STORY BY CHRIS HANSEN; PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
Cokie Reed shoots a jumper at the Nike RSA.
HOUSTON, Tex. – The talent loaded Nike Regional Skills Academy at Cypress Ridge High School exceeded expectations and at the heart of it was the class of 2009.
Amanda Anderson (The Woodlands, Tex.) is 6-foot-2 but appears to be developing as a wing player. She is mobile for her size and has good length. She has a strong build that she could use to overwhelm smaller defenders which she will see a lot of if she plays the wing.
Marissa Ashton (La Marque, Tex.) brought solid footwork from the drills into the game setting. She is a tremendous athlete and at 6-1 it seems like she doesn’t understand her gifts just yet. If she recognized the athletic mismatches she poses she would probably force the issue and challenge the defense more often.
Kristi Bellock catches a pass in the post.
She has a lot of upside.
Kristi Bellock (St. Rose, La.) is a terrific 6-1 combo forward. She has a great work ethic and she didn’t back down from any of the taller or stronger opposition. She looked comfortable in the low post scoring drills as well as with the ballhandling drills. She is solid with her change of direction dribble moves and did a good job with two-ball drills as well. Regardless of which position you try to make her she is a basketball player. The challenge for her in playing the wing-forward position will be her posture and getting her shoulders out in front of her feet. This will keep the ball lower, will make her more explosive, and make changing speeds easier. She showed range to 16-feet but she never attempted shots from beyond the arc.
Kelsey Bone (Stafford, Tex.) is the most skilled post player to come a long in a long time. She is strong, confident, and a leader on the court. Her post scoring game is incredibly polished and smooth and she reads defenses well beyond her years. Her passing out of double and triple teams has improved and even in this setting she saw extra defenders when she caught it. Bone is a tremendous competitor that never backs down from a challenge. She will be an immediate impact at any school in the country and it would be a total shock if she isn’t playing for the red, white and blue this summer in South America.
Shay Cooney-Williams (Frisco, Tex.) wasn’t the biggest player in the gym, in fact she was one of the smaller players but she was also one of those spark players. She hits the floor with great energy. Her build is similar to She’la White. She has a nice left and great touch on her mid-range pull-up.
Lauren Flores (Houston, Tex.) has a scorer’s mentality and great quicks from the point guard position. She can raise up anywhere, three-point range and in, as quick as anyone. She has a lot of shiftiness in her handle as well. The Texas commit just needs to play the defensive end a harder to get the most out of her talent.
Brittany Gowans (Dallas, Tex.) is a nice 5-11 two-guard that plays a little taller than her height because of her length. She showed good comprehension of new skills. She did as well as anyone at the stop cut, a moving without the ball move used to get open. She showed good handle but is another player who would be even tougher if she stayed more compact with her posture. Jasmine Henderson (Missouri City, Tex.) is a 6-foot forward who is very fluid in her movement. She isn’t super quick but she uses her body well and once she beats a defender she doesn’t get pushed off her path. She played with confidence with her back to the basket and did well with many of the guard oriented drills including the European-step drill. The move takes the two steps players use after picking up their dribble on a layup and moves them from the standard linear path, side-to-side, to avoid a defender. She also showed good touch both on interior finishes as well as mid-range shots. Jordan Madden (LePlanto, Ark.) is speed personified. When the ball goes up to start a game it is like a gun-shot start for her. In controlled drill work you can’t appreciate her speed but when they moved to playing games you could see just how fast she really is. End-to-end speed there may not be anyone in the class who can keep up. Transition is obviously her game. Adding strength to finish with contact more consistently would really make her an even bigger handful to defend. She is a player that will probably be a better college player (Baylor) than she is as a high school player and she’s a fantastic as a high schooler. Kaylan Martin (Plugerville, Tex.) played all weekend with great effort. She has a nice pull-up jumper and the confidence to use it even in transition. It’s a one of those instances where you can’t tell her she should probably get to the rim instead when she’s making it. Shauntal Nobles (Haslet, Tex.) has great length and solid footwork in the paint. She had one of the smoothest step-through moves from the post of any of the bigs, though she showed a tendency to predetermine her moves before reading the defense. She needs to get stronger and play with a lower center of gravity starting before she receives the pass. When they worked on this specifically in drill work she excelled by gaining leverage more than muscle. In her scoring moves she showed good touch even after contact. Working her left hand will expand her scoring repertoire from the blocks. Erica Paskell (Grapevine, Tex.) is a shooter with a shooter’s mentality. She is almost always ready to shoot and, like a great shooter, doesn’t let the last shot affect her next shot - she’ll let if fly. She has a quick release as well which complements her consistency being ready to shoot. She also has good height and size at 6-1. She is mobile but not incredibly quick. She didn’t play inside much this weekend but if she can utilize her size against smaller defenders she’ll bring a great inside-outside scoring presence.
Brittney Griner shoots over Kelsey Bone.
Brittney Griner (Houston, Tex.) is simply incredible. She doesn’t just dunk, she finishes her flushes with both hands, a skill that many of the coaches in the class say a lot of the top male players can’t do at her age. Griner’s dunking is more than a novelty; it is a legitimate finish for her in game situations as she dunked on one of her club teammates in a scrimmage game. The Baylor commit is also a skilled player. She has a nice fall-away jumper and touch on her jump hook as well. She is just starting to figure out that she doesn’t need to fall away - EVER. If she stays low and makes strong moves she will be finishing at the rim whenever she wants. Defensively she is the most dominating player at this level, maybe ever. There really isn’t a shot she can’t alter or bother. There aren’t any female players to compare her too but perhaps the best comparison Kevin Garnett. She is truly the female game’s Big Ticket.
Taber Spani was one of the most impressive
players in the Academy.
Michelle Price (Kingwood, Tex.) is a tough match-up inside because she utilizes her upper body so well in protecting the ball and maintaining position. She’s not the quickest player on the court but she is one of the best at staying low, wide and strong. Because of this she was a rebounding machine, getting more boards than players several inches taller.
Cokie Reed (Hewitt, Tex.) was one of the best players in the class a year ago and she has improved considerably since last summer. She is playing with a physical presence consistently and she doesn’t back down from anyone. Her confidence is perhaps the most noticeable improvement. At the end of day one she stepped forward immediately to shoot the free-throw that decided if they had to run before leaving. She didn’t disappoint, making the shot without the ball touching rim. Her mid-range jumper is as smooth as any of the posts in the class. It is almost effortless. The next step for her is using that mid-range shot to setup counter moves. They were introduced to a duck-in move following a shot fake or strong pivot and this is exactly the type of move that will take her game to the next level.
Monique Smalls (The Woodlands, Tex.) is a hard working kid who is in her element attacking the basket off the dribble. She has good touch on her mid-range shot but needs to expand her range before hitting the court at Texas Tech. She is a point guard that makes players around her better by distributing. Smalls is also a pretty good defender. Not many kids play both ends as well as she does.
Taber Spani (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) has all the moxie of a big time player. She understands her strengths and her limitations. The 6-1 wing was one of the strongest players physically as well as one of the smartest. Spani isn’t the quickest player on the wing but she doesn’t try to beat quicker players with quickness. She knows how to get herself open both with and without the ball and she can flat out put the ball in the hole. Don’t be surprised if she rises in the rankings because this kid is one of the most complete players in the class.
Discuss This on Our Message Board: Click Here [1]
Chris Hansen is the National Director of Scouting for Women’s Basketball at HoopGurlz.com. He leads the panel that evaluates and ranks girl's basketball prospects nationally for HoopGurlz. Chris has been involved in the women’s basketball community since 1998 as a coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. He can be reached at chris@hoopgurlz.com [2].
[3]