Jamgbadi with Jam party in Walnut Creek

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WALNUT CREEK, Ca. — The both-ends-of-the-floor dominance of Prolific Prep sophomore Emmanuel Jamgbadi was among the multiple highlights of Saturday’s opening day of the first-ever Pro-West Exposure Camp at Tice Valley Community College.

The camp featured 100-plus high school boys’ basketball players from Northern California, as well as a gifted 6-foot-4 sophomore from Bishop Manogue in Reno, James Williams.

Action concludes Sunday with three sets of two games played hourly, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Things wrap with Top 60 and Top 40 all-star games at 1 o’clock, and the Top 20 all-star clash at 2 o’clock.

Jamgbadi (pictured), at 6-7 ½, 230 pounds and with a 7-6 wingspan, was rarely part of an offensive or defensive sequence Saturday that didn’t end with him pummeling the rim with a wicked dunk or smacking the ball out of bounds or into the face of shooter.

By the second half of his second game Saturday, though, opponents realized the pointlessness of attempting to navigate a shot with Jamgbadi staring them in the eyes and passed the ball out of his area in a hurry.

Saturday marked the first anniversary of Jamgbadi arriving from Nigeria and coming to Napa to play for Prolific Prep.

The engaging Jamgbadi has a rare-found maturity and honesty, at his age, in assessing his on-the-court skills.

“I’m not where I want to be, offensively,” said Jamgbadi, who played in the spring and summer for Oakland-based Team Lillard 16s squad on the adidas circuit.

“Right now, my strength is on defense.”

A la NBA products and California players of recent vintage, Onyeka Okongwu and Evan Mobley, Jamgbadi has that rare ability among players of that size and quick-jumping ability to not bit on ball or head fakes from opponents who challenge him.

While training with the Organized Basketball Network program in Lagos, “one of the coaches would make us stop and run if we left our feet (on a fake by a shooter),” he said, smiling.

Other standouts Saturday included:

*Concord De La Salle senior point guard Leo Ricketts. He missed most of the summer club and camp scene with a broken bone in his left wrist. But, Saturday, he looked wire to help Coach Marcus Schroeder’s Spartans challenge the likes of Richmond Salesian, San Francisco Riordan, and Ross Branson as the top team in Northern California in 2023-24.

Salesian and Riordan were represented Saturday by 6-4 Alvin Loving and 6-5 Jasir Rencher — two of the standout juniors in all of California.

*Six-four senior Brandon Gibson (Elk Grove Monterey Trail) was too strong for smaller defenders and too quick for guys his size to guard Saturday.

*More juniors, including Jalen Stokes (Dublin), Kellen Hampton (the former Moreau Catholic standout now at SoCal Academy), Elijah Perryman (Clayton Valley Charter) and Antonio Kellogg (Ygnacio Valley).

*Sophomores Caeden Hutcherson (San Jose Mitty) and Max  VanLaningham (Woodcreek).

*A bunch of freshmen, including guards Sincere Hudson (Inderkum in Sacramento), Garry Hill-Thomas Jr. (Bishop O’Dowd), Jaiden Miller (Liberty), Andre Amesquita-Carter (Head-Royce) and Cole White (Riordan).