USA U16: 17 Remain

USA Basketball whittled their roster down to 17 members after the Saturday morning session in Colorado Springs. With cuts looming after the early practice, the coaches didn’t waste any time getting the scrimmages going.

Prospect Watch:

Jaylen Hands, PG, 6’2”, 2017, Foothills Christian (CA)

Jaylen Hands

After having a quiet Friday, Hands came alive Saturday morning trying to impress the coaching staff before they discussed the first round of cuts. Playing on the best team of the day, Hands was active in all areas. He hit a tough three to beat the shot clock early on and showed off his explosiveness on the fast break with a rim-rattling two hand dunk. Hands also pushed the pace on the break and got by his defender and into the lane where he found teammate Kevin Knox for multiple easy finishes at the rim. Hands was one of four players 6’2” or under that made it through the first round of cuts and given his speed and quickness, the California point guard has a strong shot at making the final 12 man roster.

Kevin Knox II, PF, 6’7”, 2017, Tampa Catholic (FL)

Knox’s play was one of the top storylines from the first four practices and the athletic power forward was one of the leading scorers in the scrimmages on Saturday morning. He ran the floor and finished with powerful two hand dunks throughout the practice. Knox also showed a good pair of hands in catching all of the passes from Jaylen Hands in the paint. With the ball in his hands, Knox was able to either finish explosively above the rim or contort his body to avoid getting his shot blocked. He also displayed his pick and roll ability with hard cuts to the rim. After his exceptional play, Knox made it through the first round of cuts with ease.

Carte’Are Gordon, PF, 6’8”, 2018, St. John Vianney (MO)

The powerful big man continued his best Caleb Swanigan impression and also made it to at least a few more practice sessions before the final round of cuts. Gordon hustled throughout the scrimmages and used his strength advantage down low for a plethora of baskets. On most of his made shots, Gordon utilized solid footwork and pump fakes to create easy shots at the rim.

Jarred Vanderbilt, PF, 6’8”, 2017, Victory Prep School (TX)

The self-proclaimed “point-forward” played to his strengths today and had one of his better performances. A future starter for the U16 team, Vanderbilt was active on the defensive hand creating steals with his long reach and quick leaping ability. He turned the steals into one man fast breaks and had several fancy finishes as he beat the opposing team down court. Vanderbilt also was aggressive on the boards and hit his point guards with pin-point outlet passes.

Elijah Hardy, PG, 6’1”, 2018, Bishop O’ Dowd (CA)

The diminutive point guard from Oakland is looking to follow in the footsteps of former high school teammate Ivan Rabb in earning a spot on the final U16 roster. One of the quickest players in the tryouts, Hardy had his pin-point passing on point hitting teammates with no look and behind the back passes. He pressured the opposing point guards and also showed the ability to hit shots off the dribble. Hardy will have his work cut out to make the final roster, but given his tenacity and court vision he has already impressed the various USA coaches.

Quick Hitters:

Sophomore point guard Troy Brown was in attendance on Saturday and made his presence known immediately. The top rated point guard in the 2017 class was vocal and out-going on the court. He didn’t waste any time getting shots up and connected on his second attempt from the deep left corner. Brown will not play on the U16 team due to school commitments, but his play early on raised the level of competition almost immediately.

Charles O’ Bannon Jr., the son of former UCLA Bruin Charles O’ Bannon made it through the first round of cuts. The wing from Bishop Gorman can do a variety of things on the court and uses his 6’10” reach to his advantage. While he didn’t always get a lot of shot attempts in the scrimmages, O’Bannon was a solid wing defender and could attack the basket off the dribble. He averaged 14.1 points per game in the EYBL regular season as well.

Robert Woodard, the 6’5” freshman guard is one of the more physically imposing guards in his class. With a Tyus Battle like physique, Woodard hit multiple mid-range jump shots off the catch in the morning session. He missed his first shot, but came back immediately on the next possession and knocked in a jump shot.

The top shooters in the camp were Markus Howard and Gary Trent Jr. Both players are in the 2017 class and were two of the top three scorers in the EYBL despite being a year younger than most of the players. Both hit outside shots in the scrimmage with Trent connecting on a three from the wing early on while Howard added in a swish from the left corner which looked to be his favorite spot. Howard and Trent Jr. have also been adding scholarship offers lately and they also both showed an ability to attack the rim off the dribble.

One player that did not make the cut was 6’6” freshman shooting guard Cameron Reddish. While this wasn’t a big surprise given his limited shot attempts, I am extremely, extremely high on his potential and would not be surprised to see Reddish on the U17 team next year. The lanky guard has a nice looking outside shot with a quick release that found the bottom of the net several times. He also scored on a reverse lay-up which started from the right wing. Right now, Reddish needs to work on his aggressiveness, but his potential is as high as anyone that played in the camp.

USA U16 Tryouts: Friday Recap

The USA U16 tryout continued on Friday in Colorado Springs with both a morning and evening practice session. For the 30 players in attendance, the morning session featured a plethora of drills before moving on to a set of three scrimmages, while the evening session consisted of position work and a set of intense 10 minute scrimmages used as evaluation tools for the coaches involved in the selection process.

Morning Session:

On Friday morning, the freshmen and sophomores participating in the tryouts were exposed to a variety of basketball drills that are standard at every USA basketball session. The players participated in passing and dribbling drills where they were required to use both their left and right hands, half-court and full-court shooting drills, and also some 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 action. Towards the end of the practice the players were divided into four teams with each team playing the other three teams one time each with two games going on at the same time.

Top Performer:

Markus Howard, PG, 2017, Findlay Prep (NV)

It’s safe to say that Markus Howard stole the show in the morning session. The third leading scorer in the EYBL with 20.2 points per game continued his high scoring ways in both the drill portion and the scrimmages. In the shooting drills, Howard was the most lethal player from behind the arc as he calmly drained three’s from all over the court. In the scrimmages he continued to hit outside shots, but he also attacked the basket off the dribble for lay-ups or floaters while also having the court-sense to find open shots for teammates. On the defensive side of the ball, Howard was also very active routinely picking up the opposing point guard full-court and moving his feet to stay in front of the ball-handler. It’s clear that Howard can score at the highest levels, but he can also run a team efficiently while also providing a defensive presence at the guard spot.

Evening Session:

The intensity was at a high gear on Friday night at the USA Olympic complex. The players started the night with various drills to get them loose before moving to position drills which were broken up into three groups: point guards, wings, and big men. Former Arizona Wildcat, Miles Simon took the point guards and had them practicing floaters with both hands and quick, creative moves for attacking the basket. The wings spent time working on their mid-range and outside jump shots, while the big men practiced their post moves down low. After the position drills were over, the four teams were matched-up again with just one game played at a time. Each team played several 10 minute scrimmages at a high level that left most everyone tired and sore towards the end.

Notable Players:

Jordan Brown, 6’10”, PF, 2018, Woodcreek (CA)

In the fourth game of the day, the talented freshman showed that yes, while he does possess an extraordinary amount of potential he is also productive as well. Despite his thin frame, Brown battled for baskets down low in traffic while also displaying the ability to hit turn and face mid-range jump shots and attack the basket off of a few productive dribbles. Brown excelled as a freshman in California being named the freshman of the year and now he is showing he belongs with the top big men in the 2017 and 2018 classes.

Gary Trent Jr., 6’5”, SG, 2017, Apple Valley (MN)

Gary Trent Jr. 

There are not a lot of quality three point shooters among the 30 players competing for a spot on the U16 team, but Gary Trent Jr. certainly does not fall into that category. In the EYBL he hit 55 three’s at an almost 40% clip, while also leading the league in scoring at 22.1 points per game. Throughout both sessions, Trent Jr. routinely connected from deep, but also scored off the dribble showing his multi-faceted skill-set. He has good height and strength for a shooting guard and was able to take advantage of his physical prowess at several points when smaller defenders were guarding him down low.

Jaylen Nowell, 6’4”, SG, 2017, Garfield (WA)

The Seattle native labels himself as a scorer and despite not being fully recovered from an ankle injury, Nowell has certainly played to his strengths so far. Throughout the scrimmages, Nowell was slicing to the basket and finishing contested shots at the rim. He also knocked in several mid-range jump shots and stayed away from forcing too many deep jumpers which is not currently a strength.

Naz Reid, 6’9”, PF, 2018, Roselle Catholic (NJ)

At times Naz Reid is a dominant force. Blessed with arms that are both long and strong, Reid caused havoc at various points on both the offensive and defensive ends. At one point, Reid scored on two consecutive possessions where he first caught the ball on the right post and made a quick spin move towards the paint before lofting a soft five footer that found the bottom of the net. He followed that up with a thunderous dunk on the next possession. Throughout the stanza, Reid ran the floor which led to easy one handed dunks and he also protected the paint with several blocked shots.

Quick Hitters:

Connor Vanover is the tallest kid at camp with his listed height of 7’3”, but he is also the skinniest at 210 pounds. At times, Vanover’s slight frame leads to missed bunnies around the basket on the offensive end, but for a brief stretch in the evening the center from Little Rock had things cooking. With a tight compact shooting form, Vanover made a deep jumper before connecting on a three from the wing and a put-back off of an offensive rebound. 

Someone that doesn’t have an issue with his frame is Wendell Carter Jr. The 6’10” big man from Atlanta used his power to knock a few defenders out of the way before finishing with powerful two hand dunks around the rim. He also spiked several shots on the defensive end and drained a three at the end of one scrimmage.

6’6” shooting guard Cameron Reddish didn’t get a lot of shot attempts but you almost wish he did. The lanky guard from The Haverford School has a quick release on his three as he connected on several during the scrimmages.

California point guard Jaylen Hands did not standout in the scrimmages today, but he did stand out in the passing and dribbling drills. While not at the level of Tyus Jones, Hands flew through the drills with both hands leaving his teammates in the dust. Speaking of flying, another California point guard in Elijah Hardy from state champion Bishop O’ Dowd showcased his quickness in a variety of ways whether it came to firing a lefty shot from the outside, whipping a pass across the court, or attacking off the dribble.

Big men Kaleb Wesson, a 6’10”, 265 pound sophomore and 6’8”, 245 pound freshman Carte’Are Gordon used their mass to own the paint down low. Both players had a size advantage on their opponents and used their girth to score around the basket. Gordon slightly resembled Caleb Swanigan from the U17 tryouts last summer with his hustle and aggressiveness down low.

Freshman Jaedon LeDee from Houston already holds a Kentucky offer and it’s easy to see why. At 6’7”, 195 pounds, LeDee already has the build. He can also surprise people with his explosive mid-range jump shot. 

Power forwards Jalen Hill, a 6’9”, sophomore from Corona, CA, and Kevin Knox II, a 6’7” sophomore from Tampa, FL were intriguing with their size and ability to run the floor. 

6’0” point guard Darius Garland from Nashville, TN, might be the smallest player on the court, but that fact does not slow him down. With a quick release, Garland connected on several deep jumpers in a row in the second scrimmage of the night. Garland was active throughout and might be the second best shooter of the point guards.