Some of the best high school basketball talent in the country gathered at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona, this past weekend for the Hoophall West Invitational.
Here are staff writer C.J. Holmes’ four takeaways from the event, including a look at a pair of Arizona Wildcats recruits and the madness surrounding LaMelo Ball.
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LaMelo Ball returns to the spotlight
I made a point to arrive at Chaparral High on Friday a full hour and a half before tip-off between SPIRE Institute (Ohio) and Bella Vista Prep (Arizona). It didn’t matter, though, because the parking lot was already an overcrowded free-for-all.
After spending way too much time hunting for a spot, I started walking toward the gymnasium and that’s when I saw the folks from Big Baller Brand setting up their merchandise table. As fans slowly started to swarm around them with fists full of cash, I could see the hype was real.
Once inside, spectators in the bleachers were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, but it was obvious that most of them weren’t there to watch the game between Bishop Gorman and Denton Guyer already in progress. The sea of “BBB” beanies was a dead giveaway.
In fact, space was so scarce, the Hoophall West staff (and police officers on duty) appeared frustrated trying to keep the overflow of fans and journalists off the baseline and out of the aisles around the court.
With under six minutes to play in the Gorman-Guyer game, LaVar Ball made his grand entrance with a camera crew close behind. He threw his hands in the air to greet the crowd, took a few pictures and signed a dozen autographs before taking his seat next to his family in the third row.
When the game clock hit zero, Gorman and Guyer cleared the floor as Ball and his SPIRE teammates made their way onto the court to a standing ovation. After shooting some off-balance jumpers in his first few trips through the team’s layup lines, Ball finally gave the crowd a glimpse at the athleticism they’ve been waiting to see.
Ball caught the basketball from his teammate, threw a lob pass to himself off the ground and reverse slammed it home — sending the crowd into a frenzy.
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The game itself wasn’t nearly so exciting as the build up, though. SPIRE beat Bella Vista 85-69.
Ball finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, 10 assists and five steals. He was the best player on the floor by far, which says a lot considering he shared the stage with four-star Arizona commit Terry Armstrong (Bella Vista) and Michigan State signee Rocket Watts (SPIRE).
Ball didn’t look anything like the player he was during his freshman and sophomore years at Chino Hills. He didn’t hurt his team with poor decision making or erratic play. Ball was decisive, he took care of the basketball (one turnover) and also showed off masterful passing skills on par with his older brother Lonzo.
It’s still unclear whether Ball will be able to regain his NCAA eligibility, but from a pure skill standpoint, he’s a definite NBA prospect — likely first-round pick in 2020. His pro experience has put him far ahead of his peers.
Armstrong shows off versatility
Arizona commit Terry Armstrong dropped 14 points in Bella Vista’s loss to SPIRE on Thursday. It wasn’t his best performance of the season in terms of scoring, but his versatility was still on full display.
With Bella Vista’s starting point guard out with injury, Armstrong — who’s being recruited as a shooting guard — showed that he could be a primary ballhandler in Sean Miller’s offense next season if called upon.
Terry Armstrong showing off his Arizona pride during warmups before Bella Vista’s game against LaMelo Ball and Spire Institute. pic.twitter.com/gyoTMBZisO
— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) December 8, 2018
At 6-7, Armstrong is a freaky athletic wing who models his game after Kevin Durant. He even wears No. 35 in honor of him.
Armstrong is a few inches shorter than Durant, but you can see similarities in their games. Like Durant, Armstrong can create his own shot off the dribble, shoot over almost anyone, hurt opponents in transition and lock up on the defensive end.
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Bella Vista head coach Kyle Weaver (who coached NBA rookies Marvin Bagley III and Deandre Ayton as prep stars) says that the combination of Armstrong and Nico Mannion at Arizona will form the “best backcourt” in college basketball next season.
Mannion makes it look easy
Nico Mannion finished with 33 points and 12 assists in a 90-69 win over Jalen Green (No. 3 prospect in ESPN’s class of 2020) and San Joaquin Memorial (California) on Thursday.
Mannion followed that with a 35-point outing on Saturday, although his Pinnacle team fell to Rancho Christian School (California) 89-79.
— niccolo (@niccolomannion) December 10, 2018
Mannion is an elite ballhandler, an excellent 3-point shooter and is criminally underrated in terms of his athleticism. However, Mannion’s greatest quality has to be his vision. You’ll rarely see him play out of control.
After grabbing a rebound, his eyes are always up the floor looking to find his teammates streaking down the lanes in transition, unless he makes his mind up to get to the rim on his own. Yes, Mannion has proved that he can carry a team with his scoring, but at Arizona, he’ll be surrounded by scorers who are just as good, if not better.
What will truly separate Mannion from his teammates next season will be his ability to create shots for others. Sean Miller won’t ask him to score 30 points a night, but he can — and will — if the Wildcats need him to.
Trouble following Shadow Mountain-Simeon game
Arizona State commit Jaelen House, Jovan Blacksher and the Shadow Mountain basketball team had an impressive showing at Hoophall West, but events that transpired toward the end of their game against Simeon (Chicago) may have diminished their reputation.
Shadow Mountain built a large lead down the stretch in this one. And in the game’s final minutes with the victory in hand, what seemed like the entire Shadow Mountain team started waiving goodbye toward the players on Simeon’s bench.
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It was a physical game, and maybe there was a lot of trash talk between the two teams that went unnoticed, but the actions were classless, and Simeon’s head coach refused to let his players shake hands after the game.
Shortly after, House’s dad, former NBA guard Eddie House, made sure Shadow Mountain head coach Mike Bibby knew that type of behavior was unacceptable. The two were seen exchanging words near Shadow Mountain’s locker room after the game, with Eddie House stressing that those kinds of actions reflect poorly on the program.
(Photo: Allen Berezovsky / Getty Images)
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