Phenom Hoop Report

Scouting Report: Thursday, January 19^th, 2012

Event: Player Profile- AJ Hammons

Evaluator: Rick Lewis

Twitter: @Coach_Rick57

Website: www.phenomhoopreport.com

Phenom Quote of the Day: “Play as a team and eliminate all thoughts of personal glory.”

Phenom Hoop Report Philosophy: “Balanced, thorough and detailed evaluations based upon the 3 P’s philosophy of Performance, Production, and Potential”

While the Phenom Hoop Report is a relatively newcomer to the scouting business, no one in the business provides a more thoroughly and detailed evaluation of prospects. We have been in business for approximately three years and our service has grown tremendously in this short period of time. First, the Phenom Hoop report provides evaluations based upon the 3 P’s philosophy of PERFORMANCE, PRODUCTIVITY, and POTENTIAL and has used the 3 legged approach of using evaluations from high school, AAU and exposure events as a basis for our thorough and detailed evaluations. Second, we have provided an in depth analysis of player’s intangibles and discovered players before they became household names on the national recruiting circuit. Third, we dive into the fact that the most important intangible in a recruit is their ability to produce WINS and make their team better! (What a novel idea!) Fourth, we try to provide both positive and constructive evaluations based upon their actual play, and not always on their sheer potential. There is no question that many of today’s showcased/hyped players simply don’t know how to win and simply don’t know how to play team basketball. At the end of the day, basketball is still a team sport and we will continue to report how prospects perform in terms of performance and productivity and not just hype and potential. The words of former great UCLA Coach John Wooden are a perfect example of my illustration today. “The more you give, the more you get.  Everyone wants to be around those who give because they are winners.  You can gain great satisfaction from helping someone/ your team reaches their goal. Basketball is a great opportunity to help your teammates.  You can help them score by passing them the ball, help them out on defense if they get beat and in general make the other players around you better by being unselfish. Also remember that helping others can be small acts of kindness every single day, not just big ones.”

First order of today is to dedicate today’s issue of the Phenom Hoop Report to Coach Freddy Johnson of Greensboro Day School. On January 7^th, Coach Johnson recorded his 819 career victory making him the winningest coach in North Carolina high school history. I first met Coach Johnson four years ago when both my sons were playing for Forsyth Country Day. At the time, Greensboro Day was the school’s biggest rival. Over the past four years, FCDS and GDS had some great contests, but the thing that stood out about Coach Johnson is he is a great high school coach, but even a better human being. His teams are all about fundamentals and playing the game the right way. Without question, Coach Freddy Johnson is a class act and a true friend today.

BLAST FROM THE PAST MOMENT

Often, we like to go back to the Phenom Hoop Report archives and examine our comments when many players were not household names. In today’s “Blast from the Past” moment we will look at current freshman Anthony Davis of Kentucky.

June 21^st, 2010 Issue

Player: 6’10 Anthony Davis

High School: Perspective Church

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Commitment: Undecided

While watching Davis, I was impressed with his overall skill sets. He has good ball handling and passing skills for a young 6’10 prospect, plus he had good mechanics on his jump shot and especially his free throws. Davis was named the camp’s MOP (Most Outstanding Prospect) and deservingly so!  There is little doubt Davis is a top 10 prospect and could easily be a top 5 prospect after his consistent and impressive performance at the 4 day event. While Davis is long and athletic, one cannot question his ability to his physical attributes, but also the intangibles. On the defensive end, his length causes problems for opposing offensive players, and once the ball is rebounded, you can count on Davis running the floor in transition. He has extremely good hand-eye coordination, but also possesses extremely soft hands. While Davis is effective on the interior, he can step out and knock down the open jumper, but more importantly is his ability to put the ball on the floor.  Remember, Davis was 6’3 last year and grew 6 inches in one year so this may explain his ability to handle the ball and make excellent passes. He is also fundamentally sound and has outstanding basketball IQ. When you add this athletic ability along with his size and length plus his fundamentals, you are talking about one of the high elite level players in the 2011 class.

PHENOM HOOP REPORT FEATURE PLAYER

Our feature player today is 7’0 AJ Hammons of Oak Hill Academy. We will examine the future Boilermaker with earlier evaluations and today’s evaluation of the talented center. The first time we observed AJ Hammons was the summer of 2010 at the Nike Hoop Jamboree in St. Louis, Missouri.

June 23^rd, 2010 Issue

Player: 6’11 A.J.  Hammons

High School: Carmel HS

City: Carmel, IN

Class: 2012

Phenom Hoop Report: HM

6’11 big man that runs the floor and has good hands is truly a blessing.  Hammons has solid fundamentals and has good moves in the paint.  He displayed a jump hook using either hand. Hammons has the ability to step out and knock down the mid range jumper, and displays a rather nice soft shooting touch. On the other hand, Hammons needs to improve his “toughness” and play at a higher level on a more consistent basis. Hammons has all the physical tools and a compliment of fundamentals and skill, but definitely needs to develop more passion and heart during an event. Hammons started off the event with a bang, but his play definitely tampered off after each camp game. Hammons best game was his first & second game.

September 2^nd, 2011 Issue

Player: 6’11 A.J. Hammons

High School: Oak Hill Academy

Hometown: Carmel, IN

Class: 2012

Phenom Hoop Report: We first watched Hammons two summers ago at the Nike Top 100 camp in St. Louis, MO. Without question, Hammons has tremendous size. He is a wide body center that can occupy a lot of space on the low block. Hammonds has a “super soft” shooting touch around the basket and has the ability to use either hand. In addition, one of his strongest attributes is his “soft hands.” Over the past 2 years, Hammons’ rankings have dropped due to his “perceived lack of effort” at times. It is very difficult to argue that his young man has a tremendous upside when he is motivated to being as good as his potential. Simply put, this young man is a “sleeping giant” and once the “light bulb” goes off on a consistent basis, Hammons has the ability and potential to be as good as he wants to be. If yesterday was any indication, he looked motivated and played with the ability many expect out of his young man. He was dominant in the post as he continually used his wide body and big frame to post up on the low block. He worked hard to gain an advantage and if the opposing player plays behind him, he has an excellent shooting touch around the basket. Definitely a top 100 prospect or higher in the 2012 class!

When asked what schools were his favorites, he mentioned he was “wide open.” He did state Purdue, Minnesota, Cincinnati, and Wake Forest have all showed a lot of interest in his services. While we currently have Hammonds ranked #77, he does have the ability to be much more of an impact at the college level if he brings it every game and if his determination matches his skill set, watch out!

October 27^th, 2011 Issue

Player: 7’0 AJ Hammons

Hometown: Indianapolis, IN

School: Oak Hill

Class: 2012

Verbal: Purdue

Evaluation: The best way to describe Hammons is “Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Hammons tallied 7 points, 8 rebounds, and blocks several shots. He just needs to give 100% effort 100% of the time. He has the physical presence to dominate high school games and at times shows glimpses of stardom

November 29^th, 2011 Issue

Player: AJ Hammons

Grade: 168

PPG: 7.7

RPG: 7.2

APG:

FG%: 63%

FT%: 68%

Comment: Hammons has shown signs of dominance especially on the defensive end of the floor. He is averaging 5.1 shots per game and has gone 32-51 from the floor for 63% while hitting 13-19 from the free throw line for 68%. He leads the team in rebounds (72) and blocked shots (45) Hammons has developed a nice jump hook shot on the low block and has been efficient and effective. The next step in his development is to continue to play with passion and purpose for the entire game. His presence in the middle will be crucial to the overall success of Oak Hill this season against bigger and more athletic teams.

January 19^th, 2012

Player: AJ Hammons

PPG: 7.5

RPG: 7.9

BPG: 3.6

FG%: 64%

Evaluation: With the exception of the game against Millers Grove on national TV, Hammons has excelled in all of Oak Hill’s key match-up games against nationally ranked teams. Against Millers Grove, he got whistles for two quick “nickel dime” calls and his foul problems prevented him from playing his normal game. While Hammons does have a tendency to play down to the competition, but he also has a tendency to play up against the best competition and it has been his steady improvement and development that has projected Hammons into a Top 50 player nationally in our opinion. While his overall stats will not “wow” you, it is his presence on the defensive end of the court that is impressive. In the blowout win over Prestonwood, his sheer presence on the interior set the tone for the Warriors of Oak Hill and his play on the second half of the season will help determine the chances/opportunity of giving Coach Steve Smith and Oak Hill its 8^th National High School Championship.