WSR Full Court Report

Nice! Age and competition aside, there are natural basketball instincts on display here that can't be taught in practice drills or camps. The release on his jump shot is almost there (elbow in the slot is close), and his ability to not only dribble but score with his left hand is impressive for his age. Lastly, I don't care how much you think you know about basketball, but you can't teach no look passes and overall court awareness.

If he really is from Chatsworth my guess is he ends up at Harvard Westlake, Taft, St. John Bosco, Loyola Marymount, St. Bernard's, Long Beach Poly or Mater Dei at some point in his high school career.

sometimes I think you just post out of your ass...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QsQ-X__qBk
Josiah Turner was the best point guard in the country last year for a freshman. He had no help on the inside which really limited his ability to drive the lanes, and make the big passes to the post players. his jump shot was always the weak spot in his game.
now, this doesn't mean Josiah wasnt a problem player. I'd much rather have a point guard with slightly less skill the the other players like because it makes court chemistry better.

I don't think you understand the game of basketball in the slightest... I'm not talking about dunking. Turner was making spectacular passes at the beginning of this season. The problem was that his teammates weren't up to par with him and couldn't handle his passes. If he had been on a veteran team, he would have dominated(if he wasn't suspended)
once again, no inside presence, means the pressure was intensified for the guards. Josiahs weakness was his jumpshot. that weakness was exploited by other teams and there wasn't really anything that could be done about that this season unless someone grew 3-5 inches or KNat learned to play.
also, you said:
"Does Arizona have some silly requirement that students must have a H.S. diploma? Because if not, I say we offer him a scholarship NOW. He's better than Mayes, right now. He's WAAAAAY better than Turner."
this was in response to that comment. I'm sure you exaggerating, but Mayes and Turner would make this kid quit the game at this point.

Honestly, you need to drop the recruiting hype stuff. Turner dominated opponents at the high school level. At some point you have to blame the athlete for not putting in the work to improve as a player. Every time you jump a level (high school to college to professional) an athlete needs to up their effort level, condition harder, and practice with more focus to excel on the court. Turner didn't put in enough of the work off the court to excel on the court. That said, there were "concerns" prior to college already apparent. For me, perhaps my biggest concern was how "quiet" Josiah was. When I'm evaluating true PGs, I want to see a talker on the court, someone demanding excellence from their teammates, and someone who knows the offense better than anyone. Josiah, even in high school, didn't demonstrate that type of leadership.

As for young Derryck Thorton, I got a good long look at him this past weekend. He handled himself well against the 2013 and 2014 players. The kid's got some guts, and smartly recognized that the best way for him to compete against older and stronger guys was to bust his ass on the defensive end of the floor, which to his credit he did. I have an awesome photo of him in a defensive stance that I'll post here in a bit.

1. You have to treat recruiting rankings for what they are, predictors of future success. Think of them like the SAT. A kid who scores a 1600 on the SAT is MORE LIKELY to succeed in college than a kid with a 900, but there are no guarantees. More 5-stars than 4-stars excel in college, but not all. There are always exceptions. That being said, if you look at the history of Arizona basketball, more elite recruits work out than don't. For every Turner, there are 10 Bibby's, Elliott's, Budinger's, Gardner's, etc. The good news is that Arizona is also able to find the Steve Kerr's and Derrick Williams' of the world.

There are busts like Turner (off court issues) There are players who have nice careers but fail to live up to the hype like Shakur (4-year starter) and Jawann McClellan (injuries/off court issues), but there are plenty of 4 and 5 star kids who have shined.

2. Don't blame York for the videos out there on him. Most of those are professionally done hype videos. Site's know that dunks and highlight reel plays are what attract viewers. Most people out there looking for highlights don't want to see fundamentals. Harder to find are true highlight/recruiting videos. These are usually put out by a recruit's family or coaches and are evaluated by college coaches. You see these more in football than hoop.

Yeah, it's funny but in basketball players and families don't need the professionally done "recruiting" profile videos because there are enough super-fly dunk highlight reels readily available on the open market because of the sex sells philosophy for websites.

In football, exposure comes at a premium, and often it's up to the recruit and their family to do all the heavy lifting (tape their own games, pay to have the video produced, and then incur the cost of distribution to colleges), so they're generally filled with more substance and much less hype.

*As for York, I'd encourage people to ignore his dunks (although they're damn impressive for a 6-foot-1 guard) and instead focus on his footwork, step back jumpers, crossover dribble, and movement without the ball that gets him into scoring position in the first place.

I've been knowing Derryck since he was a baby. His dad and I happen to be best friends. Derryck is a great player. He works hard in the gym and the classroom. He is a student of the game and is one of the most humble kids I know. He's a good eader and will continue to develope. He works on his game everyday. Keep your eye for him as he continues to work on and improve his game.

I don't follow recruiting much and as plenty here will be glad to tell you I know nothing about basketball.... I have seen whatever that video - 40 seconds or whatever and to me he looks like an amazing PG. Maybe I am way off, but people post hype video of recruits all the time and it never looks all that special to me. Mr. Thornton does. My reaction is very similar to the first time I saw Jason Terry or Mike Bibby play.

I know that if my son were a guard with that type of talent I'd want him to follow in the footsteps of Kenny Lofton, Steve Kerr, Khalid Reeves, Damon Stoudamire, Michael Dickerson, Reggie Geary, Miles Simon, Jason Terry, Mike Bibby, Jason Gardner...

I really hope Derryck is a Wildcat fan and I hope that he and Sean Miller become friends over the next few years!

Please come back and keep us posted on his progress! As with any young player who's head and heart are right, I think every Wildcat fan would wish him well in his endeavors no matter what happens.

He LOOKS too intelligent to play for KO anyway.

USC is the first to offer.