Little Rock Central freshman swing man Annor Boateng made a big statement with a strong performance at the Pangos All-South Frosh/Soph camp in Duncanville, Texas, over the weekend.
Boateng, 6-5, 195 pounds, was named the MVP of the Black squad by scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds in a 103-95 loss to the White team in the Crop Top 30 game. The event featured 219 campers from 13 states.
His showing didn't come as a surprise to Little Rock Central coach Brian Ross, who marvels at Boateng’s physical maturity.
“The first thing that stands out is his size and he’s not like one of these tall skinny freshmen,” Ross said. “I’ve been telling people this is probably what Lebron (James) looked like when he was in the ninth grade. He’s not only big and athletic looking, he’s actually strong. He’s the second strongest guy on our team in the weight room. He has a 33-inch vertical already.”
In addition to his athleticism, Boateng’s skillset is strong too.
“He’s a great ball handler, great passer, plays with great effort,” Ross said. “He’s a good shooter and I think he’ll continue to improve. He’ll be a really good shooter in the long run He has a good looking form but doesn't have a ton of experience shooting the ball outside. He’s always been huge for the age groups he’s been playing in. The sky is the absolute limit for him.”
Layden Blocker, who is Boateng’s teammate for the Joe Johnson Arkansas Hawks, also shined at the event. Blocker, a sophomore point guard at Little Rock Christian, was also selected to the Top 30 All-Star game.
Boateng and Blocker had a zoom meeting with Arkansas coach Eric Musselman and staff on Monday.
Ross and the staff have gotten to know the younger Boateng because his older brother, Kwame Boateng, is a junior forward for the Tigers.
“First, he’s a great kid, comes from a great family and has two great parents,” Ross said. “We’ve known about him for a while; got to know him a little bit over the last couple of years. He’s a great student with a 4.0 GPA.”
With Boateng attending Pinnacle View Middle School the past two years, Ross was able to get a preview of things to come.
“When we went and watched him in the eighth grade, one thing that stood out, he’s got a super competitive drive, too,” Ross said. “Anytime they were in a close game, he just flat out took over every fourth quarter. Effort, getting offensive rebounds, put backs, making big shots. I think he’s a total package if he continues to come along with his shot there won't be any stopping him.”
Grassrootshoops.net rated Boateng the fourth-best freshman prospect at the camp and the No. 12 overall prospect.
Global HoopsTV analyst Van Coleman has been scouting high school basketball talent since 1976. When attending events, Coleman purposely doesn't look at the roster of names, but focuses on the numbers of each athlete so he doesn't have a bias toward prospects with reputation.
Boateng caught the eye of Coleman.
“He is a bouncy swing man who showed range to three that set up drive to hoop that he finished with floater or dunk,” said Coleman, who also contributes to Nothing but Net. “He has solid handle to create space for drive or jumper... will blossom as he matures and adds strength in time.”
Ross doesn’t believe Boateng is finished growing.
“I don't get the sense from looking at him that he’s as big as he’s going to be,” Ross said. “Some kids look like that and you think, 'OK, they're a finished product,’ but it kind of feels like he might get up to 6-8 or 6-9. Nothing about him makes you look at him and think, 'OK, that’s a post guy.'
"He’s a guard. He’s definitely a swing-type guy on the college level; just a phenomenal potential. It’s going to be hard to keep him off the floor ever for us this year.”