Sudden impact: Arizona boys high school basketball buzzes with freshmen phenoms

You could see it coming in June during the Section 7 at State Farm Stadium. A tidal wave of Incoming freshmen. Guards. Wings. Bigs. They were just 14 or 15. All making an impact against some of the best high school basketball players in the country.

Now, as we hit the stretch run in the 2022-23 season, these freshmen have been the rage across Arizona.

From twins Kaden and Kalek House at Scottsdale Desert Mountain to Mason Magee and Elijah Summers-Livingston at Chandler Basha to Eli Williams and Jacob Webber at Scottsdale Christian, they seem to be everywhere making big shots in big varsity games.

"I've been scouting the state of Arizona since 2012 and this is the best freshman group to actually start in the AIA," said Gregg Rosenberg, who works for Prephoops.com. "Multiple former NBA sons and good family lineage are on top of the list to start their young careers."

The House brothers are the sons of former NBA player Eddie House, who holds the Arizona State single-game scoring record of 61 points. They are guards who can play lead or off the ball. They are the 15-4 Desert Mountain's top two scorers: Kaden averaging 25.5 points a game, Kalek at 16.8 points a game.

Kaden House, 6-foot-3, who also averages eight rebounds, four steals and four assists, erupted for 46 points in a early December win over Willow Canyon.

Kalek House, 6-2, who also averages six rebounds and three assists, has had 11 straight games scoring in double figures.

Williams, 6-6, the son of Suns coach Monty Williams, is ranked No. 1 in the Arizona freshman class by Rosenberg. He has missed 11 of Scottsdale Christian's 17 games this year with a back injury. He returned recenty and is getting back into form. In the six games he has played, he has averaged nearly 19 points and eight rebounds. He already holds multiple Division I college basketball offers.

His teammate, Webber, a 6-4 guard, ranked No. 6 in his class by Rosenberg, has taken off. Through the first 14 games, he was averaging 26.8 points and 4.6 rebounds. He already has the two highest-scoring games in SCA history, scoring 46 points followed the next day with 52.

"Jake is an assassin on the court," SCA coach John Anderson said. "His mentality and ability to score from all levels make him incredibly hard to guard."

Ask Benjamin Franklin that. With under a minute to go in overtime, the Eagles down by six points, Webber scored eight straight points to lead his team back to victory.

"I've always had confidence on the court or (baseball) field since I was a little kid," Webber said. "Being in a basketball family and watching my dad train players, and playing one-on-one against his older basketball clients has taught me a lot.

"Because I was younger, smaller, or not as strong, I was often the underdog, but I had confidence in my skills that I could outscore or at least stay even with my competition,'' he added. "In big games, I think my confidence comes from hitting lots of game winners already, and having been in big pressure situations a lot as a kid, closing out baseball games as a pitcher, or hitting game winners even back in elementary school. I just always believe we can win. And I really hate to lose."

John Webber, Jacob's dad, is known as "The Shooting Scientist," a shooting coach from the Indiana/Illinois border, who analyzes players' shooting forms and body mechanics. He has held clinics in multiple states and has his own training facility.

That is how Jacob learned to shoot.

"Jake has always just loved basketball more than anything, and even though I try very hard to just be dad, I would find him watching my workouts, listening to my lectures, and hanging out at my team practices as a youngster," John Webber said. "He has demonstrated at many of my clinics and has competed one-on-one against clients at the end of their sessions.

"Regardless of the client, he has just always gone in with the confidence that he could beat them, no matter how much older or bigger or stronger they were. And when he doesn't come away on top, he goes and works on the reasons why until the next time he can face them. Experiences like that, the open communication we have, and knowing his mental space, I think all of that together helps with his success at a young age."

Other freshmen leading the way

Goodyear Millennium coach Ty Amundsen has had his share of impact freshmen in his coaching career, from Goodyear Estrella Foothills to Phoenix St. Mary's to now Millennium. This year, his team is led by 6-6 freshman Cameron Holmes, the brother of Dayton forward DaRon Holmes, one of the top college basketball players in the country.

Already with offers from Arizona State, Dayton, Kansas and Washington State, among others, Cameron Holmes has been a force, averaging 18 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three blocks on a team that could make a run for the Open Division state championship.

But he's not Millennium's only freshman impact player. Brayden Barrett, 6-4, whom Amundsen describes as a "dead-eye shooter from three," is averaging 10 points and six rebounds. And Tristen Rhodes, who plays significant minutes off the bench, has hit clutch 3s this year.

"Our team has five guys who average double figures scoring," Amundsen said. "The ball is shared. Not one guy dominates the ball, which is one of the keys to our success."

Basha started the season 19-0, mainly because of the play of point guard Magee and 6-7 wing Summers-Livingston, who keyed the Bears' McClintock Holiday Shootout championship in late December. Summers-Livington followed in a missed shot with a dunk at the buzzer to beat Desert Mountain in the semifinals of that tournament. Magee is one of the fastest guards in the state, who has a knack for getting into the paint to make plays to teammates or for himself. He was clutch in an overtime win over Anthem Boulder Creek in early January.

"It builds character for us," Magee said after that game.

Phoenix Sunnyslope, which has been one of the consistently elite basketball programs in the state for years, could have called this a rebuild year with four freshmen getting varsity minutes: Cristian Simmons, John Mattingly, Rider Portela (coach Ray Portela's son) and Dom Rojas. But the Vikings are sitting at 15-5 and ranked No. 9 in 6A by the Arizona Interscholastic Association.

"All our guys have had up and down experiences with the rigors of playing varsity basketall," Portela said. "I think it's very difficult for young guys to grasp the concepts, intensity and strength of the game.

"I think John Mattingly is handling it the best for us.  He is averaging 14 points, four assists. He is a very heady player who plays with pace, sees the floor well, and has a high basketball IQ."

Defending 4A champion Gilbert Mesquite is happy to have 6-3 freshman wing Desean Middlebrook on the floor. In the five games he's been healthy enough to play, he averaged 13.6 points and 6.8 rebounds. He dealt with an Achilles strain early in the season and more recently an ankle sprain.

But coach Shawn Lynch said Middelbrook is a standout derender who is veratile on offense.

"His high basketball IQ, skills and athleticism separate him from most freshmen," Lynch said.

Phoenix Brophy Prep (18-5) has been able to weather a stretch of not having its top player, 6-6 senior wing Arman Madi, due to the players around him, including 6-4 Daylen Sharper, a freshman who has Power 5 football offers as a wide receiver. He had a career-high 20 points in Brophy's 51-50 win over Basha, which was Basha's first loss. He attacks the basket like a seasoned senior and is shooting 50% from the 3-point arc, averaging 10 points.

"Pretty incredible that he hit a new career high on the same day that received his second Pac-12 football offer from Arizona State," Brophy coach Matt Hooten said.

This state has seen many impact freshmen over the years. Such as Mike Bibby at Shadow Mountain, Jerryd Bayless at St. Mary's, Makus Howard at Perry, Marvin Bagley III at Corona del Sol, Nico Mannion at Pinnacle and last year Koa Peat on Perry. Peat, 6-foot-8, fueled Perry's triple OT semifinal win over Brophy Prep last season en route to the school's first 6A state title. And he was just 14.

But it's hard to find another season like this, when so many freshmen are stepping up big in big games for teams.

"As a coach it doesn’t take a whole lot of drill work before you can look at a player and feel confident in their skill set," said Scottsdale Christian's Anderson, who knew right away that Williams and Weber would be impact guys now. "The question of whether Jake was ready or not was quickly answered back in June when he scored 32 points against a 5A team while shooting 8 of 12 3s.

"Sometimes, just getting on the court and letting them play is the easiest way to tell."

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

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona boys high school basketball buzzes with freshmen phenoms