2014 McDonald's AA Practice: Monday

The McDonald’s All-American week has begun. While the skills competition, three-point shootout, and slam dunk contest will be broadcast on ESPNU this evening the players were showcasing their skills to the media and NBA personnel in the morning. Both the East and West teams went through an hour and a half practice session at the Quest Multiplex in Chicago, IL in an event open to NBA scouts and front office personnel. While there were not any players at the level of Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker there were several standouts on Day 1 and most likely a fair amount of players that will be at the top of the 2015 NBA Draft.

West Team:

The West team is led by Frank Allocco, the head coach of De La Salle High School in California and there was no doubt which team meant business Monday morning. Within minutes the West team was doing full-court drills and instituting out of bounds and half court plays. The intensity displayed in the first minute of action carried over for the remainder of practice. For the most part the West was broken out into two teams:

Team A:                                               Team B:

Joel Berry (UNC)                              Tyler Ulis (Kentucky)

Rashad Vaughn (UNLV)                   Emmanuel Mudiay (SMU)

Kelly Oubre (Kansas)                       Stanley Johnson (Arizona)

Travis Reid (Stanford)                     Trey Lyles (Kentucky)

Thomas Welsh (UCLA)                    Jahlil Okafor (Duke)

Devin Booker (Kentucky)               Grayson Allen (Duke)

Top Players:

Rashad Vaughn, 6’5”, SG, Findlay Prep (NV)

The silky smooth shooting guard had his outside shot working from all parts of the court. He stayed within his means and didn’t force the action while also distributing the ball at times and giving a strong effort on the defensive end. Along with his deep outside shots, Vaughn showed his athletic ability to get to the basket while also hitting fade-aways over smaller defenders. 

Grayson Allen, 6’4”, SG, Providence School (FL)

Another wing that impressed was shooting guard Grayson Allen. The 6’5” wing displayed his athleticism with several dunks in the open-court and like Vaughn was on target with his outside shot. Allen was usually the sixth man for his team, but just like in AAU action he contributed right away.

Stanley Johnson, 6’6”, SF, Mater Dei (CA)

On Saturday night, Johnson was busy winning his fourth straight California state championship and just two days later he was back in action playing with a purpose on the defensive end and using his powerful body to aggressively drive to the basket. Johnson misfired on several outside shots, but he did end one scrimmage with a three from the right wing.

Top Match-Ups:

Joel Berry vs. Tyler Ulis

The two point guards on the West squad went head to head all morning long. Ulis took the lead early on as his quickness on the defensive end frustrated Berry and resulted in an early steal while Berry was dribbling the ball on the wing. After the turnover, Berry’s game took a turn for the better as he started to use his strength to attack the rim. He finished an acrobatic lay-up on the right side and then attacked the basket for a left hand lay-up early on. Berry’s finest moments came on the defensive end when it looked like Jahlil Okafor had an easy dunk but instead resulted in a half block / half steal for Berry as he met Okafor at the basket. Neither Ulis nor Berry took many shots from the outside, but both got the ball to their shooters for open jump shots.

Jahlil Okafor vs. Thomas Welsh

It was clear that Okafor was the dominant player in this match-up from the beginning, but it was also impressive to see Welsh never back down, despite a 30 pound (at least) weight disadvantage. Okafor used his power and large hands to score consistently in the low post, but Welsh challenged him for rebounds and at times was able to keep Okafor out of the lane. Towards the end of the scrimmage, Welsh hit a soft 6 footer and followed that up with a basket at the rim. 

Other Notes:

Trey Lyles and Travis Reid both had their moments as the two rugged Midwest power forwards attacked and countered each other all morning long. Whether it was tough post-ups or outside jump shots, the Lyles and Reid match-up was a fun one to watch. Emmanuel Mudiay and Kelly Oubre are both Top 10 prospects, but both players were fairly quite in the practice and were not as aggressive as their other teammates.

East Team:

The East team while talented took a little longer to show the same type of intensity as the West team. Coached by Lou Wilson of Riverdale Baptist (MD) the East started the practice off with some easy drills to get warmed up and then eventually increased the difficulty with culminated with some scrimmaging of their own. The East time was first divided as follows:

Team A:                                                               Team B:

Romelo Trimble (Maryland)                         Tyus Jones (Duke)

Theo Pinson (UNC)                                         Isaiah Whitehead (Seton Hall)

Justise Winslow (Duke)                                 Justin Jackson (UNC)

Kevon Looney (UCLA)                                    Cliff Alexander (Kansas)

Karl Towns Jr. (Kentucky)                              Myles Turner (Undecided)

James Blackmon Jr. (Indiana)                       D’Angelo Russell (Ohio State)

Top Players:

Tyus Jones, 6’2”, PG, Apple Valley (MN)

Jones was quiet for a fair amount of the practice, but turned it on late in the scrimmage with several tough baskets. For most of his high school career, the future Blue Devil has been labeled as the best point guard in the high school ranks regardless of class. There is no doubt his ball-handling and overall point guard skills are top notch but some of questioned his slight frame. Jones ran his team, didn’t turn the ball over and got into the paint when he wanted and finished with short jump shots or floaters.

D’Angelo Russell, 6’4”, SG, Montverde Academy (FL)

Last spring Russell’s jump shot was a big question mark. Not anymore. Russell had several nothing but net outside shots throughout the practice and caused a few deflections with his defensive activity. The future Buckeye will have a strong chance to contribute immediately next year in Columbus. 

Top Match-Up:

Karl Towns Jr. vs. Myles Turner

As a whole, the East practice was less competitive than the West; however Towns Jr. and Turner went at each other all day long whether it was half-court drills or full-court scrimmages. There were a lot of uncalled fouls committed, but both players played through contact. Towns Jr. tried to use his power while Turner countered with his length. There was no clear cut winner in the big man battle, but you can be sure these two will be going at it once again tomorrow.

Overall:

Numerous players shined in a brief viewing this morning. NBA scouts got a fresh look at next year’s college freshmen and the media got one last look at the class of 2014. With the West getting a jump start on scrimmaging the focus of the day strayed toward this team. With additional practices tomorrow the East team will receive an in-depth look as well.

City of Palms Preview

Each year the City of Palms classic brings some of the top prep players and teams from across the country for a weekend full of sun and basketball at Bishop Verot High in Fort Myers, FL. Over a six day period, the 41^st classic will feature their standard 16 team classic, a four team Signature Series, and four Sunshine Series games. The City of Palms is commonplace for future number one draft picks which have included John Wall and Kyrie Irving over the past few years. It will be hard to top last year’s tournament which featured the number one player in the 2013 (Andrew Wiggins), 2014 (Jahlil Okafor), and 2015 (Malik Newman) classes along with a title game that pitted the most talented team in the country (Montverde Academy) versus the most entertaining team in the country (Lone Peak). 

16 Team Classic

Top Teams:

Montverde Academy (FL)

Russell and Montverde are looking for a repeat

The number one team in the country is looking for a repeat. Last year head coach Kevin Boyle led Montverde Academy to their first City of Palms title behind the play of Kasey Hill (Florida), Dakari Johnson (Kentucky) and Devin Williams (West Virginia). All of the aforementioned players are now in college but they do return five-star shooting guard D’Angelo Russell, an Ohio State commit. Along with Russell, Montverde re-loaded and now features five-star junior Ben Simmons, senior point guard Ahmaad Rorie, shooting guard Justin Bibbs, and power forward Makinde London. Montverde is favored to advance out of their side of the bracket; however they certainly won’t have a cake walk with potential match-ups against Isaiah Whitehead of Lincoln (NY) and possibly Daniel Hamilton and St. John Bosco who recently pulled a buzzer-beater upset in the Chicago Elite Classic.

St. John Bosco (CA)

The Bellflower, CA team will have its hands full making it to the semi-finals on Saturday evening to face Montverde; however they certainly have the talent to do so with Connecticut bound Daniel Hamilton and five-star junior Tyler Dorsey on the wings. Bosco opens with Providence Christian (FL), the No. 20 team in the country which features Duke recruit Grayson Allen in addition to a possible match-up between the winner of No. 22 Denver East and the Jaquan Newton led Neumann-Goretti (PA) squad. If they make it through the first two days of the tournament expect a high scoring and entertaining game with Montverde.

Whitney Young (IL)

Led by the top player in the country, 6’10” Jahlil Okafor and Whitney Young are looking for a little revenge. Last year the Dolphins barely escaped bad weather conditions in Chicago and just made their 10pm tip time with Montverde. Despite the travel woes the Dolphins pushed the game to overtime before falling 68-63 in a breakout game by shooting guard Miles Reynolds. This year marks the third trip in four years for Whitney Young with the 2010 trip serving as the tournament where Okafor and forward Paul White were first recognized on a national stage as freshmen. After suffering a heart breaking loss to St. John Bosco two weeks ago, Whitney Young is looking to make their first national statement of the year. 

Paul VI (VA)

The top team in TheWashington Post is back in sunny Florida trying to make-up for their first round exit last year in the City of Palms tournament to Lake Wales (FL). Despite losing early last year, the sophomore laden Panthers bounced back to win their remaining three games. With one more year under their belts the junior duo of Marcus Derrickson and Kevin Dorsey lead the way while the middle is manned by big man Quadree Smith who is headed to UNC-Greensboro next year. Sophomore combo guard Curtis Jones has stepped up this year and gives Paul VI another outside scoring threat as a lot of the local ACC and Big East schools have shown strong interest.

Top 15 Players to Watch:

1. Jahlil Okafor, 6’10”, Senior, C, Whitney Young (IL) – Committed to Duke (#1 – 2014)

2. Isaiah Whitehead, 6’4”, Senior, SG, Lincoln (NY) – Committed to Seton Hall (#12 – 2014)

3. Tyler Dorsey, 6’4”, Junior, SG, St. John Bosco (CA) – (#7 – 2015)

4. Ben Simmons, 6’9”, Junior, PF, Montverde (FL) – Committed to LSU (#8 – 2015)

5. V.J. King, 6’7”, Sophomore, SF, St. Vincent-St. Mary, (#9 – 2016)

6. D’Angelo Russell, 6’4”, Senior, SG, Montverde (FL) – Committed to Ohio State (#16 – 2014)

7. Daniel Hamilton, 6’7”, Senior, SF, St. John Bosco (CA) – Committed to UConn (#18 – 2014)

8. Ja’Quan Newton, 6’2”, Senior, G, Neumann Goretti (PA), Committed to Miami (#56 – 2014)

9. Grayson Allen, 6’4”, Senior, SG, Providence Christian (FL) – Committed to Duke (#36 – 2014)

10. Jaylen Brown, 6’5”, Junior, SF, Marietta Wheeler (GA), (#10 – 2015)

11. Antonio Blakeney, 6’3”, Junior, SG, Oak Ridge (FL), (#68 – 2015)

12. Dominique Collier, 6’2”, Senior, G, Denver East (CO) – Committed to Colorado (#98 – 2014)

13. Marcus Derrickson, 6’7”, Junior, PF, Paul VI (VA) – Committed to Georgetown (#54 – 2015)

14. Paul White, 6’8”, Senior, F, Whitney Young (IL) – Committed to Georgetown (#49 – 2014)

15. Daniel Giddens, 6’9”, Junior, PF, Marietta Wheeler (GA), (#34 – 2015)

 Signature Series:

Top Teams:

Wichita Sunrise Christian (KS)

Sunrise Christian is ranked No. 7 in the country with one loss on their resume which came at the hands of a junior college in Texas. Led by future Michigan State point guard Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn the Kansas based school will face off against London Barking Abbey which was the Great Britain Division 4 champ last year. While not much is known about the Brits, they do play several players from the various British national teams including 7’1” junior center Nathan Smith. 

Brewster Academy (NH)

The nationally acclaimed New England prep school features a star studded line-up with players headed to Georgetown, Oklahoma State, and San Diego State next year. Along with the seniors, Brewster also starts shooting guard Donovan Mitchell who has offers from most of the schools in the Northeast and is rapidly gaining steam as a junior.

Top 5 Players:

1. Lourawls Nairn, 5’10”, PG, Wichita Sunrise Christian (KS) – Committed to MSU

2. Jared Terrell, 6’3”, SG, Brewster Academy (NH) – Committed to Ok State (#77 – 2014)

3. Isaac Copeland, 6’8”, F, Brewster Academy (NH) – Committed to Georgetown (#48 – 2014)

4. Jeff Garrett, 6’7”, SF, Oldsmar Christian (FL)

5. Isaiah Manderson, 6’10”, PF, Oldsmar Christian (FL) – Committed to Oregon State

Sunshine Series:

Top Team:

Lake Highland Prep

Led by North Carolina commitment Joel Berry, the Highlanders are currently 7-2 and ranked No. 4 by the Orlando Sentinel. The 6’0” Berry helped Lake Highland Prep win the Florida 4A State Championship last year; however he was not able to play in the 2012 16 Team Classic due to a leg injury and the Highlanders went 1-2 in the tournament. On Monday night, Berry will face off against future Georgia Tech guard Tadric Jackson and Tift County (GA).

Top 5 Players:

1. Joel Berry, 6’0”, Senior, PG, Lake Highland Prep – Committed to UNC (#21 – 2014)

2. Dwayne Bacon, 6’5”, Junior, SF, IMG Academy, (#20 – 2015)

3. Tadric Jackson, 6’2”, Senior, PG, Tift County – Committed to Georgia Tech (#87 – 2014)

4. Prince Ali, 6’3”, Junior, SG, Weston Sagemont – Committed to UConn (#78 – 2015)

5. Gyorgy Goloman, 6’10”, Senior, C, Weston Sagemont – Committed to UCLA

EYBL Dallas - Stock Risers

Top Teams:

With three EYBL sessions in the books, only one team remains undefeated in Team Takeover. While the DC based team went 4-0, there were several other teams that went 4-0 as well.

• CP3: Won by an average of 24.8 points per game.
• Each 1 Teach 1: Won by an average of 24 thanks to the new additions of Grayson Allen and Trayvon Reed.
• Spiece Indy: Won by an average of 19.8 including their come from behind victory over the Jackson Tigers.
• Team Scan: Won by an average of 18 points and knocked off Expressions Elite from the undefeated ranks on Friday night.
• Team Takeover: Won by an average of 12.3 points and is 13-0 heading into Minneapolis.

30 Point Performers:

• 37 – Allonzo Trier (10-20 FG’s, 15-19 FT’s)
• 36 – Malik Newman (13-20 FG’s, 6-8 3PT)
• 32 – Tyus Jones (10-17, 4-9 3PT)
• 31 – Tyler Ulis (7-10 FG’s, 2-4 3PT, 15-18 FT’s)
• 31 – Isaiah Briscoe (10-25 FG’s, 10-13 FT’s)
• 30 – Grayson Allen (10-15 FG’s, 4-6 3PT in 18 minutes)
• 30 – Jaquan Lyle (11-15 FG’s, 8-9 FT’s)

Top 5 Stock Risers:

Boubacar Moungoro, 6’6”, 2014, E1T1

Stats: 22-31 (71%) FG’s, 7-11 (64%) 3PT, 13.3 PPG, 3.3 RBG, 2.8 APG

Boubacar Moungoro

Moungoro starts at small forward for one of the most talented teams on the Nike circuit and while his team added Duke commit Grayson Allen as well as center Trayvon Reed he still managed to shine in Plano this past weekend. Standing at 6’6” with a powerful build, Moungoro’s athleticism has never been in question its always been his production level. In his first game, Moungoro went 7-8 from the field and 2-3 from the three point line for 18 points. On Saturday night, he went 7-12 from the field and 4-5 from the three point line for another 18 points. In his four games, he mixed in solid outside shooting with athletic drives to the basket, usually getting to the rim in just one or two dribbles. While he shot 7-11 from the 3-point line, Moungoro only attempted three free throws in four games and pulled down more than four rebounds just once. With his size and strength, one would expect those numbers to increase over time. While Moungoro does not have the status of some of his other teammates, he did play a main role in their 4-0 weekend.

Reid Travis, 6’7”, 2014, Howard Pulley

Stats: 24-49 (49%) FG’s, 20-29 (69%) FTS, 17.3 PPG, 7 RBG

One of the most physically imposing power forwards on the Nike circuit added an offer from UCLA over the weekend to go along with the offers he has already received from a majority of Big 10 and Pac 12 schools. Travis flourished in the low post and attacked the rim with aggression any chance he got. In the first game of the weekend he shot 6-11 which included his lone three pointer for the weekend on his way to 19 points. On Saturday, he started his first game off on fire going against the 7’1” shot blocker in Trayvon Reed. In a matter of minutes, Reid threw down some hard two handed dunks and scored on several short shots in the paint. After his quick explosion, Reid came back down to earth in the second half and then struggled with the twin towers of Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander in the nightcap. Despite struggling Saturday night, Reid had a great game on Sunday with 26 points and 9 rebounds on 11-15 shooting. As a coveted football recruit, Reid possesses a certain strength not usually seen on kids his age. He got to the line almost seven times a game and was always active on both ends of the court.

Benny Boatwright, 6’8”, 2015, Cal Supreme

Stats: 22-47 (47%) FG’s, 12-32 (38%) 3PT, 18 PPG, 8.3 RBG

The skinny 6’8” small forward from Southern California struggled on Friday night in his team’s blowout win, but came to play in the other 3 games. Against Alabama on Friday, Boatwright went 2-11 and 0-7 from three, but the rest of the weekend he knocked in 12 three-pointers while averaging 22 points and 9 rebounds on 56% shooting. Boatwright has a quick release on his shot and runs the floor well. Despite his frame, Boatwright was aggressive on the boards pulling in nine on Saturday night and 13 in a rivalry game with the Oakland Soldiers. Boatwright’s shooting ability is rare at his size and as he adds strength will most likely move up the ranks in the class of 2015.

Ed Simpson, 6’4”, 2014, Jackson Tigers

Stats: 16-40 (40%) FG’s, 9-22 (41%) 3PT, 11.3 PPG, 2.8 RBG, 1.3 APG

Ed Simpson

Simpson had his best day on Saturday scoring 24 points on five threes in a morning win against the Oakland Soldiers and then scored 13 against Spiece Indy during Malik Newman’s scoring explosion. Over the entire weekend Simpson hit 41% from deep despite struggling a bit in games 1 and 4. When Newman left the game against Spiece due to cramps with eight minutes to go, Simpson stepped up as the go-to guy on the Tigers. Simpson hit a few big shots but it wasn’t enough to hold off Trey Lyles down low. To go along with an impressive shooting stroke, Simpson has good size and athletic ability for a Division One shooting guard. He received his first offer from Boston University a few weeks ago.

Terry Larrier, 6’8”, 2014, Team Scan

Stats: 13-23 (57%) FG’s, 10.3 PPG, 3.7 RBG

Larrier is the same size and weight as Benny Boatwright but has a drastically different game. While Boatwright is a shooter, Larrier can be classified as a slasher. On Saturday, he came off the bench for Team Scan to score 10 and 17 points in two victories. In his third game of the tournament Larrier went 8-12 from the field. Throughout the weekend, both his agility in running the court and quickness slashing to the basket were on display. Despite the skinny frame, Larrier poses a threat on defense with his long arms and quick feet.