include:

2009 Kendric Robinson UT-San Antonio
2009 Cory Jefferson Baylor
2009 John Henson North Carolina
2009 Jonathan Garza Lamar
2008 Tre Nichols Texas State
2008 Garland Judkins Arizona
2007 Andy Moore American
2007 Adhar Mayen Hawaii
2006 Jason Ebie Texas Christian
2006 Leslie Jackson UT-San Antonio
2006 Bryan Beasley Rice
2006 Brandon Webster Fresno State
2006 Chip Ivany South Alabama (NCAA Tournament this past spring)

Be part of this Inaugural Texas Basketball Ranking Class!

Belton HS Boys Preview

Left To Right:
2009 Michael Huddleston
2010 Eric Brauer
2010 Jeff LePak
2011 Sean Voss

The Belton Tigers graduated eight seniors from last years group, but the good news is that there are 4 returning seniors from last year's team with quite a bit of experience. The bad news is that Belton competes in District 12-5A which is highly competitive year in and year out.



Former University of Mary Hardin Baylor PG and former Assistant John Osborn returns for his 2nd season at the helm for Belton. Players counted on to play a key role are 3-year letterman Michael Huddleston, a 6’3” forward who was MVP of the 5 STAR Camp Waco All-Star Game this summer. 6'6" F Jeff Lepak also lines up at wide receiver on gridiron, as well as running with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors in the summer.


2010 G 5'11" Eric Brauer gained all district honors as a Sophomore and is returning leading scorer from last year. Brauer's roots in Belton run deep as his Pops, Ed was formerly the Head Coach, and brother Matt is currently at Wichita State running the point for the Shockers.


2011 G 5'11" Sean Voss has gotten lots of big game experience in the summers for the 2011 Texas Ambassadors. Sean is one of the better guards in his class in Cen Tex.


In addition Saquonne Crump, Kevin Sanders and Jacob Lippincott and others plus some Bigs off the football team will form a good nucleus.

The Tiger’s have already had some early success playing in the competitive Harker Heights fall league and playing in some weekend tournaments, including Mike Kunstadt’s Fall San Antonio Shootout at Saint Mary’s a couple of weeks back.


Belton’s district, 12 – 5A includes Bryan, A&M Console, Killeen Ellison, Killeen Shoemaker, Harker Heights, Temple, and Copperas Cove. It is run and gun all the time in this district which always places a number of players in college ball every season. Look for the Belton Tigers to make some noise in this District this season and contend for a playoff spot.

San Antonio Stevens HS Boys Preview

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.

San Antonio Churchill HS Boys Preview

Left: 2009 F 6'7" C.J. Drago

Right: 2012 5'11" PG Scott Mammel

Bottom Left: Twin Towers (twins literally) 2010 6'9" Ben and Mike Byron

Not sure what's in the water over at Churchill, but whatever it is, they sure do grow 'em big. Coach Randy Schuster's Chargers graduated a lot of leadership off of last years playoff team. Not the least that will be missed is 7'1" Ian Markoff who is now at the University of Wisconsin. My sources tell me that Ian is now up to a chiseled 270 lbs and has acquired a bit of a mean streak. That's something he seemed missing as a high school senior, but the Badgers Bo Ryan has appeared to bring it out in him. He'll need it to compete in the Big XII, the most physical conference in the country. Same sources say he'll be two years at Wisconsin and then is a lock for the NBA. Keep up the good work Ian!

Only a freshman, keep an eye on Scott Mammel. If he develops to be anywhere near the player his elder brother Greg did he'll be pretty darn good. Greg Mammel played his high school ball for the home schooled group, FEAST. Young Mamell will give Churchil a true point guard who can also score the ball for the next few years. Greg is now playing at one of the top D-II programs in the country Barton College in North Carolina.

Back to the Bigs. Out with Markoff, and in with the Byron twins. At 6'9" and still growing these two 2010 post players should have a breakout season. Playing with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors 2010 squad, the big fellas are coming along nicely. As with most Posts, they just never seem to develop quick enough for most of our liking to really be dominant early at the high school level. Typically a 6'4"-6'6" football type body can have more high school success that the lanky true posts who are still growing into their bodies. However, when the dust settles, kids like the Byron Boys will continue on to play in college. Both have a good work ethic and will continue to develop. Look for Churchill to jell as the season progresses.

The addition of Antonion transfer 2009 F 6'7" C.J. Drago could be the wildcard which allows Churchill to put together a strong playoff run. His ability to run the floor along with the sheer size of the Byron twins gives the Chargers an opportunity to really run some mismatches with hi-lo post sets. Drago plays during the summer with the San Antonio Rohawks. An interesting sidebar is that his uncle coached at Duke University back in the day. San Antonio Churchill is clearly the biggest team in the area.

McAllen HS Boys Preview

Left: 2010 W/P 6'6" J.J. Avila Right: 2009 G 6'3" Cory Pace

McAllen HS is clearly the class of the Rio Grande Valley. Last year they made a nice run to San Antonio before running into the buzzsaw that was Converse Wagner. If Coach Roy Swift had another guy that competed as hard as 2010 J.J. Avila did, they may have had a chance. This season will be a whole new test for McHi.

Region 4 looks as good as it's ever been with a number of strong teams coming out of Austin and San Antonio this year. Coach Swift will need some of his guys to step up.

I really like 2009 G 6'3" Cory Pace. He's going to have to provide backcourt leadership and make sure that J.J. Avila gets to touch the ball plenty. Avila, a veteran of big games during past years with the Texas D-1 Ambassadors will rough it up inside, then step out and hit shots too. He won't back down from anyone, and competes hard on every play. Continued work on his handles and shot will assure you'll be seeing Avila in the Southland Conference, if not higher in a couple of years.

Coach Roy Swift is extremely optimistic about the coming year as in addition to the above mentioned players he has two other big contributors who will key the McAllen run this season. He only lost one senior from last year's crew, so McAllen will have a seasoned bunch for this year's run.

2009 PG 5'11" Mark Lopez

2010 SF Nick Garza 6'3" (currently in football)

Coach Swift likes to run the Roy Williams Carolina Break, with lots of back and down screens. He expects his veteran group to rebound well, get into transition and get a good percentage of their offense from their break.

I also received an update on two of Coach Swift's former players when he was at Weslaco HS.

P Francisco Rodriguez is currently at John Brown University in Arkansas

PG Edgar Segura who originally signed with Wisconsin-Green Bay has transferred to McLennan JC in Waco, TX and if my sources are correct will sign with Texas State for the 2009-10 season. This will be a great "get" for the Bobcats Staff, and will bring the Mexican National team player closer to home.

Lewisville Flower Mound HS Boys Preview

Left to right:

2010 G 6'4" Travis Walker

2011 6'7" Andrew Werner

2011 G 6'2" Jordan Green

The kids from Flower Mound made the long drive down to San Antonio from the north side of the Metroplex. They ran into a buzzsaw in their 1st game Saturday morning v. Austin Westlake but settled down and competed hard in their last two games of the day.

I was impressed by several of their young kids.

2010 6'4" Travis Walker and 2011 6'2" Jordan Green look like they'll have Flower Mound looking good for the next few years. They both run in the summer with the North Texas Warriors.

The player who really impressed me was 2011 6'7" Andrew Werner. He runs the floor well and competes hard down low for a youngster. Where he really made his mark though was at the top of the key, where he pulled the bigger Westlake player up from the low post, and then hit 4 consecutive rainbows from above the free throw line. He runs in the summer with the Dallas Mustangs.