Local players highly touted in online basketball report
Evan Smotrycz of Reading, Hannell Velez of Woburn, Romeo Diaz of Methuen, and Central Catholic teammates Adrian Gonzalez and Carson DeRosiers raised more than a few eyebrows at the Scott Hazelton Basketball Camp this month. Each earned Massachusetts and New England rankings and were featured in a NewEnglandRecruitingReport.Com article.
The highest rankings went to Smotrycz, a 6-foot-7-inch junior who was rated the ninth-best player in Massachusetts and 16th in New England.
"Not only is he an extremely talented and versatile player who can beat his defender in a variety of ways, but the rising junior is only 15 years old," said New EnglandRecruitingReport.Com. "He hasn't stayed back, he hasn't reclassified, and he hasn't transferred to a private or prep school. This is just a normal kid who has gone through school like everyone else . . . only he happens to be young for his grade and a heck of a basketball player. If one were to do some investigating into the top rising sophomores in New England, they likely would find that many are either the same age, or even older than, Smotrycz."
On Velez: "A very talented young player in his own right. The long and athletic guard is a slashing machine who always finds his way to the cup. Not only that, but he's 6-4, has tremendous size for the perimeter, especially when he slides over to the point-guard position." Velez is to enter his junior year next week and is ranked 14th in Massachusetts and 31st in New England.
On Diaz: "May be the most versatile of the bunch, as he did a little bit of everything when we were watching and he knocked down the three-ball, pulled up off the bounce, and got all the way to the rim on various possessions." He's a senior ranked 73d and 32d.
Gonzalez was rated favorably with St. John's Prep ace and Eastern Massachusetts scoring leader Ryan O'Connell. "He is the perfect complement to O'Connell because he fills other needs with his athleticism and ability to attack the rim." Gonzalez is a senior ranked 25th and 64th.
On DeRosiers, a 6-11 sophomore, the report stated: "Is a work in progress but he shows a good deal of promise. . . . Is another 15-year-old who is said to be still growing and, while his game is raw at the moment, he shows some very distinct signs of potential." DeRosiers was pegged at 14th in Massachusetts and 27th in New England.
Smotrycz, Gonzalez, and Velez were teammates on the Massachusetts Rivals
and played this summer in the
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