Las Vegas Knicks 2018 AAU Preview
The Las Vegas Knicks are one of the key AAU teams in all of Southern Nevada. They have been around for 10 years or so. They are affilitated with Adidas now and have a strong record of sending kids to college at all levels. Lamar Bigby is the President of the organization. Bigby was a former UNLV Player so he has ties to the local university and knows many former players. Here are a list of former players that are currently playing division I basketball:
- Tyler Bey Colorado
- Nate Grimes Fresno State
- Darrian Traylor UC Irvine
- Deishuan Booker UC Santa Barbara
- Garret Scheer Air Force
The Las Vegas Knicks have recently aquired the Tarkanian Basketball Center as their new home and will be hosting events and practices there. The class of 2015 was where the Knicks made their mark with several key players who had success. Nate Grimes, Darrian Traylor and Garret Scheer were all key contributers to a team that was loaded with talent and made their mark on the AAU world. Nate Grimes was key to winning games as he was a stretch 4 man at 6-8″ tall and could step out and shoot 3’s. He was incredibally long and athletic to make matchups a nightmare that season. Following that season, coach Bibgy used the momentum from that squad to bring in quality players to play in a system with freedom on offense but hard work on the practice floor during the week. He provided some of the most mentally tough environments to get the kids ready for the next level. The Knicks provided quality trainers using vertimax machinces and strength training. The teams were utilizing ball screen motion principles as well as some 4 out 1 in movement off the ball. Important parts to any AAU program are player development, networking with college coaches and preparation for college whether it is in the gym or in the classroom. Coach Bigby has developed many quality players from the Las Vegas area and sent an amazing number off to college with bright futures ahead of them.
The Knicks have a few teams this year including their 2019 squad who is the flagship. Key players coming back for the Knicks will be
- Sedrick Hammond 6-4″ PG, Cathedral HS
- Anthony Hunter 6-0″ guard, Durango HS
- Orlando Robinson 6-8″ forward, Cathedral HS
- Nick Blake 6-5″ guard, Durango HS
- Isaac Spears, 6-2″ guard,
- Bryce Fitzgerald 6-7″ wing 2020 class of Spring Valley HS
Hunter has offers on the table from Tulane, Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge and Cal State Bakersfield. Nick Blake averaged 17.5 ppg and holds offers from several Mountain West Programs.
They will be playing in the following events this Spring:
March 29th-31st Bigfoot Easter Showdown (Las Vegas)
April 14-15 PrepHoops (Los Angeles)
April 20-22: Adidas Regional Qualifier (Los Angeles,CA)
April 27th-29th: Adidas Qualifier Atlanta, GA