Basketball: Provo's Davies is blowing up in Vegas
Utah and BYU lost the battle for one in-state basketball star from the class of 2009, Pleasant Grove's C.J. Wilcox -- who has committed to Washington -- and now it appears they will both have a tussle on their hands for another: Provo forward/center Brandon Davies.
The 6-foot-8 Davies is blowing up in Las Vegas this week, according to several scouts and club coaches I've talked to today. He's played so well that even Louisville coach Rick Pitino has asked about him. So have coaches from Arizona State and Gonzaga.
"He's been a monster down here," said his club coach, Todd Phillips of Utah Pump N Run Red. "He has turned the corner these last few months."
Utah Pump N Run Red went 3-0 in pool play in the adidas Super 64 Tournament, and plays Team A.C.C.E.S.S. out of Washington Thursday afternoon in the first round of single-elimination bracket play.
Phillips said Davies has averaged more than 20 points and 15 rebounds a game so far, and he dropped 24 points on the Southern California All-Stars in an 81-68 win on Tuesday.
"When we were in Phoenix, a college scout told me that if Davies were from California, he would be a top-100 recruit [in the country]," Phillips said.
Davies is still sitting on offers from BYU, Utah and Utah State, and I know for certain that BYU wants him desperately. African-American basketball players who are LDS and in the Cougars' own backyard don't come around all that often, obviously.
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Davies' top teammates on Pump N Run Red include Provo's Kyle Collinsworth (who will be a junior), Granger's Ray Tupusoa, Timpanogos' Skyler Halford (who has graduated, but has not earned a college scholarship and is still 17, so he's eligible to play), Orem's Ian Harward, Bountiful's Sean Carey and Pablo Coro, the Chilean we mentioned in a previous post who will play at Orem High this winter.
Collinsworth has also played well and "his stock is definitely going up," Phillips said. "We are outplaying teams with kids who are going to Louisville and other places."
Tupusoa, a combo guard, is averaging 13-15 points a game in Vegas and is starting to get some interest from Weber State and Montana. "He's our best penetrator," Phillips said.
Halford is already listed on Utah State's roster and will probably walk-on with the Aggies, unless a last-minute offer comes in that he likes.
Harward, the 6-10 big guy from Orem, is still sitting on an offer from Utah State, but sources say he wants to go to BYU and he is still waiting for an offer from the Cougars, who have told him to give them a couple more weeks to decide. My guess is that it hinges on what Davies decides.
Bountiful's Carey, a 6-5 or 6-6 wing, is drawing interest from Weber State and Southern Utah, but doesn't have an offer yet.
Phillips confirmed what we had in a previous post about Coro. He's a big, strong, 6-2 guard who jumps well and is in the mold of Juan Pablo Silveira, the guard from Murray's Mount Vernon Academy who played for Weber State for a few years but has left the program a year early.
Woods Cross' Tyler Staheli and Skyline's Ryan Osterloh come off the bench for the team and are probably junior college-type players.
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Utah Pump N Run's other 17-under team in the tournament, Pump N Run White, went 2-1 in pool play and will meet D.C. Assault from the nation's capitol Thursday night. That team features West Jordan's Reyes Gallegos and Jordan Wierick and other top rising seniors from around the state.
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One of the better prospects in Vegas this week is Andy Brown, a 6-8, 210-pound small forward from Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, Calif. Brown recently said he has narrowed his choices to five schools, and the University of Utah is on the list. He is also considering Arizona, San Diego, Stanford and Cal.
The 6-foot-8 Davies is blowing up in Las Vegas this week, according to several scouts and club coaches I've talked to today. He's played so well that even Louisville coach Rick Pitino has asked about him. So have coaches from Arizona State and Gonzaga.
"He's been a monster down here," said his club coach, Todd Phillips of Utah Pump N Run Red. "He has turned the corner these last few months."
Utah Pump N Run Red went 3-0 in pool play in the adidas Super 64 Tournament, and plays Team A.C.C.E.S.S. out of Washington Thursday afternoon in the first round of single-elimination bracket play.
Phillips said Davies has averaged more than 20 points and 15 rebounds a game so far, and he dropped 24 points on the Southern California All-Stars in an 81-68 win on Tuesday.
"When we were in Phoenix, a college scout told me that if Davies were from California, he would be a top-100 recruit [in the country]," Phillips said.
Davies is still sitting on offers from BYU, Utah and Utah State, and I know for certain that BYU wants him desperately. African-American basketball players who are LDS and in the Cougars' own backyard don't come around all that often, obviously.
------------------------------
Davies' top teammates on Pump N Run Red include Provo's Kyle Collinsworth (who will be a junior), Granger's Ray Tupusoa, Timpanogos' Skyler Halford (who has graduated, but has not earned a college scholarship and is still 17, so he's eligible to play), Orem's Ian Harward, Bountiful's Sean Carey and Pablo Coro, the Chilean we mentioned in a previous post who will play at Orem High this winter.
Collinsworth has also played well and "his stock is definitely going up," Phillips said. "We are outplaying teams with kids who are going to Louisville and other places."
Tupusoa, a combo guard, is averaging 13-15 points a game in Vegas and is starting to get some interest from Weber State and Montana. "He's our best penetrator," Phillips said.
Halford is already listed on Utah State's roster and will probably walk-on with the Aggies, unless a last-minute offer comes in that he likes.
Harward, the 6-10 big guy from Orem, is still sitting on an offer from Utah State, but sources say he wants to go to BYU and he is still waiting for an offer from the Cougars, who have told him to give them a couple more weeks to decide. My guess is that it hinges on what Davies decides.
Bountiful's Carey, a 6-5 or 6-6 wing, is drawing interest from Weber State and Southern Utah, but doesn't have an offer yet.
Phillips confirmed what we had in a previous post about Coro. He's a big, strong, 6-2 guard who jumps well and is in the mold of Juan Pablo Silveira, the guard from Murray's Mount Vernon Academy who played for Weber State for a few years but has left the program a year early.
Woods Cross' Tyler Staheli and Skyline's Ryan Osterloh come off the bench for the team and are probably junior college-type players.
-------------------------------
Utah Pump N Run's other 17-under team in the tournament, Pump N Run White, went 2-1 in pool play and will meet D.C. Assault from the nation's capitol Thursday night. That team features West Jordan's Reyes Gallegos and Jordan Wierick and other top rising seniors from around the state.
-----------------------------------
One of the better prospects in Vegas this week is Andy Brown, a 6-8, 210-pound small forward from Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, Calif. Brown recently said he has narrowed his choices to five schools, and the University of Utah is on the list. He is also considering Arizona, San Diego, Stanford and Cal.
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