Mid Season Report
After watching a half a season of Junior High Basketball, all I can tell you is, I have not been impressed. Houston we need some help! I will tell you why. Houston has a ton of big, strong, athletic kids but the skill level and basketball IQ is really bad! I would have never guessed, there are as many big kids in the 7th and 8th grades, I mean big 6'4" and up! I have seen so many physically gifted kids, but most are no where near fundamentally sound, no where near! LOL. My son's team has blown out a bunch of really physically talented teams, they have only had 3 competetive games all year, the rest of the games they have won by 20 or more. The lack of fundamentals will keep our players here in Houston, behind players from other basketball states, even if we have more talented kids. There was one kid that was really impressive to me, he was a 8th grader named De'Aaron Fox (I believe thats his name), the kid was really skilled and had a good idea of what he was doing on the court. He was a long, lanky, 6', lefty that made the game look easy. He got to his spots, knock down shots, did all the little things like rebound and made the simple passes so his teammates could be successful. This kid has to be one of the area's top 2016 players.
Here are some clips of Jaedon LeDee, 7th grader, having a solid year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuGK1PlVFWU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sII46qm2g4U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV7epn-Osnc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0-c94hFOb8
St. Thomas HS Middle School Elite Camp- 7th graders Shine
Right in the middle of football season, I got a chance to get out and see some middle school basket ball. The St. Thomas camp was a pleasant break in the football action. There were roughly 60 kids ranging from 6th grade to 8th, maybe a 9th grader or two. While there the campers did a hour of drills and got after it the rest of the time. I saw a couple of solid kids, but I thought the 2017 class represented well. I couldn't get any film this time, just to much going on. I will give you a rundown of 4 campers, that I know made a impression on coaches there. Two of the 7th graders lead their team to the Camp's Championship game, before losing to a 8th grade dominate team. Jaedon LeDee and Cody Grahm shown below, have played and trained together
most of the last 3 years. So they had a nice bit of chemistry while playing.
Jaedon LeDee 5'11"- has great size for a 7th grade guard. Showed good handle, shot and athleticism with the height. Rebounds well for his position, scored in variety of ways inside and out.
Cody Grahm 5'4" - one of the most skilled little 7th grade PG you will see, Stayed poised, made good decisions during the games. He has 3 point range and a nice floater in the paint.
Antonio Lapeyrolie 5'8" - if there was ever a complete effort guy, here he is. Showed good skill and was all over the court, hustles on both ends. Played with high energy the whole time.
Jacobi Gordon 6' - good height and size for a 7th grader, 3 point range and physical around basket. Showed good skill, played the 4, but will be a natural 3 as time goes on.
2011 Houston Area Youth All-Star Game- Class of 2017
I attended this event and watched 4 games of the 2017 Class, it turned out to be a nice chance for some of the area kids to compete against their peers in a open gym setting. It look like all of the kids had a great time, playing against other top talent. There were 20 or so kids, the teams were shuffled each time, so each kid pretty much played with and against each player there. The 2017 class played 2 games back to back, took a break for two games and then played two more. Needless to say after 4 games in such a short span, there were some really tired hombres.. Here are a few kids that caught my attention right off.
Jared Vanderbilt - this young man really stood out, because he had a great combination of size (6'2") and skill. Jared handled and passed the ball well for a kid his size. He also had a pretty solid understanding of what he wanted to do on the floor.
Marvin Wilson - this kid is a 6'2", "big body", that moves well for his size. He showed to be pretty light on his feet. The big guy even showed some skills. I am figuring he is going to be a load right now in the post for most 7th graders.
Christian Williams - 6'4", solid built kid in the 7th grade, need I say more! The kid is still raw, but at that size and build, can you say Shaq-like.. He should dominate the paint in 7th grade basketball.
Jaedon LeDee - 5'11", long, nice skill sets (handled and passed the ball well) and showed he could score in a variety of ways (inside and out). This young man has the size of a regular 7th grade post (3 listed above not regular size), but skill of the smaller players. LeDee's Clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCLYbNAi-KI
Ricky Nelson - 5'5" out of all the smaller guards there, he look to be the one most comfortable being a true lead guard. Good handle and set his team mates up well for easy shots. He also showed the ability to knock down the open 3 ball.
Alex Williams - 5'5",solid built, explosive and creative. The kid has a nice handle and good court vision. When he got it going in the final game, he was rolling. Knocking down 3's and attacking the basket.
