Brewster Academy Preview

Brewster: Locked & Loaded

- During the live-recruiting period this fall, swarms of coaches from high-major basketball programs descended upon Wolfeboro, New Hampshire like greatest-generation grandparents to Sarasota.  Among the many to visit the Brewster Academy campus were Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, John Calipari, and Billy Donovan.  Why?  Because Brewster head coach Jason Smith has a reality-show type roster of big time prospects that make Brewster the clear-cut NEPSAC Class AAA favorite heading into the season.  Let's take a look.

Back-Court:  For the last few years, Brewster's had a stud floor-general in current Kansas frosh Nadiir Tharpe.  This year, the FG mantle will be passed to Xavier-bound Semaj Christon '12, a fighter-pilot out of Cincinnati who has electric ability with the ball in his hands...Hard-nosed guard Joe Bramanti '12 will also likely see time quarterbacking the club and in addition, Richard O'Brien is a high-IQ junior guard who will add depth at the one-spot...Also providing back-court depth will be Cameron Jones '14 out of New York and
Rudolph Arnicans '13 from Latvia.

Wing Guards:  The 2-guard spot will be manned by a highly-talented player in Florida State-bound Aaron Thomas '12, a big-time athletic wing-scorer out of Cincinnati who goes hard to the rack...Along with Thomas, Gilbert McGregor '12 is a 6'4 guard out of New Orleans who has a reputation as a cohesive, rock-solid player and a big-time student.

Forwards - It's here that things get a little messy...It's thoroughbred city...Let's start with the highly-touted TJ Warren '12, an old-school scoring machine out of Durham, North Carolina with a young-Mark Aguirre-style game.  Warren is a true small forward and is down to a final four of Maryland, Florida, North Carolina, and North Carolina State...Then there's former St Johns-commit Jakarr Sampson '12, a 6'7 posterization specialist from Akron with freakish athletic ability from the wing...Next is the left handed versatility-monster Deonte Burton '13, a native of Milwaukee who does it all and is committed to Marquette.  D-Burton has the ability to play four positions both offensively and defensively...Another underclassmen is 6'6 forward John Edwards '13, a North Carolina native who holds Big South scholarship offers.

Down-Low:  In Mitch McGary '12 and Jalen Reynolds '12, Brewster holds perhaps the best big-man duo in America.  An Indiana native, McGary is America's best post-player in the class of '12 who has realistic lottery pick potential.  His official final six schools are Kentucky, Florida, North Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Michigan...Hailing from Detroit, Jalen Reynolds is a Xavier-bound, highly-athletic long big who is just beginning to come into his own.  After seeing him play for the first time last month, Jeff Goodman, senior basketball writer for CBS Sports, tweeted, "Just got my first look at Xavier commit Jalen Reynolds. Kid is a clear-cut Top 50 player. Just got the better of @MitchMcGary33 in workout."