Jason Pratt:
Future150 Senior Recruiting Analyst. Covering high school basketball nationally.
New Orleans, LA (Future150) -- The first UA Association stop on its tour, New Orleans christened the LIVE period for college coaches. The league grew to over 65 teams featuring players from 2016-2018 classes. It also has three different age divisions for the first time with 17U,16U and 15U.
These classes featured some of the top nationally ranked players. There was an excitement to see Future150's #1 nationally ranked player for the class of 2016 SG Josh Jackson of 1 Nation.
Friday night he came out and put on a scoring outburst for 28 points and 12 rebounds. His length and athleticism allowed him to guard multiple players on the floor, while exploiting mismatches on the offensive end. He makes scoring look so easy, both in transition and the half court. It's easy to see why he's the best player in the country.
Another Top 50 nationally ranked player took the floor Friday night in SF Justin Jackson of Canada Elite. Jackson clearly has worked on his game, especially his ball handling skills. He was in attack mode from the start taking advantage of mismatches and knock down shots from a three levels.
He had a really good performance versus Team Thad, scoring 24 points and locking down eight rebounds. That carried over to the rest of the weekend. Look for this UNLV commit to make a move during the next rankings update.
In the 2017 class there were several point guards that caught our eye and PG TJ Starks of MWA Elite was one of them. He is athletic, quick, and powerful when attacking on his way to the rim. If there is one word that describes his game it would be “power”. He was pretty much unstoppable all weekend long off the dribble. As his shot starts to fall with more consistency, look for the offers to roll in.
The top newcomer of session 1 in New Orleans was a no brainer. What a debut for SG CJ Marshall of Team Thad.
Marshall is 6-foot-4 inches and 190 pounds of pure hustle. He is a tenacious defender and competitor who wants to guard the best player on the other team. His one and two dribble pull-up mid-range shot was one you just don’t see that often. He was also one of the better finishers at the rim with several highlight dunks on the weekend. The college coaches were gushing over his performance this weekend.
One of the more intriguing big men in the 2016 class is PF Chris Clerkly of the Atlanta Xpress. He has a good body at 6-foot-9 inches and 210 pounds and knows how to use it. The one thing that makes him stand out is his soft touch around the basket. His range stretches to 15 feet and his low post footwork is on point. Solid performance!
When you look up big time scorer in the Google search engine...immediately SG LaGerald Vick pictures pop up. It may not but it should. The Team Thad wing is a long, wiry athlete with long arms and displayed the natural ability to score the rock. He is a great athlete who loves to finish above the rim with high flying alley oops. He twice scored over 20 points leading Team Thad to a 3-1 record on the weekend.
It was a sparkling season debut for SG Ty-Shon Alexander (2017) of Team Charlotte. He is a big time scorer that plays under control at all times. He can score on all three levels and loves getting to the free throw line when attacking the basket. He averaged 14.8 points, 4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He is Future150’s #37 nationally ranked player for 2017.
Over the last couple of years, Team Breakdown out of Florida has produced some of the best big men in the country. This year is no different with PF Dewa Huell. He is a beast on the boards and a great finisher around the rim. The one thing that stood out this weekend was his ability to step out and knock down the 12 foot jumper with consistency. Huell averaged 13.2 points and 7 rebounds per game. Look for his stock to rise between now and Session 2.
Another player that made a big splash this past weekend was PG Trevon Duval of WE R1. He is a high energy player who likes to get to the basket and is extremely versatile. He was definitely one of the better on-ball defenders. The one thing you can say about his game is that Duval is a competitor. He led his team to a big win over Josh Jackson and 1 Nation scoring 25 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
A Future150 Summit Camp alum and Top 50 player showed up this weekend playing with DC Premier 2017 SF Melo Eggleston. He is super long, athletic, and skilled for a player his size. His ball handling has gotten better since we last saw him and he’s added a few pounds to his frame. You gotta love everything about his game even when the 3-ball doesn’t fall, he makes plays on the defensive end. As his consistency increases so will his high major offers.
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