Thames Looking for Breakout Season
By Bruno Chu, HuskyDigest.com, October 6, 2007
The summer basketball evaluation period saw many 2009 prospects showcased across the country. While a few have already committed and many others
received a large amount of recruiting attention, one sleeper to keep an eye on is Xavier Thames of Pleasant Grove High School in Elk Grove (CA).
Xavier Thames
The 6-foot-3 177-pound combo-guard had a slow spring and summer but is looking for a breakout winter season. We caught up with Thames in between workouts to talk about his summer and the latest regarding his recruiting.
Playing behind California commit D.J. Seeley on the highly touted Compton Magic traveling team this spring and summer, Thames did not get as much playing time to showcase his abilities but is taking things in stride.
"We had a really good team this year. We did very well at the Cactus Classic in Arizona and the Spring Showcase in Vegas. I didn't play as much as I wanted to in the summer but it's all good, I'll get my opportunities," described Thames.
Following the summer season, Thames has seen a steady dose of PAC-10 schools hot on his trail. Arizona St., Washington, Arizona and California in addition to UNLV, Nebraska and Texas round out the schools recruiting Thames the hardest.
No schools lead at the moment but the PAC-10 is where he wants to be according to Thames, "I like all the PAC-10 teams because it's a great conference and plus it's close to home. But I'm pretty open right now." Thames does not hold any offers at this time.
While still early in his recruiting, Thames has already visited a few campuses unofficially including Washington earlier in the winter.
"I went to Seattle back in the winter. I watched Washington beat UCLA. I liked their style of play and the campus was really nice." Thames also had the opportunity to meet the coaches, "I talked to coach (Paul) Fortier mostly but I also met all the other coaches including coach (Lorenzo) Romar."
Later in the summer, Thames visited Arizona and Arizona St. and plans to make a few more unofficial visits this coming winter.
"I hope to go to a few more schools. UNLV is probably one of the schools that I will visit," added Thames.
Playing style figures to be a big part of the decision according to Thames, "I like teams that get up and down. I'm looking for a school that compliments my style of play which is up-tempo. Obviously, I'd like to get an opportunity to play early too." A decision will probably come sometime in the spring according to Thames.
During the summer, Thames has been refining parts of his game and bulking up his overall frame.
"I worked a lot on my long-range shooting and getting a quicker release. I also hit the weights everyday to get bigger and stronger getting ready for the upcoming season," explained Thames.
There is much anticipation for the start of the season as Thames described their team prospects.
"We should do really well. We have everyone back and we've got decent size up front. We also got word that Armond [Armstead] will most likely play this year which is great news."
The 6-foot-4 287-pound USC football commit, Armond Armstead figures to play a prominent role for the Pleasant Grove Eagles this coming basketball season according to Thames, "Armond is just huge. He's a big body and takes up a lot of space. He gets a lot of rebounds and does everything to help the team overall."
As the winter season approaches, stay with us as we follow and update the progress for this promising prospect.
To read the full article, follow the link below (requires membership);
Article at Rivals.com (requires membership)