Update on Cleanthony Early's summer

by **Aargh** » July 2nd, 2013, 8:37 pm

Early got invited to the Kevin Durant camp. After that, he got an invite to the LeBron James camp, which is (I believe) the top summer camp for HS and college players. There's something like 25 players that get invited to that camp.

At the Kevin Durant camp, Jabari Parker was considered the top invitee. He's a Fr at Duke this year and projected as the #2 pick in the NBA draft next year. In the only review of players I've found from that camp, Early was considered the MVP of the camp.

http://www.finestmag.com/apps/blog

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by **rlh04d** » July 2nd, 2013, 10:22 pm

Early was one of 19 at the Kevin Durant Skills Academy (more or less the wings; there are separate camps for the PGs and big men). He'll be one of 20 total players at the Lebron James Skills Academy, selected from the three previous camps.

Great honor for him, and following Carmichael and McDermott's appearance from last year.

Rob Dauster ‏@RobDauster 28 Jun
They're scrimmaging full court right now, but it's 4-on-4. Most impressive player has been Cleanthony Early.

Bradley Augustine ‏@JBAugustine 30 Jun
Good 1st session of Day 3. Standouts: @AlexTheGreat22, Geron Johnson, Cleanthony Early, and Travis Bader. #KDSkillsAcademy

Josh Stirn ‏@Josh_Stirn 28 Jun
College session coming to a close. Standouts: Jabari Parker, Cleanthony Early, Gary Harris, and Geron Johnson. #KDSkillsAcademy

by **glm38** » July 3rd, 2013, 7:27 pm

This is probably not good news for the rest of the league. Sky's the limit for this guy if he continues to work on his game and his body (especially his upper body strength) .

by **Aargh** » July 3rd, 2013, 8:41 pm

glm38 wrote:This is probably not good news for the rest of the league. Sky's the limit for this guy if he continues to work on his game and his body (especially his upper body strength) .

I think it's good news for the rest of the league. Early lit up the national champs for 24 and 10. That got him instant respect from every serious basketball journalist. Now he's doing the college equivalent of a HS player "blowing up" between his Jr and Sr seasons.

I've never been modest about my support for the Shox, so it's easy for me to say that the Shox are going to leave the rest of the Valley a few games behind by the end of the season. Early is lining up the credentials for some pre-season AA consideration. One source (can't remember if it's ESPN or SI) already has him on their pre-season 2nd team AA.

By WSU standards, Early played a lot of ole defense last year. His D was mentioned as a strength at the Durant camp. Once he's back in Wichita, he's supposed to be working an handles and driving to the hoop from the perimeter.

When Darius Carter (JuCo AA PF) showed up this summer, Marshall called him the most D1-ready JuCo he'd ever seen, and the coaching staff told Early to learn to play SF this summer. In JuCo, some scouting services rated Early as an NBA prospect as a SG. Reviews out of the Durant camp said that Early could play PG.

Having players like that in the league is good for the league. If WSU should win the league by a multiple-game margin, Early's progress this summer is going to be seen as the reason for that.

It's all a good thing.

by **rlh04d** » July 3rd, 2013, 8:59 pm

glm38 wrote:This is probably not good news for the rest of the league. Sky's the limit for this guy if he continues to work on his game and his body (especially his upper body strength) .

Also if he can work on his mental focus regarding poor fouls and defensive intensity.

Both of which he did very well during the NCAA tournament, though.

Definitely agreed that the sky is the limit for him ... and I think it's all on him. He's got all the ability to be a lottery pick next year if he is willing to do the things that will get him there. Which means a lot of time in the weight room, mental focus, and cleaning up the last few elements of his game that need work.

He averaged 14 points a game last season ... but he was also only playing 25 minutes a game. If he can stay on the floor for 30+ minutes a game, he wouldn't even have to improve his game to average around 17 ppg next season.

by **glm38** » July 3rd, 2013, 9:10 pm

I agree with you its good to have those types of players in our league. Its not all good news for the rest of the league though. Opposing teams fans don't want to see Cle go off on THEIR team.

And no one outside of Shox fans want to see WSU run away from the rest of the conference. But if Early reaches his potential that could very well happen.

by **GoShockers89** » July 3rd, 2013, 10:32 pm

glm38 wrote:I agree with you its good to have those types of players in our league. Its not all good news for the rest of the league though. Opposing teams fans don't want to see Cle go off on THEIR team.

And no one outside of Shox fans want to see WSU run away from the rest of the conference. But if Early reaches his potential that could very well happen.

You are being a good sport. Props for that.

by **rlh04d** » July 3rd, 2013, 10:46 pm

glm38 wrote:And no one outside of Shox fans want to see WSU run away from the rest of the conference. But if Early reaches his potential that could very well happen.

Even I don't think WSU running away from the rest of the conference is good for the MVC as a whole in any way.

Doesn't mean I don't want it to happen.

Early stepping in to take the media void left over from McDermott is good for the conference, though. There's a certain amount of manipulation you have to do with the media to get their attention. The MVC won't get attention for being a competitive conference top-to-bottom ... it will get attention for having a Final Four team and an AA-candidate.

by **GrandpaBear** » July 5th, 2013, 7:56 am

It would be great for Early to have a huge season and keep WSU ranked but he seems to have a little bit of Randy Moss attitude - "I play hard when I want to" in him. He was great in the NCAA but not good at all in MVC tourney. Hopefully he shakes that off this year.

by **GoShockers89** » July 5th, 2013, 9:00 am

GrandpaBear wrote:It would be great for Early to have a huge season and keep WSU ranked but he seems to have a little bit of Randy Moss attitude - "I play hard when I want to" in him. He was great in the NCAA but not good at all in MVC tourney. Hopefully he shakes that off this year.

He had the stomach flu in St. Louis and was told not to play, but he insisted on trying to contribute.

Cleanthony doesn't have any Randy Moss in him. Instead, he shoots himself in the foot by committing dumb fouls and taking unnecessary risks on defense. That was the primary culprit for robbing him of minutes and production.

Look out if he fixes that. He showed good progress in the NCAA and people at the Kevin Durant Camp raved about his defense. He will be quite a load if that improvement is sustainable.