Published on January 14, 2017 by Clark Francis
Roselle (Catholic) NJ beat Hartford (Weaver) CT, 96-76, in the first game of the day on the third of action at this year's Spalding Hoop Hall Classic, which is being held at Blake Arena in Springfield, MA and is always one of the highlights of the entire winter. And the big story here was the impressive performance turned in by 6'11 Jr Nazeron Reid from Roselle (Catholic) NJ, as he finished with a triple-double that included 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. He also had five blocked shots, three steals, and 7-14 field goals and this is important, because it could be an important turning point in his career. If you will recall, Reid has a long history of disappearing in big games, being a classic underachiever, not having a takeover mentality, and spending too much time negating his size, strength, and athleticism by playing out on the perimeter. In other words, he checks in on the Sixteenth Team on our recently published HOOP SCOOP All-American Teams based more on potential than what he's actually accomplished thus far in career. However, maybe the light has now clicked on and it will be interesting to see if this becomes a trend, instead of an aberration.
We move onto the second game of the day, where 6'1 Jr Jahvon Quinerly and 6'4 Jr Luther Muhammad combined for 49 points and 16-27 field goals, as they led Jersey City (Hudson Catholic) NJ to 62-53 victory over San Antonio (St. Anthony Catholic) TX. Quinerly also finished with five rebounds, four assists, two turnovers, and two steals and he pretty much picked up where he left off when we saw him a month ago in Culligan City of Palms Classic with his ability to make those around him better, explosiveness in transition, great moves to the basket, and good old-fashioned Jersey toughness. And to make the story even more interesting is the fact that Quinerly is now making strong case for being the best pure point guard prospect in the Class of 2018 and a top recruiting priority for the University of Arizona, as is evident by the fact the Wildcats assistant coaches Mark Phelps and Emanuel Richardson were both highly visible sitting right behind the basket during the entire gamer.
Muhammad also knocked down 2-4 3-pointers and, when the outside shot is going down, the athletic 2-guard is good enough to be ranked among the top 50 players nationally in the Class of 2018. However, consistency is not his forte and he has a tendency to be a stock market player, which explains why he is ranked no higher than #100 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP. On the other hand, 6'8 Jr Louis King from Jersey City (Hudson Catholic) NJ was a major disappointment, as this long athletic combo forward finished with only four points, nine rebounds, two blocked shots, and two steals. But maybe being matched up inside against 6'11 Soph Charles Bassey from St. Antonio (St. Anthony Catholic) TX had something to do with it, as our #3-ranked sophomore nationally finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds, five blocked shots, four steals, and 7-11 field goals. However, even more important, this was a tough match-up for King, because Bassey's game is more finesse than power, he has the skills and versatility necessary to play both inside and outside, and, although their games are similar, Bassey is a much better player.
Roselle (Catholic) NJ beat Hartford (Weaver) CT, 96-76, in the first game of the day on the third of action at this year's Spalding Hoop Hall Classic, which is being held at Blake Arena in Springfield, MA and is always one of the highlights of the entire winter. And the big story here was the impressive performance turned in by 6'11 Jr Nazeron Reid from Roselle (Catholic) NJ, as he finished with a triple-double that included 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. He also had five blocked shots, three steals, and 7-14 field goals and this is important, because it could be an important turning point in his career. If you will recall, Reid has a long history of disappearing in big games, being a classic underachiever, not having a takeover mentality, and spending too much time negating his size, strength, and athleticism by playing out on the perimeter. In other words, he checks in on the Sixteenth Team on our recently published HOOP SCOOP All-American Teams based more on potential than what he's actually accomplished thus far in career. However, maybe the light has now clicked on and it will be interesting to see if this becomes a trend, instead of an aberration.
We move onto the second game of the day, where 6'1 Jr Jahvon Quinerly and 6'4 Jr Luther Muhammad combined for 49 points and 16-27 field goals, as they led Jersey City (Hudson Catholic) NJ to 62-53 victory over San Antonio (St. Anthony Catholic) TX. Quinerly also finished with five rebounds, four assists, two turnovers, and two steals and he pretty much picked up where he left off when we saw him a month ago in Culligan City of Palms Classic with his ability to make those around him better, explosiveness in transition, great moves to the basket, and good old-fashioned Jersey toughness. And to make the story even more interesting is the fact that Quinerly is now making strong case for being the best pure point guard prospect in the Class of 2018 and a top recruiting priority for the University of Arizona, as is evident by the fact the Wildcats assistant coaches Mark Phelps and Emanuel Richardson were both highly visible sitting right behind the basket during the entire gamer.
Muhammad also knocked down 2-4 3-pointers and, when the outside shot is going down, the athletic 2-guard is good enough to be ranked among the top 50 players nationally in the Class of 2018. However, consistency is not his forte and he has a tendency to be a stock market player, which explains why he is ranked no higher than #100 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP. On the other hand, 6'8 Jr Louis King from Jersey City (Hudson Catholic) NJ was a major disappointment, as this long athletic combo forward finished with only four points, nine rebounds, two blocked shots, and two steals. But maybe being matched up inside against 6'11 Soph Charles Bassey from St. Antonio (St. Anthony Catholic) TX had something to do with it, as our #3-ranked sophomore nationally finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds, five blocked shots, four steals, and 7-11 field goals. However, even more important, this was a tough match-up for King, because Bassey's game is more finesse than power, he has the skills and versatility necessary to play both inside and outside, and, although their games are similar, Bassey is a much better player.
