LAS VEGAS — At 16-1 and 14-3, respectively, in spring Nike/EYBL competition, Team Final and Team Thad are among the favorites going into the 17s division of the July 6-9 Peach Jam in the South Carolina-Georgia border city of North Augusta.
And, after the first two days of the 21st Pangos All-American Camp, it’s understandable why that’s the case.
*Three of the Philadelphia-based Team Team’s guards, Rob Wright (Neumann Goretti), Ahmad Nowell (Imotep) and Jalil Bethea (Archbishop Wood), are on a short list — of about 10 or so — of the best “point guard-types” in the national Class of 2024.
They’ve been among the top half-dozen or so most impressive guards during the first three sessions of Pangos AA Camp games Sunday and Monday in the Bishop Gorman gymnasium.
And one of their Team Final running-mates, 6-foot-9 Thomas Sorber (Archbishop Ryan), has been one of the more forceful rebounders and low-post scorers while helping “North Carolina” win its three camp games.
Team Thad may be based in the Tennessee community of Cordova (just east of Memphis).
But its five Pangos AA Camp players represent much of the country’s south, via Kentucky (6-5, left-handed Jasper Johnson, who had been one of the dominant juniors-to-be here); West Virginia (6-5 Larry Johnson, who has been un-checkable here, 1-on-1); Georgia (6-7 Derrion Reid); Alabama (point guard Labaron Philon); and North Carolina (6-6 Rakease Passmore; he joined Team Thad for the final spring EYBL session in Memphis).
*Had Hudson Greer’s father’s career in Commercial Real Estate finance led to the family moving from the Southern California, Orange County city of Irvine to Austin, TX, almost four years ago, he’d be one of the best players in California’s Class of 2025 at either Mater Dei or Santa Margarita.
But the 6-6 Greer (who attends Lake Travis in Austin) has succinctly shown Sunday and Monday why he’s not only one of the best Texas has to offer up in his high school class, but he should be mentioned emphatically in any discussion about the upper-tier shooting guard-types in the national class as well.
Greer (pictured) didn’t play in any of the spring Nike/EYBL sessions with the Pro Skills 16s squad while rehabbing from first foot and then groin injuries.
“It was frustrating (being with the team but only as a spectator during all of the EYBL regional stops in April and May),” he said Monday night.
But the “erring on the side of caution”, instead of trying to “playing thru the injuries”, has apparently paid off with a terrific performance over the first two days of the Pangos AA camp while operating at what he estimated to be at about “90 percent” of his pre-injury bounce and mobility.
Greer (whose dad, Josh, was a standout at Esperanza High in Orange County before playing at and graduating from St. Mary’s College a year before Randy Bennett took over the program in 1996) went for 21 points for “Arizona” in his opening game Sunday night.
He scored 14 points Monday afternoon then rang up 29 later that night, knocking in three 3s in five attempts and 12 of 16 shots overall.
Unlike a lot of the best “scorers” here (and pretty much elsewhere, for that matter), Greer doesn’t need the ball in his hands to “create” a lot of his scoring opportunities.
He plays with as much energy away from the ball as many guys only do on the dribble and, as a result, got the bulk of his layups and dunks (he had a bunch of those) after freeing himself from defenders via non-stop motion and crisp cuts.
So, yeah, it should be not only a cool Tuesday’s final day for Greer but a high-energy rest of June and into July, too, for Greer — especially if he hits that 100 percent octane, right?
The camp closes Tuesday, beginning with the final morning session of games for the 12 teams and ending with two all-star games in the afternoon.
As always, all games will be live-streamed and archived by BallerTV.
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