O’Dowd and Salesian High School

Wright’s Basketball Scouting and Evaluation Services kicked off the 2017-18 season at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland California. Two of the top teams in Northern California (O’Dowd and Salesian High School) faced-off in a 10 a.m. scrimmage (11/11).

The first thing I noticed during warm-ups was that 6’10, class of 2019, big man Raymond Hawkins wasn’t in the gym. The second observation was that recent UConn commit James Akinjo and top Nor-Cal Pt guard was not initially in the gym at the start of the game, eventually he did join the team on the bench but did not play. Naseem Gaskins 6’3 (Utah Signee) the tallest player on the floor for Bishop O’Dowd did the tip. O’Dowd started 5 guards, Elijah Hardy (University of Washington) was one of them. The Salesian High School twins JoVon and Jaden McClanahan made up for the absence of Akinjo by playing aggressive and attacking on the offense and defending on the defense. Salesians big guys, 6’9, class of 2019, Emmanuel Adeoye and 6’6, class of 2020, Tajohn Sawyer gives Salesian an inside presence. Emmanuel has improved his game over the summer and Sawyer can develop into one of the top bigs if he wants too. Shane Bell, 6’2, class of 2020 and Tyler Brinkman, 6’4, class of 2020 contributed for Salesian while O’Dowd’s other contributors were Iniko McNeil, 6’2 Guard, class of 2019 and Will Chavarin 6’3, class of 2020, Guard.

OVERALL TAKEAWAY: Both teams displayed athleticism, speed and the ability to attack the rim. I look forward to watching both teams progress into the season.