Portland State Elite Camp - All-Camp First Team

Portland State held it's annual Elite Camp last Friday as head coach Jase Coburn and his coaching staff led a sizeable group of campers through some intense but fun-filled workouts. In addition to a handful of prospects from outside of Oregon, a good number of the state's top players were in attendance at the Viking Pavilion to compete with and against the best. After watching all of the camp ourselves and checking in with other observers, we have come up with our All-Camp squads. Here's a look at the First Team.    After observing ourselves and talking to numerous others, Gaines was arguably the MVP at Elite Camp. The rising junior point guard from Nelson pretty much did it all - he scored, passed, rebounded, and defended, and made positive plays on the floor both on and off of the ball. Gaines was effective both getting to the basket and shooting from the outside, showed great balance in his own scoring and setting up others, and an area where he really excelled was getting after it on the defensive end using his motor and quick hands and anticipation skills to create turnovers. As one coach told us, Gaines does the things that help make the players around him better. We recently caught up with Gaines and will have an update on his recruitment soon including some thoughts on his first scholarship offer.     Perhaps the best athlete in the building at Elite Camp was Wilson, who drew plenty of oohs and aahs with his ability to finish above the rim. The rising junior wing is an absolute physical specimen, and he used his strength to blow past defenders and then combined with his great leaping ability, throw down some powerful dunks. During the scrimmages, it became clear if he had a path to the basket in transition Wilson was going to score - and score in a spectacular way. Wilson didn't just score by getting to the hoop, he showed good touch from the perimeter and shot it well during the shooting drills and half court sets. If you missed the memo, Wilson will be in Oregon this upcoming season as he'll be at Central Catholic.     After two years, Barhoum has already established himself as one of the state's top perimeter shooting threats so it was no surprise to see him draining jumper after jumper during the shooting drills and half court sets. His shot was locked in on automatic as he was draining catch-and-shoot threes as well as dribble pull-up shots from everywhere on the court - basically if he had an open look, it was going in. Barhoum didn't force the issue either as he played team ball, especially during the scrimmages when he was hampered a bit by a sprained ankle - yet he didn't allow that from continuing to play hard on the floor. We caught with Barhoum after camp to catch up on his summer and recruitment (which includes his first offer) and will have that posted soon.     There's no question Thompson has taken his game to another level this off-season and that was clear at Elite Camp - and in a way that was organic and natural. The rising junior point guard didn't need to force the issue to make an impact with his play, but rather did it within whatever environment he was in. Thompson was sharp with his shot, consistently made the right decision, created and passed with minimal turnovers, and gave great energy on the defensive end. His feel for the game and ability to make those around him better were two things observers pointed out about his performance. We recently chatted with Thompson to catch up on his summer and will be posting that update in the near future.     The way Owens performed at Elite Camp was some of the best ball we've ever seen him play. The rising senior forward was playing with tremendous aggressiveness offensively and on the boards, often times absorbing a ton of contact yet still getting finishes both around and above the rim. A couple of times he was able get the ball on the perimeter, find a hole in the defense to exploit, and create off the dribble and throw down a dunk. The future Clackamas Cavalier not only utilized his length on the boards but was also effective defending the rim.

Portland State held it's annual Elite Camp last Friday as head coach Jase Coburn and his coaching staff led a sizeable group of campers through some intense but fun-filled workouts. In addition to a handful of prospects from outside of Oregon, a good number of the state's top players were in attendance at the Viking Pavilion to compete with and against the best. After watching all of the camp ourselves and checking in with other observers, we have come up with our All-Camp squads. Here's a look at the First Team.