Great competition once again this weekend at the Tarkanian Classic from the prep school and the high school divisions. Now I’m going to discuss some of the players and teams that caught my eye during the tournament.
Luis Salgado (2016 Foothills Christian) – Luis, in my opinion, was the best shooters throughout the tournament. I don’t remember him missing a three pointer in the four games. His play was consistent the entire trip. He never made mistakes, rebounded the ball well, and stretched the floor out to open lanes for the attackers on Foothills. He needs to improve his handle and finishing in traffic. If he can improve both of those, the 6'5 wing will gain some interest.
Morgan Means (2016 Redondo Union) – Means made a name for himself during the event by making a positive impact on every game on both ends of the court. He is player that you can have guard the opposition’s best player while still being able to create shots for himself and teammates on the other end. He can finish at the rim and also make shots on the perimeter. If his play continue at this level he will see a big rise in his recruitment.
Anthony Mathis (2015 West Linn) – The New Mexico commit looked very good the couple of games I saw him play. As a knockdown shooter, if he get a open shot, there’s a good chance that it’ll be going. He’s also a very solid defender keeping his man in front a lot. Mathis is also very capable of finishing around the basket. His only problem is sometimes he doesn’t get the ball for a while and you’ll forget that he is out there (on the court. To improve, Mathis) needs to become more assertive.
Jules Bernard (2018 Windward) – Bernard may have ended up on the wrong end of a Stephen Zimmerman dunk this weekend but, otherwise, he had a very impressive tournament. The first 6’6” Bernard played big, handling himself well against Chase Jeter and Stephen Zimmerman. In his first touch of the game, in the middle, he caught the ball at high post, one dribble, put his chest into Zimmerman, and went up finishing through him. Bernard is a hard nose competitor, fearlessly playing hard regardless of his opponent. who is fearless no matter who he is playing against just going out and playing as hard as he can. With his 6’6 body, sometimes he has played out of position at post, though he still battles hard. Bernard is a natural wing spot, as he has a decent handle and can get past guys, but is also capable of knockdown perimeter shots. He’s young, but Bernard has a chance to be special.
Josh Jackson (2016 Prolific Prep) – This was my first time seeing Jackson play in person, and it was a treat to see all of which he is capable. Jackson’s first three plays against Faith Baptist were incredible. He won the tip against a 7’5 player, then caught a lob the same play. Next play down the court, he caught the ball on the right wing, jab steps toward middle, attacks baseline, takes off from outside the key, and dunks the ball ferocious over two defenders. The last play down, he comes off a pick and roll, dropping a nice pass down to the big for a easy basket. Josh Jackson is arguably the best player in high school in any class.
Tyson Jolly (2015 Putnam City West) – The Tarkanian Classic was a coming out party for Jolly, who currently has no Division I offers— which I’m pretty sure will change sometime soon. Jolly is a hard nose wing player, who gives it his all every game that he plays in. On the offense end of the court, he can do everything: shooting the three ball, finishing strong at the rim, and creating shots for others. On the defensive end, he can guard one through five and is a very tough rebounder. Jolly is a hard working player that if you don’t know his name, you should learn it right now.
Frank Jackson (2016 Lone Peak) – Last time I saw Frank Jackson play was in the spring, and since then Jackson has put on some weight and improved his game. Every night he steps on the court he is capable of a huge performance, his first step— one of the best in the country—gets him right pass the defender and straight line to the basic. Jackson has the best pull up jumper of any player in high school right now, and stops on a dime to elevate over defenders to make it. He is also very capable getting downhill and finishing creatively around the basket. The former BYU commit will have every school in country recruiting and it’ll be interesting to see what happens with his recruitment.
TJ Leaf (2016 Foothills Christian) – Since the circuit you can see lots of improvement in Leaf’s game and motor. One of the better skills he has developed is his rebounding, where he now grabs every rebound at top of the rim, keeping the ball high when he comes down with it. His consistency on his jump shots is greatly improved, making him increasingly dangerous on the offensive end. Leaf is also a very unselfish player; whenever he gets double-teamed or sees a open teammate, he gets them the ball in a scoring or play making position. Starting to realize he can takeover games at any moment, Leaf at 6’10 with his ball handling , shooting ability plus athleticism makes him a difficult guard for bigs and almost impossible for guards to defend him.
