Scouting Report: Westmoore
Prep Hoops Oklahoma got a great look at the Westmoore Jaguars this past weekend at the Elite 14 Showcase in Wichita Falls, Texas. Despite not having several key starters who were still playing football the Jags faired well. They had one player coming off a horrific leg injury play his first games since the injury. Westmoore also had a player really breakout on Saturday. The Jags hope it was a sign of what is to come.
High’s
-This is a team that has the chance to be one of the top 3 teams in the state once they get back their football players. They played together on Saturday, which is a lot of what we saw last year on their way to the state tournament.
–Will Graham was back on a basketball court for the first time since his leg injury. To see him back out there was really fun. When you see a player suffer that type of injury they are not expected to be back for at least 6-8 months if not a year. Graham back on the court was a blessing from above.
–Anthony Riley might just be taking that next step we were waiting for. He is such a freak athlete and is starting to use his athleticism to his advantage on the court.
–Kenny Springs might be my favorite player to watch on defense. The kid brings so much intensity to the floor it spreads to his teammates. It isn’t often you see a player nowadays take that much pride in their defense.
Low’s
-On the defensive end, the Jag’s struggled in defending teams transition offensive attack.
-Depth is the most glaring issue, but that will be helped when they get back some guys in football.
What to keep an eye on moving forward?
Keep a close eye on two things. First, what is the health of Will Graham? When does he get back to full health? Westmoore needs Graham to be fully healthy to make a run at the Gold Ball in Class 6A. He showed great signs of coming back strong on Saturday. He looked about 65% back to speed, but the biggest thing was obviously his amazing recovering time for him to even be out there.
The second thing to watch is Anthon Riley. Last year we saw flashes of potential with him however playoff time he was out with an injury. For Westmoore to take the next step and be a legit contender to win the Class 6A Gold Ball they need Riley to take the next step in his game. The 2019 bouncy Wing has all the athletic tools you could want in a player on the Wing with decent size. The jumper of Riley is the most evident improvement needed in his game.
Keep a close eye on both of those at Westmoore. The Jags could be square in the hunt for the Class 6A Gold Ball.
Head Coach Scott Hodges
What were your overall thoughts on how the Elite 14 went?
“I thought we played very hard and competed. It was a great experience for us playing great competition. It was good to see what some of our younger guys could do against that kind of competition. We obviously wish we had our whole team with us, but it still was a great experience for our guys. We were very pleased though how we played down in Wichita Falls.”
For more information email Matt@prephoops.com