La Grange, IL – The balance of high-quality players in the Pangos All-Midwest Frosh/Soph Camp was precisely illustrated by the event’s two all-star games going into overtimes Sunday afternoon at the Park District facility in this Chicago suburb.
But the on-court revelation as to the best player among the 200 or so from 15 states that were on hand couldn’t have been any more emphatic.
Six-foot-seven Omaha Biliew put the wraps on a dominating weekend effort, in which he mostly overwhelmed any and all opponents, by scoring 23 points and grabbing five rebounds while blocking 10 shots in the Top 30 Crème of the Crop game.
His team (wearing white camp jerseys) was knocked off, though, falling 104-102 to its dark-jersey counterpart in double overtime – the second of which was in “sudden victory” mode, with guard Jaylen Drane sinking the decisive layup from the left side immediately after his team control of the center jump.
It took some terrific efforts from the winning team to overcome Biliew’s performance, notable those coming from Drane (a Chicago Simeon sophomore making the top all-star game here for the second year in a row) and sophomore forward Jasen Green (Millard North in Omaha).
Drane (14 points, all in the second half, and six assists) and Green (27 points, including five 3s, and six rebounds) shared their team’s Most Outstanding Player honor.
Another freshman forward, J. J. Taylor (Chicago Morgan Park), with 11 points and eight rebounds, was given the white jersey’s game MOP – in essence, to divvy up the honors among more players.
Biliew (Dowling Catholic in West Des Moines in Iowa) was first player to gain sole MOP camp honors on the Pangos Frosh/Soph circuit this fall.
Sophomores Kijwani Wright (Los Angeles Windward) and Aidan Shaw (Blue Valley in Overland Park in Kansas) shared it at the West camp in Lynwood (CA), while two more Class of 2022 players, guard Keyonte George (Lewisville in Texas) and forward Jordan Walsh (Oak Cliff Faith Academy in Dallas), were the co-winners in the South camp in Duncanville, TX.
Biliew (whose parents are from the Sudan and migrated to Omaha, where he was born – hence his given name) also played well as one of just five freshmen among the 84 players at the Oct. 11-13 USA Basketball Mini Camp in Colorado Springs.
It’s still quite early to be shaping “ratings” for the Class of 2023, of course.
But, after what I saw of his USA Basketball and Pangos performances, Biliew (pictured) is clearly the 2023 prospect that has most impressed me over the past year or so.
In the Top 60 Crème of the Crop game that preceded the Top 30 clash, the white jerseys also prevailed in OT, 105-103, by way of a Sulaiman Agiste (a 6-8 sophomore at Clark in Chicago) layup.
Sophomore guard Damare Smith (Shawnee Mission Northwest in Kansas), with 15 points and five assists, was the Most Outstanding Player for the winners while another sophomore guard, Zach Howell (Springfield Catholic in Missouri), also scored 15.
Six-six freshman Lidell Miller (Chicago Morgan Park) was the MOP for the dark jerseys with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
My choices as the Top 25 performers in the camp (not based strictly on “college potential”), listed alphabetically:
Class of 2022
Ruot Bijiek 6-9 West Des Moines (IA) Dowling Catholic
A.J. Casey 6-8 Tinley Park (IL)
Jaylen Drane 6-2 Chicago Simeon
Jasen Green 6-7 Omaha (NE) Millard North
Nigel Hylton 6-8 Lake Forest (IL) Academy
Isaiah Jones 6-4 Flint (MI) Carman-Ainsworth
Gabe Madej 6-5 Oak Pak (IL) Fenwick
J.D. Roberts 6-5 Riverdale (MO) Park Hill South
Ty Rodgers 6-6 Grand Blanc (MI)
Jack Rose 6-4 Salem (WI) Central Westosha
Damare Smith 6-0 Shawnee Mission (KS) Northwest
Jevin Sullivan 6-3 Alleman (IA) North Polk
Leland Walker 5-11 Indianapolis North Central
Daniel Wolf 6-7 Lake Forest (IL) Academy
Class of 2023
Omaha Biliew 6-7 West Des Moines (IA) Dowling Catholic
Taison Chatman 6-3 Fridley (MN) Totino-Grace
Tevonta Jackson 6-1 Springfield (IL) Lanphier
Davius Loury 6-5 Chicago Simeon
Lidell Miller 6-6 Chicago Morgan Park
Marcus Pigram 6-1 Chicago Whitney Young
J.J. Taylor 6-7 Chicago Morgan Park
Ashton Williamson 6-2 Gary (IN) Calumet New Tech
Jeremiah Williamson-Johnson 6-2 Oklahoma City Putnam City North
Gus Yalden 6-8 Appleton (WI) Xavier
Donaven Younger 6-7 Bolingbrook (IL)
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