Eric Hampford:
Future150 GM / Senior National Analyst. Covering high and middle school basketball.
Denver, CO (Future150) -- The state of Colorado isn't known for producing high-level basketball stars. Outside of NBA superstar Chauncey Billups, who attended high school at Denver's George Washingon High School and college at the University of Colorado before taking his tremendous talents to the league, even the most hardcore hoops fan would be hard-pressed to name another modern day big name from the state.
That soon will be changing. Another hardwood star is surfacing in the city of Denver, one by the name of Dominique Collier. The 6'1", 160-pound point guard is the star at Denver East High School, and has dazzled local fans in both his freshman and sophomore seasons at the school.
As a freshman, he was selected to the Denver Post All-State Class 5A first team. This season, he repeated the honor after he averaged 19.1 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.3 steals per contest, helping the Denver East Angels to a 20-5 record.
Not surprisingly, many schools are taking notice, especially after he was selected to the 2011 USA Under-16 National Team last summer, a team comprised of the best high school basketball players in the country.
Currently, Colorado, Arizona, Wake Forest, Kansas, Texas, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Missouri, Marquette, California, Stanford, and others are interested in the state of Colorado's next hoops gem.
All the lofty rankings and media attention from the state's biggest star since Billups would put pressure on most people, but not Dominique Collier.
He models his game after Billups and Dwyane Wade, and he is focused on becoming the best player he can be.
This summer he will be playing with KC Run GMC, where he will be putting his electric speed and court vision on display. The point guard has big dreams, and an even bigger game. At this rate, in 10 years, maybe hoops junkies will be listing Chauncey Billups and Dominique Collier in the same sentence when discussing hoop stars in the state of Colorado. I'd bet on it.
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