Frank Burlison

WESTFIELD, Ind. – Night 1 of weekend 2 of the 2017 Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) proved a nice platform for some of the better point guards in the Class of 2018.

I watched at least one half of six of the 20 games played Friday night in the seven-court Jonathan Byrd Field House in this suburb of Indianapolis.

So my sample size, of course, was only 30 percent of what was played Friday night.

That conceded, the aforementioned 2018 point guards that I watched played quite well were:

*Xavier Castaneda (Chicago Whitney Young) scored 10 points to go with five assists as seven Meanstreets players scored from eight to 14 points in its 79-78 victory Pro Skills;

*Nick Honor (Orlando Lake Highland Prep) had 13 points and eight assists – without a turnover – as Each 1 Teach 1 rolled past Mississippi Express, 95-69;

*Darius Garland (Nashville, TN, Brentwood Academy) scored 32 points (11 of 17 from the field, including a 3, and nine for nine on free throws) with five assists, two steals and three turnovers in Bradley Beal Elite’s 86-81 decisions against Nike Team Florida;

*Marcus Zegarowski (Hamilton, MA, Tilton) had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists as Expressions Elite pulled away from the Portland Basketball Club, 73-60, and;

*Spencer Freedman (Santa Ana, CA, Mater Dei) went for 17 points, eight assists and two steals while California Supreme overwhelmed Team Final, 84-64.

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FORT WORTH – The first three-day session of the adidas Uprising Gauntlet – 17s Gold Division – wrapped up Sunday afternoon in the six-court “Game On” facility.

Eight of the 51 regionally-based squad spread across six divisions went 4-0: Compton Magic (Southern California), Dream Vision (Southern California), Exum Elite (Utah), Louisville Magic, Massachusetts Rivals, New England Playaz, Team Loaded (Virginia) and YIIS Future (San Antonio).

The majority of the teams on showcase in front of hundreds of coaches from the NCAA’s 32 Division I-designated conferences over the weekend had at least a couple of Division I prospects on their rosters.

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FORT WORTH – The 2017 adidas Uprising Gauntlet spring and summer series tipped off with 18 games in the 17s Gold Division over six courts Friday night Game On facility.

OK, a few sentences on one of the games I didn’t watch Friday night:

Twenty-Two Vision (based in Louisville) edged South Carolina Supreme, 66-62.

Those names may not ring any kind of hoops bell for you but these will:

For TTV (for short), 6-foot-5 guard Romeo Langford (New Albany High in Indiana) scored 28 points while hitting nine of 15 shots from the floor (but missing four of five from behind the arc) to go with four assists, four rebounds and six turnovers.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Southern California’s high school basketball Class of 2019 proved every bit impressive this past season as it did a year ago.

The likes of the Chino Hills High duo of Melo Ball and Onyeka Okongwu as well as guards Ethan Anderson (Fairfax), Cassius Stanley (Harvard-Westlake), Gianni Hunt (Bishop Montgomery and Jarod Lucas (Los Altos), along with forwards Jaime Jaquez (Camarillo) and Jake Kyman (Santa Margarita), each made strong impacts on their programs in 2015-16.

And, as the case a year ago when my choice for BurlisonOnBasketball’s top Southern California Freshman of the Year came from among Ball, Okongwu and Stanley, the same three lads were the top candidates this time around for Sophomore of the Year.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – The Class of 2020 (current freshmen) was among the better ones in recent hoops memory, across and from top to bottom of California.

Among the most notable – some would suggest the best – of those are Kyree Walker (Hayward Moreau Catholic) and Jalen Green (Fresno San Joaquin Memorial).

But only players from the Southern, L.A. City and San Diego sections of the CIF are eligible for the BurlisonOnBasketball all-Southern California Top Freshmen/Class of 2020 selections.

So, sorry Green (Central Section) and Walker (North Coast Section) .

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