HOUSTON – Weekend No. 3 of the 2015 Nike Elite Youth Basketball is a wrap.
And, after spending hefty portions of Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the MI3 center, here are some observations and my selection of the 35 guys who most impressed me over the weekend:
*By the slimmest of margins, Jayson Tatum is my choice as the “Player of the Weekend” after helping the St. Louis Eagles go 4-0 over the weekend and improved their EYBL record to
The 6-foot-8 Tatum (St. Louis Chaminade High) averaged 26.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists as the Eagles picked up wins over Team Penny, Houston Hoops, Elfrid Payton Elite and Spiece Indy Heat to improve to 9-3 on the season going into the final weekend of spring play in Minneapolis on Memorial Weekend.
The “slimmest of margins” was the one more game he played over the weekend than did Harry Giles of Team CP3.
The 6-9 Giles (Winston-Salem, NC, Wesleyan Christian) missed his team’s Friday night game against The Family (a 68-66 win) because of academic obligations.
But he was on hand the rest of the weekend as CP3 went 4-0 to improve to 11-1.
If I had to make a choice as to the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2016 right now, I’d go with Giles.
He averaged 24.0 points and 12.0 rebounds in his three weekend games while shooting a tad more than 60 percent from the field (30 of 49).
*Two players who were quite impressive (to me) during the Weekend No. 2 (in Lexington) were 2016 guard Cassius Winston of The Family and 2017 forward Michael Porter Jr. of MOKAN Elite.
But they played just a game apiece because of injuries over the weekend so weren’t included among my Top 35 selections.
*Gary Trent Jr. of the Howard Pulley Panthers (and Apple Valley High in Minnesota) locked himself onto any list of elite 2017 prospects with his performance over the weekend.
The 6-5 Trent averaged 30.3 points and hit 19 of 35 3-point attempts as his team split its four games.
And 18 of those 3s came in the first three games when he averaged 36.3 points.
He was held to one of five behind the arc and 13 points in his team’s Sunday loss to the New Jersey Playaz.
*There were some other terrific jump shooting performances over the weekend.
Six-foot Markus Howard, of the Las Vegas Prospects and the Class of 2017, averaged 23.3 points as the Prospects won their final three games after being spanked by 25 points by California Supreme.
Howard (who currently attends Perry High in Phoenix but plans to transfer to Findlay Prep in Henderson, NV, for his junior season) was 14 of 27 behind the arc. His team is now 8-4.
Jonah Mathews (a 2016 guard at Santa Monica in Southern California) averaged18.8 points, while hitting 17 of 41 3’s, as his team went 3-1 to improve to 8-4.
*Another 2017 guard, Trae Young, continued his sizzling overall play for MOKAN Elite.
Young (Norman, OK, North) averaged 25.3 points, 3.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game as his team lost only to CP3 (79-75) while having Porter just (briefly) in its one Sunday game.
*And the Houston weekend action also saw 6-11 Nick Richards (Elizabeth, NJ, Patrick School and Expressions Elite) continue to look like as good a center prospect as there is in the Class of 2017.
Richards averaged 12.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and was especially impressive with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots in the win over Nike South Beach and its 2017 of 7-foot Twin Towers Zach Brown and Victor Uyaelunmo.
My 35 “All-Weekend” selections (based more upon “weekend performance” than “college potential” and limited to a max of three picks from any team):
2016
Bryce Aiken 6-0 (Elizabeth, NJ, Patrick School/PSA Cardinals)
Marques Bolden 6-10 (DeSoto, TX/Proskills Elite)
Tony Bradley 6-9 (Bartow, FL/Each1Teach1)
Miles Bridges 6-7 (Huntington, WV, Prep/The Family)
Bruce Brown 6-3 (Saxtons River, VT, Vermont Academy/BABC)
Kristian Doolittle 6-7 (Edmond, OK/Athletes First)
Trent Forrest 6-4 (Chipley, FL/Georgia Stars)
Derrick Funderburk 6-9 (Lakewood, OH, St. Edward’s/King James Shooting Stars)
De’Aaron Fox 6-3 (Cypress, TX, Cypress Lakes/Houston Hoops)
T.J. Gibbs 6-2 (West Orange, NJ, Seton Hall Prep/NJ Playaz)
Alterique Gilbert 6-1 (Lithonia, GA, Miller Grove/Team CP3)
Harry Giles 6-9 (Winston-Salem, NC, Wesleyan Christian/Team CP3)
Jonathan Isaac 6-9 (Bradenton, FL, IMG Academy/Each1Teach1)
Ty Jerome 6-3 (New Rochelle, NY, Iona Prep/PSA Cardinals)
V.J. King 6-7 (Fairfax, VA, Paul VI/Team Takeover)
Jonah Mathews 6-3 (Santa Monica, CA/California Supreme)
Koby McEwen 6-3 (Wasatch, UT, Academy/CIA Bounce)
Malik Monk 6-4 (Bentonville, AR/Arkansas Wings)
Shamorie Ponds 6-1 (Brooklyn Jefferson/NY Lightning)
Payton Pritchard 6-1 (West Linn, OR/Seattle Rotary)
Dennis Smith 6-2 (Fayetteville, NC, Trinity Christian/Team Penny)
Omari Spellman 6-9 (Granby, MA, MacDuffie/PSA Cardinals)
Jayson Tatum 6-8 (St. Louis Chaminade/St. Louis Eagles)
2017
Troy Brown 6-5 (Las Vegas Centennial/Las Vegas Prospects)
Matt Coleman 6-2 (Norfolk, VA, Maury/Boo Williams)
Daejon Davis 6-3 (Seattle Lakeside/Seattle Rotary)
D.J. Harvey 6-5 (Hyattsville, MD, DeMatha/Team Takeover)
Markus Howard 6-0 (Phoenix, AZ, Perry/Las Vegas Prospects)
John Petty 6-6 (Huntsville, AL, Johnson/Alabama Challenge)
Nick Richards 6-11 (Elizabeth, NJ, Patrick School/Expressions)
Gary Trent Jr. 6-5 (Apple Valley, MN/Howard Pulley Panthers)
Jarred Vanderbilt 6-7 (Houston Victory Prep/Houston Hoops)
P.J. Washington 6-7 (Henderson, NV, Findlay Prep/Team Penny)
Trae Young 6-1 (Norman, OK, North/MOKAN Elite)
2018
Javonte Smart 6-3 (Baton Rouge Scotlandville/Elfrid Payton Elite)
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