Gorman player has big reach, promising basketball future

If Stephen Zimmerman were filling out a job application for college basketball coaches, the 14-year-old from Las Vegas might need extra sheets of paper to list reasons he should be hired.

It might begin: “Six feet, 10 inches tall and still growing, can run the floor with wing players, size 19 shoes, two major Division I scholarship offers before freshman year of high school and studying Dirk Nowitzki. Will play inside or outside.”

Zimmerman, who will be a freshman at Bishop Gorman next year, is a one-of-a-kind exhibit in the carnival that is summer basketball tournaments.

The proof? Look no further than UNLV's Dave Rice, North Carolina’s Roy Williams and Memphis’ Josh Pastner sitting in the coaches stands at Centennial High School at 9:20 a.m. Friday to watch Zimmerman begin play in the adidas Super 64 tournament.

“It’s very exciting. I’m honored to be noticed by these coaches and happy they’re coming to my games,” Zimmerman said. “I’m ready to try to take this tournament over.”

Zimmerman already has received scholarship offers orally from UNLV and UCLA. He and his family also are in contact with Arizona, Duke, Indiana and Kansas.

The July recruiting period is for coaches’ evaluations, but Rice made his presence felt by sitting in the front row wearing a UNLV polo shirt during the first half of Zimmerman’s game. The new coach was the first to extend an offer last spring.

“I see Dave Rice over there now,” said Stephen’s stepmother, Lori, a 1990 political science graduate of UNLV. “That’s great seeing him at Stephen’s games. It really means a lot.”

Zimmerman went to the bench with two fouls in the first two minutes Friday, but used a strong second half to finish with eight points, four rebounds and two blocks in his Dream Vision (Calif.) team’s 80-78 loss to the Atlanta Celtics.

Oh, and he’s a 14-year-old playing in a 16-and-under bracket.

“I was like 11 when I started playing AAU, and I thought, 'I could get a future out of this,’ ” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said he is working specifically on his ball handling this summer to be able to get to the basket easier. His shooting touch is already polished.

“I try to play like Nowitzki because I’m a center and I can shoot the ball. He’s just a really great player,” Zimmerman said of the Dallas Mavericks’ star.

Zimmerman, who turns 15 on Sept. 9, said he was about 5-11 in sixth grade. He has continued to sprout into a shot-swatting, glass-crashing specimen.

“I feel like I’ll be growing a little more,” he said.

Even as whispers circle that Zimmerman could be the nation’s top player in the class of 2015, he is open to and even interested in constructive criticism from college coaches.

“It’s exciting to see what they have to say about me and what they think,” he said.

Zimmerman was a rare incoming high school freshman invited to the Pangos All-American Camp in Los Angeles in June, but it hasn’t gone to his head.

“It’s good to see him reach for some new goals,” Lori Zimmerman said. “He’s had a really good summer, but he’s working hard. He’s shown me a lot this summer. He’s grown up, he’s making good decisions, he’s got his head on straight. I’m really proud of him.”

Playing time as a freshman for Zimmerman could be hard to come by at Gorman, which has won two of the past three Class 4A state titles and figures to be deep again in the post.

Still, Zimmerman would bring positives to the front line of any high school team. Just don’t expect the unassuming 14-year-old to read you his resume.

“He’s really taken to Gorman, but he knows he’s got to pay his dues,” Lori Zimmerman said.

“He’s hoping to play on varsity, but even if he doesn’t, he’ll get more time on the (junior varsity),” she said. “He knows there are kids who have been there four years and this is their last year. He’s watching and learning and preparing.”