EVAN MOBLEY & DALEN TERRY LEAD COMPTON MAGIC TO CHAMPIONSHIP IN MAGIC MEMORIAL DAY TOURNAMENT

It came as no big surprise that the Compton Magic won the tournament and 7'0 Jr Evan Mobley from Temecula (Rancho Christian) CA was clearly the best player at this year's Magic Memorial Day Tournament, which was held over the weekend at Orange Lutheran High School in Orange, CA.  However, it will probably come as a major surprise when one finds out that the Compton Magic beat the Dream Vision-Future team in a hard fought 53-48 battle in the Championship Game.  And, while we don't want to take anything away from this tough hardnosed group that featured the likes of 6'0 Soph Frankie Collins from Chandler (Compass Prep) CA, 6'10 Jr Boubacar Coulibaly from San Gabriel (Academy) CA, 6'8 Soph Obinna Anyanwu from San Diego (Cathedral Catholic) CA, and 6'3 Soph Will McClendon from Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) NV, this is the program's younger team and they clearly outshined the older Dream Vision team, which featured 6'11 Jr Makur Maker from Orange (Lutheran) CA, 6'5 Jr Kyree Walker from Phoenix (Hillcrest Prep) AZ, 6'4 Jr Dominick Harris from Temecula (Rancho Christian) CA, 6'9 Jr Isaiah Cottrell from Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) NV, and 6'8 Jr Coleman Hawkins from Napa (Prolific Prep) CA.

We pick things up in the round of 16 with two and a half seconds left in the game between the just mentioned Dream Vision team and Team Hardin, which was when Walker not only was fouled, but went crashing to floor after strong contact by 6'2 Jr Xavier Dusell from Gilbert (Mesquite) AZ.  And, with his team down 44-43, Walker went to the foul line and missed his first free throw, missed his second free throw, missed his third free throw, and his team was eliminated from the tournament by a single-point.  However, even more important, does Walker have what it takes to rebound from this demoralizing defeat, overcome adversity and take his game to another level?  Or will he become the next in a long line of guys who were physically bigger, stronger, and older than most of their peers earlier in his career and for whatever reason (i.e. lost confidence, didn't work hard enough, didn't want it bad enough, fell into the tweener trap,....) fell out of favor with scouts and college coaches alike.  And, we're going to find out real fast whether Walker has what it takes, because he will get a chance to show his wares this weekend at the Pangos All-American Camp, which is expected to feature a plethora of the top players nationally in both the Class of 2020 and Class of 2021, and in a couple of weeks at the NBA Players Association Top 100 Camp, which for the first time ever will be open to Division I college coaches.  And both of these settings should be to Walker's liking due to the fact he has a good combination of strength and athleticism and he is very adept at attacking the basket.  He also has good court vision, is an excellent passer in the open court, and rebounds well for his size.  However, he will need to work on both his outside shooting and free throw shooting (he missed seven free throws in the above mentioned game) and improve his decision making and basketball IQ if he wants to be able to thrive someday in a more structured college-like setting.

In a sharp contrast to Walker, you can put Mobley into about any setting and, even though his stats are never overwhelming (i.e. 17 points and seven rebounds in the Championship Game), he almost always is the best player on the court and he can affect the game in so many different ways.  His game is more finesse than power, but his incredible length allows him to not only block and alter more than his share of shots, but he also should hold the patent on reaching over the would-be defender's shoulder, grabbing the offensive rebound, and either bringing the house down with a rim-rattling dunk or getting the ball out quickly to the open man on the fast break.  He also has a great skill-set and tremendous quickness and athleticism for somebody his size and, as a result, it's an easy to call to make him the #1 choice when we start talking about the top players nationally in the Class of 2020.  And it's also a very easy call to predict where he will go to college due to the fact that his older brother - 6'9 Isaiah Mobley from Temecula (Rancho Christian) CA - is one of the key pieces in USC's current recruiting class and their father (Eric Mobley) is an assistant coach for the Trojans.

Mobley also had plenty of help, as 6'6 Jr Dalen Terry from Phoenix (Hillcrest Prep) AZ, 6'6 Jr Jaylen Clark from Etiwanda (H.S.) CA, 6'2 Jr Yassine Graham from El Cajon (Foothills) CA, and 6'6 Soph Luke Turner from Temecula (Rancho Christian) CA all played key roles on the Compton Magic's road to the title.  Terry had 10 points and four rebounds in the Championship Game.  But his best stretch came earlier in the weekend when he knocked down an outside shot, finished strong at the rim, and converted a pair of free throws to score his team's last seven points in an overtime win against EBO.  He also was so good that he was arguably the second player based on performance in the entire tournament and he left little doubt about whether he is the best rising senior in both the state and on his high school team (sorry Kyree) with his excellent ball handling and passing skills and the fact he was equally effective when it came time to get to the basket and knock down the outside shot.  To say that he is a true combo guard is an understatement and the fact that he won't turn 17 until July and has improved dramatically since we last saw him makes him a great sleeper candidate right now for next spring's McDonald's All-American Game.  We have questions about Clark's perimeter skills and outside shooting and he really doesn't have a true position.  However, on this team he was the perfect complement to both Mobley and Terry because he's extremely athletic, rebounds well for his size, is an excellent defender, and is a tough match-up when he attacks the rim.  And Graham and Turner were both great role players for the Compton Magic, because the former makes things happen at both ends of the court with his energy and hustle and the latter is an excellent outside shooter and he came off the bench to make some big shots at crunch time

We also don't want to forget about the above mentioned Collins, who was another one of the big heroes and clutch performers of the entire weekend, as is evident by the fact that scored the Dream Vision-Future's last five points to give his team a 56-53 win against Team Hardin in the semi-finals and had 10 points, including a lay-up and a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 50-48 with 1:46 remaining, against the Compton Magic in the Championship Game.  Collins will need to improve his decision making at times, but this crafty point guard is quick with the ball and likes to push the pace, knows how to compete and is a tough hardnosed defender, and has no fears when it comes time to both attack the basket and knock down the outside shot.  Coulibaly is more of a potential guy than a finished product and he pretty much came up empty in terms of scoring with zero points in the Championship Game.  However, it's still hard not to be enamored with his length and athleticism and ability to rebound, block shots, and defend in the post.  He also has an excellent frame, is explosive to the rim, and his natural talent and incredible upside make him one of the biggest sleepers nationally in the Class of 2020.  Anyanwu is another guy who will need to refine his skills, but he's a physical specimen and he makes a living using his energy and athleticism to rebound and finish strong at the rim.  McClendon is a strong physical athletic 2-guard with a junk-yard dog like mentality and he knows how to control the pace and makes a living attacking the basket and locking his man up defensively.

As for the older Dream Vision team that went down in flames early in the playoffs, their best player (sorry Kyree) was 6'11 Jr Makur Maker from Orange (Lutheran) CA.  However, before you get too excited about this long athletic big man, it's also important to know that he is another one of the those guys who has been reclassified along the way, which means he might not have as much upside as some of the others on this list, and he spends entirely too much time handling the ball in the open court and in transition.  On the other hand, he does have good enough ball handling and passing skills to get away with it, plus he has good length and athleticism, excellent hands, and great body control and athleticism, is very active in the post, and he makes a living rebounding, blocking shots, and scoring the post.  He also has a terrific pedigree, which stems from being the cousin of Thon Maker.  Harris' game was so non-existent the first time we saw him play that we didn't even bother to write his name down.  However, as the tournament wore on, we liked the way he used his athleticism to attack the basket and he showed that he can create his own shot.  On other hand, we still question whether he's good talented enough to be ranked among the top 10 players in the state and among the top 50 players nationally in the Class of 2020, which is where he is currently listed by 247 Sports.com.  Cottrell has gotten bigger and stronger physically, runs the court extremely well for somebody his size, and he's much more active than he used to be.  On the other hand, he will need to become a much tougher customer if he is going to live up to his potential.  Ditto that with regard to Hawkins, whose best attribute is that he passes the look test with his size and athleticism, but always seems to leaving you wanting more when you look at what he's actually accomplished.

The best player in the tournament not on the Compton Magic or either of the two Dream Vision teams was 6'3 Jr Ian Martinez from San Juan Capistrano (J. Serra) CA,  He will need to get bigger and stronger physically and improve his ball handling skills, if he wants to be a point guard guard.  However, we do like his court vision, passing skills, explosiveness in transition, and ability to both finish at the rim and knock the outside shot, which made him one of the leading scorers in the tournament.  He also is good enough to project in the 50-100 range nationally and he has the potential to move up even higher with strong showings at the upcoming the Pangos All-American Camp and NBA Players Association Top 100 Camp.  And providing one of the best one-two punches that we saw all weekend for BTI, which was the fourth team in the final four of the tournament, along with the Compton Magic, the Dream Vision-Future, and Team Hardin, were 6'4 Soph Keith Higgins Jr from West Hills (Chaminade) CA and 6'4 Jr Austin Cook from La Verne (Damien) CA.  Higgins is a long lean athletic 2-guard who is a pure shooter and has deep range on his jump shot.  He also reminds a lot of people of a young Klay Thompson and has an excellent pedigree, which stems from the fact that his father is a former college player and has been the head coach at Compton (JC) CA for the past nine years.  Cook also knows how to get his own shot and light up a scoreboard, plus he is a tough hardnosed competitor, has a great feel for the game and the versatility necessary to play multiple positions, and is good enough to project as a great role player at the high major level or be a steal for a lot of schools at the mid-major level.

And, in addition to being the fourth team in the final four of the tournament, Team Hardin also eliminated Dream Vision early in the playoffs, took the Dream Vision-Future team right down to the wire before losing 56-53 in the semi-finals, and featured plenty of firepower out on the perimeter with guys like 6'3 Jr Jalin Anderson from Chandler (Compass Prep) CA, 6'4 Jr Xavier Dusell from Chandler (Compass Prep) AZ, and 6'1 Jr Trent Hudgens from Phoenix (Moon Valley) AZ.  A quick check of the rankings finds that Anderson is nowhere to be found both in the state and nationally.  But he should be, because he has the skills necessary to play either guard spot, is an excellent defender, and is both quick to the basket and can create his own shot.  Dusell is another under the radar screen guy who deserves some top 100 consideration nationally and, with his gunslinger's mentality, he kind of reminds us 6'6 Jr B.J. Boston from Norcross (H.S.) GA.  Obviously he will need to improve his shot selection, but Dusell also knows how to get it off in a hurry, rebounds extremely well for somebody his size, and, as Kyree Walker can a test, is not adverse to contact.  Hudgens also is quick with the ball, plays with a lot of energy, can knock down the outside shot, is capable of playing either guard spot, and has the talent and athleticism necessary to be a good catch at mid-major-plus/high major-minus level.

Belmont Shore also featured one of the best one-two scoring punches in the tournament with 6'2 Jr Keith Dinwiddie from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA and 6'2 Soph T.J. Wainwright from Santa Monica (H.S.) CA.  However, neither Dinwiddie nor Wainwright have a facilitator's mentality and this was not one of the better teams in the tournament even though Dinwiddie is one of the more undervalued players on the West Coast and and Wainwright is oozing with natural talent and potential.  And Wainright is pretty good right now due to the fact that he has excellent speed, quickness, and athleticism and no fears when it comes time to play with reckless abandon and launch more than his share of long range bombs   Dinwiddie also has an excellent mid-range game and is capable of knocking it down both off-the-dribble and off the-catch, plus he is good enough to be ranked in the 100-200 range nationally.  We also don't want to forget about 6'10 Jr Jhaylon Martinez from Henderson (Coronado) NV, who is a physical specimen and a force to be reckoned with in the post.  Needless to say, what he does best is score in around the basket and be a dominant force on the boards, However, he also runs the court, sets more than his share or picks and screen, and has deceptive mobility for somebody his size,

We also thought 5'10 Frosh Benny Gealer from San Diego (Rolling Hills Prep) CA turned in one of the best individual performances that we saw all weekend when he knocked down seven 3-pointers, including five in the second half, and finished with 30 points against Gamepoint in the quarterfinals of the 16-Under Division.  Think of a quicker, more athletic, and bigger version of Spencer Freedman at the same stage.  Gealer also knows how to compete, changes speed and directions extremely well, is very adept at getting his own shot, and has superstar written all over him if he continues to grow.  Another players who deserves special mention is 6'4 Soph Cole Anderson from Fresno (Clovis West) CA, who played for the Chuck Hayes 16-Under Team and turned in a terrific performance in a close loss to the Compton Magic 16-Under Team.  "Anderson has the size and skills necessary to develop into a high major guard and was easily one of the purest long range shooters at the event," says Ronnie Flores, who is the foremost authority on high school players on the West Coast and publishes the Fab 50 National Team Ranking powered by Ballslife.com.  "He reportedly averaged 29.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 5.0 apg and definitely is on par with T.J. Wainwright and Luke Turner as prospects in California's 2021 class, which is led by 6'4 Soph Amari Bailey from Chatsworth (Sierra Canyon) CA and 6'8 Soph Kijani Wright from Los Angeles (Windward) CA, both of whom made the cut for the 12-man USA Basketball 16-Under National Team that will compete at the FIBA Americas 16-under Championship from June 3rd-9th and then look to qualify for the 2020 FIBA World Cup."