Coach Bill's EYBL Evaluations: Omar Calhoun & Tony Parker

Posted Apr 14, 2011
Basketball recruiting analyst/evaluator and Tar Heel Times correspondent Coach Bill spent the weekend at the Nike EYBL basketball event in Hampton, Va. over the weekend and sent in the following report:

In my opinion, Omar Calhoun had the best weekend overall of any player from first game to last. His air of confidence is extremely high right now. He was dominant, versatile and pretty efficient offensively every game. He showed a lot more aggressiveness and prowess as a slasher than I had seen in past. He was killing teams from behind the arc, with hardcore drives, and at the free throw line. And he showed a high level competitive spirit that didn't permit him to take many possessions off (if any). He also put up really good rebounding numbers for a wing throughout the weekend.

I loved the toughness in Calhoun's play and the determination in his eyes all weekend. Also, getting to know him more this weekend...what a terrific young man. Omar handles himself with maturity and is true class act.

The most closely-watched big man was Tony Parker from Georgia. I saw him during the season and thought he may emerge as one of the top 6-10 players in the class, but he didn’t quite play at that level over the weekend. I’d say he appeared to be more in the 11-15 range, so that’s very close.

Here is a terrific evaluation of the highly-touted 2012 post player and UNC target from veteran recruiting analyst and InsideCarolina.com correspondent Rob Harrington that echoes my evaluation of Tony from last weekend's event:

"He isn’t an elite athlete and can be bothered around the rim, but I love Parker’s size and strong hands. He’s also a surprisingly talented passer and is a reasonably good scorer at close-range. The issues he must clean up are too many missed chippies inside, and he also must develop a game with his back to the basket if more than a couple feet from the hoop. He attempts some turnaround jump shots, but he doesn’t make them consistently yet. Shot-blockers bother him, so learning how to use his size to knock them off-balance will help."

"Parker’s biggest problem over the weekend was foul trouble. He commits a lot of silly ones and simply needs to learn. Despite not being a dominant force at the event, though, he was a reliable traffic rebounder, showed excellent court awareness and worked hard for position in the post. He’d fit very well into UNC’s system."

Adding to Rob's commentary, Parker also displayed a greater appetite to run the floor, which has been aided my significant improvement in his strength and conditioning. Another area of noticeable improvement is his improved free throw stroke and production. This is a critical development for Parker since he is a power post player and magnet for contact, he should get to the free throw line a lot.