Hoop Circuit NW Live: 17U Preview

<p>The first live period of the spring takes place this weekend and a number of Oregon-based squads will be playing up in the Seattle area at the Hoop Circuit NW Live in Bellevue. Here’s a quick look at the programs participating in the 18U/17U Gold division.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Oregon Prospects</strong></span></p> <p>The Prospects will have four teams in the field - three of which are comprised of largely players from Oregon. Oregon Prospects 2023 will be in Pool A and no fewer than five of the Top Ten ranked players in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2023 rankings are on the roster. The backcourt features the trio of [player_tooltip player_id="861087" first="Esyah" last="Pippa-White"] (2023 Gresham), [player_tooltip player_id="861092" first="Jalen" last="Childs"] (2023 Beaverton), and [player_tooltip player_id="861096" first="Kavon" last="Bradford"] (2023 Benson), three guys who can attack the hoops and finish at the rim. Twins [player_tooltip player_id="962928" first="Moroni" last="Seely-Roberts"] (2023 Lincoln) and [player_tooltip player_id="962929" first="Malachi" last="Seely-Roberts"] (2023 Lincoln) proved themselves at the 6A level and look to do the same in AAU play and [player_tooltip player_id="865366" first="Gray" last="Thompson"] (2023 Central Catholic) will turn some heads. [player_tooltip player_id="1085782" first="Solomon" last="Nice"] (2023 South Eugene) is a sleeper to watch out for.</p> <p>The Prospects 18U roster is mostly unsigned seniors. 6-foot-10 big man [player_tooltip player_id="1079534" first="Tane" last="Prictor"] (2022 Mountain View) is coming off a nice performance at WAVOR the Game and is making a final push to impress college coaches. [player_tooltip player_id="1229380" first="Jacob" last="LaBounty"] (2022 Prolific Prep) is a Eugene native who just finished playing with one of the top prep teams in the country. The Grant backcourt of [player_tooltip player_id="964542" first="Andre" last="Lawrence"] (2022 Grant) and Jaesean Pete (2022 Grant) will be joined by rising senior [player_tooltip player_id="1256625" first="Maxim" last="Wu"] (2023 Wilsonville), who’s fresh off a 5A state title.</p> <p>The third Prospects team in this division is 17U Select. The most well-known names on the squad may be swingman [player_tooltip player_id="1315391" first="Amare" last="Rolle"] (2023 Westview), Trask Peterson (2023 West Linn), and [player_tooltip player_id="1096106" first="Marcus" last="McKinney"] (2023 Grant), all of whom will have bigger roles with their high school squads in 2022-23. This will also be the case with [player_tooltip player_id="1256720" first="Nathan" last="Hoisington"] (2023 Mountain View) and Silas Wright (2023 Ashland). Two varsity newcomers next year to be aware of are Ryan Bierbrauer (2023 Barlow) and Nathan Arong (2023 Southridge).</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Fly Select</strong></span></p> <p>The 17U roster of Fly Select is deep and has many of the other top players from the Class of 2023. There’s plenty of skill and athleticism with their guards as twins [player_tooltip player_id="861097" first="Malik" last="Brown"] (2023 Tigard) and [player_tooltip player_id="861095" first="Kalim" last="Brown"] (2023 Tigard) lead the way along with HS teammates [player_tooltip player_id="1232162" first="Christian" last="Green"] (2023 Cleveland) and [player_tooltip player_id="865367" first="Sean" last="Chris Tresvant"] (2023 Cleveland). [player_tooltip player_id="1232163" first="Jared" last="Sucher"] (2023 Sherwood) and [player_tooltip player_id="1256645" first="Josiah" last="Lake"] (2023 Tualatin) will fire away from the outside while [player_tooltip player_id="861090" first="Jackson" last="Cooper"] (2023 Cleveland) and [player_tooltip player_id="1152489" first="Skyler" last="Schmidt"] (2023 Scappoose) hold down the fort inside. [player_tooltip player_id="1382408" first="Matthew" last="Verkamp"] (2023 Sherwood) and [player_tooltip player_id="1382421" first="Jahvari" last="Martino"] (2023 Barlow) are two guys looking to burst out from under the radar.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>OBC</strong></span></p> <p>Three familiar names from the Metro League will highlight JS Nash’s squad - sharp-shooting [player_tooltip player_id="1085791" first="Blake" last="Thune"] (2023 Mountainside), his athletic frontcourt teammate [player_tooltip player_id="1085793" first="Jaylin" last="Ormond"] (2023 Mountainside) and versatile combo guard [player_tooltip player_id="1110914" first="Carter" last="Fortune"] (2023 Southridge). 6-foot-10 Chance Winter (2023 Glencoe) anchors the middle, especially on the defensive end - the big man led all of 6A in blocked shots this past season.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Rose City Basketball</strong></span></p> <p>Rose City Basketball has two teams in the 18U/17U Gold Division - "Red" and "Navy" - and the rosters are full of guys who played under the radar this past year. [player_tooltip player_id="1390359" first="David" last="Ghetie"] (2023 Lakeridge) led Lakeridge in scoring last year and others like Nick Vanzuylen (2023 Southridge) and Colby Ackerman (2023 Lakeridge) bot significant minutes for their teams.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>EBC Elite</strong></span></p> <p>This relatively new squad headed up by Columbia Christian coach Joey Chapman is largely Portland city-area kids. Unsigned senior Kap Laila (2022 Franklin) leads the way along with Franklin teammates young brother [player_tooltip player_id="1268437" first="Kwaje" last="Laila"] (2024 Franklin) and [player_tooltip player_id="1110584" first="Dominic" last="Papworth"] (2024 Franklin).</p>