2009 Pangos Camp Recap

I spent last weekend at the Pangos U18 All American camp in Long Beach, California evaluating future talent. This is an event where in past years a number of players have had their coming out parties including Anthony Randolph, and where John Wall shined last year. With the top rising senior Harrison Barnes there, this figured to be an excellent event to cover and it did not disappoint.

	Harrison Barnes

I got a chance to talk to a number of the top national recruiting gurus, Dave Telep, Van Coleman, Jerry Meyer, Brick Oettinger, Frank Burlison, Clark Francis, Evan Daniels, Gerry Freitas, Aggrey Sam, Joel Francisco, Patrick Stanwood, and Mark Maggard and get their take on a number of things including this year's draft.

One of the things I asked a number of them about was two of the bigger mysteries of this year's NBA draft: Jrue Holiday and Brandon Jennings.

Nearly everyone feels that Holiday is tremendously overrated. Guys like Burlison and Freitas make a living scouting West Coast talent and have seen these guys dozens of times in high school as well as college (Holiday). Burlison mentioned a number of factors including the fact that Holiday was never a point guard in high school (so why should we assume he's one now?), the notion that he's an athletic combo like Westbrook (not even close to being a freak athlete, like Westbrook) and the idea that he's a lock down defender, he's not (when UCLA played Washington State they had to take him off Klay Thompson because he was giving up too many points).

Everyone agreed that Holiday being considered a potential top 3 or 4 pick is absolutely absurd.

The consensus about Jennings is that he's a legit top 10 pick regardless of his play in Europe. He's a tough kid with excellent skills and despite a rough finish to the season in Rome the fact that skinnier point guards like Aaron Brooks and Rajon Rondo are having success at the NBA level helps his cause.

According to Van Coleman, the high school class of 2010 is a down year but 2011 is excellent and the 2012 and 2013 classes could be special. So good news as far as future NBA talent on the horizon.

2009 Pangos Camp: Top Prospects:

	Harrison Barnes

1. Harrison Barnes 6'6 210 SG Ames, IA HSSr. (Uncommitted) -- Barnes has been ranked as our number one player in the class of 2010 for the past 6 months. He's quickly becoming everyone's concensus number one rising senior.

He combines elite level athleticism with a well developed body and excellent basketball IQ. The top player at the event by a wide margin and the only player that you can safely say is a surefire NBA player. He is very intelligent and personable off the floor and shows the ability to flip the switch and become a killer on the floor.

He looked a little frustrated in the final as it was a running clock and with 5 minute intervals for each group (12 players per squad) it meant limited touches for everyone.

The Top 25 Cream of the Crop All Star game actually turned out to be an exciting one, as 6-3 senior shooting guard JT Terrell was the leading scorer, making that known to anyone who would listen. In the end Barnes blue squad would pull out the victory and he would win Camp MVP.

While not the jaw dropping athlete of some NBA guys, his athleticism is on the level with guys like Ray Allen. He appears to move and play a little bit more like a Tracy McGrady type of player with long arms, but without the size and ball handling ability.

The best thing about Barnes is that he shows a lot of upside left to develop and with an apparent strong work ethic, he should continue to get better.

You can check out Barnes in action here:




Special thanks to the newest member of the NBADraft.net team Jim Smith (my Dad) for shooting video and putting the Barnes clip together, way to go Dad!

	Andre Dawkins

2. Andre Dawkins 6'4 210 SG Virginia Beach, VA HSSr. (Duke) -- An athletic 2G who shoots the ball very well. The Duke bound guard explodes to the rim with great leaping ability. He nearly converted on one put back after jumping over a mass of players under the basket. Dawkins has a positive demeanor although went through the motions for a good portion of the camp. Didn't bring a high level of intensity at all times, but an impressive talent nonetheless. It's a long summer with all the camps, and some kids burn out so hopefully that's his excuse. Appears very young, so could still have some development physically.

3. James Johnson 6'9 240 PF San Diego, CA HSSr. (Uncommitted) -- Might need to add a middle initial like Samuel "L" Jackson just to differentiate himself from the Wake Forest star and soon to be first round draft pick. Either that or change his name to "Red". The redhead has an excellent combination of strength, agility and athleticism. Unfortunately he missed the Final day and All Star game due to an apparent injury. Gives good effort, aggressive around the basket where he tries to dunk. He was the one guy who really made a name for himself at this event.

Others:

Will Barton 6'8 170 SF Baltimore, MD Undecided -- Someone needs to direct Barton to the local GNC and stock up on energy drinks. Painfully skinny, Barton is a very nice athlete with long limbs and good leaping ability. He has some developed outside moves with a decent crossover and a jumpshot that shows some signs of life. He's not a very fluid athlete despite the excellent leaping ability as nothing he does appears extremely smooth. This could be a product of weight as adding 20-30 pounds could make him a completely different player. Definitely a player with top 50 ability (in his class nationally) and star potential but his weight is a big concern at this point. He's not nearly as athletic as someone like James White (Another B-More product) who could never develop the body strength to make it in the league.

	James Johnson

Luke Cothron 6'8 PF Red Springs, NC HSSr. Undecided -- Cothron impressed with his huge wingspan (7-2 possibly) converting on a number of dunks and grabbing numerous rebounds. He's still skinny but has a body that should be able to put weight on and definitely shows potential with his excellent length. Word is his grades could be a problem so there's speculation he could be a guy who attempts to play in Europe. Unfortunately he may not be good enough to get many substantial offers.

Ryan Harrow 5'11 155 PG GA HSSr. -- An intriguing PG prospect. Harrow will have a chance to be a top 50 kid nationally and if he fills out a chance to be a star at the college level. He's just 5'11 and doesn't look like much at first glance but he went up and banged on a few guys during the camp, showing tremendous leaping ability. His athleticism should improve as he fills out, and his wingspan obviously helps. Physically and particularly his face, he looks like a smaller version of Quincy Douby and shows a nice outside shot as well, although he needs to work on adding some lift to it. He's a legit point guard, and appears on his way to surpassing Jackson.

Joe Jackson 5'11 160 PG TN HSSr. -- Jackson is a quick and athletic point guard with good fundamentals. He hasn't grown in the past couple years so he may not reach 6' feet, which is a concern for his NBA potential. He wasn't quite as freaky as advertised but definitely a cut above athletically and the top point guard in camp. Might have peaked already since he was once considered a top 10 player in his class, but that no longer appears to be the case.

Terrence Jones 6'7 225 SF/PF OR Undecided HSSr. -- Another prospect from the Great Northwest (Oregon) who looks like a legit top 20-25 kid. Came in with a lot of hype from the various recruiting gurus. He's got a long wingspan, and good strength but plays between the 3 and 4 positions. He showed some skill development as a wing, but lacks great foot speed to play on the perimeter. Some guys are in development stages so it's early to make any definitive statements, but he appears to be a better college prospect than pro at this point.

Doron Lamb 6'4 SG NY HSSr. -- Lamb is another kid who didn't live up to the hype. Has a big reputation as the top kid in the class from New York who despite being a 6'4 combo guard has a lot of potential. Unfortunately he didn't display much in the way of passing or running a team nor the athleticism necessary to make it as a combo. He's not very athletic but he is very smooth using quick change of speeds and an excellent pull up jumper off the dribble. He should be an excellent college player but he's got a long ways to go before you could consider him a pro prospect.

Travis McKie 6'7 SF Richmond, VA HSSr. -- McKie is a legit athlete with good length. He showed off his leaping ability in between games as a number of campers put on a dunking display on the final day. Shows a high motor, crashing the glass hard and giving good effort on both ends of the floor.

	Terrence Jones

Dwayne Polee 6'7 185 SF USC HSSr. -- Polee is a physical specimen with tremendous length. Unfortunately he played in just the first day and then disappeared. So I didn't get much of a chance to see him. He shows a lot of potential but is still very raw. He needs to develop some perimeter skills as he doesn't show much aside from the ability to play in the open floor and make highlight dunks.

Others:

Keala King -- Local kid from Compton showed a lot of all around skills. Struggles to shoot, but can do everything else.

Gary Franklin -- Another local guy playing at Mater Dei in Santa Ana. Franklin was on fire early in the camp knocking down 11 3s in one game. A bigtime shooter but more of a shooting guard at 6'1.

Kendall Williams -- Intriguing due to his size at the lead guard position. He's a legit 6'4. Heading to UCLA. Tries hard to make highlight plays which makes him turnover prone.

Top Juniors

PJ Hairston 6'5 SG Greensboro, NC -- A nice athlete with a solid body. Hairston showed the ability to get by his man as well as knock down outside shots.

Adonis Thomas 6'7 SF -- Probably deserved a spot in the top 25 game but was in the top 50 game instead. A sturdy, athletic wing with good athleticism and showing signs of developing some skills. He got up and threw down a few impressive dunks showing excellent leaping ability. His body already shows good strength and should only get stronger.

Quaddus Bello 6'4 SG High Point, NC -- Better known for being John Wall's teammate on D-One sports last year, "Q" is a wiry athlete with tremendous ups. He plays much bigger than 6'4 and is starting to develop some skills. He's still very skinny and raw and needs to hone his shooting and ball handling skills, but he's got a chance, particularly if he grows a few inches. He showed his great leaping ability dunking with no problem with a backpack on in between games.

Others:

DeAndre Daniels was listed at 6'7 but looks bigger and is extremely long. Athletic forward who impressed, particularly early in the camp.

Dezmine Wells athleticism is a cut above. Though just 6'4, he's got a strong body and excellent leaping ability.

Top Sophomores

	Winston Shepard

Shabazz Muhammad 6'4 170 SG Las Vegas NV HSSo. -- Was the one sophomore to make the Cream of the Crop top 25 game. He displayed his excellent speed and playmaking skills getting to the rim extremely well and using his long arms to finish. He's only around 6'3 to 6'4, and may run into some trouble if he doesn't grow any further, but he's got long arms which come in handy disrupting passing lanes and when going to the rim. He wore down by the end of day two getting hung on the rim on one dunk attempt, however he had already made a very strong impression prior to that. At worst this guy appears to be a future star at the college level and if he grows a couple inches he'll have a good shot to play in the league.

Winston Shepard 6'7 SF/PF TX HSSo. -- Right now he's just an athlete as his game is extremely raw, but he showed some nice potential with his leaping ability and length. His face looks like Stromile Swift and he could easily top out at the same size as Swift in a few years. Right now he's a long 6'7 who needs to put on weight and develop his skills. If he grows a few inches he'll have a chance to be a good one.

Top Freshman

Rodney Purvis 6'3 195 PG/SG -- Did not make either of the Cream of the Crap games, but he probably deserved to. At times he looked like one of the top 15-20 kids in the entire camp. For someone who was just in the 8th grade last year competing with guys 3 years older is very impressive. He's got a better body now than most of the kids in the camp and is fearless going to the basket. According to the gurus, specifically Coleman, he wasn't even one of the top 5 incoming freshman from another event he attended earlier this year, which just means it's a very strong class. Purvis is a combo guard but at his age he'll have a chance to grow and if not develop into a lead guard in his next 4 years. Definitely a name to watch for the future.