Darious Clark

Over the past weekend CAA Insider traveled down to the Park School in Baltimore Maryland to attend our first JUCO camp of the year.  The Ballstars Camp had some fine junior college players from around the area and beyond.  The following are player evaluations from the combined two days of the camp. 

Darious Clark (2010, 6-3 PG/SG)
Darious appeared to be one of the more difficult players to defend at this camp.  He has a strong pull up game that he can hit out to beyond the three-point line.  There was quite a few times where he shot the ball when defended very closely and still managed to knock down the shot.  Besides his shooting Darious also handles the ball very well.  He ran point for his team most of the game and possesses a quick effective crossover.  He used this cross over to go by his man or to gain space for his pull up jump shot.  On one play he grabbed a defensive rebound then drove the length of the floor going by multiple defenders and scored on a relatively easy lay up.  As far as his passing goes, he made a fantastic pass to a cutting teammate for an easy bucket, but we would have liked to see him set up his teammates more often.  Darious is definitely a player we would like to see more of.

Jermaine Abraham (2008, 6-7 SF/PF)
When we first arrived at the camp players were just warming up shooting around and practicing their dunking.  This is when we first noticed Jermaine due to his highflying dunks, he continued with the highlights once the games started as well.  Before even sitting down to watch one of his games, I just glanced over at the court he was on and saw Jermaine fly through the air for a crazy one-hand slam.  He continued this in the games we watched by throwing down multiple alley oops.  There were also a number of times where he grabbed an offensive board and then just threw down a two-hand slam without getting any kind of running start.  Dunking is not the only thing Jermaine can do however, as he has a nice mid range jumper and even hit out behind the three point line.  His shot is a bit unorthodox but he has a quick release and soft touch on the ball.  Jermaine also did a terrific job rebounding, using his size and athleticism.  Although he did drive some it would have been nice to see more of what he can do handling the ball.  While Jermaine did post up, he did not show many post moves.  He would usually just face up and shoot over his defender.  With his athleticism and mid range game Jermaine definitely has a lot of potential.

Antonio Hayman (2009, 6-6 SF/PF)
Antonio is a strong forward who scores most of his points around the hoop.  He showed off a spin move in the post, and although he did post up a lot, he struggled at times finishing from there.  Antonio was much more effective scoring when driving to the hoop.  After driving a couple times he converted with finger rolls.  In the second game we saw him, Antonio showed much more ball handling skills, including bringing the ball up the court for his team on multiple occasions.  He even displayed a crossover move to get by his man.  Antonio also made some nice passes, both off the dribble and from the post.  If he is going to play small forward at the next level he will need to show more of a perimeter game but his ball handling is already there.

Anthony Poindexter (2009, 6-6 SF)
Anthony is a long lanky wing player.  He had a couple jaw dropping plays during this camp.  On one possession he drove down the middle of the lane and unexpectedly threw down a big time slam.  Soon after that he had another dunk, this time it was a two-hand slam off an alley oop.  Anthony also showed he could shoot the ball a bit by knocking down a pull up three pointer.  He did miss a few other jumpers though, including a turn around jumper from the post.  When we were watching he did not put the ball on the floor too often but did have a nice baseline drive.  He also cut to the hoop well without the ball.

Daryl Poole (2009, 6-5 SF)
We were not paying too much attention to Daryl until he proceeded to hammer home a two handed dunk right on top of his defender.  His other highlight of the camp, that we saw, was a play where he was tripped and fell to the ground but still maintained control of the ball.  While still dribbling he got back to his feet and went at the hoop finishing with a finger roll.  Otherwise he struggled to finish around the hoop some.  He did do a nice job of taking his man off the dribble.  Daryl did not show much as far as shooting the ball.

Darrick Williams (2008, 6-0 PG)
Darrick is a point guard who is not afraid to go at taller players.  He attacked the hoop quite often and did a great job of drawing contact, although he did have trouble finishing with contact.  It did not matter at this camp as all fouls on shot attempts counted as baskets.  He did have one beautiful drive into traffic and hit a finger roll.  What really stood out about Darrick’s game was his outside shooting.  He has a smooth stroke and gets good elevation on his jumper.  He can hit from behind the three-point line or from mid range.  He was blocked once on a pull up mid range shot. 

Kenneth Portee (2009, 6-0 PG/SG)
An athletic combo guard who likes to attack the hoop.  He had an impressive two-hand alley oop dunk.  Kenneth also had a strong take and lay up.  He missed the lone outside shot that we remember him taking.

Dominique Ngniman (2009, 6-6 SF)
This good-sized wing has a solid skill set.  He handles the ball well and likes to take the ball strong to the hoop.  Dominique was out on a 1 on 2 break and went right at both defenders.  He ended up hitting a lay up right between the two of them and was fouled on the play.  Dominique also stepped out and knocked down a three-pointer.

Efe Odigie (2009, 6-6 PF)
Efe did a nice job on the boards using his length and leaping ability.  After one such rebound, he threw up a hook shot but it was an air ball.  He did hit a mid range jumper and had a pair of impressive dunks.  One was an open slam with two hands; the other came off an alley oop.

Greg Avila (2009, 6-6 PF)
Everything this power forward does looks, well…powerful.  Greg had a pair of rim rattling slams right in face of the opposition.  He is very strong and will muscle his way to the hoop.  He was a beast on the boards and scored a couple tough baskets around the hoop.  Greg tapped in one of his teammates misses and he also had a quality baseline drive, that he converted with a lay up on the opposite side of the hoop.  The lone jump shot attempt we saw him take was of the turn around variety from mid range, but he missed.

Paul Johnson (2009, 6-1 SG)
This athletic guard showed a lot of potential at this camp.  Paul has outstanding leaping ability and a smooth stroke from the perimeter.  Over the course of the couple games we watched Paul play he did show off the leaping ability but did not attempt too many shots from the perimeter.  He had quite a few alley oops thrown his way and he converted on most of them.  For some reason he played more on the inside and even at times posted up when he had a smaller guard on him.  Most of his points were scored on lay ups, some on fast breaks but other times after he drove by his man.  Although he got by his man multiple times he did not show many moves off the dribble.  He did have a beautiful spin move while posting up though, which resulted in a reverse lay up.  He made another spin move later in the game to get by his man, and after drawing another defender, he made a nice underhand pass to his teammate for an easy lay up.  One thing we did not like about Paul’s game was his effort.  He was often times found trailing behind the play on both sides of the ball.  There were times where he did hustle for loose balls but this effort was not consistent.  Paul has some talent and athleticism, but we would have liked to see a more consistent effort and more of a perimeter game from him.

Andrew Young (2009, 6-7 SF)
Andrew was fairly quiet when we saw him.  He did have a lay up over a defender on the break and scored on a put back.  There were a number of times where he ran the pick and roll but did not really score off of that.  He was fouled a few times on other scoring attempts.  Since foul shots were only shot in the final minute of the each contest, Andrew did get some points off being fouled on shot attempts. Defensively he had a block.  

Liam's final shot, foul?

William Harris (2010, 6-2 PG/SG)
William is a very thin but very athletic guard.  With his outstanding leaping ability William is constantly trying to dunk the ball, even if it does not seem to be the best option.  He tried to dunk over defenders numerous times but could not convert.  On a couple of these attempts he was fouled, but William missed a couple easier dunks as well.  He did have a couple impressive dunks that actually went in.  William did shoot from the outside as well but was somewhat inconsistent from there.  He is pretty quick off the dribble but could tighten up his ball handling skills.