While there don’t appear to be any superstars among the centers in the high school class of 2014 (current seniors), there are some intriguing prospects with outstanding size and potential. Arguably the top two low posts in the senior class hail from Chicago and actually played for the same spring/summer travel team. We’re referring to 6-10, 265-pound Jahlil Okafor from Whitney Young High and 6-9, 250-pound Cliff Alexander from Curie High, neither of whom has made his college decision.
Okafor has strength and a polished low post game, yet his good but not exceptional athleticism prevents him from projecting as a potential near-super or super. Alexander, who has the skills to play on the high post in a pinch, has some of the same assets as Okafor but also isn’t a truly deluxe athlete.
Then come 6-11 Texan Myles Turner, whose national stock skyrocketed in June at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville (VA); highly skilled 6-11 Karl Towns, a New Jersey product who has verbally committed to Kentucky; fast developing 6-9, 235-pound Ray Kasongo (Oregon commitment) from Canada, who’s prepping in Arizona; 7-0, 227-pound Trayvon Reed, a lanky rejector/rebounder from Georgia who has given the nod to Maryland; and powerful 6-11, 300-pound behemoth Elbert Robinson from the Lone Star State, an LSU pledge.
We also particularly like the promise of 6-9, 230-pound shot-blocker Goodluck Okonoboh (UNLV commitment) from Massachusetts, rapidly improving 6-9 Michael Humphrey (Stanford commitment) from Phoenix, solid 7-0, 235-pound Thomas Welsh from Los Angeles, 7-2, 265-pound Isaac Haas (Wake Forest commitment) from Alabama, and angular 7-1, 210-pound Pascal Chukwu (Providence commitment) from Nigeria and now in Connecticut.