No. 2 AZ Compass Prep looking to ‘run our race’ in national spotlight
CHANDLER, Ariz. (BVM) – Arizona Compass Prep was founded in 2008, but its basketball program wouldn’t rise to national prominence until recently.
“Our first year (as a staff), we would go play Findlay Prep and get beat by 40-50 points,” head coach Ed Gipson said.
Even in the early stages of getting AZ Compass Prep off the ground, the Dragons still had Division I talent on their roster. But getting “household names” to suit up for AZ Compass Prep is what held the program back from the vision Gipson and program director Pete Kaffey — who spent time at Findlay Prep as an assistant coach and in player development – had for it.
Now with a mix of four and five-star prospects, an experienced coaching staff and a national schedule, the Dragons are the No. 2-ranked team in the country despite beginning the season unranked.
The Dragons’ monumental turnaround really began last season when they took Jalen Green and Prolific Prep to overtime. Green was the No. 1 player in the 2020 class, Sports Illustrated All-American Player of the Year, and is now tearing it up in the NBA G-League.
“Even then, we were right there on the cusp but just couldn’t pull out the win,” Gipson said. “But it did show us the kind of talent level that we actually needed and how to compete at a high level against other high-level guys.”
But AZ Compass Prep’s visit to the Montverde Academy Invitational in late January officially put the nation on notice. The Dragons’ slate included No. 1 Montverde Academy, then-No. 2 Sunrise Christian Academy and then-No. 5 Oak Hill Academy, all mainstays of the national basketball scene.
For Gipson, it was an opportunity for him to face off against many coaches who he has a ton of respect for.
“Going in there, I definitely had respect for them and all the kids had respect for their programs, but we knew that we were good enough to beat any team that stepped on the floor with us just based on the work that we put in,” Gipson said.
“We have a bunch of guys who are competitors. They’ll respect you, but at the end of the day, they want to win games and we feel like our culture wins over in every game.”
AZ Compass Prep went on to defeat both Oak Hill Academy and Sunrise Christian Academy after pushing No. 1 Montverde Academy to the brink in a 76-65 overtime loss.
The weekend jumped the Dragons eight spots in MaxPreps Top 25 basketball rankings to No. 2, and was a reminder of just how far this program has come in a few years.
“Playing against those guys helped our guys realize that, even though a lot of the rankings are legit, rankings don’t mean anything at the same time,” Gipson said. “You can compete with anybody if you put your work in and go into the game prepared the right way.”
Proper preparation is certainly necessary, but having a talent such as TyTy Washington also helps you become one of the nation’s best teams.
TyTy Washington & Arizona Compass Prep have been a PROBLEM‼️🔥😤@tytywashington3 @DaRonagon @AZCompass_Prep @PeteKaffey @Ed_Gibson24 @CoachJPope @zyzick1 @thegrindsession @tanagersports @Ballislife pic.twitter.com/9RaI3tpx3v
— BIL zona🏀 (@BallislifeZona) February 24, 2021
The Creighton pledge is averaging around 21.5 points, six assists and six rebounds per game while being on a short list of MaxPreps National Player of Year candidates. As great as Washington – the No. 3 point guard in the Class of 2021 – is on the court, Gipson said he’s one of the best leaders he’s ever been around.
A recent tournament in South Carolina is a prime example of Washington’s selflessness.
“He (Washington) had a good game but one of his teammates had a good game, too,” Gipson said. “They wanted to give TyTy the award and he told the guy ‘I didn’t play well enough to earn this award’ and he ended up giving it to the other kid on our team (Glenn Taylor, Jr.).
“That tells you everything about the type of kid he (Washington) is.”
The supreme talent on Arizona’s top-ranked team doesn’t stop with Washington. Four-star forward Taylor Jr. and four-star Dayton pledge DaRon Holmes round out the team’s top three scorers.
Although it’s his first season with AZ Compass Prep, Holmes has known and been friends with Washington since the pair were children. Because of Holmes’ work ethic – one that involves him hitting the weight room after practices and getting up early for extra reps – Gipson believes the 6-foot-8 Flyers commit will be a professional one day.
“He’s (DaRon) just relentless with his work ethic; he has an NBA motor right now,” Gipson said. “DaRon doesn’t even realize how good he can be, but he’s doing all the little things it takes to be elite and I honestly feel like DaRon will be a pro because of how he carries himself.”
Javon Small is a Dragon flying under the national radar who earned player of the game honors for his 15-point, seven-assist and four-rebound game in AZ Compass Prep’s win over Balboa School on Tuesday.
Although the 6-foot-1 combo guard’s recruitment has heated up as of late – picking up offers from East Carolina and Southern Illinois in the past two weeks – Gipson can’t fathom why Small has been so slept on.
“He (Small) is a relentless on-ball defender, he can create, pass and he’s athletic,” Gipson said. “It’s catching people off-guard because they look at us and think ‘If we stop TyTy then we stop AZ Compass’ but now people realize it doesn’t work like that. You can stop TyTy and Javon will kill you.
@small_javon has been playing at a high-level all season for the 🔝 team in the country. Coaches are catching on & the offers are starting to roll in with @siu_basketball & @ecubasketball being the latest. Don’t 😴 @AZCompass_Prep @thegrindsession 🔥🔥🐉 pic.twitter.com/t5t1pC50f3
— Ballers Bridge (@BallersBridge) February 25, 2021
“He’s (Small) a special kid who works hard. He’s out of Indiana and those are my type of kids anyway, that Midwest kid who’s tough and is going to bring his lunch pail and hard hat and go to work.”
AZ Compass Prep will compete in The Grind Session World Championship set to begin on March 1 before a matchup with Ypsi Prep Academy (Mich.) and the nation’s No. 1 high school basketball player in Emoni Bates on March 8.
The plan is for Gipson and the Dragons to win The Grind Session and earn their first invite to GEICO Nationals, but do it their way.
“Our goal is to run our race, stay in our lane, do what we do and let our coaching win over,” Gipson said. “We want to win it all, everywhere we step on the floor we want to win games, but at the same time we want to do it a certain way.”
