WESTFIELD, Ind. – Night 1 of weekend 2 of the 2017 Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) proved a nice platform for some of the better point guards in the Class of 2018.
I watched at least one half of six of the 20 games played Friday night in the seven-court Jonathan Byrd Field House in this suburb of Indianapolis.
So my sample size, of course, was only 30 percent of what was played Friday night.
That conceded, the aforementioned 2018 point guards that I watched played quite well were:
*Xavier Castaneda (Chicago Whitney Young) scored 10 points to go with five assists as seven Meanstreets players scored from eight to 14 points in its 79-78 victory Pro Skills;
*Nick Honor (Orlando Lake Highland Prep) had 13 points and eight assists – without a turnover – as Each 1 Teach 1 rolled past Mississippi Express, 95-69;
*Darius Garland (Nashville, TN, Brentwood Academy) scored 32 points (11 of 17 from the field, including a 3, and nine for nine on free throws) with five assists, two steals and three turnovers in Bradley Beal Elite’s 86-81 decisions against Nike Team Florida;
*Marcus Zegarowski (Hamilton, MA, Tilton) had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists as Expressions Elite pulled away from the Portland Basketball Club, 73-60, and;
*Spencer Freedman (Santa Ana, CA, Mater Dei) went for 17 points, eight assists and two steals while California Supreme overwhelmed Team Final, 84-64.
Other individual quality performances I was courtside for included:
*Six-foot-nine Jontay Porter (who played for Seattle Nathan Hale this past season but will attend high school near Columbia, MO, as a senior – assuming he doesn’t reclassify to the Class of 2017 and join his older brother, Michael Porter Jr., at the University of Missouri) had an odd stat line for MOKAN Elite in its 57-54 victory over Team Melo.
Porter missed 13 of his 14 field goal attempts but the left hander did score 12 points to go with 13 rebounds, four assists and seven blocked shots.
If Porter is in high school for the 2017-18 school year, he’ll almost certainly join his brother as a McDonald’s All-American.
*Forward Emmitt Williams (Bradenton, FL, IMG Academy) had 12 points and 12 points to go with two blocked shots for Each 1 Teach 1. He was the most aggressive – and impressive – rebounder I saw Friday night.
Six-three Jared Butler (LaPlace, LA, Riverside Academy) scored 32 points for Mississippi Express.
*Six-eleven James Wiseman (Nashville Ensworth) scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Bradley Beal. The left hander is – conservatively – one of the 10 to 15 best prospects in the national Class of 2019.
Another guard, Fred Thatch (Sikeston, MO) added 16 points for Bradley Beal.
One more of the very best in the Class of 2019, 6-9 Vernon Carey (Ft. Lauderdale University) kept Nike Team Florida within striking distance throughout with 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
*Freedman’s Mater Dei teammate, 7-2 Bol Bol, scored 33 points with five rebounds for California Supreme while another of the very best California players from the Class of 2018, 6-4 Devonaire Doutrive (Lake Balboa Birmingham), had a well-rounded effort with 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals.
How many of Freedman’s 8 assists were conversions by his MD teammate , Bol Bol? They should have their Mutt and Jeff show down pretty good by the end of the summer.