Some new, and familiar, Fab 48 stars on horizon

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LAS VEGAS – Three down and two to go . . . or something like it:

I spent all of Day III of the NCAA’s third July basketball evaluation period in the Bishop Gorman gymnasiums, for the Fab 48, watching players I was already familiar with through previous viewings at multiple venues over the past few years.

*A forward from the Class of 2017 who impressed me considerably during the Nike EYBL spring circuit did exactly that early Friday morning.

Six-foot-seven Kevin Knox (Tampa, FL, Catholic) didn’t start for the Each 1/Teach 1 squad at the Lexington and Houston EYBL stops I watched.

But his present and future as a player was quite evident even in a reserve’s role and the USA Basketball staff thought so as well, because he was invited to the USA 16U Trials in Colorado later in the spring and he earned a spot on the team that won gold at the FIBA America’s Cup in Argentina last month.

And, while playing for the E1/T1 16U team (juniors- and sophomores-to-be), Saturday morning he wasted little time against showing off many of his skills against a Los Angeles-based Earl Watson Elite team, nailing a 3 on his first touch and scoring emphatically on a driving dunk on his second.

That E1/T1 had several players I hadn’t seen before who also were quite impressive, both Saturday morning and later Saturday night in another win against a gifted team from North Carolina (SEBL, which stands for South Eastern Basketball League).

Those other eye-catching E1/T1 prospects included 6-5 sophomore-to-be Antwann Jones (Tampa Sickles) and a couple of players from the Class of 2017 in 6-6 Darius Banks (St. Petersburg) and 6-7 Tyler Polley (Weston, FL, Sagemont).

*That SEBL team has multiple quality college prospects from the Class of 2016.

Those included 6-3 Jaylen Fornes (Raleigh, NC, Word of God Christian Academy), an exceptional 6-foot jump shooter in Mekeil Watkins (also via Word of God Christian Academy), 6-4 combo guard Quentin Jackson Jr. (Martinsville, VA, Carlisle; he’s the son of the SEBL coach and former North Carolina State guard) and 6-10 Bruno Solomun (Lewisville, NC, Forsyth Country Day).

Fornes was one of the better (and certainly most figuratively unsung) point guard prospects I’ve watched over the first three days of the Fab 48, adidas Uprising (Cashman Center) and Big Foot/Las Vegas Classic (Rancho High).

And Solomun put on a nice exhibition of running, rebounding and finishing (offensively) in his team’s 58-56 win over a quality Hometown Favorites team (from Southern California) Saturday morning.

*That Hometown Favorites, which, after tie-breakers, ended up as the No. 1 seed from the J pool for Saturday morning’s start of the playoffs, got strong efforts from three seniors-to-be at Redondo High in 6-2 Leland Green, 6-3 Morgan Means and 6-5 Cameron Williams.

Each of the three played well, to, later Saturday night in a 74-61 over Earl Watson Elite.

A raw but improving 7-footer from Playa del Rey (CA) St Bernard, Mubashar Ahmed-Ali (who migrated to the U.S. in the winter and originally enrolled at Orangewood Academy in Garden Grove) also had impressive moments Saturday for the Hometown Favorites – coached by Reggie Morris Jr., who coached NBA players Russell Westbrook and the Wright Brothers, Dorell and Delon, when he was the head guy at Leuzinger High in Lawndale.

*In, perhaps, the best-played and certainly the most exciting game I saw Saturday, two Southern California-based teams went wire-to-wire – literally – with the L.A. Rockfish finally edging the San Diego All-Stars, 50-48, on a follow shot by Dwight Ramos (Walnut, CA) on the buzzer.

Another Redondo High player, 6-2 Ryse Williams (a junior-to-be), kept Rockfish ahead most of the way via his jump shooting.

*Is 7-footer Thon Maker (Orangeville Prep in Canada, by way of several stops in the U.S., plus Australia and originally the Sudan) the best non-NBA and non-college player in the world today?

That question is certainly the case for interesting and on-going debate.

But there can be no disputing that he is the unique non-college or NBA player in the world today.

That perspective was on display Saturday afternoon during Canada Elite’s 50-43 victory over Delaware-based We Are 1.

Maker spends very little time at all in the low post and, in fact, I’m not sure how developed his back-to-the-bucket skills are.

But what he does do well with the ball in his hands is jump shoot – with range – and dribble drive quite effectively.

His 6-10 brother, Matur, actually had a bit more to do down the stretch with his team pulling out the victory, scoring on a couple of tough shots from along the baseline and just outside the lane and rebounding strongly.

We Are 1 has a couple of the very best 2017 backcourt prospects in Trevon Duval (Newark, NJ, St. Benedict’s) and Quade Green (Philadelphia Neumann Goretti) but they were held relatively in check from the perimeter by the Canada Elite defense.

*The Texas-based Mo Williams Elite squad may have more “star power” – via the presence of Billy Preston, Terrance Ferguson and Mark Vital of the Dallas area-based “Prime Academy” – than does any other quad in the Fab 48.

And that talent base got even wider with the addition of 2017 standout guard Jalek Felton (Mullins, SC), the nephew of NBA guard Raymond Felton.

But all of those highly recruited prospects couldn’t do a thing to slow down the Philly Pride squad in its 68-55 victory Saturday afternoon.

The Philadelphia squad’s backcourt (most notably Steven Jordan, Jaekwon Carlyle and Lapri McCray-Pace) and frontcourt (especially DeAndre Hunter and Charles Brown, who also hit a bunch of deep jumpers) encountered very little resistance during what was a surprisingly and thoroughly dominant performance.

The playoffs are in full bloom in all three major tournaments from 8 a.m. Saturday-on.

For updated schedules, go to the respective website:

Fab 48: www.lvfab48.com

Adidas Uprising: www.adidasuprising.com

Big Foot/Las Vegas Classic: www.bigfoothoops.com