Bay State Magic College Showcase recap from Wednesday night

     The Bay State Magic held their college showcase Wednesday night at Brandeis University. Many coaches from the Division II and III ranks were in attendance and players from AAU programs across the state (Bay State Magic, Prodigy, Mass Premier, Mass Evolution, BABC, Boston Warriors, and the Middlesex Magic) put their skills on display. As many readers of Beantownhoops know, our focus has always been on the players whose teams participate at the MIAA level and here are some of the players I took note of:

Dan Powers (BSM 2012) of Catholic Memorial put on a shooting display and drained a variety of shots off the dribble and from the arc. Dan has a very quick release and good size for a two guard. He looks to be a key component of a CM team that tied for the league title last year.....Don't know what's in the water in Attleboro, but three players showed great improvement since I saw them last. Mahlik Johnson (2011) is a strong guard who can play both the point and shooting positions, but is more suited for the one position. He was very unselfish during the showcase and should be a solid contributor for Attleboro H.S. Justin Perron (2011) and Tim LeBlanc (2011) of North Attleboro showed that their performances at the S.E.S. showcase were no flukes and look to have North as a potential Beantownhoops.com Top 25 team this year.....New Mission's Kachi Nzerem (2011) was impressive again. After a strong showing at the BU Team Camp last weekend, Kachi was his same athletic self, draining threes and wowing the audience with his dunks and athleticism. Any DI or DII's not taking notice of the 6'4" shooting guard better start taking notice.....Staying with New Mission, how is Osmel Odena (2010) still on the board! He is a point guard who is athletic, can score, defend, and is coachable. There were concerns that he was not a qualifier, but Head Coach Cory McCarthy confirmed with me that he is a qualifier and he is mulling a variety of options at this point. Any DI or DII who needs a point guard needs to look at this prospect.....Jacquil Taylor (2013) of Cambridge looks like he has grown even more. Already one of the best defenders in the state, Jacquil showed improved offensive skills at the showcase along with his strengths of running the floor and finishing at the rim......On a coaching note, congratulations to Paul Wholey, who was in attendance, on becoming the head coach at Framingham State.