Is Cassius Stanley the best freshman basketball player in the land?

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — He was named after Cassius Clay. He first dunked a basketball when he was 11. And he doesn't just want to make it to the NBA, but he wants to be the league's commissioner.

Cassius Stanley was born with high expectations, thrives on it and he delivers — even dunks — the goods.

Here's the latest flashy claim on the 6-foot-5 Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.) shooting guard: He may be the best freshman basketball player in the country.

Pretty jumper. Textbook form. Big hops. Unselfish. High basketball IQ. Crisp, decisive passer.

For a ninth-grader, Stanley has plenty of pizzazz and polish. And, he says, he doesn't feel pressure.

"I embrace it," he said. "I'm only in the ninth grade and I have many more years of high school. I'm humbled that people think that. But I have a lot to work on."

His coach, former USF assistant David Rebibo, doesn't deny that. But Stanley has a pretty fair base to work from. He's averaging 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Wolverines (11-2), who lost 57-50 in the finals of the Gatorade Division of the MaxPreps Holiday Classic Wednesday at Rancho Mirage to St. John Bosco (12-1).

After a quiet first half, Stanley finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

"He's definitely ahead of the curve," Rebibo said with a grin. "As athletic as he is, Cassius has a great feel for the game. He's learning what practicing at a high level means. But he's getting better every day. He's as impressive as a young man as he is a basketball player."

That's saying something and Rebibo knows it.

Learning and evolving
He watched Stanley do things Wednesday on par with top seniors or even young college players.

At one point, he blocked a seemingly uncontested fastbreak layup, hustling and flying from no-where. That led to his own fastbreak assist.

He made a couple very deep 3-pointers, posted up in the paint, drove hard for a pair of contested layups, drove hard before kicking out on an open 3-pointer.

"He's very unselfish," Rebibo said. "That's one of his greatest aspect. He's learning when and were to score and to be aggressive. He's evolving every day. He's a fiery competitor."

Which, perhaps, he was born with.

On being named after the great heavyweight boxing champion, Stanley said: "I love the name. He was great athlete, but misunderstood. People think he was cocky, but he was just confident."

Stanley began playing the game at 3, he said.

The only child of Tonya, a former track athlete at UCLA, and Jerome, a sports agent whose client at one time included Keyshawn Johnson and Baron Davis, Stanley said sports has always been a huge part of his life.

He played basketball and baseball — he still pitches and plans to play for the Wolverines in the spring — but has always been more attracted to the hardwood.

Some of his favorite players are Kevin Durant, Jason Kidd, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Gilbert Arenas. He's definitely a mix between old school and new.

"I love the competitive nature of basketball," he said. "You can get out of what you put into it. I feel free on the basketball court. I can go wherever I want."

And where does he want to take it?

"All the way," he said. "Basketball can take you places and even if I have a prosperous I still have 45 years of my life to live. I can do a things afterward."

Like becoming the commissioner of the NBA.

The foundation
His first notion was to be an agent like his dad, but pops has tried to talk him out of it. Thus the notion of leading the game from the very top crossed his mind.

"They've never had a commissioner who was a former player," he said. "I would like to be the first."

But first things first.

He's ranked the third best ninth-grader in the country by future150.com. Sportspresstv.com has him No. 27.

None of that really matters to Stanley, who already has college offers from UCLA, USC and Alabama. He's just trying to turn Harvard-Westlake back to a Southern California power.

Rebibo, who replaced legendary coach Greg Hilliard in the spring, believes Stanley is a good foundation towards that endeavor.

"He's constantly getting better and better because he works so hard," Rebibo said. "The sky is the limit for Cassius."