Good find.
I'd rather he stay under the radar. See how Tafara develops here, but he is an intriguing prospect.
And GW is a great place for him
Interesting that they're playing HS ball, but it is winter there and New Zealand did a tremendous job
in keeping Coronavirus in check by using science and measures to contain it.
 

    Stevie Cozens[/url] [url=https://twitter.com/StevieCozens]@StevieCozens[/url]·27m New Zealand now has a ranked player in the 2021 recruiting class. George Washington university commit Tafara Gapare is ranked 99 in his class. He is a six-foot-eight wing who just turned 17. This kid has a massive future, and is a legitimate NBA prospect  [url=https://twitter.com/StevieCozens/status/1277046159006003201/photo/1][/url][url=https://twitter.com/StevieCozens/status/1277046159006003201/media_tags]=inherit[color=inherit]247Sports[/color] and [color=inherit]New Zealand Basketball Academy[/color] [color=inherit]1[/color]  [color=inherit]9[/color]  

Stevie Cozens@StevieCozens Tafara Gapare Age 17 - 6’9 wing Scots HS, Wellington New Zealand 2021 George Washington University verbal commit @NZBALLACADEMY member Stand out game on Friday 26 pts, 12 rbds 7 asts, 5 steals, 2 blks 7 of 9 from two 4 of 7 from three video credit @JoshJBullsHoops  2:32am · 6 Jul 2020 · Twitter for iPhone

LINK TO GREAT HIGHLIGH REEL FROM THE GAME

Last edited by BM (7/06/2020 1:15 pm)

https://twitter.com/Kuzeykg/status/1294266237606821890


I watched two games of Tafara Gapare today. God. It's amazing this kid can combine his athleticism with his defensive and offensive arsenal. Standing 6-foot-9 with near 7-foot wingspan, I think 17 y/o wing can do everything on the court. Still raw but has star signal.

Last edited by trops_fc (8/14/2020 1:58 pm)

Another Kiwi, Taine Murray, has just committed to UVA.

Podcast interview with New Zealand/NBA guru Stevie Cozens including a nice segment on Tafara at 38:30ish.  Worth a listen for the hype.

https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=709919

(chat about UVA commit Taine Murray at 55:30)

Here you go...

Video 1

Video 2

Last edited by BM (9/18/2020 9:09 am)

BM wrote:

Holy crap. Some amazing stuff in these highlights...

https://twitter.com/michaelhoub/status/1311865927315513344

Needs to work on his handles a bit but he's giving me young Greek Freak vibes  

Great find BM! Tafara is a LOAD going to the hoop, but I am most impressed by his defensive skill and shot-blocking ability. While his competition is probably a bit shorter than what he will face in college, his instincts are incredible and will be a great fill for a team need.

The other thing that I notice from watching both Tafara's and Brayon's HS teams is how their teams like to get off running off a missed shot. I get the sense that if we don't go a lot more uptempo this year, it is definitely on the horizon. Tafara tends to play a bit out of control at times, but I feel like that has more to do with the tempo - NZ basketball plays a lot faster than The Citadels/Florida Internationals/Eastern Kentuckys of the world in college hoops, so hopefully a slightly slower system will help preserve his energy a bit and play more in control.

The full game from the highlights is below if anybody needs their basketball fix. Scots had their starting PG Stallworth out, so you can also see Tafara's handle at the point as well! Incredible.




 

Haha that's fair BM, although I think St. John's had bigger guys than some of the other schools Scots played in the earlier rounds, so I guess that was on my mind more. It also appeared that Tafara was just stronger than some of the wiry bigs he plays against. He is for sure going to arrive in Foggy Bottom with an edge in skill and fundamentals, although I think the refs were a bit to lax with not calling traveling in the game. Pretty much every player in the game would have probably been whistled for that here (moreso in college).