Brian Flinn:
Future150 National Recruiting Analyst. Covering high school basketball nationally.
North Augusta, SC (Future150) -- Saturday brought about the final games in pool play, where there were playoff implications all over the place. In addition, the night session began playoffs, where the action was truly something to behold. With the teams set to battle for the championship here are some of the guys who help their teams get one step closer to their title dreams.
James Young, 2013 SG, The Family: Young put on a show in front of John Calipari yet again, scoring 18 in the first half alone. He continued his big outing in the second half, where he both scored and found his teammates for open looks. Young had a great game all around, finishing with 34 points, 12 boards, and 7 assists.
Kendrick Nunn, 2013 SG, MeanStreets: Nunn point on an absolute clinic in scoring the ball on Saturday morning. He had 13 at the half and was hitting shots from deep as well as getting to the rim whenever he wanted. While he is a little undersized as a shooting guard he knows how to get his own shot and should be an offensive force moving forward.
Jabari Bird, 2013 SG, Oakland Soldiers: After a quiet first half where he barely saw the ball, Bird became much more aggressive. It is no coincidence that when he did so was when Oakland began to pull away from Team United. He had a series of ferocious dunks and hit a couple of jumpers as well. When he’s as aggressive as he was today he is incredibly hard to guard.
Matt Howard, 2013 SG, Team United: Howard was fantastic in a tightly contested matchup against the Oakland Soldiers. He led the team with 13 points on 5-7 shooting from the field; that’s efficiency. In addition to being an efficient, Howard also holds a 4.0 GPA, making him an attractive prospect to academic programs such as Harvard. Virginia Tech and Richmond are also among the schools involved.
Andrew Chrabascz, 2013 PF, BABC: The lone big man on the roster here at Peach Jam, Andrew showed where he does a majority of his damange on Saturday, by scoring from the high post. He used his agility to blow past bigger defenders off the dribble while taking smaller ones into the post. Chrabascz could be a star at the mid-major level.
Tyus Jones, 2014 PG, Howard Pulley: Jones turned in another impressive outing in a must win game against BABC. Jones has been playing out of his mind as a whole this week and has turned the tournament on its head by leading Howard Pulley out of the deepest pool in the field.
Demar Jones, 2015 SG, Team United: Jones is a big and talented scoring guard who can stroke it from deep. Playing with the 15U team Jones was definitely the go to guy and was comfortable in that role. He got to the rim off the dribble and used his size to shoot over smaller defenders.
Bakari Evelyn, 2015 PG, The Family: A bit of a combo guard at this point, Evelyn excelled in attacking the rim. It was nearly impossible for his defenders to stay in front of him and he proved to be a willing and able passer. Evelyn also showed decent leadership as well as a high basketball IQ at times, making him an intriguing PG prospect down the road.
Chancellor Ellis, 2015 SG, Team Scan: Ellis put on a shooting performance in Team Scan’s victory over Houston Hoops in the 15U bracket play on Saturday. He hit 6 threes, including 4 in the first half. His ability to stretch a defense is already well known as a plethora of big east schools are pursuing him.
Nick Garth, 2015 SG, Houston Hoops: Another young sharpshooter, Garth hit a total of 8 three pointers and was a major reason why Houston was in the game. Look for his stock to rise after a good performance against one of the top programs in the nation.
Theo Pinson, 2014 SG, CP3: Pinson has been playing out of his mind all tournament and his performance in the quarterfinal was no different. He drew fouls and caused serious problems for the guards of E1T1 all night long while getting his points. Theo has also shown the ability to facilitate and has a high basketball IQ.
Youssoupha Kane, 2013 PF, CP3: The big man has turned from prospect to player as he used his length to grab rebounds and block shots against E1T1. He had played well leading up to the quarterfinals as well and was a major factor in the matchup. His ability to hit foul shots proved to be crucial down the line as it allowed CP3 to keep him in without sacrificing any offense in a tightly contested game.
Kevin Zabo,2014 PG, CIA Bounce: Zabo won the individual battle with fellow elite point guard Shelton Mitchell and frankly it wasn’t that close. His man couldn’t stay in front of him and he stripped Mitchell multiple times. Zabo is the type of lead guard who can not only set up an offense, but find his own as well.
JaKeenan Gant, 2014 SF, Southern Stampede: Gant was huge in his matchup with Chris McCullough during the Semi-Final. Gant attacked him early and got him into foul trouble which ended up playing a huge factor. The Georgia native scored from beyond the arc and at the rim, all with UGA head coach Mark Fox looking on. Gant claims that the Bulldogs are standing out to him right now.
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