By Brian Crownover

{mosImage}After a few weeks of relaxing it’s back into the AAU action here in late August. It was time for Philly’s top tournament, the Sonny Hill Future Stars Tournament. Here’s a look at some of the top players. 

Ewing Falcons 

Will Barrett (2009, 6-8 SF/PF)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s just impossible to go to a tournament, even a local one and not have someone catch you by suprise. On Thursday night that player was big man Will Barrett. I was more interested in watching the more talented Hood Enriched team, but instead came away very impressed with the young combo forward. Will caught our attention early by hitting a perimeter jumper. He didn’t stop there though. He has very good wing skills for a player of his size. He can handle the ball and often even drives left despite that not being his dominant hand. Will could tighten up his handle some, but he really has no problem getting into the lane. In addition to playing on the wing, Will showed he can go inside too. He had a nice reverse lay-up and mixed in a solid short jump hook too. He had a solid pass to a cutting teammate as well. Will can rebound too, although he is on the thin side and greatly benefit in that area by adding some strength. He does need to move quicker on defense, but his timing was pretty good as he blocked several shots. With how little we know about Will, we are very eager to see more of this talented big man as the tournament rolls along.

Team Philly 

Velton Jones (2008, 5-10 160 PG) Committed to Robert Morris
Velton put together another solid outing. The talented point guard opened with a nice drive and dish play. He has several nice assists throughout the game. Velton is relentless attacking of the dribble and finishes well after contact. He got to the foul line on several occasions. He also buried a foul line jumper, although he missed a few other shots from the perimeter. 

Maalik Wayns (2009, 6-1 PG) Committed to Villanova
This wasn’t one of the more dominant games that we’ve see out of Maalik this summer, but that just goes to show how high he has set the bar. He still had a very good outing. He just has such great body control. On one play, he grabbed a loose ball and instantly went into a spin move to get past the defender. He is really great at using the spin in the lane and always seeming to know where he is. Maalik was inconsistent finishing from time to time in this game, but that’s usually not the case. He also had a number of beautiful drive and dish plays in the blowout victory. Maalik didn’t take many shots from the perimeter and on this day he didn’t have to. I’m sure we’ll see plenty of one of the tournament’s top players over the course of the next few days. 

Willis Nicholson (2010, 5-10 SG)
Willis is a talented young guard on Team Philly. He opened by hitting a high degree of difficulty lay in through traffic. He had a nice drive and dish play late. In between, the quick guard was able to get into the lane and score in transition.  

Team Hoop Hard 

Miquel Bocachica (2008, 6-5 SF)
Miguel struggled from three in this game. It’s always tough to make an impact when you’re “off” and rely on the outside shot as much as he does. That said, Miguel still ran the floor well and mixed in a few nice drives to the hoop. He scored on a difficult reverse lay-up as well as several other transition baskets. Miguel is clearly at his best when everything is working and in particular his jumper. Even without his shot falling he was still solid. 

Eric Brennan (2008, 6-6 SF)
This big forward does have some nice wing skills. The lefty hit a mid range pull up jumper. He also ran the floor well. He can attack off the dribble as well, although he could improve in that area. Eric’s size and perimeter skills are certainly very intriguing. We’ll try to catch more of him as the tourney moves forward.    

B.A.B.C. 

Alex Oriakhi (2009, 6-9 PF) Committed to UCONN
Fresh off of a strong outing at the New England Elite 75 yesterday, it didn’t appear Alex was in the mood to slow down any. He’s a big and powerful interior player so it’s no surprise he has verballed to the Huskies. He is has excellent hands and is a very good finisher around the hoop. Maybe it’s the shaved head, but this power player does remind us of a slightly smaller version of Samardo Samuels. It’s our first time viewing him and we came away quite impressed after just a few minutes of practice. This loaded team should be in it for the long haul and we’ll see plenty more of Alex this weekend.

Jamaal Coombs (2009, 6-6 SF) Committed to UCONN
Jamaal was nearly equally as impressive as his current and future teammate. The skilled wing opened with a steal and a pass. He followed that up with an offensive rebound and beautiful reverse lay-up. He hit on another reverse and showed off a good handle as well. Jamaal is also very unselfish and looked to get his teammates involved on several occasions early on. We only caught the early portion of his game, but Jamaal was still impressive. We are really looking forward to seeing more of this talented wing. 

Phillip Pressey (2009, 6-2 PG)
This young guard impressed us with a beautiful drive and dish play early on. He can get into the lane off the dribble and obviously find his teammates. Phillip is on the small guard, but seems like he can wreck havoc on opposing defenses. 

Hood Enriched 

Tyree "Chuck" Harris (2009, 6-7 PF)
Chuck had a great rebound and nice early finish on the other end of the court. The lanky forward was pretty active around the hoop. He did finish as well as he has during other games, but still hustled and kept busy. He did most of his damage on the boards. Chuck threw a nice pass to a teammate, but missed a jumper while trying to show more of his wing skills. Adding bulk would really elevate his game to another level. Chuck isn’t the smoothest player, but very long and skilled and can cause problems on both ends of the court. 

Parrish Grant (2009, 5-10 PG)
Parish was very impressive running the floor and getting into the lane on halfcourt sets. The gifted guard is very quick off the bounce. He was very aggressive throughout and showed a good crossover move. Parish also hit an extremely difficult floater in the lane after contact as the game approached its finality. Parish finished well all evening and strung together a strong outing.  

Youth Interlock 16s 

Daniel Stewart (2010, 6-6 SF)
Daniel is one of the more talented young players around. Playing “up” he wasn't nearly as impressive as he has been with his age group, but was still solid. The long-armed forward is very active around the hoop. He just has a good sense in there and a knack for finishes around defenders. He’s relentless down low, but can also step outside too. He was quiet from the perimeter in the one, but the wing skills are there as well. Daniel has a great future ahead of him.