The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AFTER months of anticipation, the complete list of the Bahamas’ top high school and collegiate basketball prospects were finally revealed to the public.

The players will have an opportunity to showcase their skills before international scouts and coaches.

The Bahamas Basketball Federation, Bahamas Global Sports Foundation, CSA Basketball Academy and iOWNpr present the inaugural edition of the “Top 50 Basketball Camp” at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium July 23-26.

DeAndre Ayton, a ninth grade prospect residing in San Diego, California, was revealed as the top overall prospect.

At 6’10” 220 pounds and just 15-years-old, Ayton has been touted as one of the top high school basketball prospects in America for the Class of 2017.

ESPN recruiting ranks Ayton as the No.1 overall prospect in his class with a player grade of 98/100 and he also has a featured profile on NBADraft.net.

More than 100 scholarship opportunities will be available to the camp participants.

The breakdown will include - the top 10 players between grades 7-9, the top 20 players in grades 10-12 and the top 10 unattached players who have graduated high school and the top 10 currently attending a junior college. 

Keion Farrington, a 6’5” 190-pound wing player out of Dillard High School was named the top prospect in the grades 10-12 division. He was the No.5 ranked prospect nationally.

Qymeh Gibson was the top player in the grades 7-9 division. The 6’6” 180 pound forward from Victory Christian in Oklahoma was ranked No.6 nationally.

Twenty-year-old Michael Carey Jr was the top prospect in the JUCO division. The 6’5” 205 pound combo guard is ranked No.2 nationally.

Nationally ranked at No.3, 6’6” 190-pound Lavingston Munnings was the top player in the graduate/unattached division.

Since April, camp executives released the name of one player each day on its website and Facebook page, beginning with No.50 Davonte Moxey and culminating last Friday with Ayton.

“The suspense and the drama built around the list was exciting for a lot of the guys but there weren’t too many people that were surprised with number one. What was good about this process is there were quite a number of people that did not know about DeAndre and about a lot of these other guys that play abroad so it serves multiple purposes,” said CSA basketball director Marvin Henfield.

“Any type of list or ranking system makes for a great conversational piece and one of the things I encountered through this whole journey was the back and forth about who is the best, based on where you lived and what you saw, the level of knowledge was limited and it was healthy for some of the conversations.”

With the list in place, players now have until July 10 to confirm their attendance at the camp.

“We are in full work mode in terms of preparation,” Henfield said. “We have completed all our NCAA approvals and we are now getting our confirmations from the athletes. For those that will not be in attendance we will fill their spot with a player from our honourable mention list.”

The camp will be facilitated by iconic head coach Mike Daniel, NBA Hall of Famer Alex English and Henfield.

Participation at the camp will be by invitation only and will include three days of individual development, positional development, team play and assessments.

“It is a long-awaited venture and something that is needed for our young athletes. As we know, there is a lot of basketball talent in this country and it was just a matter of finding a medium between the federation and these entities. Through those conversations it was noted that these young players in the Bahamas have a greater need for exposure and to have access to American resources and coaching talent,” Henfield said.

Steve Barnes, assistant coach of the Colorado State Rams and assistant coach of the Bahamas national junior and cadet programmes said the establishment of a permanent and ongoing database will be the key factor in the development of the national team process.

“There is a tremendous talent pool in the Bahamas and we try to work with it everyday looking at it and familiarising ourselves with the players. Establishing a database is so important. When we first started it was very hard to figure out who was who. We would hear names but there was not an established database so we had to begin somewhat from the ground up. I think what has to come together is the organisational side. The organisation of this whole thing is most important. You can always have different opinions on who is the top guys, which is good conversations and is good for the fans, we want that - the worst thing is to not have any conversation at all,” he said.

“I don’t see any issues with the talent level, there is plenty of talent, it’s just a matter of pulling it all together. It’s much like the islands themselves, there are so many islands that are so spread out, but each has something and we have to pull it together and organise, but it is coming together fast.”

The seven-member selection committee for the invite-only camp included Henfield - committee chairman, Mario Bowleg - vice president of the Bahamas Basketball Federation, Kevin Johnson - president of the GSSAA, Edgar Pickstock - former BBF federation executive, Francis Delva - Bahamas Basketball scout and recruiter, Lee Aldo Seymour - committee member and Jamal Gibson - committee member.