The sky is the limit for Liam McChesney, according to a national basketball scout after a showcase in Langley over Labour Day weekend.
The Prince Rupert basketball star, who plays for the Charles Hays Rainmakers, received a raving review from a scout for North Pole Hoops (NPH), which is a Canadian basketball scouting service.
“I loved him. He’s one of the ones I identified early on the Friday. He’s one of the kids that really impressed with his combination of size, skill and upside. He could develop into a wing. Couple that with the fact his older brother is six-foot-ten, so he has height in his family, which leads us to believe he’s got a couple more inches in him before it’s all said and done,” said Tariq Sbiet, who is the national basketball scout for NPH.
North Pole Hoops Showcase is a three-day camp, which is purposed to identify Canada’s best basketball prospects. The program, which has camps all across Canada, is for kids from Grades 8 to 12. The B.C. camp had 100 potential future stars participating.
At the camps, the athletes gained skill development, character development and national exposure. NPH provides info and evaluations to college coaches.
On the third day of the camp, the players participated in prospect games, separated into underclassmen and upperclassmen.
“He was one of the top three to five players in the underclassmen. He cemented what I thought leading into the game in terms of his versatility and ability to get big guys off their feet and beat them… If he gets to six-foot-ten, the sky’s the limit. He should be a Division 1 NCAA player if he develops the right way,” Sbiet said.
He also praised McChesney’s rebound skills and his overall inside/outside game.
Something McChesney does need to work on, Sbiet noted, is adding muscle mass and strength.
“Right now, he looks like a stretch forward. If he develops, he should end up a three to four combo wing, which will help maximize his potential. I told his dad he could be a top 20 player in the country in his age group.”
That’s high praise for a kid who just started Grade 10 last week.
The underclassmen MVP went to Jiordano Khan from Burnaby South Secondary School.
Keenan Dowell, from Vancouver’s British Columbia Christian Academy, was named the upperclassmen British Columbia MVP.
After the camps, Sbiet said NPH creates player profiles and adds evaluations and makes a top prospects list – which McChesney is among, the scout added. The national rankings will be completed in the next couple months. Although the lists are primarily for college coaches for scouting and recruitment purposes, there will be a ‘Top 10’ teaser list released to the public.