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By Dylan Ackermann
Cronkite News

CHANDLER – Prep schools are reshaping the college basketball recruiting landscape, making it easier than ever for top college coaches such as Auburn’s Bruce Pearl to identify and pursue the nation’s best high school players.

It’s why Pearl and other top college coaches, including Arkansas coach John Calipari, were at the AZ Compass Prep Pro Day. It is the fourth year that the Chandler-based basketball academy has held the pro day, which gives recruiters a chance to watch top prospects in action.

“This time of year, it’s hard to leave campus because we’re getting started in a couple months,” Pearl said. “But the prep schools have done so much of the weeding out for us.”

The pro day also gives AZ Compass Prep an opportunity to showcase its success. The signs are everywhere upon entering the gymnasium.

On both walls inside the short hallway, life-sized Fathead posters of Joshua Primo, TyTy Washington, Jabari Walker, and Maxwell Lewis show each in their Dragons jerseys and NBA uniforms. Inside the gym, headshots of 52 former and current NCAA Division I players from the program are displayed on the walls behind the bleachers and each basket.

Ed Gibson, the coach at AZ Compass Prep from 2017 to 2023, helped establish the pro day and is now entering his second season as an assistant coach at San Jose State.

This time, Gibson was at the gym to recruit, and his return gave him a new appreciation for what he helped build – an AZ Compass Prep program filled each year with top Division I recruits.

Like other basketball academies in Arizona and across the country, AZ Compass Prep allows players to compete against the best competition daily.

It’s “iron sharpening iron,” according to Pearl.

“It can simulate what it’s going to look like in college as far as the competitive part,” Gibson said, agreeing with Pearl’s take. “You have to play against guys that are just as good as you.”

The high level of play at the prep level typically gives prospects an advantage in the competition for scholarships at the nation’s elite college basketball programs. It also is evidence of the commitment players have made to be their best, according to Pearl.

“They’ve gone away from home, they’ve gone through some of those adjustments,” Pearl said. “From dealing with homesickness, they’ve obviously made an investment. They become pros already because of the way they’re training and the sacrifices they’re making.”

On most high school teams, the best players have the greenlight to shoot the ball when they want, and rarely come out of a game unless they’re in foul trouble. There is a danger that those players will become too one-dimensional.

It isn’t the best learning experience, according to Gibson. The sacrifice required to play on a team of stars makes players find ways to impact a game beyond scoring. That more rounded experience can teach a lot.

Pete Kaffey, in his first year as AZ Compass coach, led the Dragons to the Chipotle Nationals, an eight-team high school basketball tournament that showcases the best teams in the country.

For Kaffey, preparing players for the realities of college and – more importantly – getting them closer to becoming professionals, takes priority. Knowing that every day is calculated at the prep school level is why Pearl said, “The prep school guys are more ready.”

“Most schools, you’re going to school and after school you’re going home,” Kaffey said. “Here, you got multiple workouts, lifting, practice and still need to find time to get work in on your own time. Then, you got to go home and do it again. That’s the difference: teaching how to follow a schedule.”

That schedule was evident at the pro day.

Calipari, who is in his first season at Arkansas after spending 15 seasons at Kentucky, Grand Canyon University’s Bryce Drew, Auburn’s Pearl, and scouts and assistant coaches from North Carolina, Washington, Kentucky, Iowa, Missouri, Utah, Gonzaga, Creighton, BYU and Arizona State, among others, witnessed what resembled an NBA Draft Combine over two days.

The pro day began with three-man weaves, then moved to timed ¾-court sprint, lane agility work and a maximum vertical leap test.

A two-minute shooting drill followed, showcasing players’ abilities to attack the rim, spot up shoot, come off ball screens and shoot on the move, before it concluded with a 5-on-5 scrimmage.

As each day concluded, players greeted everyone in attendance and spoke with schools that offered scholarships or showed interest.

The event also allowed players to reflect on their decision to enroll at AZ Compass.

Marcus Jackson, a four-star recruit ranked 107th nationally in the class of 2025, according to 247Sports, spoke with Pearl, whose program was among Jackson’s final eight schools along with programs like Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgetown. He has committed to Maryland.

Jackson previously attended John Marshall, a prep school in Richmond, Virginia, before enrolling at AZ Compass. He described a pro day like this as a first and a “big step.”

Showing off his athleticism and 50-inch vertical – the highest at the pro day and seemingly effortless – by nearly breaking the rim on every drill, Jackson did so because there is no other option given how hard his teammates compete as top recruits themselves.

“That’s something I got to bring every day,” Jackson said. “If you don’t got energy, you can’t be on the floor. In order to be on this team, I have to play defense, I have to hustle and I have to be a dog. You’re not always going to have your way. We all show out, so I have, too.”

Kalek House, a four-star recruit ranked 115th nationally in the class of 2026 according to 247Sports and the son of Eddie House, received an offer from Gibson and San Jose State following the pro day. Kalek had the privilege to showcase his skills in front of many schools recruiting him, including GCU, Washington, Hawaii, Arizona State and Creighton.

Coming from Desert Mountain, a public school where he and his brother, Kaden – ranked 14th nationally according to 2026 ESPN 60 – were the only elite prospects on the team, Kalek saw this as a chance to maximize his exposure.

“I just wanted to show I’m just as good as everyone in the class,” Kalek said. “I might be overlooked, but I’m just going to keep working.”

For many, including Kalek, winning the Chipotle Nationals is now a realistic goal given AZ Compass Prep’s national schedule.

While competing against other top prep schools is part of the process, it not only brought Kalek and others to AZ Compass but is what Kalek said will bring him closer to his goal of “developing into a professional.”

“I know there’s other ways to affect the game (besides scoring),” Kalek said. “That’s one of my main things. Picking up full court. I’m a dog.”

Similar to Kalek, Nicholas Randall – a three-star recruit according to 247Sports – came from Vashon High School, a public school in St. Louis, Missouri.

After winning the state championship three years in a row, there was “nothing left for me,” Randall said.

“It’s great to be here because we are all trying to get to the same place,” Randall said. “Outside the court, we’re all good, we’re cool, we’re friends. On the court, we compete, we push each other as hard as we can.

“Then when that’s over, we’re back cool. That’s what attracted me here.”

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