Speak their name to the wind, feel it carried through the streets, in the ears of aspiring legends, on the tongues of those who are about this life. Who is a gym rat trainer that’s all-in to E-Woods? Who has that crazy passion oozing out of every pore?
Both Rico Hines and Olin Simplis. They are two of the dopest trainers that provide training and those elite game situation scrimmages for prep, college, pro players.
Rico Hines is that famed former Bruin, current Sac-King assist coach that runs open runs for the ages! I watched Rico do mad work in his lab, personally felt his Know Your Big Picture. R’s methodology is dope and he’s a real one to players that listen to him.
I feel that same pride and respect for Olin Simplis. He’s not just a brother to me. He’s an advocate to the game and acts real to every player that he trains. Few may care about women’s hoops but Olin provides that BIG opportunity for them at his female runs.
Don’t get it twisted, O also has mad prep boys ballin out in his training and scrimmages. You should’ve seen Ryan Mabrey doing his thing with and against NBA player Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Very fun to see preps go all out to test themselves vs. pros.
https://www.instagram.com/theguardwhisperer/?hl=en
R-Mabrey impressed the heck out of me. You see Jaylen Hands, Spencer Dinwiddie, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from the NBA, so many pro ballers always around O’s lab, my head is spinning.
Why am I so obsessed with doing prep stories vs. pro stories?
Dunno, today I was just chillin courtside on June 13th at Sports Academy on my birthday, sitting right next to an all time legend that only a year ago won a chip for the Golden State Warriors.
I could’ve walked up to him and reminded him that we both are guys of Chris Rivers, Sonny V and asked to do his story, y’all know I have no fear and am very convincing. But no, I just felt more excited do a female orientated feature this week!
E-Woods? Am I crazy to want that?
Let me ask you, are you crazy not to? I covered Micheal Jordan’s camp in Santa Barbara in 05’. His epic scrimmages of college guys was super DOPE, I was given special access back then to chill with Chris Paul, JJ Redick, and a bunch of other great dudes.
But seeing Olin channel that same Space Jam vibe that MJ had then, that’s what’s up for this week!
June 12th, 2020, Olin is taking a day off from hardcore skills acquisition, drills, all that. It’s time to lace ‘em up and just let the ladies play, really play-play.
Players in attendance, ranging in age:
Brooklyn Shamblin - Middle school
Kiki Iriafen, Layla and Jayda Curry, Jailea Donald, Rylei Waugh - High School
Kennedy Burke, Marina Mabrey, Arica Carter, Myisha Hines-Allen - current, or former WNBA players
Let me share how each girl/woman played, a lil about them, describe their get down. I know them all pretty well.
Kiki Iriafen
She’s 6-4, a beyond dope rising senior post player ranked top 5-10 in the country for Harvard Westlake High.
The guards in game were dropping Kiki the ball and she knew what to do: drop steps, easy lay ups vs. WNBA bigs. She can’t be stopped, my girl K. (And we about to drop her life story).
Hear something cray, cray? Kiki, she rose up for dunk attempts in game, with her whole arm way over that rim on WNBA defenders. Yeah, she got it like that fosho.
We all held ourselves and were like, “What did Kiki just do, she trying to bang out over multiple defenders?”
Kiki was gracious, wearing some dope Kick Game Crazy shorts I was proud to give her. She’s just a super fly person and aims to be a future neuro surgeon and transformational player in college!
Arica Carter
Arica was doing work all day, slipping through the defenses in games.
A-Carter is that 5-8 guard supreme, passing nifty dimes all day, showing why she was an ACC legend who had the league’s best ratio of assist to turnover during her time at Louisville before being drafted to the W.
Arica, a former LB Poly alum, has a bubbly personality. I suggested she should consider joining The Hometown Favorites mentors group,
Arica is dope at sharing with younger players on how to control that game flow. Her soul shined in play after play all day.
Jailah Donald
This 5-8 rising junior from Serra High displayed swoop after swooping lay-up in traffic. She didn’t play like any prep.
She took the challenge each time she was challenged, J-Donald is a cool kid that I want to get to know better and watch a lot more of.
Myisha Hines-Allen,
She’s a happy-go-lucky 6-2 New Jersey native visiting LA, and she put on a show in this game. No one could contain her 200 lb frame. Yet Myisha was as agile as a guard.
She made you smile with her love of hoop and this former ACC player of the year for Louisville just goes so haaaaard, she made me an instant fan.
Her smile lights up the gym. M is ready for any and all smoke thrown her way. She’s just a killa in game. When she’s not playing in O’s scrimmages, Myisha balls out for the WNBA Washington Mystics.
Brooklyn Shamblin
Say that again E-Woods, smh, smh, there was a middle school kid ballin out there? Yup, she was dazzling, dope, and had the poise of someone 10 years older than her actual grade.
This 5-7 guard, who will play at Oaks Christian next year, just showed everyone so much channeled and aggressive play. B connected on so many long ball 3s, drove it in the lane. B-Shamblin earned everybody’s respect this day.
She repped a brand of basketball almost never seen for someone so young. As Brook will get naturally bigger and stronger with age, OMG, all bets off!
She has already taken many visits to UCLA since 6th grade so her getting down and playing vs. Bruin alum Kennedy Burke was amazing for her!
Brook also appreciates Notre Dame and ballin in games with and vs Irish legend alum Marina Mabrey. That’s gravy all day for B!
Kennedy Burke
Kennedy was cutting through the lane and was a force of nature in these games. Laser locked in, she D-ed up, pop popped her amazing J, and was on point every play. I easily see KB being a future WNBA all star.
K-Burke is Sierra Canyon High fam, a Bruin legend that sits near the top of many statistical Bruin records. But most of all, KB is just that genuine person and always makes everyone’s day with her smile.
She has true love for the game, is a real one to all the youngins that look up to her no doubt!
Layla and Jayda Curry
These Corona Centennial sisters were super nice wit it this day. Layla was getting down each possession on that defensive tip, but she had some great spin moves in the post that surprised me.
Being only a rising junior make me like “Yo, this girl can go!”
L’s big sis Jayda, a rising senior, garnered 4 Pac-12 offers this past month alone. She was on razor blade point in these games. Bam bam from mid range reminding me of how my guy D-DeRozan do up in the cut.
Her ability to rise to the occasion just blew me away. I always wondered what J would do with WNBA comp, she didn’t disappoint.
I saw she did big things last month at Grind House Training in Kansas and Jayda has had many Ball Is Life specials on her recently. But these O-Simplis’ runs just built up her rep.
Off court J is just a dope, dope person to talk to and is as inspirational as it gets. Facts!
Rylei Waugh
Rylei, a rising soph, balls for the AAU Cal-Storm fam. She played very well this day and just took each opportunity to take that shot, yet make smart passes when that was the right move. Her solid frame with agile moves did impress.
It was Rylei’s Lose Yourself moment. Like Eminem she stepped up to the mic and killed it. Over and over Rylei engaged each play with wicked energy. Rylei that cool kid off court, she draws you in, her brand is strong and authentic.
I asked Ry once what she wanted to be known for and she told me, “Just being a baller, I just want to be known as a baller.”
Marina Mabrey
Last but definitely not least was the beyond spectacular play of Marina Mabrey. She must’ve had like 4 or 5 deep three point pull ups in a row from 38 feet out. Us in the crowd were asking, “Can someone guard that girl?”
Two bodies would converge on Marina, no matter, same smoke flowed out of her impeccable barrel shooting form. It was the intensity in which she played each possession that reminded me of Russ Westbrook. Yeah off the charts ish!
When I hung out with Chris Paul at the MJ camp in 05’, I said I’m never going to see this level of leadership, humor, real-ness. He had dawg ambition to be the The Takeover at any level.
Now I need to eat my words because Marina is about the only other player I’ve been around that matches CP3 in so many ways. She is his clone on and off court.
Best part of Marina is that I’ll never get over how supportive she is with every younger kid she’s around. It’s truly awesome how she is giving them tips, actually caring to help them see the game.
I told Marina she was a breathtaking example of a mentor that reminded me of Baron Davis of our SLAM mentor program. I’m def going to give her some SLAM gear because she is a jewel of a person, her whole fam are crazy dope peoples!
That’s it, just crazy great games!
Olin had the girls changing teams often, then masterfully adjusting match-ups to give different looks. If Olin coached high school basketball, I believe he would be the equivalent to Steve Smith of Oak Hill Academy fame.
This was a day to remember. Everyone chilled afterwards and talked, laughed, lived life 100.
In a world still reeling from Covid-19, these ladies needed that, to play and feel the game's pulse.100.
