Young players get their chance at Workout
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- On Sunday afternoon, Nike Team Florida's "The Workout" came to a conclusion at Eckerd College. As is tradition, freshmen and sophomores took the floor on the second day of action. Literally and figuratively, massive 7-footer Zach Brown was the biggest find of the day, while sophomore Troy Baxter showed glimpses of huge upside.
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BROWN ARRIVES AT THE WORKOUT
Only time will tell just how good Brown will be. But at first glance the massive big man looks like he could end up being a highly recruited prospect.
A freshman at Miami Beach (Fla.) High, the class of 2017 prospect is every bit of 7 feet and sports a well-put-together 230-pound frame. Broad shouldered and surprisingly agile for a kid with that type of size, Brown dominated action around the rim on Sunday.
More often than not, young players with that type of size play tentatively. They are awkward, still adjusting to their bodies or worried they may hurt smaller players if they react with physicality to the hacking they are usually subjected to. That is not the case with Brown. Not only does the lefty move well, he has a nasty streak in him. His legal guardian, Michael Lipman, told us that Brown does MMA-style training and it showed. He didn't just play with physicality; he seemed to relish being able to bully two or three defenders at a time.
In addition to his size and physicality, Brown has very good to outstanding hands. He snared a couple of passes while running the floor that few players any size would grab. When he caught the ball in the post, he dunked everything he could, hit a few jump hooks and made solid passes.
It is important to recognize that there simply wasn't anybody in the building capable of controlling Brown. Additionally, having already turned 16, he is on the older end of the age spectrum for a high school freshman. We actually would have liked to see him on Saturday against the older players to see if any of them could stop him. But, overall, his introduction was an impressive one and his progress will have to be tracked closely by high-end programs across the country.
BAXTER HAS TOOLS TO BE A HIGH-MAJOR WING
Along with Brown, 6-foot-7 small forward Troy Baxter of Gainesville (Fla.) The Rock School was on another level in comparison to anybody else at The Workout.
Long, quick, extremely athletic and blessed with an absolutely beautiful jump shot, Baxter has all of the tools that you would want to see in a high-major wing. During the day, he would climb the ladder for some emphatic alley-oops, stroke deep 3s and chase down players from behind for huge transition blocks. When he was doing all of that, he looked like a player deserving of national rankings and like he could easily be a high-major prospect.
At other times, though, he looked pretty uninterested and he didn't play an overly physical style. Like Brown, Baxter is a little older for his class and it would have been much more valuable to see him against the 2014 and 2015 kids who might have offered him more of a challenge.
Sophomore point guard Andrew WilbekinClick A guy that we really liked was 14-year-old freshman small forward Darius BanksClick Probably the best shooter on Sunday was 6-foot-2 shooting guard Blake MorrowClick Freshman forward Anthony PoliteClick One of the more physically developed backcourt players in attendance, 6-foot-1 combo guard Jeffrey PropheteClick MORE SUNDAY NOTABLES AT THE WORKOUT Here to view this Link. from Coral Springs (Fla.) Christian likes to get to the rim. He used his strength and athleticism to do that pretty much at will but didn't have the best of days finishing. Still, he showed enough to suggest he has an opportunity to be a good player down the road. Here to view this Link. of Boca Raton (Fla.) St. Andrew's school has good genes. Polite's father, Michael, was a productive big man at Florida StateClick One of the more physically developed backcourt players in attendance, 6-foot-1 combo guard Jeffrey PropheteClick MORE SUNDAY NOTABLES AT THE WORKOUT Here to view this Link. from Coral Springs (Fla.) Christian likes to get to the rim. He used his strength and athleticism to do that pretty much at will but didn't have the best of days finishing. Still, he showed enough to suggest he has an opportunity to be a good player down the road. Here to view this Link. in the late 1980 and early 1990s, and it looks like the old man passed along some talent. A bit of a tweener at about 6-foot-5, Polite was productive around the rim, played hard on both ends and showed a good fundamental set of base skills. Could go either the wing or power forward route, depending on how much he grows. Here to view this Link.. A 6-foot-2 sophomore at Sarasota (Fla.) Christian, Morrow was making it rain from well beyond the 3-point line all day. Here to view this Link.. A product of St. Petersburg (Fla.) High, Banks has a nice frame, good athleticism, long arms and game. He made jumpers, was very active on the glass and had some fight in his game. Here to view this Link. of Gainesville (Fla.) The Rock is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his older brothers Scottie (Florida) and Mitchell (Tulsa commit) as a Division I point guard. He has quickness and feel for the game, and he's good off the dribble. At least Sunday, though, he was trigger happy with the jump shot. It would have been beneficial to see a bit more of him making plays for others. But he's young, he has good genes and we'll get to see plenty more of him down the road.
Eric Bossi is the national basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. You can click here to follow him on Twitter.
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