Congrats to YaYa and Sekou - 2021 top rated Prep Hoops - Who's missing?
Congratulations to YaYa Keita and Sekou Gassama, Gateway 17U and St. Louis DeSmet bigs who made the top 100 2021 National Prep Hoops individual player rankings that just came out. Both of the guys are well deserving players who are really nice people. I have talked with YaYa and he has hung out with the grandson and some Eureka players and is a really nice kid.
But as I look on the list, I feel like there are solid St. Louis "bigs" who should maybe be on the top 250 list so I went back to look at last winter's high school stats to see how a few guys were doing. Now both YaYa and Sekou get much greater exposure by playing up on Gateway's 17U, rather than on the 16U team, but they still deserve their rankings. I decided to take a look at three very good "bigs" from St. Louis that continue to impress in both high school and AAU competitions.
The three individuals were Sam Thompson, Larry Hughes 16U and Francis Howell 6'9" center, Jack Pronger, 6'6" Knights Academy 16U and MICDS power forward, and Jalen Hampton, 6'5" power forward for Gateway 16U and University City. All three had outstanding sophomore seasons with Thompson playing a big role in Francis Howell's final four Class 5 appearance. With a bit of luck, Francis Howell could have won the state title if Thompson had not strained his shoulder late in the first half of the CBC semi-final. Now Pronger and Hampton played on lower class teams against some lesser competition but both made outstanding contributions to their teams.
So how do these other three compare to YaYa and Sekou, both top 100 nationally ranked players?
Here's the offensive and defensive comparisons. From an offensive standpoint, you could almost throw a blanket over these guys and pick one out and get 10 points a game. The only real difference was that Pronger played more on the perimeter and the others operated in the paint. Hampton didn't have the length but he has the leaping ability to play tall. All of them were secondary scorers as sophomores but will be expected to put up big numbers this coming winter. On the defensive side, again there is not much difference between any of them from a rebounding standpoint although Thompson and Pronger had more assists than the other three. Gassamma led in blocks with Thompson not to far behind. You could even argue, that given the Value Player System score (VPS) that weights scoring, shooting percentage, rebounds, assists, steals, turnovers and fouls, that Hampton is the best player on the list, with Thompson just a half step behind. Both would be better all round players than Keita or Gassama using VPS as a yardstick.
If I was 16, I wouldn't want to be defended by any of them.
2018-2019 High School statistics
So given the comparison, I would at least expect all five to show up on the Missouri top 100, even if they don't show up on the National top 250. As Mark Twain wrote, "There are lies, damn lies and statistics" but these statistics don't lie too much.
But as I look on the list, I feel like there are solid St. Louis "bigs" who should maybe be on the top 250 list so I went back to look at last winter's high school stats to see how a few guys were doing. Now both YaYa and Sekou get much greater exposure by playing up on Gateway's 17U, rather than on the 16U team, but they still deserve their rankings. I decided to take a look at three very good "bigs" from St. Louis that continue to impress in both high school and AAU competitions.
The three individuals were Sam Thompson, Larry Hughes 16U and Francis Howell 6'9" center, Jack Pronger, 6'6" Knights Academy 16U and MICDS power forward, and Jalen Hampton, 6'5" power forward for Gateway 16U and University City. All three had outstanding sophomore seasons with Thompson playing a big role in Francis Howell's final four Class 5 appearance. With a bit of luck, Francis Howell could have won the state title if Thompson had not strained his shoulder late in the first half of the CBC semi-final. Now Pronger and Hampton played on lower class teams against some lesser competition but both made outstanding contributions to their teams.
So how do these other three compare to YaYa and Sekou, both top 100 nationally ranked players?
Here's the offensive and defensive comparisons. From an offensive standpoint, you could almost throw a blanket over these guys and pick one out and get 10 points a game. The only real difference was that Pronger played more on the perimeter and the others operated in the paint. Hampton didn't have the length but he has the leaping ability to play tall. All of them were secondary scorers as sophomores but will be expected to put up big numbers this coming winter. On the defensive side, again there is not much difference between any of them from a rebounding standpoint although Thompson and Pronger had more assists than the other three. Gassamma led in blocks with Thompson not to far behind. You could even argue, that given the Value Player System score (VPS) that weights scoring, shooting percentage, rebounds, assists, steals, turnovers and fouls, that Hampton is the best player on the list, with Thompson just a half step behind. Both would be better all round players than Keita or Gassama using VPS as a yardstick.
If I was 16, I wouldn't want to be defended by any of them.
2018-2019 High School statistics
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