Below: 2011 WG Brooks Pawsat of Hyde Park stole the scoring show today v. Corpus Christi John Paul II. Pawsat is coming on super strong this campaign. As a soph he was a JV player. However, in addition to his natural growth, Pawsat has been working hard on his game this past off season ,attending the All American Prodigy Camp, playing for the D-1 Ambassadors, as well as working on his agility with TJ Garza at Speed Killz. That mixture, along with Pawsat's talent makes him one of the highest scoring varsity players in Austin this year. Today, he led Hyde Park with 34 points and 7 rebounds.
Below: 2010 C 6'9" Triton "Tank" Mayberry of Corpus Christi John Paul registered an emphatic triple doublethis afternoon. What I love about Tank is he blocks shots with the old fashioned "Bill Russell Method". He doesn't jump and swat, he stands his ground and keeps balls in play, leading to fast break points the other way. Mayberry had 23 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 blocked shots!
2012 Ryan Roberts battled Big Tank all day and although he lost the battle, the youngster never backed down against the Big Fella. Roberts had 3 blocks of his own.
Veteran Coach Sam Odoms who led Corpus Christi Ray to State in the past, now heads up the young John Paul II program.
Not too often I get to take in a game with TWO private schools involved. However, I made my way to Hyde Park's beautiful new campus in Austin this afternoon to watch an improved HP team which has some pretty good under class talent and to see my old friend, Triton "Tank" Mayberry of John Paul II. Tank was a member of the Texas D-1 Ambassadors back when he was just a man-child 7th grader before he eventually went on to play for his uncle's Team Genesis out of Houston, and now as a Senior at John Paul II. I had a chance to speak with Tank before the game and was impressed with his maturity. We talked college. Right now he said, "Coach, I'm just living life and getting ready for the next level". I asked him who his leaders were at the moment, and he replied, "South Alabama & University of Houston" He's being recruited by two of my coaching favorites, Ronnie Arrow at USA (who coached my son, Chip) and Kevin "Ice" Lewis of the Cougars, who I first came to know back in the day when he was with Baylor. Tank's still got a long way to go but I was impressed with his first half conditioning. He played the entire half, including the last 10 minutes with 2 fouls on him....in fact, Big Tank did not end up resting for even one second this game. As noted above, Tank is a potent shot blocker and is on his way to reshaping his body. Once he gets in a college program and they really hit the weights and they scrutinize his nutrition he'll be a force to be reckoned with. After the game, he came over and shook my hand, and said "Coach, is this what you came to see?" "Yes Sir, young man...you are well on your way." Wow...It's seeing these kids become young men that makes being involved in basketball so rewarding for me.
For Hyde Park, I definitely like what I see from 2012 P 6'5" Ryan Roberts who shows nice athleticism and although he hasn't scored the ball, rebounds it well and shows a developing face up game which projects him to more of a three man in the future. HP's 2011 Brooks Pawsat is one of the leading scorers in the Austin area. Right now he's stuck between an identity of a two/three man. He shoots it well enough, now he just needs to tighten up his handles. I do like his anticpation defensively and his fearlessness when attacking the rim.
I also had a chance to visit pregame with ex Corpus Christi Ray Coach Sam Odoms who came out of retirement to coach at JohnPaul II, now in their 4th year as a school. He had some great teams at Ray and you could see during the course of the game he still has that fire to "coach'em up". Also at the scorer's table long time Hyde Park Head Man Kacy Benson shared with me his desire to preach the Gospel and be an Evangelist as his reason's for stepping away from the coaching game. Kudos to him!
Frosh G Damarcus Whittington of John Paul looked every bit the varsity player as a starter. Although he committed a few turnovers out of his youthfulness, he also was not shy about launching his perimeter shot or driving to the lane. He had 12 points, and hit three from beyond the arc. He'll be added to my Player Rankings in the Class of 2013
Hyde Park 13 10 12 17-52
John Paul II 15 17 11 12-55
