USC - Arizona State Notes

USC made a furious comeback against Arizona on Thursday night scoring 47 points in the second half. The scoring spree continued on Sunday against Arizona State in a hold your breath 82-79 victory. With the win, the Trojans move to 4-4 in conference play and get some momentum heading into a much anticipated match-up with cross-town rival UCLA (who they went 3-0 against last year) on Wednesday.

Game Notes:

Last year, in USC’s home game against ASU, the Trojans led by double-digits for most of the game. In the final minutes, the Sun Devils went on a torrid last minute run and even had a chance to take a lead with just over a minute left. Tra Holder missed a 3 and USC ended the game on a 10-2 run. This time around, USC was in control for the ball game until another rapid comeback by Arizona State. All of a sudden, it was a 3 point game with the Sun Devils inbounding the ball. Bobby Hurley drew up a beautiful out-of-bounds play to get Torian Graham a wide open look, but the elite athlete couldn’t knock it down. USC held on and forced a Shannon Evans miss to end the game.

Elijah Stewart had struggled in PAC-12 play. The high flying wing had scored 8,10,9,7,0, and 11 points in his first six conference games. Against Arizona, Stewart looked sluggish in the first half with just two points before he hit a 3 entering the half. In the second half, Stewart regained a missing bounce to his step and finished the game with 20 points on five 3’s. The 6’5” junior wasted no time on Sunday scoring 13 quick points in the first 10 minutes of the game on a mixture of 3’s and athletic finishes and ended the game with 29 points on seven 3’s. Stewart hunted his shot from the get go against ASU and will look to continue his hot streak against UCLA.

USC took ONE free throw in the first 38 minutes and finished just 2-3 from the game. It just goes to show that you don’t need free throws when you are cooking from the outside. For the game, USC shot 52% from outside making 14-27. In addition, the team had 22 assists. Ball movement and hot shooting is always a recipe for success.

Andy Enfield went with a different starting line-up as freshman Jonah Matthews got the start. The 6’3” guard attacked the basket in the first half and had his jumper going in the second half as he scored 14 points on 12 shots. Arizona State certainly did not have formidable big men like Arizona did, so the move provided more offensive flexibility with five scoring threats out on the floor.

De’Anthony Melton is a stat stuffing machine despite standing just 6’4”. His shot was off against Arizona State and he went scoreless for the first time in his career. Even though he went scoreless, Melton had 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. Given his versatility, I wouldn’t be surprised if Melton saw a decent amount of action against Lonzo Ball on Wednesday.  

USC played just two bench players. Freshmen Nick Rakocevic turned in one of his best games of the season and Shaqquan Aaron provided steady minutes when he was in the game. Rakocevic finished with 11 points and 8 rebounds as he never forced the issue and finished when the opportunity presented itself. Aaron knocked in his first shot of the game from the right wing and added in several rebounds and a nice assist in the second half. The biggest contribution, only one turnover between the two.

Markus Howard: Torching The Nets

Point guard Markus Howard hasn’t even finished his sophomore year, but the Phoenix native is no stranger to high scoring barrages. After averaging 32.4 points per game this past season at Perry High in Arizona, the 5’11” Howard is fifth in the Nike EYBL in scoring at 20.1 points per game through three EYBL tournaments.

photo courtesy of USA Basketball

Despite coming off the bench for the Las Vegas Prospects, Howard has shined playing for the youngest team in the circuit and he is usually on the court when it counts in crunch time. After dominating the Arizona high school scene with a plethora of 40 point games, the question could have been asked whether Howard’s skill-set would transfer over to the highest level of AAU play. What he lacks in height and length, he makes up for in uncanny instincts and a quick release from behind the arc. Howard is adept at handling the ball with both hands and has a quick first step that gets defenders off balance. While he has trouble finishing amongst the taller defenders in the lane, he can find spots to knock in mid-range jump shots or floaters.

In late April, Howard averaged 18 points per game going 10-25 from deep in front of a host of college coaches in Lexington, KY during the second live period of the spring. Two weeks later in Houston, Howard stepped up his play and averaged 23.3 points per game while shooting 14-27 from three. His top game came in a close 88-84 win over the hometown Houston Hoops squad where the young guard scored a season high 31 points which included six three’s on the day.

With one EYBL tournament left this upcoming week in Minneapolis, the Las Vegas Prospects are tied for third in their division and they are in prime position to secure a Peach Jam bid for July. Once the EYBL regular season ends, Howard will turn his attention to competing for a spot on the 16U USA team that has tryouts starting May 28 in Colorado Springs.

“Oh man, I just want to play my hardest and get a spot on that team,” said Howard. “That would be a once in a life time experience.”

Howard got his first taste of the USA experience last October when he participated in the program’s developmental camp over the course of two days.

“It was good,” Howard noted about the USA camp. “I was really happy to get that opportunity and compete with USA on my chest. I’m looking forward to heading up there again.”

While Howard has an active few weeks coming up, he also made headlines in early spring. After losing to Desert Vista in the Arizona state tournament, Howard de-committed from Arizona State, the local school that he first committed to in August 2014. In addition to opening up his recruitment again, Howard also made the decision to leave Perry, where he was a two time All-Arizona selection to attend basketball powerhouse Findlay Prep.

“I head up in August,” said Howard. “I’m really excited. I think playing in the EYBL will prepare me for Findlay Prep. I’m really looking forward to it and just want to make a great impact on the team.”

As for schools, this time around Howard is planning to take the process slow in order to make sure he makes the correct decision for his future.

“When I de-committed, I realized I had made a decision a little too early,” said Howard. “Now I’m just going to take my time and really get to know the coaches. Both Texas Tech and UNLV offered me. I’ve been hearing from a lot of PAC-12 schools as well.”

As for Arizona State? When Howard de-committed Herb Sendek was still the coach. Now that the Sun Devils have hired Bobby Hurley from Buffalo, the lines of communication are back open between ASU and Howard.

“I talked to Coach Hurley last week and we had a good conversation,” noted Howard while he was in Lexington. “I really like him and he’s a good coach.”

He took the state of Arizona by storm his first two years in high school and now the talented point guard will look to make a national mark. Given his EYBL scoring exploits, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when Howard continues his scoring barrages at one of the top high school programs in the country.

Spring Riser: Brekkott Chapman

photo - Desert News

Each spring there are a few players that rapidly ascend up the high school recruiting rankings during the spring and early summer. For some of these players the jump is attributed to a spike in their performance, while for others it is attributed to increased exposure on the national circuit. For Brekkott Chapman, a 6’8” combo forward out of Roy, Utah, both of these factors played a part in his rapid ascension through the 2014 rankings.

Chapman currently sits un-ranked in Scout.com’s top 100 and at number 87 by Rivals, both of which were made prior to the spring AAU circuit.  When the new rankings are released expect to see a jump into the top 40.

As a junior, Chapman averaged 19 points and 8 rebounds a game as he lead his team to a 17-7 record and the Utah 4A state quarterfinals where they lost to Bountiful 50-44. He finished the year as a top five scorer in 4A, but was held to just two points in their season ending loss as Bountiful harassed him with physical defenders and forced him out of his comfort zone. 

In AAU and camp play, Chapman worked hard to get back into his comfort zone playing for the Utah Prospects on the Under Armour AAU circuit while also attending the Pangos All-American and NBPA Top 100 camps. 

In Charlottesville, VA for the Top 100 camp, Chapman played both forward positions on the offensive and defensive ends and looked comfortable in both spots. 

“I prefer the three, but either the three or four is fine,” Chapman said when asked about his preferred position. 

Standing at 6’8”, Chapman has ideal height for a combo forward, but it’s his jumping and shooting ability that make him a nightmare match-up on the offensive end. On the first night at the NBPA Top 100 camp, a recruiting analyst noted “I had no idea he could do that” after watching Chapman throw down another high-flying dunk. Chapman routinely caught taller defenders off guard as he blew by them on the wing for a dunk or acrobatic finish while also displaying his smooth lefty stroke when given space on the perimeter. 

During the three day Top 100 camp, Chapman showed off his dunking prowess and soft outside touch in every game he played averaging nine points per game. He played on one of the most talented teams in the camp and scored between seven and thirteen points in all seven games with a variety of shots from all over the court. He drained three’s from the wing, but also looked comfortable operating in the paint where he used fundamental post moves and soft fade away jump shots to keep his defenders off balance. 

Due to his light frame, Chapman is not as strong on the defensively as he is offensively, however he was quick to bring up his defensive efforts in Charlottesville. 

“Defensively I’ve been doing really well. I stopped my guy, played really good help defense and just tried to do what I can do,” Chapman noted

With his recent play, Chapman has drawn interest from a majority of west coast schools with Arizona and UCLA being the latest big names to show interest. While the heavy hitters in the Pac-12 are starting to pay attention it was the three local schools (BYU, Utah, and Utah State) that were on him the earliest to go along with Gonzaga and Arizona State. For now, Chapman plans to play out the summer which includes stops in LA, Milwaukee, and Vegas before deciding on what schools he wants to visit.

While Chapman is not sure about what schools to visit, he is positive that his high school team will make another state tournament run.

“I feel that we will have a better squad this year with the other juniors coming back that all work really hard and I think we can make it to the finals,” Chapman said. 

When his play over the past few months, Chapman has shown recruiting analysts and college coaches his multi-dimensional skill set. After mixing it up as a combo forward with some of the best players in the country, one can be sure that Chapman will not shy away from physical play come his senior year.