LOUISVILLE – With as many as five games going on at the same time in the building over five hours Friday night, one could easily have found himself in scramble mode during the second weekend of the Under Armour Association Grassroots Basketball League in the Mid-American Sports Center.
And I was at my scrambling best while watching big chunks of six 17Under games and two more in the 16U division.
So here goes.
I’ll rehash what I saw in the approximate order in which I watched it:
*Coach Mike Mullins’ Illinois Wolves got an impressive jump shooting performance out of 6-foot-5 Nate Kennell (Metamora, IL, High) in their 50-40 win against New Heights (NY).
Kennell hit six of 10 field-goal attempts – including four of six from behind the arc – en route to a game-high 18 points.
A whole lot of Division I programs needing a pure jump shooter will take a long look at him this weekend and into July. They didn’t come much purer from deep in the building Friday night.
*With his future college coach (Roy Williams/North Carolina) standing atop the section of seats reserved for coaches and zeroing in on him, 6-4 Jalek Felton (Mullins, SC, High) led Team Felton – Jalek’s uncle, Raymond, play on the 2005 UNC national title team – past KC Run GMC, 61-58.
Felton, who played better than any other 2016 guard I watched Friday night, scored 20 points (eight of 16 from the field, including four 3s) with five rebounds and three assists for a team that lost all four of its games in UAA’s opening round in New Orleans two weekends ago.
*The DC Blue Devils, in their 69-48 victory over the SYF (IN) Players, were as impressive a team as I saw Friday night.
And a big reason for that was the play of another terrific guard from the Class of 2016, Markelle Fultz (Hyattsville, MD, DeMatha).
The 6-4 Fultz scored 20 points (eight of 15 from the field) and did so in such a fashion that leads me to believe he’ll cross the 30 threshold at some point this spring, if not this weekend then were the UAA league resumes in New York (May 22-24).
*1 Nation (MI) is led by one of the most gifted players in the country in any class in Josh Jackson (Southfield, MI, by way of Prolific Prep (located in the most well known “wine country” in the U.S., Napa, CA).
But Jackson, who averaged 23.5 points in four games in New Orleans, was limited to just 10 field goal attempts and missed five of his eight free throws for “just” 16 points as Baltimore Select pulled away in the final two minutes for a 51-45 victory.
Those 16 points, though, were the result of the kind of athletic flare and advanced skill that illustrates why many consider the 6-8 Jackson the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2016.
Three Baltimore Elite players scored in double figures, led by the 15 points of 2016 point guard Kurk Lee (Baltimore St. Frances Academy).
*In a 16U game, the Indiana Hoosiers – made up of the bulk of the players who won the 15U UAA title last spring – pulled away for a 69-42 victory over Team Superstar (central California).
The Hoosiers got solid efforts from two of the best 2017 prospects – not just in the Midwest but the entire country – as 6-8 Kris Wilkes (Indianapolis North Central) had 20 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots while 6-3 point guard-supreme Paul Scruggs (Indy Southport) had 14 points, five rebounds and two steals.
*Back in the 17U division, Team Thad (made up of players from in and around Memphis) pulled away in the closing minutes for a 73-66 victory against Earl Watson Elite (from Southern California).
Team Thad was led by four players who scored in double figures, with 6-4 2016 guard Nathan Hoover (Arlington, TN) the leader with 15 points.
*And, in the game that was the capper on the evening’s activities, Mo Williams Academy trailed by eight points at intermission but then Philly Pride over the final 16 minutes for a 77-59 win.
The Dallas Prime Prep trio of Billy Preston (20 points and 11 rebounds), Terrence Ferguson (19 points and five rebounds) and Mark Vital (14 points and eight rebounds) combined for 53 points and 24 rebounds for MWA.
As for some of the performances I didn’t get to see . . .
Six-five Kameron McGusty (Katy, TX, Seven Lakes) scored 32 points in the Houston Defenders’ 81-77 win against the Indiana Hoosiers in the 17U division.
And 2017 guards Quade Green (6-0, Philadelphia Neumann Goretti) and Trevon Duval (Newark St. Benedict’s) scored 17 and 15 points, respectively, in WE-R1’s 52-39 decision over Team Superstar.
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