DAHILL said:
these rankings dont go by high school games... you RARELY see any of these folks ESPECIALLY with rivals.com at high school games. They come from AAU summer league games.
That is true. But there were NBA scouts from over 20 teams at their head to head matchup. Jerry West himself was in Jackson, in the stands. The consensus was that Ellis was the better of the two hands down.
These scouts have also been at the McDonald's games practices. Ellis has been the best player there according to scouts and his teammates. This is what Bob Gibbons had to say about him in the Clarion Ledger.
"They go through the drills and fundamentals, so you really get more of a feel for the player's abilities than you do in an up-and-down, run-and-gun style game," said Bob Gibbons, a national recruiting analyst who helps select the 24 McDonald's All-Americans. "It's unfortunate, but the game hasn't been very competitive in recent years."
For Ellis, who is contemplating whether to attend Mississippi State or enter the NBA draft, the last three days apparently have done nothing to lower his stock. Gibbons said he's hearing Ellis ? who was particularly impressive in Tuesday morning's 2-hour practice ? could be the first high school player picked should he declare for the June 28 draft."
An assistant GM didn't go as far, but did say this.
'"I don't want to nitpick and say where exactly he'd fall, but he's definitely in the upper-echelon here," the assistant GM said. "One of the nice things about Monta is that he is a very steady player. He seems like he's a steady kid. There's a predictability about him, which is rare for a high school guy. He kind of plays the same way every time he steps on the floor."'
This is what the McDonald's West coach had to say.
'"Monta's done an excellent job of fitting in well with the team. In doing that, he's shown the scouts what they want to see," said West coach Al Rhodes of Logansport, Ind."
Finally this is what a teammate had to say,
"Monta's tough," said West forward Jon Brockman of Snohomish, Wash. "He's dangerous from everywhere. The first day you could kind of tell that he had some nice tools, but he's not shooting it every single time. He's getting other people good shots, too.
"Everyone (among the McDonald All-Americans) is talking who's going to go (into the NBA draft) because so many went last year. People are saying Monta could go if he wants to do it. I think he's ready. He's just at a different level."
All of this is coming from people who are there. Nobody is mentioning Louis Williams as standing out among the players there. Most current mock drafts say he is delusional thinking he will be a top five or even a lottery pick. Dude is good, very good, but I think he may be drinking his own hype juice. He better go to Georgia.
