Siena Team Camp Recap

Section 2 teams produced quality play from some of its representation at Siena team camp this weekend.  Shawn McNeil a 6’3” forward from Stillwater provides an offensive charge for his team. He is strong and plays excellent defense.  Cohoes has had an outstanding weekend behind the strong guard play of 5’10” ball handler Eli Newsome.  Ravena has a legitimate junior college or division 3 talent in the performance we observed by Desmond Williams a 6’4” forward for the Indians. Schalmont is led by 6’3” forward Dominic Caputo. Caputo has a variety of offensive moves including a very nice drive and mid-range game and is a gritty defender who takes pride in stopping his opponent. Voorheesville has had a good performance led by new coach David Burch and his rising junior prospect 6’4” forward Logan Hotailing who can handle the ball, pass, has good foot work with his back to the basket. He also provides a very good shooting threat for his team. Lastly out of section 2 we can provide Garrett Pitcher from Berne-Knox-Westerlo. Garrett is a 6’4” forward that can finish consistently around the basket and possesses the best foot work that we observed this weekend thus far. He has averaged better than 20ppg through 5 games and is a highly desirable division 3 recruit as of right now based on his size, strength and most impressive skill set. Section 2 can expect big things from these players based on this very early preview.

Other impressive performances were noted from players out of NYS Section 1 schools such as Ian Thom a 6’0 combo guard from Croton Harmon. Ian can pass very well in transition and has impressive accuracy with his jump shot. Ian is drawing D2 attention according to his High School coach. Marquis Smith a 5’9” combo guard from class A Ketcham brings a driving tempo with his speed and quickness. He has great defensive anticipation and college level athleticism. Marquis is a valuable contributor with his jump shot and transition game. Another standout is Umar Singh a 6’4” 220 pound power forward out of perennial small school power North Salem. Other clear college level potential prospects, at the division 2 or 3 level out of section 1, that we observed, came from Brian Daniels a strong 6’4” big man with and impressively strong build from Briarcliff High School and Kevin Degnan of Pearl River High School. Section 1 has certainly provided itself with a strong and talent rich performance this weekend. Clarkson North boasted an impressive performance from its small forward Vinny Lleshaj a 6’1” guard who is a tremendous decision maker, great passer, solid 3 point scorer and overall contributor for his team.

Section 3 posted one of its premier programs with four notable players. Main-Endwell provided exceptional performance contributions to the class A talent pool. College level play came from the following players out of this program. A 6’6” rising senior forward Chris Heimes holds down the middle and can produce offensively with good foot work and a nice short range touch. This young teams offense is led by a rising junior named Kyle Gallagher a 6’4” guard/small forward who averaged 16ppg 4rpg and team leading 3 assists per game this past high school season as a sophomore. Help from classmate Alec Wisniewski a 6’1” slashing small forward type player and Jake Sinicki a 6’4” prospect who can handle the ball, shoot the mid-range and long ball and get to the rim very quickly which makes him a top all-around multi position contributor. It was no surprise to see Maine-Endwell fare so well in competition in the A schools bracket this weekend.

Section 4’s Bishop Ludden is coming off of a NYS public high school Class B championship in its 2011-2012 campaign. It returns much of its young talent. Most notable present at camp this weekend is Ben Hackett a 6’2” guard who possesses a tremendous vertical leap and very good ball handling. Ben is a talented transition player who has quickness and intuition both offensively and defensively. We were most impressed by teammate Daniel Kaigler. Daniel is a 6’4” power forward who is very talented and has an impressive upside to his size and game. He can play above the rim and has solid foot work of the bounce and pivot. He has a nice touch to his jumper and is a good free throw shooter. We are looking for big things from Daniel this winter based on what we have seen of him already in the state tournament and here at Siena.

Lastly, although out of our area of coverage we would like to mention New Market New Hampshire stand out Christian Hawkins.  Christian is a 5’11” 191 pound combo guard that has impressive athleticism that allows him a strong drive. He is a solid shooter and talented playmaker. Christian works out with the Integrity Hoops training program out of New Hampshire.