The Pangos Frosh/Soph Camp fall tour continues on its second of four stops in Texas and there is an abundance of talent on hand. Among the 200 plus campers in Lewisville, Texas, the standout talent after day one has been the high-flying wing players. Across the board, there has been plenty of standouts turning heads among talent evaluators, including Cade Cunningham, Moses Moody, Greg Brown, Matthew Murell, and Jerry Lliya.
Related: Texas vs. EVERBODY at Pangos South All-Star Game!
Athleticism will always be one of the first and easiest attributes to identify when scouting young basketball players. Even though it's not hard to spot that aspect of a player's overall evaluation, it was hard to ignore the amount of talented athletes at the 2017 Pangos All-South Frosh/Soph Camp. Among over 200 campers from 13 states, the big guard and wings were easily the positions that produced the most standouts on day one of the two-day affair at The Mac Sports Complex in Lewisville, Texas. Many of them have the necessary size and length to excel on the wing at the next level and the lack of point guards with plus size made the wings stand out even more.
Arguably the two best prospects among the 204 in camp were lengthy wings with an abundance of skill: 6-foot-6 Cade Cunningham, a sophomore (2020) from Bowie (Arlington, Texas), and 6-foot-8 sophomore Greg Brown from Vandergrift (Austin, Texas). Cunningham had the most complete performances on Saturday in terms of scoring, transition game and beating defenders in a variety of ways. Cunningham has a strong frame, good body balance and combines a nice combination of explosiveness and confidence to dominate camp defenders. Brown was scoring in droves, whether making moves off the dribble or scoring around the basket. Brown, who is coming off participating in the 2017 USA Junior National Team Mini-Camp in Colorado Springs, Col. last weekend, was also blocking shots at a good clip and can finish a variety of shots.
Other day one standouts on the wing included Caleb London, a 6-foot-4 sophomore from Conway (Ark.), Jaylin Posey, a 6-foot-2 sophomore from Grand Prairie (Texas), Jerry Lliya, a 6-foot-6 sophomore from CGM Prep Academy (Phoenix, Ariz.), Chris Moore, a 6-foot-6 sophomore from West Memphis (Ark.), Moses Moody, a 6-foot-5 sophomore from North Little Rock (Little Rock, Ark.), and Matthew Murell, a 6-foot-3 sophomore from Whitehaven (Memphis, Tenn.).
London has a high skill level while Posey can score on all three levels and is quite bouncy to boot. Speaking of bounce, Lliya was attacking the rim with a vengeance and displayed a relentless motor in both of his Saturday games. Moore was one of the camp's most impressive performers on day one, according to veteran talent scout Van Coleman of The Basketball Channel. He displayed a multitude of skills and got things done for his team. Moody didn't score at a high clip, but he made plays in the backcourt, showed his defensive prowess and continues to develop his body. Murrell is a combo guard who can really glide to the basket, gets good lift on his jumper and uses his aggressive nature to demoralize defenders.
One of the most punishing scorers in the camp so far has been Hayden Brittingham, a 6-foot-4 sophomore from Crowley (Ft. Worth, Texas). A beastly scorer around the rim, this physical specimen is a bit undersized for the skill level he brings to the table, but if he continues to develop his face-up game he could develop into a nice combo forward prospect. Regardless of Brittingham's projection, at this camp very few players want a piece of him!
Although there weren't too many plus size lead guards we evaluated, there are some standouts at the one spot. Among the day one point guard standouts included 5-foot-11 sophomore Andre Howard Jr. of Lone Star (Frisco, Texas), 6-foot sophomore Khalen Robinson of Bryant (Ark.) and 6-foot-1 sophomore Gerald Doakes of North Little Rock (Ark.). Needless to say, there are many standouts from the state of Arkansas at this event and it bodes well for the future of high school and grassroots basketball in the Razorback State.
Besides Arkansas and the Lone Star State, the other nine states represented at this deep camp include Oklahoma, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Illinois, New Mexico, Kansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky and Arizona.
One shooter deserving of recognition for his excellent first day of camp is 6-foot-2 Juan Reyna, a freshman (2021) from Antonian College Prep (San Antonio, Texas). The lefty was confidently knocking down long range shots at a high clip and has an abundance of crafty skill.
Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
