By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
My road to find out about the nation’s top-ranked girls basketball team – St. Mary’s of Stockton, Calif. – was detoured 30 miles south to Modesto on Saturday.
Turned out this wayward turn was worth taking.
I learned 18 hours late that the much-anticipated clash between St. Mary’s and eight-time Northern California Division I champion Berkeley had been cancelled due to an insurance snafu at the neutral site (Chavez High, Stockton).
Whatever.
Rather than waste a 90-minute drive I thought of my old Santa Barbara High baseball coach Fred Warrecker, who among many life lessons taught me to do the next best thing.
If you bobble a grounder and can’t get the guy at first, he’d say, fake a throw there anyway and try to pick the guy off second.
Likewise, if you forget to check the local reports and drive to an empty gym, find another with some one or team worth watching.
Luckily for me, I found a jewel in UCLA-bound Reeves Nelson, the nation’s 14th best junior according to CSTV.
The 6-foot-7, 225-pound forward and his highly-touted Modesto Christian squad was just down Interstate 99 taking on a very strong Skyline (Oakland) team that featured Loyola Marymount-bound guard Kwame Vaughn.
What a treat.
The icing on the roundball was Modesto Christian 6-4 point guard D.J. Seeley, a transfer from Tokay who has signed a letter of intent to Cal and is ranked the No. 56 senior recruit in the country by CSTV’s Bill Hodge. This was his return to the lineup after missing six games with a sprained ankle.
“We’re anxious to finally be at full strength and to play a quality opponent,” Modesto Christian coach Gary Porter said before the game. “We haven’t had a competitive game for a while.”
Now there was an understatement.
Since 59-57 loss to Lexington Catholic (Lexington, Ky.), the Crusaders had won 11 straight by an average margin of 37 points. In the streak they averaged 88.7 points per game and hit triple digits twice.
Though very intrigued how Modesto Christian stacks up with the other Northern California Division IV power St. Mary’s (Berkeley) – I’ve seen the Panthers play twice – and anxious to see Vaughn and the Titans, my main interest was Nelson because I’ve heard so much about him and never seen him play.
Lou Richey, a Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) assistant, Oakland Soldiers AAU coach and one of the most respected basketball souls on the west coast, told me 18 months ago that perhaps the best all-around player on his then Soldiers’ squad was Nelson. “He’s got amazing all-around skills,” Richie said. “The kid is remarkably athletic and he can flat-out play.”
Keep in mind, that Soldiers’ team featured older and more established players including Mitty (San Jose) All American candidate Drew Gordon, 2007 San Francisco Chronicle Metro Player of the Year Wendell McKines (now at New Mexico State) and Eli Holman (now at Indiana).
Defending Division V champion Branson coach Jonas Honick said this of Nelson before the teams faced off in last year’s NorCal championship game: “He’s a beast. He’s going to be a high school All-American. I’ll put money on that right now. … He’s a very good passer, he can rebound, and go coast-to-coast and dunk.”
Modesto Christian coach Gary Porter told the Modesto Bee last year that be may be the best player he’s ever coached. A no-brainer for most small-school coaches but Porter has coached Houston Rockets forward Chucky Hayes and college guards Adrian Oliver (recently transferred from Washington to San Jose State) and Cal graduate Richard Midgley.
“Truthfully, he’s the best athlete I’ve ever had in terms of gifts,” Porter told the Bee.
A colleague told me the floppy-haired Nelson reminded him of former Gonzaga All American and current Charlotte Bobcats’ super-shot Adam Morrison.
All such comparisons and build-up had me frothing for the opening tip-off and it took less than a minute for me to see what all the hoopla was about.
On his team’s first possession, Nelson got the ball in the block, went baseline and spun in a reverse lay-up.
Sweet, I thought.
The next time down he buried a three-pointer.
Adam Morrison, here we come.
But the rest of the quarter, until he swooped in for a fastbreak hoop at the buzzer, Nelson played more like Adonal Foyle.
It wasn’t his fault. With Skyline locked into a zone defense and the Crusaders lacking any other inside presence, Nelson simply roamed aimlessly around the key rarely getting the ball. He fly-swatted a few shots down low which was impressive but otherwise he seemed like a huge decoy.
Though obviously strong with wide shoulders and chiseled arms – later he told me he never lifts weights (unbelievable!) - I thought Nelson was a perimeter guy. It looked like he could certainly shoot.
I hadn’t really seen him handle the ball though he was extremely nimble and elusive around the hoop, which he showed 10 seconds in the second quarter, with a quick drop step and emphatic slam, starting a 10-0 run.
Again, sweet.
Outstanding.
But Skyline, other than impressive though wiry 6-7 junior Marcus Hightower, had no interior body to truly challenge him.
What’s Nelson going to do in college when he’s posting up against guys three inches taller and out weighting him by 30 pounds?
Few 6-7 guys make a living in the NBA playing in the block. Even if he grows a couple inches – he just turned 16 by the way – I couldn’t imagine a long-range future.
But then came “the play.”
Nelson cradled a defensive rebound around the backboard with his right hand – I’ve never seen that – and like a Cadillac XLR, he zoomed down court with an easy right-hand dribble racing past all defenders but one, who finally tried to stop him inside the Modesto Christian paint.
Nelson likely could have leapt right over the lad, but instead he zipped a no-look, one-handed dart to a streaking Dabrail Henton, who from the left swing swooped in for a deuce sending the packed Crusader Gym into a frenzy.
Game over.
For me anyway.
That’s what I came to see. That, in one five-second sequence, was what all the Nelson hoopla is about. That’s what everyone was talking about.
Truly, I didn’t need to see any more. I was sold.
But of course I did stick around for more entertaining action, which there was plenty of.
Modesto Christian went on to a resounding 108-75 victory and Nelson had 26 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks in just more than 20 minutes of play.
His time was cut short by of all things a pair of technical fouls.
Uh-oh, you say.
A head case.
A live wire.
But Nelson is no Rasheed Wallace. His laid-back, easy-going demeanor is more like Willie Nelson.
Both technicals seemed highly suspect. The first came with 3:08 left in the half when he was whistled for a truly questionable call on a blocked shot.
Nelson hopped up-and-down and charged toward the ref – the only true animation I witnessed from him all game – but then he simply handed him the ball and walked away. Nelson did appear to open his mouth and say something but with his back was completely to the referee. Only then did the whistle come.
When asked later if he used an obscenity while walking away, Nelson said: “Absolutely not. I didn’t say anything to or toward him.”
The second technical was even more absurd.
With 19.1 seconds left in the third quarter and Modesto Christian cruising with a 77-57 lead, Crusader senior Daniel Lemburg made a hoop. Nelson was underneath the basket so he caught the ball and tossed it underhanded to a Skyline player.
Tweet.
Evidently, the same referee deemed that unsportsmanlike and booted Nelson with his second technical. Everyone, even the Skyline contingent, were dazed and dumbfounded.
Had he tossed the ball to Skyline earlier in the game and warned not to do so? “No, no and no,” Nelson said. “I have no idea what happened or why it was called.”
Obviously the 1,500 fans – me being at the forefront – were extremely disappointed with his ejection. And I might have been the only one in the gym not to voice my displeasure. Many were downright surly.
Luckily the Crusaders were cruising and this was more of an exhibition than a playoff game or Modesto’s finest might have been called in.
Still, you could see it was embarrassing to Nelson. And everyone short of Skyline fans wanted to see more highlight-reel stuff.
Fortunately for all, there was much more to see.
Among the highlights:
Seeley, coming back from a left ankle sprain, was better than I had even heard, going for a game-high 30 points to go along with 12 rebounds and six steals. He was extremely impressive getting to the rim, especially on the break. “He gives us a whole other gear,” Nelson said. Said Porter: “D.J. is special.”
So is
Vaughn who led the game with 13 buckets, many on putbacks which was impressive for a 6-3 guard. He had 29 points and 10 rebounds. Vaughn’s backcourt mate Nefi Perdomo, a 6-2 junior, looks like a solid recruit and a terrific shooter. He drilled four three-pointers and all six of his free throws en route to 20 points.
Modesto Christian is more than the two-man Nelson-Seeley show as Henton, a 6-4 junior, was superb on the break and finished with 21 points. Teammates Lemburg, Adam Watts and Johnny Hutton combined for 25 points.
Nelson’s younger brother Raymond Nelson, a 6-4, 200-pound freshman, already looks awfully skilled and physically imposing.. He doesn’t look like a freshman. He had just three points in limited minutes, but looks like he could contribute right now, which explains why he’s on this talented 12-man roster. I have a hunch the Nelson-Nelson connection next season will be quite lethal.
Though Skyline gave up an absurd amount of points, the Titans are in very good hands with coach Terrance Ransom. He’s coached for many years at the collegiate level and pushes the Titans to the hilt. Though beaten soundly, they never gave in. It was the first time in Ransom’s coaching career he’d given up triple digits. “It’s a tough loss because of the points allowed and margin but it will be a good lesson,” Ransom said. “We played with good intensity and fought but we need to make better decisions.”
Asked about his impressions of Reeves Nelson, Ransom said: “We knew he was a load and tough on the block. We figured he and Seeley would get their points but if we could hold everyone down we’d be OK. But their role players stepped up as well. That’s a heck of a squad.”
Afterward, Reeves Nelson was soft spoken but candid about a number of subjects.
On his crazy pair of
“I love cocker spaniel” socks: “It’s a big joke around campus. We own one and a couple German Shepherds. It’s just something to talk about.”
About being confined to the block most of the time when he’s probably more comfortable and skilled facing the hoop: “Whatever is needed to be done I’ll do. I always get my chances. I’m not at all worried about it.”
On the prospects of facing St. Mary’s in the NorCal finals and possibly future UCLA teammate
Jrue Holiday and defending state champion Campbell Hall (
West Hollywood) in the state finals: “Honestly, I think we can hang with anyone in the state in any division. If we play with the intensity we showed today and rebound like we did, then I’m not really worried about who we play. We just need to worry about Modesto Christian. If we do what we’re supposed to do everything we’ll take care of itself.”
Why he picked UCLA and why so early: “I just couldn’t think of any reason not to want to go there. Why wait? It’s where I want to go.”
My final observational about Reeves Nelson weren’t much different than all I had heard. I don’t see him being a three-point bomber like Morrison, but not a low block Mark Madsen either.
The kid he reminded me of most – and of course these comparisons are unfair – was one of the five greatest prep hoopsters I ever covered: former Mt. Diablo High (Concord), Stanford and Denver Nuggets standout Todd Lichti.
With three additional inches.
That extra height – and he indeed may still be growing – combined with his massive all-around skills truly makes Nelson a legitimate star in the making.
And someone worth driving to Modesto to watch.
Read about the sudden rise of the St. Mary’s girls squad next week in Mitch Stephens’ weekly column. E-mail Mitch at mstephens@maxpreps.com.