Live Period Round-Up: 17U Final Grassroots Rankings
With the club season officially in the books, below are the top 17U teams in the state. These 17U rankings include the top 5 teams in the state as well as other teams who were in consideration to be in the top 5 in the state. The groups mentioned had a lot of success and represented Arizona extremely well. Further, a number of prospects earned the opportunity to play this game at the next level.
1. Powerhouse 17U
This was a really tough call as Factory has more quality wins. However, Powerhouse was able to beat Factory in their lone match-up; thus giving them this spot. The also did so without one of their top prospects in Dre Harris.
Further, Powerhouse does not really have any blemishes on their record. Most of their losses came to top tier teams in the Under Armour Association.
This PHH 17U team was led primarily by the strong play of Majok Deng and Harris. When Evan Nelson played with this group, he was a game changer as well. In addition, they got solid role player performances from Otis Frazier, Isaiah Marin, and Jordan Mains. Mains’ ability to shoot the basketball from deep was a crucial factory in a number of PHH’s close wins.
2. Factory (AZ)
Factory had a very strong spring and summer. During their spring and summer, they beat some top tier shoe sponsored team while beating a number of high caliber in-state teams as well. Some of the biggest standouts for this group included D’Maurian Williams, Emmanuel Taban, Ajang Aguek, and Cedric Bridges. This group had tremendous length and multiple prospects who will be playing at the next level.
Factory has a couple of blemishes on their record, including a lose to PHH UAA. Their top wins are arguably better than anyone elses in the states. This group has a number of next level prospects and competed at a high level.
3. Alvin Gentry Elite
Alvin Gentry Elite played extremely well in the spring and the summer. A number of their prospects improved their stock greatly due to their strong performance. One of the biggest stock risers in the state is without a doubt Carter Murphy. Murphy was strong this entire club season and earned himself a number of offers.
In addition to Murphy, Shaun Wahlstrom and Ethan Spry demonstrated that they are low major NCAA Division-I prospects. For awhile, this team was missing strong guard play. However, Reed Myers and Grant Ward provided that down the stretch. This team had a number of nice wins with their biggest being against Powerhouse 17U UAA.
4. Jamal Murray Elite/AZ Monsoon
Jamal Murray Elite had a lot of success this season with wins over a number of out of state foes as well as in-state. Some of their key in-state wins include Alvin Gentry Elite and Team Zona.
Throughout July, this group played in the FAB 48, Diamond Division, and the Pangos Sweet 16, in which they won the consolation championship after losing to Compton Magic Black in the 1st round. While this team has plenty of talent, there is no question that Trent Brown was the leader. In addition to Brown, Kyle Patterson, Fallou Diagne, and Mamane Yaou played well for this group. Moreover, one prospect who really stood out to me was Dante Gonzalez. He makes good decisions with the basketball and shoots it at a high level.
5. Blue Chip Nation Elite
Blue Chip Nation Elite made it to the championship of the Prep Hoops Bash in the Desert prior to losing to a Powerhouse Tucson team that featured Evan Nelson and Jackson Ruai.
During that run, they beat Team Inspire as well as one of the top 16U teams in Powerhouse Ortega. This group experienced a lot of change and turnover throughout the spring and fall. However, they were consistently good with Jalen Williams and Payton Dickerson running the show. By the end of the club season, they add pieces in Tyrek Chambers and Walter Talley.
This team had no shortage of firepower and represented Arizona extremely well on the national and local stages.