New Hampton Profile

NewEnglandBasketballServices.com | Sunday, September 10th, 2006

After traveling to Tilton on Monday we kept driving 15 minutes up the highway to NEPSAC “A” Division powerhouse New Hampton. College coaches weren’t expected in until Tuesday but Coach Jamie Arsenault was nice enough to invite us into his gym a day early.

The New Hampton team is comprised of a number of individuals who are capable of playing at the mid-major level or better. Guy Alang Ntang (pictured above) is right at the top of that list. Guy is flying a little under the recruiting radar because he didn’t play on the A.A.U. circuit this summer. Instead, he was working out along in the New Hampton gym and it showed.

Guy is a naturally gifted athlete who would probably be successful in a wide variety of sports as he demonstrated when he picked up a tennis racket and cracked a serve against the gym wall before the game started. But as a basketball player Guy was dominant on Monday. He scored from the post with quick aggressive moves, got to the rim in one dribble from the perimeter, and shot the three-pointer very well throughout the day. Perhaps the most impressive thing was his build and strength even though he has never lifted weights before according to Coach Arsenault.

6’3 senior shooting guard Darryl Ashford Jr. is another one of New Hampton’s top players. Darryl has already committed to Bobby Knight and Texas Tech and was showing off his athletic ability Monday afternoon as well. He is a very quick and high leaper who is tremendous in transition and also very good at getting in the passing lanes on defense.

6’6 senior forward Andre Hardy was effective going to the basket and crashing the offensive glass, and he was another player with explosive power and leaping ability who is capable of finishing hard above the rim. Look for Andre to be playing at the mid-major level next year.

Mike Howlett, a 6’9 senior, is a very skilled power forward who prefers to play on the perimeter. He is a very good three-point shooter who would be great for any program that plays with a Princeton style offense.

Orion Outerbridge is a 6’9 junior with a ton of tools although he is still fairly raw. He only got up and down the court a couple of times on Monday before going down with an injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the day. But we saw enough of him at the New England Elite 75 Showcase to know that he is a prospect with a lot of potential. Orion should be able to play at a high level mid-major if not a lower level high-major program.

6’2 junior point-guard Michael Topercer comes to New Hampshire from Arizona. Michael says so far he has been recruited primarily by schools on the west coast, but that he really likes the east coast and is hoping to stay in the area to attend college. That should be good news for a lot of local programs as Michael could be a very tough point-guard in a league like the Colonial or MAAC.

While Michael was running the show for one team, his counterpart on the other team was 6’2 senior point-guard Robbie Hanzlik. Robbie is an extremely tough player that coaches are going to love for his intangibles. He is fairly skilled with an above average shot and ball skills. If he can maintain the same intensity we saw today for the rest of the season then we wouldn’t be surprised to see a low-major program lock him up by the end of the year.

Unlike many other of the NEPSAC “A” programs New Hampton also had a handful of division three prospects including 5’10 post-graduate point-guard Jamie Radja, 6’0 post-graduate shooting guard Jimmy Irmiter, and 6’0 junior guard Zack McBay. Patrick Saunders and Greg Miller round out the roster but were not in action today.

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