Preview: Peach Jam

The Nike EYBL finals are about to kick off at the Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina. By turning this event into the culmination of a 4 part regular season, Nike has ensured that this event receives top billing from coaches and fans alike. The top 24 EYBL teams make the Peach Jam and are separated into four pools of six teams each. Each team will play 5 games against its pool members beginning Thursday morning with the top two teams from each Pool advancing to the playoffs Saturday night. Both the semi-finals and finals will be held on Sunday morning with the winner joining the likes of Team Takeover and BABC as Peach Jam champions. While all Pool match-ups should be highly competitive and entertaining here are a few games that stick out:

1)      CIA Bounce vs. Texas Titans (Friday, 7:30pm)

The future class of 2013 #1?

Despite going 14 games without a loss, the Nike schedule makers did not do CIA Bounce a ton of favors by putting them in the talent laden Pool C. A few hours after their game with Mac Irvin ends, CIA will have a few hours to rest up before they face the Julius Randle show. Randle has been a beast all spring and summer and will try to turn a dominant Peach Jam into the coveted #1 class ranking. While Wiggins and Randle are the top players in this game, there will also be a shooting guard match-up to watch with the 6’4” Matt Jones facing off against the 6’4” Xavier Rathan-Mayes. As both teams have the talent to win the championship, this game will play a key factor in playoff seeding for the weekend.

2)      Houston Hoops vs. Bluff City Legends (Thursday, 12pm)

Despite the fact that Bluff City snuck into the Peach Jam via an auto-bid, this game could be one of the most entertaining match-ups and will certainly draw a crowd of college coaches to watch the highly regarded un-committed players. The individual battles on the wing will be scintillating as the Houston squad features Keith Frazier (2013 - #13), Justin Jackson (2014 - #15), and Justice Winslow (2014 - #10). Bluff City showcases Nick King (2013 - #19), power forward Johnathan Williams (2013 - #18), and Jujuan Johnson (2013 - #32). Expect a high scoring game as both teams rank among the top of the EYBL in terms of points per game.

3)      CIA Bounce vs. Mac Irvin Fire (Friday, 12pm)

Okafor

While still a top game, this was supposed to be the most anticipated match-up of the summer with Jabari Parker, the top ranked player in the class of 2013 and Andrew Wiggins, the top ranked player in the class of 2014 finally getting to match-up. Last year Parker was widely considered to be the best player in the country despite being a junior, however due to his strong play, Andrew Wiggins has taken the conch away from Parker. During play with the U17 national team, Parker suffered a right foot injury that could keep him sidelined for the remainder of the summer. Despite this loss, Mac Irvin still features enough talent to compete with CIA Bounce. Big man Jahlil Okafor is coming off of a MVP performance for the US team and Mac Irvin recently finished 2^nd to Mean Streets in an Illinois AAU event. Okafor will try to dominate CIA down low, while the rest of the Mac Irvin players such as Sterling Brown and Billy Garrett try to step-up. CIA went undefeated through the first 14 games of the EYBL and now they are looking to claim their first Peach Jam title.

4)      All Ohio vs. Mean Streets (Friday, 7:30pm)

All Ohio finished the EYBL with a 16-4 record, while Mean Streets went 15-5. Despite being two of the top teams on the Nike circuit these teams are often overlooked due to their lack of star power. Mean Streets is led by senior guard Kendrick Nunn, the only player averaging over double figures on the team at 12 ppg. All-Ohio is led by Ohio State commit Mark Loving who is averaging 11 ppg. Both of these teams play tough and are extremely well coached. Mean Streets was also the first team to beat CIA Bounce. This game features two undervalued teams, but the winner could make a surprising run to the Peach Jam championship.

5)      Oakland Soldiers vs. Boo Williams (Friday, 9pm)

A relatively healthy Oakland squad will try to avenge their 59-46 Memorial Day weekend loss to Boo Williams. The Soldiers will continue to be without star forward Aaron Gordon, however they will have the services of shooting guard Jabari Bird. The Soldiers went 4-2 in their last EYBL tournament and will look to string together consecutive solid tournaments to make it back to the Peach Jam playoffs. On the other side is Boo Williams who had an extremely up and down EYBL regular season. After struggling through the first three EYBL sessions, Boo Williams went 6-0 in Oakland which included wins over CIA Bounce and Mean Streets. This team is lead by super quick point guard Anthony “Cat” Barber who is considered a top-10 player in the country and has excelled during the June basketball sessions. While this team struggled throughout the spring, so did their star Troy Williams. Once a top 10 player with UNC and Kentucky at the top of his list, numerous poor shooting games dropped Williams down the ranks. Despite this drop, Williams stepped up his game at recent events and was a top performer averaging almost 20 points at the Nike Global Challenge. Both teams will look to capitalize on their solid late season play and advance out of Pool B.  

6)      E1T1 vs. Team Takeover (Thursday, 9am)

Joel Berry

A classic big man battle between US national teammates, BeeJay Anya and Dakari Johnson highlights this game. Johnson, from E1T1 dominated the stat lines during the EYBL sessions to the tune of approximately 16 points and 11 rebounds per game. Anya will provide Johnson with a tough match-up due to his size and length. Both teams also feature standout guards such as Joel Berry for E1T1 and Stan Robinson and Josh Hart. Also on Team Takeover is point guard Will Ferguson. Ferguson has been fairly quite in the EYBL games despite starting almost every game. His quickness could cause Berry problems and give Takeover the advantage. 

7)      Baltimore Elite vs. The Family (Friday, 10:30am)

Both teams enter the Peach Jam with 12-8 records; however they both feature some of the top scorers in the EYBL. From Baltimore, shooting guard Kameron Williams averaged a season high 22.2 ppg while James Young, from Detroit averaged 18.5 ppg. Young is also coming off a 29 point performance in the Global Challenge in which he helped his Midwest team defeat Team Canada. While these players might not spend a lot of time guarding each other, they will most likely be putting on a scoring display. Also featured is point guard Wesley Clark who drew rave reviews at the Lebron James Skills Academy.

Will.....

-CIA Bounce be able to bounce back after their trip to Oakland and win the championship?

-The Pool C teams (CIA, Mac Irvin, Texas Titans) be to beat up after pool play to win a championship?

-Julius Randle claim the #1 spot in the 2013 rankings?

-A team from the West Coast (Cal Supreme or Oakland) win their first EYBL championship?