#OTRHoopsReport: City of Palms Friday Recap – December 19, 2014

FORT MYERS, Fla., – The City of Palms Classic should be considered the Holy Grail of high school basketball. This is the one opportunity  where the best teams from around the country can compete annually. Nationally ranked teams, which include No. 1 ranked Montverde Academy, are in this the 42nd annual tournament. Our OTRHoopsReport.com staff had this weekend etched into our calendars as a must stop. Here is a run down of the action from Friday.

Friday Recap from the City of Palms

By: @JLHemingwayPSB

Wesleyan Academy Brought Down the House

From the opening tip, it was obvious that the young men from High Point, N.C., came to wow the crowd in attendance. Kwe Parker, just mere moments after the game’s jump ball, received a lob and slammed it home on the unsuspecting defenders from Whitney Young. In all the game would produce 17 dunks and an uncountable moments of excitement from the crowd. The class of 2016 guard, Parker, would finish with 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting from the field even though he wore a bandage around his shooting hand. Parker is currently ranked No. 29 in the BrandonClayScouting.com ELITE 60.

Parker was not the only one who drew amazement from the fans on hand. His 6-foot-10 teammate, Harry Giles III, impressed equally on this night. His 27 points and 7 rebounds was the difference in a 84-72 victory for Wesleyan Christian defeating Whitney Young. Giles and company will face off against top ten foe Mater Dei (CA) tomorrow night at 9:30 pm.

 

 

Highlights complements of Home Town Hoops:

Brown Continues to Impress

The progression of the 6-7 wing Jaylen Brown from Wheeler High School has been documented by our staff in the past twelve months. In his team’s opening victory over Bentonville, Brown looked like the alpha-dog that has coaches from Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Kentucky and UCLA all anxiously awaiting for a decision at season’s end. Brown finished the night with 24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocks shots. This balanced stat line should point out the obvious fact that the 5-star wing is equally impactful on both ends of the floor. Brown and his teammates completely stiffed 5-star class of 2016 guard Malik Monk this evening. Brown’s energy set the tone for his team. Although he did not knock down a 3-point jumper in game play tonight, it is clear that his shooting stroke has made terrific strides from this time last year. Wheeler will face off against Paul VI tomorrow at 6:00 pm.

Ben Simmons is a Unique Talent

There will be plenty of comparisons of Ben Simmons game in the next 12 months. Of those attempts, few will do the Australian native  justice. BrandonClayScouting.com has Simmons as the top player in the class of 2015 because of those unique abilities. The 6-8 forward showed his tremendous vision as a passer today in a tough win over Wayne High School (IN) in the 1:45 pm game. He finished with 24 points 10 rebounds 5 steals and 4 assists on the day. There is not a player in the class who has hands as good as Simmons. When the ball was loose in a pile, Simmons inevitably found ways to gather and then start the break for his team. The only short coming in his game currently is consistent range on his jumper. He and his Montverde teammates face off against St. Francis at 7:45 pm tomorrow.

 

Notables

Derrick Jones had the dunk of the day…maybe of the year! The UNLV signee made Cody Riley hang his head on this one:

Highlight complements of Elite Mixtapes:

Mater Dei rolled through Webster in the tournament’s night cap. Notre Dame signee Rex Pflueger leads the way this year with his shooting ability and toughness.

St. Francis bounced back from a rough first half and rolled to a double digit victory over Florida Air today. Malik Beasley finished with 19 points to lead the Knights.

 

Exposure & Showcase Opportunities

Coverage – Georgia Challenge Headliners 

Coverage – Elite Basketball Academy All-American Camp

Coverage – CoachHemi.com Fall Workout

Jonathan Hemingway is a National Evaluator for the OTRHoopsReport. He is also the publisher of CoachHemi.com. He has been involved in the community since 1996 as a coach, camp director and evaluator. You can reach him via email at JonathanHemingway@PeachStateBasketball.com and follow him on twitter @JLHemingwayPSB