How this local club program put Arizona high school boys basketball on the national map

Arizona Select recently made a statement about staying in state, that the top Arizona high school boys basketball players don't have to leave here to make their mark nationally.

Combining the spring and summer, AZ Select's 17U team went 32-3, and last weekend, surprised the Under Armour Association circuit in Chicago by reaching the national championship game before losing to Team Thrill out of Baltimore by four points.

Since the spring, Goodyear Millennium forward Kingston Tosi, Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep point guard Bryce Quinet and Phoenix Sandra Day O'Connor forward Michael Simcoe all saw their recruiting stock rise in the club program. That visibility grew, too, by playing for their respective high school teams during Section 7 — another opportunity for Division I college coaches to evaluate talent.

"I always say to these players, 'Do what you do best most of the time and good things will happen,'" said Brad Quinet, head coach of the 17U AZ Select team and father of Bryce. "I believe each and every player was a better basketball player and teammate by the end of our magical run.

"It was very difficult to lose the championship game in Chicago, but we made sure to let the boys know we were proud of them, they were loved and they surprised a lot of people."

AZ Select's 16U team, led by Phoenix Central guard John Mattingly and Millennium wing Brayden Barrett, also surprised, reaching the final of the UAA circuit national tournament in its age group. That team has compiled a 31-5 record since April.

Even without the state's best player — Gilbert Perry 6-foot-8 senior Koa Perry plays for Compton Magic out of California during the AAU circuit — AZ Select showed there is enough quality and depth in Arizona high school basketball to make a national impact.

Both of AZ Select's teams were comprised entirely of in-state players, nearly all of them from Arizona Interscholastic Association schools.

Before the Under Armour national tournament last weekend, AZ Select was ranked 18th in the nation for 17U teams by a grassroots publication called The Circuit.

"These young men quickly understood our philosophy and recipe for success," Brad Quinet said. "We will defend and share the basketball. No one person is more important than the other. We knew if they did that, not only would we be more successful as a team, but also more successful as individuals."

It started with Casey Benson

John Ortega, who runs the club program, said AZ Select took off with the class of 2014, behind then-Tempe Corona del Sol point guard Casey Benson.

Since then, Arizona Select, which started out as Powerhouse Hoops, has sent more than 100 players to colleges to play basketball.

"The original class, Casey Benson was playing for a team in California," said Ortega, who also directs the PHHoenix Prep national high school program in south Phoenix, where the AZ Select club teams practiced. "Jake Toolson (then at Gilbert Highland) was playing for a team out of Utah. Connor MacDougall (then at Corona del Sol) was playing for a team out of California.

"It was Tim Benson (Casey's dad) who came to me and said, 'If we can somehow get players to stay in Arizona, I think we can play with anybody.' That was the goal."

Benson and MacDougall led Corona del Sol to a 34-2 record and the third of the school's four consecutive AIA state 6A championships their senior year in 2013-14.

"Casey Benson is arguably one of the most important players in Arizona high school basketball history," Ortega said. "Not just what he did at Corona, starting Sam Duane's run of (four straight) state championships. He was the catalyst. It was like, 'OK, we've got Casey Benson. We've got our point guard.' All those guys wanted to play with him. It was that first group."

The 16U team that year, Ortega said, featured then-Perry guard Markus Howard, Tucson Sahuaro forward Nate Renfro and Corona del Sol wing Dane Kuiper. Saben Lee, who played for the Phoenix Suns last season, was just coming into the program, before he took off at Corona del Sol.

"It was like, 'OK, we now have a place where Arizona kids don't have to leave,'" Ortega said. "When the PHHacility opened up in 2018 , it kind of changed things. Now it was a centrally located place for guys to come to practice."

The next big step was getting the Under Armour shoe deal, Ortega said. Ortega called it the biggest shoe deal for an Arizona club program since Art Dye's Arizona Stars in the 1990s, when Dye had Mike Bibby and Richard Jefferson.

This 17U team also featured Queen Creek Casteel guard Amare King, Phoenix Brophy Prep guard Ryan Burbach and Brophy wing Luke Weiskamp, along with PHH Prep guard Treyvion Curry. They also picked up Division I offers.

"You're going to have a handful of guys (leaving)," Ortega said. "We just want to show they don't have to leave."

Brad Quinet, hired this summer as head coach at Notre Dame Prep, had help on his coaching staff from Kirk Fauske and Josh Postorino.

Fauske is returning to help coach at PHH Prep after spending last year as an assistant coach at Mesa Community College. Postorino, whose son Brody this summer transferred from Notre Dame to Phoenix St. Mary's, is a former University of Dayton player and assistant coach.

The 16U team included Brody Postorino, K.J. Fauske (Kirk's son), Colton Watson, Ethan Sobik, Mattingly, Barrett, Rylan Parsley, Hale Hansen and Hayden Maynard.

Mattingly, a 6-foot point guard who transferred this summer from Phoenix Sunnyslope to Central, was recently offered by Nevada after having games of 26 and 18 points in the national tournament last week.

"The Under Armour circuit is a huge platform producing NBA players," Ortega said. "Five teams in the top 25 (17U) are Under Armour."

Puma, Nike and Adidas teams comprised the rest of the Top 25.

"It's a balance of all the shoe circuits," Ortega said. "For us to be in that Top 25 — and we should move up — my hope is that players don't leave. The biggest thing is, this team was able to practice together three or four times a week. College coaches love seeing good, quality basketball when you're out there. Sometimes, that's hard to do when you get an all-star team together that practices once or twice a weekend and then goes out to play."

Brad Quinet was happy to see how all of the Arizona players represented themselves on the national stage.

"We want everyone to get a chance to play college basketball and have that opportunity to play in front of a bunch of college coaches," Quinet said. "By playing the right way and having some talented kids, this became a reality."

Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How this local club program put Arizona high school boys basketball on the national map