Tweet

With school starting it’s about time to get out my rankings of the best high school basketball players in the Seattle Metro Area.  The top five is essentially the top five basketball recruits in the whole State of Washington but I thought I would keep the title more related to this Seattle Basketball Blog.  Although the top two in my rankings may not have produced like some of the other prospects at the high school level, their size and athleticism most easily projects to the NBA.

1. Tony Wroten, Senior, Garfield, 6’5”, G

Wroten will be gearing up for his senior season at Garfield High, the same alma mater as Brandon Roy.  Tony’s junior campaign never happened as he tore his ACL playing football.  A year later Wroten is back to terrorizing the competition.  It appears that he has made a full recovery.  Tony is back to traveling the national AAU circuit with Seattle Rotary. He also won a gold medal playing for Team USA in the U 17 world championships in Germany this summer.  Tony is a pass first point guard and with his size at the position he puts up Lebron James type numbers.  Tony Wroten is most seriously considering Washington and Kentucky.  His list remains wide open as Louisville and Villanova are two of the other front runners.  Read more here about Tony Wroten.

2. Anrio Adams, Junior, Franklin, 6’3”, G

Adams is an athletic freak that can score at will.  Just like Wroten he comes from a school heaped in tradition boasting Jason Terry, Aaron Brooks, Venoy Overton, and Peyton Siva as alumni.  He is the kind of athlete that projects to follow in their footsteps.  Anrio’s skills are well rounded but he thinks of himself firstly as a defensive player.  Adams will be able to play point guard or shooting guard at the college level.  His ballhandling and shot will need to improve but that is expected of everyone at such a young age.  Some of Adams notable college offers come from UW, UCLA, Syracuse, Louisvile, Kansas, and Gonzaga.

3. Gary Bell, Senior, Kentridge, 6’1”, G

After a breakout junior season, Gary Bell was recruited heavily by all the Pac 10 schools.  They were spurned after only one visit to Gonzaga where he committed.  Gary Bell’s junior season averages were 22.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and he was named all-state first team.  His field goal percentage was only 46% so it will be interesting to see if Bell can score with any efficiency at the next level. The main criticism of Bell is his height as it pegs him as a point guard in college.  Gonzaga will be a great fit for Gary Bell to prosper under the tutelage of Mark Few.

4. Hikeem Stewart, Senior, Rainer Beach, 6’3”, G

Yes, this is the younger brother of Loderick and Roderick Stewart.  Hikeem has already committed to Washington as this time around all the brothers advised him to stay home after their underwhelming careers.  Being an undersized shooting guard, Stewart has really had to work hard to climb the recruiting charts.  Hikeem is ultra athletic and can really stroke the three.  He jumped at Lorenzo Romar’s offer from UW and is currently their only committed recruit.  Stewart had some real breakout performances with Friends of Hoop AAU in Vegas this summer.  Look for him to become one of the better players in the Pac 10 by the time he is done. I could not embed this video on SeattleBallers but click here to see a highlight reel of Hikeem Stewart balling at Rainer Beach.

5. Brett Kingma, Senior, Jackson, 6’1”, G

Brett Kingma has forced his way into this discussion as he single handedly lead his high school team to the state championship game last season which resulted in a loss.  Although Kingma is undersized, he has been able to score no matter the competition.  His older sister plays at UW and Brett has also been extended an offer.  Brett has several other offers and it is thought he might choose a school with more playing time to offer.  Kingma plays alongside Hikeem Stewart in an excellent back court for the Friends of Hoop AAU.  Brett is a sharpshooter whose scoring should definitely translate to the college level.

Honorable Mention: D.J. Fenner (moved to Maryland), Dustin Watts and Davonte Lacy.

Blog Note: I just created a free email reminder service to let my readers know when I make a new post. Subscribe by entering your email address in proper field at the top right hand side of the home page.