December 27, 2009

11:15 A.M. CST

Last night at the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament at York Township High School in Elmhurst, IL we watched Michael Orris, a 6'1 sophomore point guard from Palatine High School in Palatine, IL play for the first time.  And are we glad that we got the opportunity.  That is because we came away with a most favorable impression of Orris and then some.

Orris scored 14 points to go along with 4 assists in Palatine's 53-46 overtime loss in a first round contest versus the host school.  But it is not Orris' stat line that tells the story as to how good of a player he can be.  It is his demeanor, high level of basketball intelligence and his work ethic that clearly make him among the elite prospects in Illinois from the class of 2012.

Above all else, Orris is a catalyst on the floor and epitomizes what any coach looks for in a top-flight point guard.  Orris has a great basketball I.Q. and plays with great composure.  He does not get rattled, is highly confident and wants the ball in critical situations.  When weighing all of the positive intangibles that Orris brings to the table, we think that he possesses many of the same qualities that Jon Scheyer had as a high school player at Glenbrook North High School.  Therefore, as was the case with Scheyer, you come away finding it hard to believe that Orris is only a sophomore.  

Orris has an overall offensive skill set that is as good as any of the top guards in Illinois from the 2012 class.  He is a superb ball handler and has outstanding quickness, as he can consistently blow by defenders and get into the lane.  As a result, Orris has tremendous playmaking ability because he can thread the needle with crisp passes that are on the money and consistently break down defenses.  To top it all off, he can also pull up and knock down either mid-range jumpers or 3-point shots with regularity.

If Orris has a flaw in his offensive game it may be that he is too unselfish.  Because of his team-oriented nature, too often he tries to make the spectacular pass rather than looking to score.  That is when he tends to commit turnovers in the same way that most young point guards do.  However, it is not because Orris is wild or plays out of control because he isn't and doesn't, which is why we see this as a minor adustment to his game that Orris will learn to make in time.

Needless to say, we came away from the York-Palatine matchup concluding that there is certainly a lot to like about Orris' game.  The way we see it, there is no question that we ranks among the elite guard prospects in Illinois from the class of 2012 and is right there with all of them, including Proviso East's Keith Carter, Orr's Curtis "C.J." Jones and Peoria Central's Antonio "Bobo" Drummond among others.  With that in mind, it is not a stretch for anyone to say that at the end of the day Orris could end up as the best of them all. 

We are sure that others will be jumping on the Orris bandwagon soon now that the word is out, but once again let the record show that you heard about him here first.  On that note, Orris is clearly an underclass prospect that D1 coaches need to begin paying close attention to.   

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