The traditional high school basketball scene has changed dramatically in the last decade with academies, prep schools and other independent programs emerging and gobbling up a larger share of elite talent seemingly every winter. While some have come and gone like Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.), Huntington Prep (Huntington, W.Va.) and Prime Prep (Dallas, Texas), others have established themselves as mainstays on the national scene.
Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.), Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) and IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) are among those that have joined longtime national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) as magnets for top players and ultimately too much to handle for most public and private schools tied to state governing bodies.
AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) is the latest to burst into the spotlight. The Dragons (19-1) are currently No. 2 in MaxPreps Top 25 after beginning the season unranked.
The program's 2020-21 resume includes pushing No. 1 Montverde Academy to the brink
in a 76-65 overtime loss while beating No. 3 Sunrise Christian Academy and
No. 16 Oak Hill Academy at the Montverde Academy Invitational in late
January.
Another opportunity awaits Tuesday when the upstart Phoenix-area school faces No. 18 Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.). A win there could put head coach Ed Gipson and AZ Compass Prep on track to earn its first GEICO
Nationals berth.
Creighton pledge
TyTy Washington
has been the catalyst, averaging 21.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists
and 2.8 steals per contest. He is on the short list of MaxPreps
National Player of the Year candidates.
Senior point guard TyTy Washington has helped put upstart AZ Compass Prep on the national map.
File photo by Greg Jungferman
Dayton signee
DaRon Holmes (9.3 points, 5.7 rebounds),
Glenn Taylor (11.6 points, 3.5 rebounds) and
Javon Small (11 points, 3.2 assists) have also had strong years for the Dragons as they approach the final games of the regular season.
The Dragons have done all of this without five-star junior prospect
Sadraque Nganga, a 6-foot-9 native of Angola out with an injury. Junior 7-footer
Adrame Diongue of Senegal has stepped up in his absence.
Located 15 minutes from the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, AZ Compass Prep is a public charter school with an enrollment of over 500 students K-12.
Program director Peter Kaffey, who spent time at Findlay Prep as an assistant coach and in player development, joined AZ Compass Prep five years ago with the mission of putting the program on the national map.
"We have been building up our basketball program for the past five years. The first year we just looked for kids who were tall or could play a little bit," Kaffey said. "The second year we had some really good players but a lot weren't on track to graduate and were fighting eligibility issues. The past two years, we have had some really good teams and last year our team averaged a GPA over 3.4, which we take pride in."
Similar to his days at Findlay Prep, Kaffey believes AZ Compass Prep is here to stay.
"With the money we are putting in our basketball program, we have 24 hour access to the gym, nutritionists and much more to give these kids the best opportunity to develop for the next level." Kaffey said. "We will be good for a long, long time with the recruits we have coming in next year to build off the success of the past few seasons."
Kaffey also stressed the importance of the school's educational mission.
"We are a real brick and mortar school and we put an emphasis on our academic curriculum," Kaffey said. "We have a principal, vice principal, teachers and classrooms just like any other school."
