Potpourri, Jul 12

News Bits

CCCMBCA: "Brian Chavez has taken over for Andrew Jones at Sacramento City. Jones is moving into the assistant AD role at the college as well continuing as a teacher. Chavez was formerly the head basketball coach at Liberty Ranch High School."

Jones and Sac State finished this season with 26-4, 14-2 records, falling at season's end to eventual state champion West Valley College 82-67.

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Semetri Carr: "Blessed to receive an offer from San Diego State University after a great conversation with Coach Dutcher & the coaching staff!"

Here's a recent evaluation of Carr.

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Coach Brad Bigler: "This might be the last “normal” AAU season. With the new rules being voted on it appears there will be no rules for D2 if this passes. Not to mention all D2 programs can run their own AAU programs. This is about to be CRAZY! Where are we heading?"

Wow, wow, wow! Really? But can many D2 programs 'afford' the cost of 'acquiring' talent to form an AAU team?

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"I wanna win Most Improved Player": Brandin Podziemski on Team USA Select roster experience, 2024-25 aims with Warriors (Exclusive)"

Didn't know he led the NBA in taking charges with 26.

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"Moneke will not move: he will stay at Baskonia next season"

6-foot-6 Chima Moneke, a power forward out of UC Davis (2016-18) and Nigeria, is now 28 years old and has carved out quite the career in overseas hoops. The Baskonia squad is based in Spain.

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Transfer Portal For Playing Time: "Latest: Nike Founder Phil Knight plans to provide Oregon with unlimited NIL funds. The 86-year-old billionaire is determined to see the Ducks win a championship in his lifetime and is willing to pay any price to bring in the best players, sources say."

That hasn't been the case all along?

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Both of these evaluations are from this link.

Brayden Burries 6’4 PG Roosevelt Class of 2025

Brayden Burries is a consensus top 15 player in the country and one of the favorite players of grassroots media based on the Westcoast. Why? He has won at high level for Roosevelt in Southern California and has shown the ability to do what is best for the team. For example, when we saw him at Pangos All American Camp, it seemed that his focus was to distribute the ball to teammates. At Section 7 for Roosevelt, it was clearly his team, and he did it all. Featuring himself as a scorer, shooting the three, getting downhill and finishing plays, and creating for his teammates with and without the benefit of a pick and roll. While at Pangos, some NBA scouts posed the question of whether he was a true point guard, so I rose this debate to both college coaches who were and weren’t recruiting him and the response was unanimous: Yes, they all believe that he is a point guard at the NBA level. it appears his game continues to evolve. Given his height and size, this instantly makes him more attractive as an NBA prospect

and

Tounde Yessoufou 6’5 SF St Joseph (Santa Maria, CA) Class of 2025

In front of a crowd of power 5 coaches, Tounde Yessoufou showcased his complete offensive game. Against Millennium he served as an offensive hub, swinging the ball around and getting assists for his teammates. In the same half grabbing an offensive rebound and finishing it with a thunderous dunk. On the defensive side of the ball with his long wingspan closing out hard on Cam Holmes and forcing a rushed air ball shot. Tounde throughout the weekend showcased his improved mid-range game and how difficult it was to stop him from getting to the rim. On defense, he can shut the best offensive opponent down or disrupt the flow of a play all by himself. In addition, he is an excellent communicator both on offense and defense. He has worked on his shot so much that once considered a liability, the question isn’t whether can he shoot it; but can he extend the range to the pro line? Yes, his body probably fully matured a couple years ago, but his improvement in his game is such that scouts can tell that he works hard on it and that he still has room to add layers in his development.

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Simply Basketball: "Kellen Hampton (6’8 2025) making a statement day 1 of 3SSB Circuit Rockhill."

Hampton has excellent range and touch from outside but here he goes left, using his right arm to force his own defender back and away, then slams it over a second opponent who attempts to rise up but that effort is futile.

His display of going left and playing physically should generate even greater excitement for Hampton's services.

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Simply Basketball: "Top 50 Winters Grady serving buckets at day 1 of Rockhill."

This video show the 6-foot-7 Grady generating points in the paint, mid range and outside the three point line. He plays for Team Lillard and Prolific Prep.

I see him landing at Arizona.

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Devin Aye: "From Jag to Pro in Portugal!"

6-foot-7 Jackson Bereal has moved from San Jose City College to Alaska Fairbanks and now to a professional team in Portugal.

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"Tyrone Wallace becomes a new Zalgiris player"  

The 6-foot-5 Wallace became the 60th pick of the 2016 NBA Draft after playing at California. Zalgiris is a team based in Turkey.

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"PACIFIC MOURNS SUDDEN LOSS OF MYKE SCHOLL"

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"Five significant reasons why the NCAA should pass on expanding the Big Dance and stick with 68 teams"

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