The first open
evaluation period in July kicks off this week for college coaches, many of
which will be in attendance at the talent laden Adidas Invitational. Adidas
structured this tournament in the “Super Pool” format allowing the top teams to
face off against each other during the first two days of action before the
playoffs begin. Last year Kasey Hill helped lead the Florida Rams (now Florida
Elite) to the 17U title over New Heights, 89-82. This year Hill and his Florida
teammates are back trying to repeat after winning the Adidas VIP Exclusive Run
and Best Buy Classic tournaments during the spring. The 16U Louisville Magic
squad will look to repeat as well this year after previously winning the 15U
tournament in 2011. There are also plenty of top ranked 15U teams trying to
grab the attention of the coaches in attendance. Last year all of the college
coaches flocked to the battle between the top ranked players in the class of
2012, Shabazz Muhammed and Andre Drummond. Let’s see what games will draw the
most attention this year:
1) Florida Elite vs. Garner Road (Thursday,
1:15pm)
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| Chris Walker |
In this pool play match-up, Garner Road’s
will try to seek revenge against Florida Elite who beat them at the Adidas VIP
Exclusive Run 17U Championship to kick off the spring. Since that time, Florida
also took home the championship in the Best Buy Classic. Florida’s top players
have been on an upward trajectory all spring, specifically Kasey Hill and Chris
Walker. Hill jumped from a top 20 player pre-Spring to Scout.com’s 6th
ranked player and 2nd best point guard. Walker has kept his top 10
status while drawing raves from NBA general managers at the Lebron James Skills
Academy. While Florida Elite was heard from all spring, Garner Road was
somewhat quite losing early in the Best Buy Classic. Isaiah Hicks, a five-star
UNC commit has been hampered by an ankle injury and spent June recovering while
also playing with his high school team. Despite the fact that the majority of
top players from these teams have committed to schools, this game should be the
initial highlight of the open evaluation period as it also includes Kansas
commit Brannen Greene and Louisville commit, Anton Gill.
2) Dream Vision vs. Michigan Mustangs (Thursday,
9:30am)
Based out of the west coast, Dream Vision has
been quite since its Real Deal in the Rock championship during the Spring open
evaluation period. While this team no longer has Shabazz Muhammed, it does
feature Georgetown commit, Stephen Domingo, who is fresh off winning a gold medal,
along with stand out shooter, Isaac Hamilton. 4-star point guard and Michigan
commit, Derrick Walton will try to carry his Michigan team throughout the
tournament.
3) Florida Elite vs. Louisville Magic (Thursday,
12pm)
This game features two of the top 16U teams
in the country. Last year, the Louisville squad drew the attention of John
Calipari and Rick Pitino while capturing the 15U title. Five-star point guard
and Louisville commit, Quentin Snider will look to lead his team to another
title in Indianapolis, however point guard Lance Tejada, shooting guard Adonys
Henriqez, and high riser Jonathan Joseph will try to send the Magic to an early
pool play loss. Florida elite performed strongly at the Best Buy classic and
will try to build on the playoff run they made over Memorial Day.
4) Compton Magic vs. Eric Gordon All-Stars
(Thursday, 3:45pm)
Both teams are ranked in the top 10 for 15U
by fivestarbasketball.com. Compton features a plethora of rising sophomore’s
that stand 6’5” and taller, while the Eric Gordon All-Stars feature rising
freshman, Eron Gordon. Gordon, the younger brother of the team’s namesake
already has offers from local schools big 10 schools, Purdue and Indiana. This
game will provide coaches with a glimpse of the future.
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| Eron Gordon |
Other Top
Ranked Players to Watch:
·
Noah Vonleh – Mass Rivals
·
Leron Black – Team Thad
·
Anton Beard – Team Thad
·
Milik Yarbrough – Indiana Elite
·
Craig Victor – New Orleans Elite
·
Mamadou Ndiaye – Double Pump Elite
·
Solomon Poole – Atlanta Celtics
·
Roshcon Prince – Compton Magic
·
Stephen Zimmerman – Dream Vision
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