Mountain Pointe's Tru Washington follows nephew's path to AZ Compass Prep's basketball program

Arguably the best player in the Arizona Interscholastic Association has joined AZ Compass Prep's national high school basketball team.

Tru Washington, the uncle of former AZ Compass Prep standout TyTy Washington, is leaving Mountain Pointe to join the Chandler prep academy, where he will be playing at the highest level for high school teams in the nation this year.

AZ Compass has joined the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference, which will be in its second year, with the opportunity to be on ESPN 17 times.

Point guard TyTy Washington, a first-round NBA draft pick by the Houston Rockets after playing one season at Kentucky, played his last two years in high school at AZ Compass, and, during his senior year, led the team to the semifinals of the GEICO Nationals on ESPN.

Tru, a 6-foot-3 guard, is one of the toughest players on the court, maybe the best offensive-rebounding guard in the state, who has a quick first step to the basket and creates his own offense on the defensive end.

"In my opinion, there's not another player in the state of Arizona who is better than him," AZ Compass Prep director Pete Kaffey said. "We're blessed to have him on our team. His nephew had a great experience while he was here. I think that kind of helped us.

MORE: Why are Arizona high school basketball players flocking to prep academies?

"We are really good friends with Tyrone (TyTy's father and Tru's brother). It's unfortunate that he's coming from Mountain Pointe, because they're really good friend with the coach over there. KP (Kaimarr Price) does a really good job. But I think this is a great opportunity for Tru."

Washington's departure is having a domino effect. Price was waiting to see what happened next with guard Mark Brown and the Patton brothers, Kevin Jr., and Kallai, who transferred in from Maricopa this summer.

Brown, who was the team's second-leading scorer behind Washington the past two seasons, has transferred to another Valley prep academy, Bella Vista Prep in Scottsdale, Matt Gordon, the academy's director, confirmed in an email.

Kevin Patton Sr., did not return messages to The Republic.

Washington, Brown and the Pattons would form the nucleus of what could have been the favorite to win the AIA's first Open Division state championship this coming season.

Price is taking the high road with Washington's move to AZ Compass, which is a charter school near Chandler High School.

Washington, a 6-foot-3 guard, starred the last two seasons for the Pride, and is coming off a summer in which he could make an argument for being the best high school player in Arizona.

"These moves leaves a lot of opportunity on the table for other players to step into bigger roles for us and do more of the things that they are capable of doing," Price said in a text message. "I look forward to the renewed energy within the program as we chase another region championship in a new region and our first state title in the first year of the Open."

Washington, who played his freshman year at Laveen Cesar Chavez, is joined by point guard Vincent Delano, who had a strong season last year at PHHoenix Prep, which is based in south Phoenix.

PHH Director John Ortega confirmed that Delano is joining AZ Compass. This is Delano's fourth school in four years.

Gilbert Higley 6-7 junior forward Jaevyn Yancey has left to join AZ Compass Prep's second national high school team that is coached by Erik Hood.

There has been a huge surge of AIA players joining the prep ranks this summer, especially going to AZ Compass Prep, which expanded with two national teams.

Kaffey was hoping the AIA would open the door to allow some of its teams to compete against local prep academies, such as AZ Compass.

"The AIA has to find a way where they can use our platform and keep their kids," Kaffey said. "Honestly, we're not going after these kids. They're coming to us. Nobody is doing any negative recruiting. These kids' parents are calling daily.

"When you build something, they're going to come. We're a real school. We've got 600 kids in our school. This school has been over here for 17 years. So why wouldn't you open it up. So now some of your top schools like a Perry could play us in the Hoophall. Give us the credentials we need and come up with some rules where we can't take .... "

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mountain Pointe's Tru Washington follow nephew's steps to AZ Compass