The rising stars with NBA dreams behind NYC hoops ‘mini-renaissance’

(Ny Post) There wasn’t a single New Yorker selected in the June 22 NBA draft. The year before, only Brooklyn’s Isaiah Whitehead, taken by the Nets in the second round, heard his name called. You have to go all the way back to 2011, when Kemba Walker of The Bronx was taken ninth overall by the Hornets, for a city prospect to go in the lottery. It doesn’t take much research to realize The City Game has fallen on hard times recently. The NBA includes few city products and fewer impact players. But this isn’t meant to harp on the obvious. It is to illustrate the possible change on the horizon — at least in the near future. The next three years are loaded with promise — elite players who could find their way to the green room on draft night and carve out strong careers if all goes as planned. “I would call it a mini-renaissance,” ESPN draft and college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla said in a phone interview. “There are promising signs based on the next couple of years in college and at the high school level.”

The city could have as many as three first-round picks next year, according to DraftExpress, the preeminent forecaster: Texas freshman Mohamed Bamba of Harlem, a 7-foot big man with freakish length (7-foot-9 wingspan and 9-foot-6 standing reach) who has improved each year, is projected fourth, followed by Kentucky jumping-jack wing Hamidou Diallo (14th) and shot-blocking teammate Nick Richards (22), a pair of Queens natives. Two other locals are predicted to be second-round selections: Arizona sophomore wing Rawle Alkins of Brooklyn and Georgetown junior center Jessie Govan of Queens. The talent at the high school level can match it, with four highly regarded prospects: Archbishop Molloy five-star teammates Cole Anthony and Moses Brown, Christ the King center Kofi Cockburn and Bronx wing Precious Achiuwa of St. Benedict’s Prep (N.J.). All four are being recruited by the nation’s elite, and the first three have taken the road less traveled as top prospects staying home for high school. “The common denominator is those guys played [or play] a lot of high-level basketball in high school and a lot of high-level basketball in AAU,” said Terrance “Munch” Williams, the director of the PSA Cardinals, where Bamba played and Anthony currently plays his AAU ball. “They were able to go against the best of the best. They’re playing with other guys that have the same aspirations, and spent time around guys who have the same aspirations.”

Of the names listed above, Bamba and Anthony, a rising junior guard, may have the highest ceilings, a dominant low-post threat and an athletically gifted floor general. Bamba — who, unlike Anthony, attended high school away from home at The Westtown School (Pa.) — is best known for his shot-blocking and rebounding prowess. He has improved his offensive skills, adding a jump hook. “He [does] everything defensively so effortlessly,” an NBA scout said. “He rebounds the ball like a grown man. He blocks shots. He runs the floor. He’s going to struggle offensively [in the NBA at the start]. Everything else is the real deal.”

Cole Anthony, the son of 12-year NBA veteran and former Knick Greg Anthony, has had a bull’s-eye on his back since the eighth grade, being compared to his father. He became the first freshman point guard to start at Molloy from Day 1, led the Stanners to the city title game in March, and played up in age with PSA last year. “He’s a little brash, he’s a little in your face. He’s not going to back down from you,” Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Eric Bossi said. “That maybe rubs some people the wrong way. I see a dude who isn’t taking any crap from anybody and is going to make you work.” Williams sees a lot of similarities in Anthony and Bamba, from their steely focus to hate-to-lose mentality to willingness to demand more out of their teammates. They’re strong students who don’t spend much time on social media, come from strong support systems, and who have limited potential distractions.

“They’re trying to dominate what they have in front of them,” Williams said. Fraschilla and Christ the King coach Joe Arbitello attribute the changing landscape at least in part to improved coaching and training. For years, Fraschilla felt the city was hurt by the losses of high-level high school coaches — like Moe Hicks of since closed Rice and Molloy’s Jack Curran, who died in 2013. Arbitello said he believes the high school programs now are working better with established AAU powers like the New York Rens, PSA, New Heights and New York Lightning, who, in turn, are better organized than previous regimes and not only offer more teaching, but emphasize potential pratfalls and academics.

“The kids are getting good advice from AAU people,” Arbitello said. “They’re not fly-by-night AAU guys. They’re in it for the long haul.” Of course, there is no telling what can happen in the coming years. There are endless stories of can’t-miss prospects that missed, the Lenny Cooke’s of the world. Lance Stephenson was supposed to be a lottery pick entering his senior year of Abraham Lincoln, but instead went in the second round after a mediocre freshman season at Cincinnati. But the potential is there, the promise of an NBA littered with locals. “It could be a great couple of years,” said Diallo, the Queens guard playing at Kentucky. “Everybody has to keep getting better and chasing their dreams. “Hopefully it all comes true.”