NorCal Bigs At The Hoop Clinic

<p>This was my  first opportunity to get out in the public to evaluate a handful NorCal’s top 2021 prospects at a skills clinic. This group standing at 6’5 and above were the participants, here’s my take on how they’re progressing during this time of no grassroots hoops.</p> <p><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="775753" first="Nigel" last="Burris"] 6’6 Wing, Archbishop Mitty HS (San Jose, CA)</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Burris</strong> </em>a strong and fairly athletic wing with a college body, moves up and down the the court in good fashion. He’s a good ball handler in the open court for his size, he keeps his head up, and see’s the floor. He’s aggressive on the drive to the paint, he has good lift, and an improving jumper in the key. He has good range shooting from a distance. He was a physical around the boards and showed good strength rebounding and finishing. Consistency is key for him.</p> <p><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="946527" first="Ryan" last="Kiachian"] 6’9 Power Forward/Post Bellarmine College Prep (San Jose, CA)</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Kiachian</strong> </em>has bulked up a bit, you can tell he’s been in the weight room, and working on his outside/In game at this time. He showed a new confidence in shooting from 3 point land, and an ability to drive it hard to the paint for a nice jumper. His new muscle makes him a better defender in the paint when it comes to protecting the rim and changing shots. He had a couple of nice rejections at the top. </p> <p><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="946912" first="Alonzo" last="Washington"] 6’5 Wing/Forward, De La Salle HS, (Concord, CA)</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Washington</strong> </em>is ready for a breakout season at De La Salle, he’s gonna have to be accounted for. He’s a versatile player that showed he could handle himself on the wings, by knocking down 3’s and making his way to the basket off the drive. A solid body, he played with good balance, and energy. At 6’5 he showed he can handle the banging inside, and an ability to guard more than one position.</p> <p><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="946524" first="Robert" last="Vaihola"] 6’7 Power Forward, Archbishop Riordan, (San Francisco, CA)</strong></em></p> <p>It’s possible that Vaihola was the strongest player on the court. A solid body on the block with good hands, and a soft touch. He looks like he could be really hard to guard once he gets it going. He worked well at the high post, good passing, and knocking down a few jumpers at the elbow.</p> <p><em><strong>D’aunte Johnson 6’7 Forward, Moreau Catholic HS (Hayward, CA)</strong></em></p> <p>The long rangy left handed forward looks to be a top rebounding forward in NorCal, who can defend and block shots, he had good effort on the second jump for put back buckets. He’s comfortable going to his left, he has decent form spotting up in the corner for three’s. He’ll have a more balanced game if, and when he start working on going to his right.</p> <p><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="959211" first="Zack" last="Turner"] 6’6 Forward, Bellarmine College Prep (San Jose, CA)</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Turner</strong> </em>a long rangy player with long arms did a good job getting up and down the floor in transition, he was aggressive on the defensive end, went after loose balls, and worked for rebounds. He was more than willing to mix it up inside. He looks capable of guarding multiple positions, and out on the wings. I expect his on court production for the Bells to rise next season.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>