Pt. 6 City of Basketball Love exposure camp top players:
Robert Smith 6’0” ’20 Bishop McDevitt HS (Wyncote, PA) – Smith does not play like he’s 6’0” as he was battling hard inside for tough scores and rebounds but balanced it out with some perimeter baskets to show his versatility. He has a nice motor and goes nonstop till the final buzzer and he is especially effective on the defensive end as he harasses his man into turnovers and bad decisions. He’s especially good inside as he waits for bigs to bring the ball down where he can get a piece of it to dislodge it for the steal. He has developed a nice looking jump shot with range to the arc and in one game he hit two nice pull up treys one from each side and of course he got to the basket for tough finishes in traffic including one where a defender was on his arm but he powered up and sank the bucket off the window. While he doesn’t have the feel of a PG he still makes a sweet pass or two every game as he continues to grow as a player.
Elijah Washington 5’10” ’19 Hempfield Senior HS )Landisville, PA) – The epitome of smooth was Washington as he was even keeled all the way through and when he sped his game up he still exhibited a degree of calm that rubbed off on his teammates. He was an adept handler of the basketball and used an assortment of crossover and change of direction moves to get to the basket where he could finish with a quick burst or a pull up jumper. He had good court vision to spot back door cutters or open shooters and was proficient in getting them the rock. He seemed to ignore the arc as a shooter preferring to get inside or pop from the midrange area but his form looked fine from that standpoint. He also was a savvy defender getting a few strip steals while being able to turn guys over on the perimeter. He has a well rounded game and I wonder if he might be considering a prep year if nothing materializes this year.
David Kamwanga 6’6” ’20 Lancaster, PA Catholic HS – This young man grew on me the more I watched him from his ability to catch the ball in a crowd to his big motor that won’t let him quit on a play. He has a strong frame and was dominant on the glass piling up rebounds on both ends and showing an ability to get put backs after offensive boards against strong opposition. He moves well all around the interior and was doing a nice job of sealing his man despite the fact that his guards weren’t freely giving the ball up. His offense from what I’ve seen is confined to the 8 foot and in range but he was still an effective weapon there. He was quite active as a defender bodying up his interior counterparts and along with some blocked shots he altered a half a dozen others. He has a nice upside and there is no question he is trending upward as he enters his junior season.
Scott Spann 6’2” ’19 Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter (Philadelphia, PA) – I mentioned before that Spann is one of those players that for some reason the ball finds him instead of the other way around and having watched him quite a bit over the last two years it’s easy to see why. He is first and foremost a good athlete with a high motor and an intensity that is plain to see as you watch him moving about the court. Defensively he is a pitbull playing a physical brand of ball that wilts some opponents and he has decent quickness that nets him steals and deflections that can set the tone in a game in his teams favor. He had several offensive rebound put back slams where he went way up to slam them home and he is developing a nice repertoire of offensive moves from hitting the trey to hitting runners in the paint not to mention his penchant for getting to the bucket for in traffic scores. He’s also a solid rebounder and has worked on improving his passing game to keep opponents off kilter and he has attracted plenty of D-II interest along the way.
Fatayn Wesley 5’7” ’19 Imhotep Institute Charter (Philadelphia, PA) – It’s been established that Wesley is the best on ball defender in Philly and the surrounding suburbs and I can report with absolute authority that nothing has changed as of today. Wesley was the top defender here and it wasn’t really that close as guys made plays but nowhere close to the mayhem he commands. He was picking pockets left and right and in a bit of levity he picked one players pocket and was off to the races before said victim knew he’d been had and the look on his face told you all you needed to know. He has skill at the other end as well and he put that to the test by knocking down a few treys off the catch in the wing areas and he did a nice job weaving inside the arc to hit a couple pull up jumpers off the bounce. He also uses his strong handle to not only break pressure but also to get to the basket where he can hit some floaters and despite that he sometimes challenges the big guys inside he does win some of those battles with the kiss off the glass layup. His solid passing skills are also not to be overlooked as he has good floor vision to pick his spots to deliver the laser pass for the score. His size has been an issue in his recruitment but several D-II schools really like his competitive nature and the fact that simply put he’s a winner.