LAS VEGAS β By the time Majok Deng soared to the Liberty High School rim to throw down an alley-oop pass late in a Las Vegas Classic game Thursday, it was clear the Powerhouse U16 had enough.
Dengβs dunk gave the Tucson-based travel club a 57-27 lead over the BBC 16 Elite with 1 minute 40 seconds left, prompting Powerhouse coach Jimmie Nelson to plug in a full shift of reserves.
Final score: 59-30.
The easy win clinched first place in a four-team division during pool play, giving Powerhouse a preferred start into bracket play Saturday morning.
Oh, and several high-major coaches caught all the action, too.
This sort of thing doesnβt happen often to teams full of Southern Arizona players, who are sometimes known in the travel-ball world for being undersized and underexposed.
Maybe that changes now.
βEspecially coming out of Tucson, people donβt expect us to do what we can do,β Deng said. βSo we try to come out and represent Tucson. We canβt take anything easy.β
Already, the Powerhouse U16 has seven players getting Division I interest, including Deng, the Salpointe Catholic forward who has received scholarship offers from Arizona, UCLA, Cal, Utah and Vanderbilt.
Then thereβs guard Evan Nelson, who has already received several high-major offers and is attracting the UAβs attention even though he isnβt even a sophomore yet. Lucas Elliott, the nephew of former Arizona and NBA star Sean Elliott, is among the others holding offers. New Mexico and Northern Arizona are among the first to offer the younger Elliott a scholarship.
βItβs a great sign,β said Nelson, the Starβs 2015 Coach of the Year when he was at Palo Verde. βA lot of these guys are out there working, putting us on the map, getting offers in D-I. Overall, the level of basketball in Southern Arizona is coming up quite a bit. I think you can see that in the offers and opportunities that the kids are getting right now.β
Nelson said itβs a trend that sometimes comes in waves, reminding him of when former Tucsonans such as Lester Medford (Baylor) and Shakir Smith (Wyoming) led a cohort playing Division I ball earlier this decade.
Maybe this one starts a trend that becomes permanent.
βItβs a great group of kids,β Nelson said. βA lot of talent. These kids are going to have the opportunity at the next level.β
Continuity helps Powerhouse, too. Jimmie Nelson said he has coached the core of Deng, Evan Nelson and Jackson Ruai (Amphi) for four or five years, and Evan Nelson said he has played with Ruai for seven years.
And although Evan Nelson will have to sit out half of next season under the Arizona Interscholastics Association transfer rule after his move from Mountain View to Salpointe, heβll be reunited with one of his longtime friends and teammates in Deng.
βIβve known him since I came to the statesβ in 2011, said Deng, a refugee of Sudan. βSo for him to make a decision to go to Salpointe, Iβm happy for it.β
βOverall, the level of basketball in Southern Arizona is
coming up quite a bit. I think you can see that in the offers
and opportunities that the kids are getting right now.β Jimmie Nelson, Powerhouse U16 coach
