HIGH SCHOOL

Hillcrest wants to raise Arizona hoops with 7-1 DeAndre Ayton

Richard Obert
azcentral sports
Hillcrest Prep junior DeAndre Ayton, a 7-foot-1 basketball player, is rated the No.1 player in the country.

DeAndre Ayton ducks under the doorway as he leaves his small dorm room at Starshine Academy in Phoenix. Just steps away is a tiny gym where he dunks, shoots, runs with Hillcrest Prep basketball teammates for hours a day.

They train in obscurity in Arizona, and, on weekends, jet to some part of the country for "grind sessions" against other prep academies in front of packed gyms and college coaches.

The spotlight in faraway places always is on the 7-foot-1, 240-pound junior from the Bahamas, who doesn't run with a posse, sticks with his tight-knit teammates, plays video games and punishes opponents with jaw-dropping dunks and blocks.

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Two Saturdays ago, in a game after taking a tour of Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse and watching the Jayhawks beat Texas, Ayton put on a show before Kansas coach coach Bill Self, his staff and six Kansas players in a game in Lawrence against top prep academy Sunrise Christian.

In a 71-67 Hillcrest win, Ayton had 52 points, 33 rebounds, 11 blocks shots and six assists.

"Coach Self told me he was going to my game, so I knew I had to put on a show," Ayton said. "I didn't know he was going to come after his game."

While the focus on Hillcrest last fall was mainly on 6-11 sophomore Marvin Bagley III leaving the start-up national basketball academy, whether the courses the players were taking were accredited and if the program was going to collapse under the NCAA's scrutiny, Ayton stood tall.

He never asked to leave. He had his mom here. He liked how laid back Arizona felt. And he wanted to just get better. He already was considered the No. 1 player in the country in his junior class. But that wasn't good enough.

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"My mom keeps me grounded, and it really fits me out there, to be honest," Ayton said.

Hillcrest coach Kyle Weaver believes Ayton is the best player in the country, in any class.

"Any class, hands down," Weaver said. "The last three games, he is averaging 35 points a game with 15 rebounds. He's a presence on defense and a bigger presence on offense. You don't see a lot of 7-1s who can stretch out and shoot 3s. In one game last weekend, he had five 3s. In another, he had six.

"You don't find bigs who defend like that. He's not just an offensive monster, but a defensive monster."

But nobody has seen him play in Arizona, unless they caught the very last game of the Hoophall West in December at Scottsdale Chaparral, a throw-in game that matched Hillcrest against Advanced Prep International out of Texas.

Hillcrest won that late-night game, behind a monster effort by Ayton, who is averaging 30 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks, helping Hillcrest to a 17-3 record. Twice, he matched up against the 7-1 Arizona State target Thon Maker in games against Athlete Institute of Canada, and only elevated an already dominating game.

In the first meeting, with Maker and Ayton guarding each other nearly the whole game, Ayton had 24 points, 19 rebounds, four blocks and four assists, while Maker had 29 points, 15 rebounds, two blocks and an assist. Hillcrest won the game.

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Last week in Napa Valley, Ayton had 38 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and three assists against Maker in another Hillcrest win.

"It's the best matchup of the season," Ayton said. "Every time I go against Thon, I bring an extra effort. Me and Thon have the same style of play. It's who brings the most effort and intensity. We're both going to shoot 3s. We're both going to put it on the floor. We're both going to post up. It's about who brings the most energy."

Weaver calls Ayton that "LeBron James-type kid," who can attract top-50 national recruits to Hillcrest.

The program hasn't skipped a beat since Bagley moved to California, where he is awaiting a decision from the CIF Southern Section after appealing an ineligibility ruling in January to play at Chatsworth Sierra Canyon. Bagley appealed after the Southern Section ruled his move was athletically motivated and ruled him ineligible.

Since Bagley left, and after the NCAA came through, Hillcrest transferred its academics to Arizona Connections, an online high school in Gilbert that is NCAA accredited, according to the NCAA Eligibility Center. The NCAA determined that Starshine Academy didn't meet academic standards.

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Hillcrest remains on Starshine's campus, where it pays for use of its rooms and gym. It hopes to have a door opened by the Arizona Interscholastic Association so it can play games against top-tier high school programs in the state, such as Phoenix Shadow Mountain.

Nick Weaver, Kyle's older brother who is the recruiting coordinator at Hillcrest, said a meeting has been set up with AIA Assistant Executive Director David Hines to discuss the possibility of getting some sort of affiliation that would allow it to play games in Arizona, where it can show the state what the rest of the nation is seeing, a dominating big man who has Kansas, Kentucky and Duke all hoping to gain his services for at least one season, who appears to be on a beeline to future NBA stardom.

For a door to open, Hillcrest won't be able to take Arizona players anymore.

Findlay Prep is a national prep academy like Hillcrest that got in the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association's good graces for not taking Nevada players. It has a membership with Nevada and is allowed to play some of the state's top-tier programs, such as Las Vegas Bishop Gorman. It also plays other top high school teams in the nation, hitting the Valley every year for games with Phoenix Shadow Mountain and Phoenix Pinnacle. Findlay is currently ranked eighth nationally by USA TODAY.

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Findlay doesn't play in the Nevada state tournament, but in a national tournament against other basketball academies.

Weaver isn't looking to be part of the AIA state tournament. He just wants to be able to play other schools in the Valley.

"It can be big for Arizona," Weaver said. "We can be a flagship for them nationally, report to them weekly, whatever we need to do. Maybe play three or four games against Arizona teams. It would have been cool to play Shadow Mountain this year. Everywhere we go, it sells out. We're willing to do whatever it takes. We won't take Arizona players.

"I think it would be great for basketball here. (Ayton) is the No. 1 player in America. He's going to stay here and embrace it. He'll sell out gyms."

Hines said the AIA is open to discussions with Hillcrest.

"The AIA wants to provide opportunities to all kids," Hines said. "However, there has to be rules. If they come with a proposal, it is something the (Executive Board) would make a decision on."

Hillcrest doesn't need to take Arizona players because Ayton has become such a national magnet.

Ayton left Balboa City in San Diego last fall and came to Hillcrest partly because Bagley was there. Bagley was rated by ESPN last summer as the No. 1 prospect in the nation in the 2018 class. He was azcentral sports' Basketball Player of the Year as a freshman, after helping Tempe Corona del Sol win a fourth consecutive Division I championship.

After the Bagley family left, Ayton stayed put. And Hillcrest's Nike sponsorship was intact.

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"I was thinking, 'Oh, man, that's crazy, we could have done so much,' '' Ayton said. "But you know everybody has to keep moving to see what's best for him. I wish him the best. You just have to keep it moving."

Ayton thrives on leading Hillcrest's transition.

Hillcrest director Matt Allen said that Ayton's first semester grades were impressive.

He is liked by his teammates.

"He is a great guy," guard Dontez Thomas said. "He's humble, down to Earth. He is fun to be around. He puts on a show, about 10 dunks a game."

Ayton said rankings motivate him, but they keep him grounded. They don't inflate his ego.

When he hears people calling him the best player in the country, he heads to the weight room and gym for more work.

He studies how LeBron James and Kevin Durant play. He looks at video of how Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson worked the post.

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He is inspired by college basketball's leading scorer, Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield, the Bahamas' pride. He also follows the progress of Michigan State point guard Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn Jr., who also is from the Bahamas.

"(Hield) really represents the Bahamas and everybody respects him," said Ayton, who moved to the United States five years ago. "So does Tum Tum from Michigan State. We have to put our country on the map. That's the big motivation to me. I think it is for them, too. It's a big motivation to have your country on your back. It's a small island. Everybody knows you."

Next year, Hillcrest is hoping Arizona gets to know Ayton in packed gyms.

He wants to carry that flag, too.

"It could be bigger next year," he said.

Hillcrest upcoming games

Grind Session events

Pulaski County, Kentucky tournament, Friday through Sunday

College Station, Texas tournament, Feb. 12-14

Nashville, Tennessee, tournament, Feb. 19-21

Tanger national tournament, TBD, either in Kansas or Los Angeles

Reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-460-1710. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.