The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

DEANDRE Ayton continues to maintain his position as the most sought after prospect in high school basketball.

Ayton’s latest appearance on the recruiting showcase circuit included an impressive showing at the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders camp during NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto.

The three-day event featured 53 of the most highly regarded international prospects from 27 countries as the players received the rare opportunity to interact with and learn from a myriad of NBA personnel.

Ayton revealed in an interview with Evan Daniels, of scout.com, that the Basketball Without Borders event was particularly challenging, but allowed him to show his talents.

“It was better than I expected,” he said. “They slowed down the ball a lot. They took their time. That was a whole new thing to me. I had to really sit down and defend. Everyone wasn’t running and jumping. To me, I got a little lazy on ‘D’ but man, I had to stay in the game a lot on defence. I had to focus in.

“Out of 10, I’d say a seven or a seven and a half. It was good.”

The list of NBA personnel at the camp included former Houston Rockets centre Yao Ming (China), Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari (Italy) and Milwaukee Bucks guard Greivis Vasquez (Venezuela).

Assistant coaches from various NBA teams, including the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors, mentored the campers, while hundreds of scouts and executives looked on.

“I played a lot of defence at this camp. I didn’t really show much offence until the second day of camp, where I showed I could shoot the three ball and from mid-range,” Ayton said. “But I played a lot of defence in this camp. I really had to talk. The coaches were looking to me to direct the traffic and the defence and to call out screens, hustle plays. That really came out of me.”

Ayton, the versatile seven-foot, 235lb front court player from Hillcrest Academy in Phoenix, Arizona, is widely regarded as the top player in high school basketball, irrespective of class, and tops the ESPN 60 list for the class of 2017.

He delivered an historic performance last month with 52 points, 33 rebounds and 10 blocks in his Hillcrest Bruins’ 71-67 win over the Sunrise Academy Buffaloes at the Lawrence Hoop Duel. For the season he is averaging 29.2 points, 16.7 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game.

Ayton previously attended the Balboa City School in San Diego, California, since he left the Bahamas just over three years ago to complete his education and compete against better basketball talent.

Thus far, Ayton has received official offers from Kentucky,  Kansas, Arizona and San Diego State.

“Recruiting wise, I don’t really know,” he said. “That wasn’t my top three, but they are just up there right now - Kentucky, Duke and Kansas. Those are the ones there right now.”