PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Stacey Poole can’t remember the last time he threw up an air ball on a foul shot. There’s a good chance he never has. Well, never until this week, and he did it of all places at the Third Annual Reebok All-American camp at Philadelphia University.
It’s about the only time Poole has missed this week at the Reebok camp, against a collection of some of the best high school basketball players in the nation. The 6-foot-6 Jackson High (Jacksonville, Fla.) forward has picked up right where he left off at the NBA Players Association Camp in June, nailing his outside shot with consistency. He’s also defended well, and has basically confirmed to college coaches and scouts that what they saw last month is the real deal.
“I like what’s happened and it’s been okay, because you have a lot of cats out here who feel they have something to prove, and that leads to being selfish because the opportunities are pretty limited,” said Poole, one of the top talents still yet to commit to a college. “My biggest priority was to come out here and have fun. I like what I did last month at the NBA Camp and I thought I showed what I could really do there. It put me up there and gave me a chance to put up some nice numbers.”
Poole is considering Clemson, South Carolina, Connecticut, Louisville, Indiana and Florida, where his friend, Patric Young, is headed next fall.
One of the areas Poole was particularly interested in showing the college coaches gathered here this week is his ballhandling skills and ability to break an opponent down to create his own shot.
“I want to show I have some range,” Poole said. “As I said before, you have to take advantage of any opportunity you can get. Hopefully, I’ll get out of this what I want and move on with the rest of my summer. These camps aren’t that easy. It is kind of like a free-for-all out there, because you’re learning about your teammates as you go along. But I have to say that I’m satisfied. I think there could be a few more schools interested in me after this camp.”
There probably will be.
“The biggest thing that Stacey Poole has shown, starting with the NBA Camp, is that he can make shots,” said Norm Eavenson, who works for Bob Gibbons All-Star Sports. “He just knocked them down every chance he got. He’s going to make someone a nice player. I like his game. But what really has attracted college coaches is his ability to make shots, which is a dying breed today.”
As for the fun on the free throw line the first day of camp, Poole just laughed.
“I couldn’t believe it, I’m there taking a foul shot and toss up an air ball,” Poole said, laughing again. "I never did that before in my life, I don’t think, and it was kind of funny in a way, because I was able to laugh about it and move forward. Hopefully, no one noticed and only saw the good things I’ve done.”
It appears as if they have.
Joseph Santoliquito covers high schools for the Philadelphia Daily News and is a contributor to MaxPreps.com. He can be contacted at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.
