Boston Warrior AAU Boy's Basketball: Warrior News: More Massachusetts Talent on Hand in the 17-Under State Tournament - Williams Excells
More Massachusetts Talent on Hand in the 17-Under State Tournament
by Phil Kasiecki
MARION, Mass. - The 17-under state AAU in Massachusetts is in the books, and it ended in quite a fashion.
After the semifinal rounds, the only four teams left were already guaranteed bids to the 17-under AAU national tournament at the end of July. A few had earned them prior to this event, and the end result would make no difference in that regard. In light of that, and the day being Mother's Day, the championship game and the third place game were both not played. All eight teams that reached the quarterfinal round will participate in Orlando.
Expectations were high entering the tournament after last year's 16-under state tournament gave reason for optimism. The class of 2008 looked very good, with a number of good prospects and many more who looked to have a chance to be a Division I prospect. Nothing was a given, but a year later, it would appear that a relatively small percentage in that category will pan out as such. Massachusetts is often full of Division II and III prospects, and the class of 2008 appears to have more good Division II prospects than low Division I prospects. There is still time for that to change.
Part of why the optimism isn't as high at this point is also because this tournament didn't have as many of the top prospects in the class as last year did in the 16-under. A few are now regularly playing for programs in nearby states, while others have changed to travel teams that do not participate in the state AAU.
With that out of the way, let's take a look at some of the noteworthy prospects we saw in this weekend's playoff rounds.
Class of 2009
by Phil Kasiecki
MARION, Mass. - The 17-under state AAU in Massachusetts is in the books, and it ended in quite a fashion.
After the semifinal rounds, the only four teams left were already guaranteed bids to the 17-under AAU national tournament at the end of July. A few had earned them prior to this event, and the end result would make no difference in that regard. In light of that, and the day being Mother's Day, the championship game and the third place game were both not played. All eight teams that reached the quarterfinal round will participate in Orlando.
Expectations were high entering the tournament after last year's 16-under state tournament gave reason for optimism. The class of 2008 looked very good, with a number of good prospects and many more who looked to have a chance to be a Division I prospect. Nothing was a given, but a year later, it would appear that a relatively small percentage in that category will pan out as such. Massachusetts is often full of Division II and III prospects, and the class of 2008 appears to have more good Division II prospects than low Division I prospects. There is still time for that to change.
Part of why the optimism isn't as high at this point is also because this tournament didn't have as many of the top prospects in the class as last year did in the 16-under. A few are now regularly playing for programs in nearby states, while others have changed to travel teams that do not participate in the state AAU.
With that out of the way, let's take a look at some of the noteworthy prospects we saw in this weekend's playoff rounds.
Class of 2009
Stevie Mejia (5'8" PG, Groton (MA) Lawrence Academy) Now with a more mature body, this Rhode Island commit looks even better. He's the type of sparkplug point guard that makes a team go and can score the ball well, which he did often off the dribble this weekend as he went for 21, 14 and 18 points in three games we saw.
Class of 2009
Kyon Watkins (6'7" PF, Everett (MA) High) He continues to show some flashes of potential this spring, though at the moment he looks like a project offensively and the game still seems too fast for him at times. He already has a good body and rebounds well for someone who doesn't know how to box out, so some of the potential can be seen. He demonstrated better passing and occasional ball skills, while one nice move he made was a lefty jump hook.
Akeem Williams (5'11" SG, Brockton (MA) Avon HS) After shooting the lights out for most of last weekend in the 16-under, he played up this weekend and put up more big numbers, including 49 in his team's quarterfinal loss (to Metro Boston and Stevie Mejia). He still had the touch from long range, but showed more ball skills and more ability running a team and also scored more frequently off the dribble, which will only help since it will keep defenders honest about his jumper.
Phil Kasiecki is Managing Editor of Hoopville and lives in Boston. He can be contacted by clicking here.
Class of 2009
Kyon Watkins (6'7" PF, Everett (MA) High) He continues to show some flashes of potential this spring, though at the moment he looks like a project offensively and the game still seems too fast for him at times. He already has a good body and rebounds well for someone who doesn't know how to box out, so some of the potential can be seen. He demonstrated better passing and occasional ball skills, while one nice move he made was a lefty jump hook.
Akeem Williams (5'11" SG, Brockton (MA) Avon HS) After shooting the lights out for most of last weekend in the 16-under, he played up this weekend and put up more big numbers, including 49 in his team's quarterfinal loss (to Metro Boston and Stevie Mejia). He still had the touch from long range, but showed more ball skills and more ability running a team and also scored more frequently off the dribble, which will only help since it will keep defenders honest about his jumper.
Phil Kasiecki is Managing Editor of Hoopville and lives in Boston. He can be contacted by clicking here.
