A Look at a Few of Northeastern Massachusetts’ Best

NewEnglandRecruitingReport.com | Wednesday, August 15th, 2007

Evan Smotrycz came bursting onto the scene this summer when he was named the MVP of the all-star game at session III of Eastern Invitational.  Although Smotrycz was previously an unknown to many recruiters and college coaches his breakout performance came as no surprise to those who know him best. 

Not only is he an extremely talented and versatile player who can beat his defender in a variety of ways, but the rising junior is also only 15 years old.  You see he is taking the road less traveled.  He hasn’t stayed back, he hasn’t reclassified, and he hasn’t transferred to a private or prep school.  This is just a normal kid who has gone through school like everyone else…only he happens to be young for his grade and a heck of a basketball player. 

If one were to do some investigating into the top rising sophomores in New England they would likely find that many are either the same age, or even older than, Smotrycz.  And from our perspective if he were a member of that class he would be among the top 5 players in the region. 

But Smotrycz has no interest in reclassifying.  While he hasn’t ruled out a post-graduate year if his body needs another year of development in order for him to reach his full potential, right now his plan is to finish his career at Reading and continue to work on his game.  That desire to work on his game is exactly what brought him to the Scott Hazelton basketball camp this week where he competed with and against many of his teammates from the Massachusetts Rivals AAU program. 

Smotrycz wasn’t the only rising junior who jumped out at us as Hanell Velez is a very talented young player in his own right.  The long and athletic guard is a slashing machine who almost always finds his way to the cup.  Not only that but at 6’4” he has tremendous size for the perimeter, especially when he slides over to the point guard position. 

Rising sophomore Carson DeRosiers is a work in progress but he shows a good deal of promise.  The 6’11” center is another 15 year old who is said to be still growing, and while his game is raw at the moment he shows some very distinct signs of potential.

But the underclassmen weren’t the only players impressing as three seniors also stood out in Ryan O’Connell, Adrian Gonzalez, and Romeo Diaz.  O’Connell is a 6’3 ½” shooting guard who does just that…he shoots the heck out of it.  In fact he made more shots than any other player in the state last year as he led all Massachusetts players in scoring during his junior season and is now hearing from a variety of division I and II coaches. 

Meanwhile Gonzalez, who stars with DeRosiers at Central Catholic, is the perfect compliment to O’Connell because he fills other needs with his athleticism and ability to attack the rim.  Diaz may be the most versatile of the bunch as he did a little bit of everything when we were watching as he knocked down the three ball, pulled up off the bounce, and got all the way to the rim on various possessions.

Having the opportunity to see these six players (and many more) compete on Monday morning was a great way to start the week because it validates what we have been preaching to college coaches for over a year now.  There are lots of talented basketball players in New England you just have to look for them. 

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