Stewart, Anthony are Jordan Brand standouts

• Tweet

• Tweet

LAS VEGAS – There wasn’t anything approach real defense – half court or transition – and offensive patience and execution were also at bare minimums.

  Yes, the 17^th annual Jordan Brand Classic – played Saturday evening in T-Mobile Arena after moving from Brooklyn – was pretty much like every other “national” prep all-star basketball game.

   But it did provide a nice opportunity to see many of the top freshmen in the 2019-20 college season – and, no doubt, many of the top picks in the 2020 NBA draft – in action together once last time.

   And, not surprisingly, two of the standouts in the game were consensus Top Five players in the class in center Isaiah Stewart (Rochester, NY, by way of La Lumiere Academy in La Porte, IN) and point guard Cole Anthony (New York City, by way of Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, VA).

  Stewart was chosen the Most Outstanding Player for the white jersey-wearing “home” team, which knocked off the dark jersey-adorned “visiting” and Anthony-led squad, 132-125, after holding a 23-point advantage at intermission.

   There was a dearth of quality jump shooters in the game – or, perhaps more accurately, guys taking a lot of bad deep attempts – as demonstrated succinctly in the teams combining to miss 44 of 60 attempts from the arc.

   But it’s noteworthy that the 6-foot-9, 255-pound (or so) Stewart, who is bound for the University of Washington where he could help make the Huskies a favorite to repeat their regular season Pacific 12 Conference crown, hit both of his 3-pointers, while going for 16 points and nine rebounds while playing 22 of the game’s 40 minutes.

   And Anthony, who is expected to select from between the universities of North Carolina and Oregon shortly, was three of six on 3s while (in 24 minutes), finishing with 25 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals with three turnovers.

   Other as of yet unsigned and/or uncommitted players in the game included guard Cassius Stanley, a 6-4 guard who helped lead Sierra Canyon to consecutive California Open Division championship and scored 14 of his eventual 16 points in the first half for the winning squad.

   Stanley (pictured) is scheduled to announce his college selection on Monday, with the choice coming from among Oregon, UCLA and late-entry Duke (he visited there a week ago).