Lucas Stivrins is a tall order

Developing as a post player is not a sprint, it's a long distance jog.

Chaparral HS 6-foot-10 junior post Lucas Stivrins is developing into one of the state's better prospects in the 2012 class.
Bigger post players are a unique novelty, since they usually do not develop at the pace of other smaller prospects. Since they develop over time, post players are widely recognized as having "upside" and "potential" by scouts and college coaches.

This is the case with Chaparral High School's 6-foot-10 junior post Lucas Stivrins. Stivrins has developed a great deal over the past year as a player, and, as a result, has developed so much as of late that he has become one of the hotter prospects in Arizona's 2012 class.

In a state of the game where bigger post players are an asset to college coaches across the country, Stivrins is very intriguing as a prospect.

This young man has very good size and length on his frame, and is also very skilled as a player - a very nice attribute for him as a college prospect. Stivrins is very fluid as a player and has a good feel for the game at his size. He has a soft touch around the basket, combined with very good footwork and solid low post moves. He is also a good finisher and has good overall athleticism.

He also runs the floor very well for his size and is capable of completing the fast break. He also runs to the low block and gets good inside position, where he has a variety of low post moves that he has developed over time.

Stivrins is also a good offensive rebounder and uses his length to keep the ball in play for his team. His length also allows him to rebound outside of his area. He is also a very good shotblocker with good timing and competes to alter shots. He will really improve as a rebounder and as a shotblocker a great deal with more maturity and physical strength over time.

Stivrins is the son of former NBA player Alex Stivrins, who played basketball at the University of Colorado and was 2nd Team All-Big 8 his junior and senior seasons. He played 10 years of professional basketball on 3 continents. Highlights include playing with the Phoenix Suns in 92-93. He also played in the CBA winning a title with the Omaha Racers, and spent 4 seasons in Spain, 2 in Italy and his final 3 years in Japan.

"When I watch Luke grow and start to really play competitve basketball, I see tremendous potential coming to the surface and his own passion taking shape," said Luke's father Alex. "I really believe he's just getting started on a great journey."

Stivrins has already turned in a strong spring, while competing with his club program - the Arizona Redshirts. Stivrins helped lead the Redshirts to a runner-up finish in the Silver Division of the Double Pump Spring Tournament in Colorado, and also helped lead the Redshirts to a close, 2-point loss this weekend to the Compton Magic (CA) in the Elite 8 tournament held in Phoenix this past weekend.

Stivrins is just scratching the surface of how good he will become, but he is definitely making a strong case to be regarded among the state's top prospects in Arizona's 2012 class quickly.