Zach Collins is one of the skilled basketball players who have been invited to the prestigious NBPA Top 100 Camp, which will be held June 16-20 on the campus of the University of Virginia. The NBPA Top 100 Camp is an event hosted by the NBPA (National Basketball Players Association), where current and former NBA players coach and guide prospective basketball stars. Another 2016 prospect, 6'8" wing Brendan Bailey, has also been invited to the camp.
This has been a huge year for Zach Collins, who rose to #37 in Rivals' class of 2016 rankings after a strong junior year high school campaign. A couple weeks later, Rivals recruiting analyst thought Zach still looked a bit under-ranked. The 6'11" power forward/center from Las Vegas, NV accumulated more than 30 offers before narrowing his final college list to Cal, Gonzaga, New Mexico, San Diego State, and Utah, before he ultimately chose Gonzaga the day after the Zags were awarded a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, on their way to the Elite 8.
Collins has been been a part of three Nevada State Championships at Bishop Gorman High School. For years, Zach has been coming off the bench as one of the best 6th men in the country, patiently waiting and battling alongside two of the best big men in the country, 5-star 2015 prospects Chase Jeter (Duke commit) and Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV commit). Despite coming off the bench, Collins averaged 9 points and 7 rebounds in his 2014-15 high school season.
Zach has been gaining a lot of notoriety in the Spring and Summer AAU basketball circuits. He teamed up with former 2016 Zag recruit Payton Pritchard to form a dominant inside-outside combination for the 17U Team Fast squad in the Adidas Uprising this Spring. Collins was one of the top rebounders and shot-blockers at those Adidas events. Here are some highlights from his strong showing at one of the Adidas evtns in April:
Collins then followed that up with an impressive performance alongside Jalek Felton, P.J. Washington, and Payton Pritchard in the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championships, where his team was tops among all other American squads and represented the USA in Hungary, where they only lost in overtime twice before falling to France in the Elite 8.
Most recently, Zach played in a tournament last weekend, where he dominated with an average of 21 points and 15 rebounds on his way to being named first team all-tournament. It's not too shabby that he had a high over 29 points in the tournament and in his low game, he still managed to drop 15 points.
There is still much more to come for Collins this summer. At the end of the month, Zach will participate in another high school tournament. From July 8-11, he will fly over to Atlanta, GA for the Adidas Uprising Gauntlet Finale for a 32-team bracketed tournament. He will then make his way to New York for the Adidas Uprising All-American Camp from July 15-17. Zach will then get a chance to play in his hometown (Las Vegas) for the Adidas Uprising Summer Championship from July 22-26. After that, Zach will make a trip over to Long Beach, CA for the Adidas Global Nations event from July 31-August 3.
Zach Collins is certainly having a very busy summer, but he has bit more in store before his expected arrival at Gonzaga in Fall 2016. After summer is over, Zach will gear up for his senior year at Bishop Gorman and will leave everything on the court to lead his school to a fifth straight state title. This time around, however, he will show off his skills in a starting role. Mid November will see another Gonzaga basketball season begin, and that is also when Zach Collins will have an opportunity to sign a letter of intent to play at Gonzaga.
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