tES: Weekend in Review (June 22)

<table style="border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 100%;text-align: center"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">The Endless Summer.</span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table style="border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 100%;text-align: right"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;font-size: 10pt">A blog by Cory B. McKinnis.</span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif"><span style="float: left;font-size: 75px;line-height: 60px;padding-top: 4px;padding-right: 10px;padding-left: 3px">L</span>ast weekend<span style="font-size: 1rem">, I went to the Oklahoma Hustle Showcased hosted by Oklahoma Hustle in Glenpool, Okla. The crew put on a fabulous one-day event with a handful of the best grassroots programs in the state -- a few Tulsa Hawks teams, Oklahoma Power, Trae Young Elite and Hustle itself, to name a few. Equally important, we finally finished a pretty tedious but rewarding process. Let's get into it.</span></span></p> <hr /> <h5><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Ugent. . .</span></h5> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">We made it! After a couple months of our brilliant staff knocking out grinding out player evaluations and prospect rankings and the assistance of our content manager, Anthony Garcia, working diligently through our application process, Prep Hoops Oklahoma officially renewed its certification with the NCAA on Monday! This means that Division-I coaches <em>can</em> subscribe to our scouting service as a resource to facilitate Oklahoma prep athletes. Again, this was a tremendous job-well-done by our staff and a testament to the talent this company has fostered on a state-wide and national level.</span></p> <hr /> <h5><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Player of the weekend. . . </span></h5> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">My M.V.P. vote goes to Raul Nunez from Choctaw High School. He was electric from 3-point range as he led Hustle to a 3-0 record for the weekend. He notched 13.3 points-per-contest utilizing a catalog of scoring capabilities and tools to his use. At about 6-foot-4-inches with a pass rusher's build, Nunez was equally as imposing on the drive against defenders as he was potent from deep. When including his defensive adherence, he was a no-brainer for the player of the weekend. </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Nunez's skills translated to wins on-the-floor, and his trend as the day progressed was adaptation to defenders leading to real micro-refinements to his game on a game-by-game occasion. In the final matchup of the night, Nunez opened the game pulling up from way downtown out of the handle to drain a dagger to put Hustle ahead. For the rest of that matchup, he utilized his tough finishing skills and overwhelming strength to finish face-ups from the mid and short ranges.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Defensively, there wasn't much that ball-handlers were able to accomplish against him. Though a stout athlete, he's a nimble mover with lateral agility topping out the speedometer -- he isn't much the brute until he has the ball in <em>his</em> hands allowing him to stay out of foul trouble.</span></p> <hr /> <h5><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">The event. . .</span></h5> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">I'm sure you don't care much to hear from me, but I would be wrong to not take a segment of this blog to thank <em>Oklahoma Hustle</em> for hosting a stellar event. The staff, facility and resources were exemplary for how programs should host events. A complimentary -- and <span style="text-decoration: underline">complete</span> -- roster was provided for myself, other media members and each coach at the event, which saves us media-nerds literal hours of investigating. A burger truck provided a complimentary lunch for the same people, a neat alternative to the humdrum concession bars at most events. The facility was well-lit for videography, air-conditioned, included a balcony viewing area for coaches and media and had well-cushioned seating for all spectators. The environment provided a significantly more fruitful experience for me.</span></p> <hr /> <h5><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">He's from <em>where?<span style="font-size: 12pt"> </span></em><span style="font-size: 12pt">Rural prospect spotlight. . .</span></span></h5> <table style="width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse;background-color: #fdffd6"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 100%;text-align: center"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Jayden Bridgeman | Tulsa Hawks - Hammons</span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table style="width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse;background-color: #f2f0f0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 50%;text-align: center"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">6'6" PF</span></td> <td style="width: 50%;text-align: center"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Sperry '21</span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <ul> <li><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Competitive defender.</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Moves well, coordinated footwork applies to defensive game, allows for efficiency.</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Rebounds at a high rate.</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Mid-range skills, go-to spin move developed.</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Short-range game needs diversity.</span></li> </ul> <hr /> <h5><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Stock-risers. . .</span></h5> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">The market was ripe for college-hopefuls last weekend, and a few players seized the opportunity. The first player who caught fire was Oklahoma Hustle and Edmond North standout [player_tooltip player_id="938851" first="Josh" last="Price"], who earned an offer from Baptist Bible College amidst focused spectating from numerous coaches vying for his talents at the event. He lit-up competition from deep as usual while displaying an uncanny accuracy on the drive that I haven't seen much before the event, gaining 10.3 points-a-game Saturday. His production finishing floaters was scarcely short of spectacular for the day, and I am reluctant to say he fell short of 70 percent from that range on the floor.</span></p> [caption id="attachment_999453" align="alignleft" width="300"] <span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;font-size: 10pt">Hartloff.</span>[/caption] <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Though he has traditionally been a three-and-D mold, his on-ball game has evolved rapidly and has little compromised his probability to knock-down shots from deep on the catch. It's safe to say that Price will be getting a few calls this week.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Tulsa Hawks' [player_tooltip player_id="938847" first="Caison" last="Hartloff"], a talented combo from Claremore, was as remarkable as Price. Hartloff, typically a standout off-ball shooter with an elongated 6-foot-5 frame and a slashing game, played a terrific defensive role last weekend. I was skeptical when one Tulsa Hawks coach told me he recorded ten blocks in a day at a previous event, but Hartloff proved his mentor right Saturday; it was a block party when he was on the floor. Whether he was beating-in a 3-point attempt, sliding from the opposite perimeter to help on a mid-ranger or even challenging a slasher vertically, Hartloff was the show-stopper for the Hawks.</span></p> <hr /> <h5><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">A look ahead. . .</span></h5> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Saturday's event marked the first time I was able to see the <em>Trae Young Elite </em>'23 crew live and in action, and I was far from disappointed as they finished 3-0 on the weekend. Though we already handed Mount St. Mary's [player_tooltip player_id="981285" first="Diante" last="Palmer"] a spot on our introductory list, I'm certain that many of his TYE teammates are going to be pleased with their spots on our next rankings update, as well. Here's a look at a couple of the standouts from that team:</span></p> <table style="width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse;background-color: #fdffd6"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 100%;text-align: center"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Brandon Garrison</span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table style="width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse;background-color: #f2f0f0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 50%;text-align: center"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">6'7" F</span></td> <td style="width: 50%;text-align: center"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Del City '23 </span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">During his last game of the weekend, Oklahoma Hoops Report lead-man <a href="https://twitter.com/okhoopsreport/status/1274758308180697091?s=21">Sam Duren</a> said "that's a young Kalib Boone," and I could not agree more with the assessment of the future Del City standout.</span></p> [caption id="attachment_999457" align="alignright" width="300"] <span style="font-size: 10pt;font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Brandon Garrison.</span>[/caption] <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;font-size: 1rem">He was so physically imposing on the defensive end that it became hard to not become fixated on his physiological advantages alone. I was enamored by his defensive skills; protecting the rim and ungiving to posts who attempted to back him down. Offensively, there's room for progress but the foundation is present for his game. He has decent footwork, good finishing skills and serious explosive energy. He played fairly aggressively on that end and was keen to making off-ball maneuvers to seal defenders and get his.</span></p> <table style="width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse;background-color: #fdffd6"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 100%;text-align: center"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">CJ Johnson</span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table style="width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse;background-color: #f2f0f0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 50%;text-align: center"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">5'9" PG</span></td> <td style="width: 50%;text-align: center"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">Mount St. Mary '23</span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif">I had seen Johnson playing in previous summers, but he was always a run-of-the-mill on-ball prospect to me. From his three performances Saturday, however, I was led to believe otherwise. As a true point prospect, Johnson handled all of the duties of the position and translated real applicable skills to in-game production. He's a remarkable passer for his age, and he can really provide smooth, highlight-worthy volleys to teammates with either his down-floor vision on the break or half-court, window-fitting passes. He's a skilled scorer, as well, with numerous finishing maneuvers with either hand and a knack for beating defenders in transition. His craft, iQ and awareness of teammates will help his game -- and recruiting -- in big ways as he enters his sophomore season.</span></p> <hr /> <p>&nbsp;</p>