A Closer Look At Demarcus Nelson

Demarcus Nelson has clearly established himself as one of the better players in the class of 2004. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound shooting guard from Vallejo High School in Vallejo, CA. has consistently put up huge numbers this summer and is one player in particular that has dominated the summer circuit.

Many believe that he was one of the top players at last weeks ABCD Camp in New Jersey.

Nelson has always been a great basketball player, but he has not always received the recognition he deserves. He won the California state junior of the year award for the third straight year. Nelson is one of two players to win this award three straight years. Tyson Chandler is the other player that accomplished the feat.

During his three-year career at Vallejo, Nelson has scored a total of 2,400 points, grabbed 1,122 rebounds and dished out 591 assists. He has averaged 34.4 points per game during league games and 30 points per game during the playoffs.

The state of California has produced some of the finest high school basketball players that the college game has seen. When his high school career is over, Nelson will likely be recognized as one of those players.

This past year Nelson was named league MVP and led the league and section in scoring, rebounding and assists. He was named to the All-State team and is on pace to break the state career scoring record.

Nelson has continued his torrid pace throughout most of the summer. He was the leading scorer at the USA Developmental Festival in Colorado Springs and would have been the leading scorer at the ABCD Camp in New Jersey, but he and several other players sat out a game, so that counted against his final stats.

Nelson could quite possibly be at his best when the Adidas Big time rolls around. The event takes place in Las Vegas from July 22-26. The competition at the Big Time will be second to none, so it is likely that Nelson will be at his very best.

Nelson is such a dangerous player because he has the ability to hurt a team in a variety of ways. First and foremost, he will attack you from the outside with some consistency.

It does not matter if he brings the ball up the court himself, or if a teammate sets him up for the play, he will take and hit a lot of three pointers.

A lot of guards do not like to put the ball on the floor and attack the basket, but Nelson is the exact opposite. If he sees a gap in the defense that he can penetrate, he will do just that. He has got a quick first step that allows him to get a jump on his defender.

The knock on Nelson so far this summer is that he is shooting the ball too much. That is what it looks like to those watching from the stands, but he has the full support of his teammates.

While Nelson was out in Colorado Springs for the USA Developmental Festival, there was one game in particular where he was really taking control of the game and scoring points at will. During a timeout, one of the players called the rest of the team over and they huddled around each other. The player told everybody to put the ball in Nelson’s hands and let him do his things.

Nelson might be putting up a lot of shots, but his teammates are feeding him the ball because they all know how he can affect the outcome of a game.

Rivals.com ranks Nelson No. 20 on the Rivals150 and is the fifth best player at this position.