Freshman Tyran Stokes already has scholarship offers from Alabama, LSU, Xavier, Arizona State and others. (Prolific Prep Photo)
If you want to see one of the top high school freshman basketball players in the nation, you will have that chance Saturday and Sunday at PrepSpin Classic at Mercer County High School.
Tyran Stokes, a 6-7, 195-pound native of Louisville, will be in Kentucky playing for Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.), one of the nations top five teams. His play is so spectacular that he earned the Hickman Tyran “Baby Charles Barkley” Stokes in middle school.
“He is a superstar in the making,” Prolific Prep coach Ryan Bernardi said. “If you haven’t seen him, you wouldn’t believe that he’s only a freshman.”
He’s on a team loaded with Division I signees, including McDonald’s All-American guard Aden Holloway (Auburn), but he still averages 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
“The most amazing thing about Tyran is his emotional maturity at 15 years old,” Bernardi said. “He’s a big target every game we play because of his notoriety.
“He has an unbelievable feel for the game. At his size, to be able to handle the ball, pass and shoot like he can is really rare. He is just elite, a top one percent type of kid. You combine a really good kid raised by an unbelievable mom with the size and skill he has already and he has a chance to be a generational player.”
He was born in Louisville and still has a lot of family there. He moved to San Diego at age 9 and also spent a year in Georgia near Atlanta before coming back to California.
Stokes already has scholarship offers from Alabama, LSU, Louisville, Xavier, Texas A&M, Arizona State, IUPUI and Jackson State. Indiana, UCLA, North Carolina State and USC are among the other schools who have reached out about Stokes.
Recruiting analysts say his strength is getting to the basket but he’s also a good defender and rebounder.
“It’s extremely rare for our team to have a freshman start,” Bernardi said. “We are No. 5 in the ESPN poll and were No. 2 before we lost our first game. But we very much rely on him for offensive production and we need his defense.
“For a normal 15 year old, this all might be a bit much. I am very thankful for his maturity so he can handle all this.”
* * *
Prolific Prep will play Hamilton Heights (Tennessee) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and face Premier Prep (Arizona) at 2:45 p.m. Sunday.
Four games are scheduled for Friday night, seven on Saturday and two on Sunday.
Admission is $15 per day for adults and $10 for children.
