San Antonio - Over 50 AAU/Club Teams were on display at the "Ladies First Tournament" hosted by the San Antonio Lady Rohawks organization held on June 17-19, 2011. Held at the George Gervin Academy, Lee and Madison High schools, this girls bball event prospect-wise, was dry in some areas but eye-popping in others. Scouts that were in attendance were:
Angelo State University
Colorado Northwestern
Concordia University (Texas)
Jefferson College (Missouri)
Midland College
Paris Junior College
St. Mary's University (Texas)
Texas A&M-Commerce
University of Incarnate Word
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
University of Mobile
University of the Ozarks
University of Texas-Dallas
Sportz Highlights Video Productions
TA's Scouting Scoop
At the high school level, Moriah Jefferson (of the DFW elite) who in many recruiting publications is the nation's #1 point guard was the star of the event. Her speed and tremendous ball-handling were no secret to the viewers already familiar with her as a prospect. She had several teammates that really played extremely well but I had no access to their names due to nonsubmission of the team's roster. Other athletes that were impressive were guard teammates Shayla Williams (5'5"/2012) and Erika Wakefield (5'3"/2014) of the Oklahoma City Primetime. The Houstonians shooting guard/wing prospect Jesseika Palmer (6'1"/2012) averaged about 25 points a game from both outside and driving to the basket. She needs to be more consistent on defense to upgrade herself on both ends of the floor. Brittany Aikens (5'8"/2012) of the Lady Rohawks stock has been rising since she attended my combine back in April. She is penetrating the ball well and is growing in her ability to shoot 3-pointers consistently. I have to admit that I am impressed with the progression of Oliva Lott (5'9"/2013) of the Lady Rohawks. Coach Charlie Harper and his staff have done an outstanding job with helping her improve her skills tremendously. She remained consistent in her hustling up and down the floor, playing good defense, and has a nice outside jump shot. Team Arkansas (5'11"/2013) shooting guard/wing prospects Kilah Cummings and Taylor Strickland are very athletic! They have a lot of speed and are very tough competitors. Other teams had a hard time stopping them. Kala Green of the Central Texans Heat (5'8"/2014) coached by Dennis Coleman had a great tournament performance. Although an outstanding scorer and ball-handler, I would like for her to become more audacious by recognizing when to take over a game as oppose to having to be driven to do so by Coach Coleman. Her teammate Kyera Coleman (5'7"/2014) averages double-digit assists a game and makes all her teammates better but has to learn to score more in order to be more all-around on offense.
In the front court, twin towers Ashley Stephens (6'3"/2013) and Chelsie Keys (6'2"/2012) of Team Arkansas, completely dominated both on the offensive and defensive sides of the court. Teams had difficulty driving to the basket against these two nor could stop them from scoring points. They should do well during the July showcase circuit! (6'1"/2014) Eliza Martinez of San Antonio's Finest coached by Ray Caldwell dominated her opponents on the boards and tremendous shot-blocking abilities. Imari Simpson (5'9"/2012), of the Killeen Lady Diamonds is a small school power forward prospect who was very tenacious as a rebounder and contested the taller prospects underneath as though they were her exact size. Sierra McCarthy (6'0"/2013) of the Lady Rohawks did well with rebounding and put-backs but must get stronger in order to compete with other bigs. MP Elite (Austin, Texas) had a post player by the name of Kaitlyn Shearer (6'1"/2013) who rebounded pretty well but is more of a project in the making. Power forward prospect Cree Atkinson (6'0"/2012) handled the ball well and has nice outside shot but was only average when contesting the boards. Brianna Rowland of the Central Texans Heat (5'11"/2012) is very muscular and strong underneath the boards. Her putbacks are outstanding as well and she projects as mid-major prospect.
The middle school scene had serious star power!
The middle school prospects really brought it! Starting with Brianna Millet (5'8"/2015) of the Lady Rohawks. She "played up" in the varsity division of the tourney and if you had not previously seen her play, you wouldn't notice that she was a middle schooler due to her size and skills. Millett was not at all intimidated by the older prospects and once she got into her groove she peformed well. Operating from the 1 to the 3 positions, she rebounded, frequently found the open man by making sizzling passes and was ambidextrously getting the ball up and down the court. Don't get me wrong, she has room to grow, but undoubtedly will with the competition that she sees from week-to-week. The person that caught my eye when she walked in the gym with her parents was (6'3"/2016) Courtney Cook of the San Antonio Lady Bulls. She is a project who is in her 1st year of organized basketball but already has a good bank shot and her father informed me that she is still growing! Lexi Burns (5'7"/2015) of the HG Elevation Elite of Fort Worth was a stud! Her dribble could not be stopped by opponents and she was tenacious in getting to the basket! She is a combo guard prospect who will make noise in July. Moriah Creswell (5'4"/2015) of the Lady Rohawks is in the CeCe Harper mode by making noise as a young phenom point guard! Whenever she steps on the court, all of her teammates' play go up several notches due to her leadership and ability to make everyone around her better. The Killeen Triple Threat showcased two back court players that are under the radar. Tia Harston (5'7"/2016) was a huge surprise by having her way on the court by defending the ball well and able to score at will. Look for her in July with the Round Rock Dream Team to do so more big things. Carmen Williams (5'5"/2016) has continued to display leadership skills as the team's backbone and it's top scorer while improving her ball-handling skills becoming more ambidextrous. I still would like to see her increase her speed getting up and down the court with the ball and upgrade her comfort level as it relates to being a ball-handler in order to become an elite young prospect.
Top Central-South Texas Middle School Guard Prospects
1. Brianna Millet (San Antonio, Texas) (5'8"/2015) (guard/wing that blends in well with older prospects. Could top this list by summer's end.)
2. Moriah Creswell (San Antonio, Texas) (5'4"/2015) (another strong point guard of Coach Harper's system that will bluechip as a high schooler)
3. Dasia Johnson (Hutto, Texas) (5'3"/2015) (great court vision, STRONG, and definitely out-hustles everyone!)
4. Brianna Wright (Jarrell, Texas) (5'5"/2016) (has the best court vision of this class and is the most technically sound)
STAY TUNED FOR MORE TEXAS PROSPECT RANKINGS IN "TA'S SUMMER SCOUTING SCOOP" THAT WILL BE PUBLISHED FOR COLLEGE SCOUTS ON JUNE 30th!!!!"
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