Four juniors from the same GR Storm team reach 1,000 points
The Grand Rapids Storm 16U UA Rise team poses after winning the Brawl for the Ball on July 16, 2023. Front row from left, coach Doug Fleming, Jah Hatchett, Braeden Holder and Michael DeKuiper. Back row from left, Jake Chapman, B.J. Walker, Camden Thompson, Trey Miller, Lucas Pitsch, Carson Vis, Phoenix Glassnor and assistant coach B.J. Saunders. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Doug Fleming has coached a lot of talented basketball players.
But the collection of juniors that he coached with the Grand Rapids Storm travel basketball team last year might top them all.
Four players from the Storm 16U UA Rise team all reached 1,000 career points this high school season. And they’re all juniors.
Phoenix Glassnor (Warren DeLaSalle), Jah Hatchett (East Kentwood), Camden Thompson (Whitehall) and Carson Vis (GR South Christian).
“I think that it is very cool to have four people from our team get it,” Vis said. “It’s awesome. I mean, it just shows how good we are. I would also say that not many teams can put a bunch of stars on one team and succeed like we do. They are good guys and we enjoy being around each other and playing together.”
Their travel team won several tournaments, including the Storm Classic last spring.
Grand Rapids Storm 16U teammates, from left, Jah Hatchett, Camden Thompson, Phoenix Glassnor and B.J. Walker during a tournament last summer. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
“I’m not surprised by any of them doing it because they all had roles as freshmen on their teams,” Fleming said. “The more impressive thing is that they are doing it on highly successful winning teams. With the exception of Cam Thompson, each team has other highly ranked players as well who share the scoring load, making it harder to reach 1000 points so early in their careers.”
Hatchett reached 1,000 last week, the final of the four to get to the milestone.
“It feels good,” said Hatchett, who is averaging 17 points per game. “All thanks to God, he made this happen. Also my team and coaches just pushed me to be great. And, man, I’m proud of myself.”
Hatchett said its hard to stop a team that talented.
“I think it’s great for our community and our Storm team,” He said. “Just shows what we all can do. It says a lot about the talent. Anyone can score. And when you try to stop one (of us), others get hot.”
Vis is averaging 20 points per game for South Christian, which is 18-5. Hatchett’s East Kentwood team is 15-7 and Thompson, who is averaging 20.9 points and 17.2 rebounds, has led his Whitehall team to a perfect 22-0 regular season. Glassnor, who is averaging 19.7 points per game, helped lead DeLaSalle to a 13-7.
“They are all unique players with different skill sets,” Fleming said. “Thus, put in the right situation all will be highly successful at the next level. I will say they are all ‘scorers’ in that they have the ability to score in a variety of ways and not just simply shooters or slashers. The other thing I would say about all of them is that they can really defend when asked to as well so they are not one-dimensional players either.”
Next year, we’ll likely see all four in the conversation for Michigan’s Mr. Basketball Award.
“I think it’s great having four 1,000-plus scorers on our team,” Thompson said. “Because it shows we can score the ball. All of us being on the same team is great because there’s not many people who can accomplish that.”
More: Most of the Storm players on this roster also play football.
