Granted we’re only in December, but the map-wielding journeys have gone in drastically different destinations for a couple former high school basketball teammates that were once supposed to rule the East Valley.
Matt Carlino and Nick Johnson were part of a three-headed monster at Highland. Matt’s father, Mark Carlino, a former Arizona State player who’d made assistant coaching stops at a few schools in the Valley, was hired, and with his influence and club ball ties, Johnson (whose mom lived in Ahwatukee) and others moved to Highland.
The Hawks were a No. …

FOX Sports announced that it will televise the 4A and 5A basketball title games in the upcoming weeks. Here is the press release that was sent out:
FOX Sports Arizona and the Arizona Interscholastic Association have announced another addition to its expanding television partnership that ensures television coverage for this year’s AIA 5A & 4A Division I & II Boys and Girls state basketball championship games. The eight games are played at Jobing.com Arena. Each game of the “AIA Basketball Championships, Presented by Farmers” will be delivered to the network’s 2.8 …

Mesa guard Jahii Carson and former Highland guard Nick Johnson have been selected to play in the Boost Mobile Elite 24 basketball tournament in Venice Beach on August 27 and  28.
As the event title indicates, 24 of the best players around the nation were invited to the event.
Johnson, the former local guard who transferred to Findlay Prep in Las Vegas last year, could be a dunk contest participant during the weekend festivities.
It is another showcase for both elite players, who continue to get recruited heavily by some of the top …

Mesa point guard Jahii Carson has separated himself as the best East Valley prospect in the 2011 boys basketball class, but there is a sleeper just a city over.
Tempe’s Jordan Baker missed much of last season after fracturing his wrist in December, so he was under the radar heading into this year’s club ball circuit.
However, on a team that featured St. Mary’s George Matthews, Mountain View’s Asaad Woods and Tribune Player of the Year Cameron Forte of McClintock among others, Baker was the player that stood out when I saw …

In the world of transfers, coaches can never count their chickens until they’re hatched.
There was further proof this month in boys basketball, after word came that Mesa forward Danny Powell and Basha forward Judd Welfringer were both transferring.
Powell will play next year at Desert Vista, while Welfringer is moving to Iowa.
With the amount of talent coming back, Basha and Mesa were expected to be two of the top teams in 5A Division I. The Bears had Welfringer, a Drake commit who averaged a double-double last year, to go alongside talented …

Junior boys basketball forward Danny Powell, the player expected to be Mesa’s No. 2 option behind point guard Jahii Carson, is transferring to Desert Vista, Mesa coach Shane Burcar said.
Powell averaged12.5 points and 4.7 rebounds last season for the Jackrabbits, and has been playing on varsity since his freshman season.
“I wish him all the luck,” Burcar said. “He’s a good kid.”
Powell had to share touches with several talented players on Mesa’s top-seeded team last year, but with Blondy Baruti, Adam Milkovich and Mohamed Sobh all graduating, his role was expected …