CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – As Dhamir Bishop and Donta Scott demonstrated so abundantly Wednesday during the first day of play in the NBPA Top 100 Camp, the Philadelphia Imhotep Charter High offense should once again be very difficult to contain during the 2018-19 season.
The seniors-to-be averaged 25.0 and 18.0 points per game, respectively, while leading the Bulls and 76ers to a pair of wins apiece in the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena.
The 6-foot-5 Bishop came out launching – and sinking – deep jumpers Wednesday afternoon during his team’s 95-61 pasting of the Lakers, hitting nine of 15 shots from the field (including three of nine from behind the arc) to finish with 23 points.
And the right hand was just as sizzling later that night, as he hit half of his six attempts from 3, 10 of 17 overall and went for 27 points as the Bulls cruised past the Spurs, 96-60.
Bishop, and the rest of the Bulls’ shooters, benefited in no small part from the presence of point guard Rylan Jones (who led Salt Lake City Olympus to a 27-0 record and Utah state crown as a junior).
Jones’ leadership, poise and on-target passing helping him rack up a camp-best’s 13 assists over the two games.
He’s not leaving town for college a year from now: He’s committed to the University of Utah, where his pops (Chris Jones) is an assistant coach.
The 6-7 Scott had a dynamic weekend of play during the June 1-3 Pangos All-American Camp in Southern California and he was every bit as forceful – and productive – Wednesday.
Bishop and Scott helped the Panthers of Coach Andre Noble go 31-2 and zip to a Pennsylvania 4A title last March.
Bishop and Jones have plenty of help with the Bulls by way of the likes of forward Anton Watson (Gonzaga Prep in Spokane; yep, he’s bound for his hometown university in 2019-20) and football-hoops standout Drake London (Moorpark in the Southern California’s San Fernando Valley).
And the best prospect of the bunch for the Bulls, 6-foot-3 Jaden Springer (Charlotte Rocky River), was lost for the camp after suffering an apparent scratched right eyeball late in the team’s first game.
Springer (the son of former Iona standout and NBA forward Gary Springer), who doesn’t turn 16 years old until Sept. 25, went for 17 points (seven of 10 from the field) with five rebounds and two steals before his injury.
And he was one of the top half-dozen or so performers during the Pangos All-American Camp.
The Class of 2020 was well-represented Wednesday by multiple standouts, including – but by in no means limited to – 6-7 Cade Cunningham (Arlington Bowie) and 6-8 Greg Brown (Austin Vandegrift), quite the Lone Star State 1-2 junior-to-be punch.
Cunningham (with Springer and 6-11 Evan Mobley of Rancho Christian in Southern California) was one of the three-best from 2020 at the Pangos camp.
And Cunningham and Brown, by all accounts, were two of the four-best performers in St. Louis last week during the Nike Elite 100 Camp (which showcases a hefty percentage of the top sophomores- and juniors-to-be nationally).
His Lakers- team went zip-and-2 Wednesday but 6-5 Scottie Lewis was as impressive a performer and prospect from the Class of 2019 as was on display.
The 6-5 Lewis (Ranney High in New Jersey) had a two-minute stretch against the Bulls in the afternoon in which he ripped the ball away from Jahmius Ramsey (who is from Arlington in Texas but will be playing as a senior for IMG Academy in Florida) and then turned an on-the-dribble sprint into a take-off-just-inside-the-free throw line and slam.
He then followed with a nifty, against the body, left-handed reverse layup and capped the flurry by using his right hand to catch – literally – the ball on Ramsey’s attempt at what would have been a crunching dunk of his own.
The camp resumes with drills and practice Thursday morning and then the two-session, two-sets-of-games format for the 10 camp squads takes over during the late-afternoon with – for the first time ever – a large gatheingr of NBA scouts, personnel directors and general managers expected courtside.
The camp wraps up Saturday evening with a championship game by way of a single-elimination tournament that begins in the morning.
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