On Sunday
afternoon head coach Mark Turgeon and Maryland picked up their third recruit
from the class of 2014 in 6’6” wing Jared Nickens who recently finished his
junior year at Westtown High in Pennsylvania. This commitment gives the Terps
another versatile player to go along with point guard Romelo Trimble and sharp shooter Dion Wiley.
While
Trimble and Wiley made their names early on in their high school careers,
Nickens is just beginning to scratch the surface of his potential. Although he
did not join his two future teammates at the recent NBPA Top 100 camp, Nickens
was named to the Under Armour Invitational All-Star game that recently took
place in Las Vegas.
Jared Nickens
During the
first live recruiting session in April, Nickens led his Sports U / Team Izod
AAU team to the championship with a win over future teammate Trimble and his DC
Assault AAU team in the Pitt Jam Fest. Nickens was arguably the most impressive
and consistent player during the three day period and Turgeon was one of the
few high major head coaches to appear for all three days in Pittsburgh. While Turgeon
was there to support his future point guard in Trimble he also witnessed
numerous Sports U games and obviously liked what he saw.
Over a three day span, Nickens was the most
impressive player for the tournament champions. One of the many tall and
lengthy wings in the tournament, Nickens possessed the best ability to score at
all three levels in the 17U age group. He knocked down deep threes with
consistency, showed a soft touch on his mid-range jump shots, and finished
above the rim with ease when around the basket. With a game similar to that of Rashad
Vaughn, Nickens churned out impressive game after game in Pittsburgh.
Nickens will need to add some weight to his frame in the future, but for now he
proved to be one of the top scorers on the Under Armour circuit.
Over the
past year, Nickens expanded his game from just a shooter to a well-rounded
offensive threat. While not an amazing athlete, Nickens is athletic enough to
get to the rim off the dribble and finish amongst taller opponents. He also
relies on a nice fade-away jump shot to create additional open space on his
shots.
As noted in
April, Nickens needs to add strength to his frame especially with Maryland’s
move into the Big 10. Right now his lengthy wing span offsets his lack of
strength but that might not always work in the future.
With this
recent commitment, Mark Turgeon made it clear that he plans on having Maryland
basketball back on the map sooner rather than later. Just over one week ago,
Turgeon was being praised for his ability to land the top player from both the
DC area AAU powerhouses in Team Takeover and DC Assault. Now with a commitment
from the under rated Nickens, Maryland is set at the guard and small forward
positions in the years to come and can focus on recruiting quality big men to
College Park.
The 2013
Hoop Group Pitt Jam Fest resulted in another championship win for the
consistently strong 17U Sports U/Team Izod team out of Northern Jersey. While
on their championship run, a college coach noted that playing the Sports U
squad is similar to going 15 rounds in a boxing match. Unfortunately for DC
Assault, they only lasted 14 rounds before relinquishing the lead and falling
in the final seconds, 48-45. The Pitt Jam Fest kicked off the live recruiting
weekend with a bang, and gave a plethora of Division One coaches numerous
opportunities to evaluate potential new recruits.
17U – The Championship Road and Game
DC Assault
started off the weekend with a one point loss to the Louisville Magic on Friday
night and ended the weekend with a loss to Sports U Izod, which came in the
final minute. In between their two last minute defeats, DC Assault won four
games in a row over a two day span. After going 2-0 on Saturday, DC Assault kicked
off the final day with an 8:15am tip time against the Juice All-Stars. The
late-arriving New York based squad scored the first basket despite not having a
chance to warm up but it quickly went downhill from there.
Usually it
is DC Assault’s point guard and future member of the Maryland Terrapins, Romelo
Trimble that controls the game, but Sunday morning it turned out to be
his back court teammate Byron Hawkins who did the heavy
lifting. Hawkins hit several three pointers and got into the lane numerous
times to provide an early double digit lead. In the second half, Trimble came
alive and blew by his defender countless times and finished the game off with
the help of Donte Grantham. Following this victory, DC Assault survived
with a 67-66 victory over Team Charlotte to advance to the championship.
Sports U
advanced to the Elite 8 with a 54-51 win over Team Loaded to finish off
Saturday night, thanks to a Jared Nickens 3-pointer and then held on to
beat We R 1 with another 54-41 victory. In their quarterfinal victory over We R
1, Sports U got strong contributions from point guard Tarin Smith and
big man Jahleem Montague. In the Final Four, Sports U knocked off the
undefeated Atlanta Xpress and earned a chance to defend their 2012 title.
In the
championship game, both teams were on their third game in six hours and fifth
game in three days. Needless to say, tired legs were prevalent for both teams
as shot after shot clanged against the rim. Sports U took an early lead in the
first half, but DC Assault received an energy boost from reserve guard Corey
Henson out of DeMatha Catholic (MD). Henson buried two three pointers in a
quick two minute span to erase DC Assault’s 1st half deficit.
After the
halftime break, both teams picked up the pace and saw shots start to fall. 6’6”
forward Rashard Kelly hit two 3-pointers to start the half and big man Chinanu
Onunaku added in two baskets as well. Tarin Smith and Jared
Nickens kept Sports U within striking distance, but the game appeared to be
close to over when forward Donte Grantham scored consecutive baskets for
DC Assault.
While most
teams would’ve been satisfied with their tournament performance and
called it a day, Sports U went on a quick 5-0 run to bring the score back to
within two at 40-38 with three minutes left. Both teams traded fouls over the
next two minutes before DC Assault missed a free throw to extend their lead to
four points. With a chance to tie, unsung guard Hakim Santil nailed a
deep three to even the game at 45 apiece. While the Sports U bench started to
celebrate the big shot, Santil stayed focused and created a turnover which
quickly turned into the go ahead lay-up. After tacking on a free throw to go up
48-45, Trimble took a deep three that bounced high off the rim and sealed
another slugfest win for the Sports U Izod program.
16U – Champions:
We-R-1 based
out of Delaware capped off a 6-0 tournament run with a 57-37 beat down of Team
Philly in the championship. After a competitive win over the Atlanta Xpress in
the semi-finals, the championship was never in doubt in large part to the
stellar play of 6’7” wing Derrick Jones Jr. who spent the weekend playing
on both the 17U and 16U circuits. Through the three day tournament, We R 1 won
their games by an average of 21 points.
Class of 2014: Stock Riser:
Devin
Robinson – 6’-8” – 2014 SF, Richmond Squires, Christ Church School (VA)
Before this
weekend, Robinson was considered a fringe top-100 player, but now he is one of
the hot names on the AAU circuit. Standing at 6’8”, Robinson is extremely long
and lanky and still coming into his own body. Despite the current lack of
strength, Robinson uses his length to block shots when opponents try to post
him up down low. On Saturday night, Robinson scored 18 points against the
Atlanta Xpress in a losing effort and followed that up on Sunday morning with a
19 point performance against Baltimore’s Finest in a 66-63 win that left many
coaches shaking their head. Despite going against the highly talented Dwayne
Morgan (UNLV pledge), Robinson stole the show with his 8-11 shooting,
which included 3-5 from the three point line. To go along with his outside
shooting (his shots have great rotation), Robinson mixed in some drives and
even a floater for good measure. Robinson was efficient all tournament long and
showed off a strong motor as well. With Robinson’s name circling around this
weekend, Tony Bennett from the Virginia Cavaliers paid a late
visit on Sunday along with an assistant from USC. Despite the newfound
attention it might be hard for schools to catch up to VCU and the Virginia Tech Hokies who have
been putting in work for awhile. One thing is for certain; expect to hear the
name Devin Robinson throughout the remainder of spring and summer.
Class of 2015: Stock Riser:
Joseph Toye,
6’-6” – 2015 SF, Illinois Celtics, Whitney Young (IL)
This past
high school season, the 6’6” wing played behind a star studded junior class
that includes Jahlil Okafor, Paul White, L.J. Peak, and Miles Reynolds at
Whitney Young. While playing time was limited during the high school season, so
far he has seen ample time for the Illinois Celtics who feature a trio of tall,
long, and athletic wings. Toye passes the eye test right off the bat and during
two tournaments has made a living slashing to the basket with both hands while
also showing off a steady mid-range jump shot coming off the catch or the
dribble. On Saturday afternoon, Toye went to work against the Fairfax Stars in
a losing effort with impressive forays to the rim and short pull-up jump shots.
At one point in the second half, he flew down the lane and over a defender for
the dunk of the weekend. With his limited minutes as a sophomore Toye is just
starting to scratch the surface of his potential. With L.J. Peak transferring
back to South Carolina, he will get the chance to step into Peak’s vacated
starting spot to showcase his skills and athleticism for one of the top high
school teams in the county next fall.
Pitt Jam Fest Standouts:
Jared Nickens, 6’-7” – 2014 SG, Sports U Izod, Westtown HS (PA)
Over a three
day span, Nickens was the most impressive player for the tournament champions.
One of the many tall and lengthy wings in the tournament, Nickens possessed the
best ability to score at all three levels in the 17U age group. He knocked down
deep threes with consistency, showed a soft touch on his mid-range jump shots,
and finished above the rim with ease when around the basket. With a game
similar to that of Rashad Vaughn, Nickens churned out impressive game
after game in Pittsburgh. Nickens will need to add some weight to his frame in
the future, but for now he proved to be one of the top scorers on the Under
Armour circuit.
Derrick
Jones Jr., 6′-7” – 2015 SF, We R 1, Archbishop
Carroll (PA)
As noted
above, Jones led his 16U team to the championship while also playing
occasionally for the 17U team. In all contests, Jones showed off his athletic
ability by blocking shots, finishing with authority on breaks, to go along with
solid ball handling skills and a quick release on his jump shots. Jones
dominated all weekend long and is certain to see his stock go through the roof
after his impressive weekend. Jones is currently ranked #13 by ESPN, #37 by
Rivals, and unranked by Scout.com. After this weekend, expect Jones to become a
consensus top 15 player in the country.
Donte
Grantham, 6’-7” – SF, DC Assault
Bob Huggins
showed up to watch the West Virginia native play ball on Saturday afternoon and
while Grantham is considering prep school, he could be the type of player that
helps the Mountaineers bounce back from a horrendous season. Grantham connected
all weekend on three point attempts from the wing and hustled up and down the
court which often led to highlight finishes above the rim. His finest game came
against the NC Redstorm on Saturday night as he went for 20+ with a mixture of
three’s and basket drives.
A DC Assault veteran to
the 17U circuit, Trimble performed strongly under the watchful eye of his
future college coach, Mark Turgeon. Trimble is one of the stronger point guards
you will find this year and uses his strength to bully his way to the basket.
While strong, Trimble is also quick and he showed this off on Sunday morning as
he consistently blew by his defender for lay-ups. As far as shooting was
concerned, Trimble knocked down shots from anywhere on the court with most of
his three point attempts coming well behind the arc. Trimble was the leader for
DC Assault and is the type of player that will help get Maryland back to the
tournament.
Trayvon
Reed, 7’-1” – 2014, C, Atlanta Xpress, Shiloh High (GA)
Without a
doubt, Reed was the top shot blocker in the tournament. Standing at 7’1” with a
large wing span, Reed made it almost impossible for opposing teams to score
against the Xpress in the paint. Reed runs the floor well and can catch the
ball cleanly on the break. While a dominant defensive player, Reed still lacks
assertiveness on the offensive end and can disappear at times when he is not
dunking the ball. With some work on the offensive side of the ball, Reed could
turn into a dominant all-around player.
Isaiah Whitehead,
6’-5” – 2014, SG/SF, Juice All-Stars, Lincoln HS (NY)
With his
physicality it is almost impossible for a defender to stop Whitehead one on
one. With an improved jump shot, defenders can no longer just hope that they
are bailed out by a long jumper. Whitehead spent the weekend attacking the
basket and knocking in jump shots from all sides of the court. While a tough
out on the offensive end, Whitehead will need to work on getting his points in
the flow of the offense as many of his baskets came in one-on-one situations.
Gerry McNamara of Syracuse and Kevin Keats of Louisville attended Whitehead’s
games throughout and would be ideal fits for the talented player.
Chris
Chiozza, 5’-10” – 2014, PG, Team Thad, White Station (TN)
Usually the
shortest player on the court, Chiozza is almost always the toughest. Despite
suffering two losses over the weekend, Chiozza ran his team extremely well
despite missing Leron Black. In the opening game Chiozza connected on four
three pointers but needed 14 shots to do so. In his remaining games, Chiozza
calmed down a bit, but still attacked the basket, pushed the tempo, and knocked
down open shots when needed.
Other Key Players:
Dennis Smith
Jr, 6’-1” – 2016, PG, Karolina Diamonds, Trinity Christian School (NC)
Despite
being just a freshman, Smith is already a hot commodity and had Hubert Davis
watching his opening game Friday night. Smith has long arms for a point guard
and handles the ball like it’s a yo-yo and got into the lane often on Saturday
morning. After beating his man off the dribble or pick and roll, Smith either
knocked down an eight foot floater or lofted a lob to high-rising teammate Kwe
Parker. Smith also already has the euro-step down pat despite and while not a
threat from deep yet, he already has high level athleticism, court-awareness,
and passing ability.
Kwe Parker,
6’-2” – 2016, SG, Karolina Diamonds, Trinity Christian School (NC)
Parker is
the backcourt running mate for Smith in high school and the Karolina AAU squad.
Needless to say there timing is almost perfect as the duo connected on two
alley-oops against the NJ Celtics. Despite the freshman stature, Parker showed
no fear playing in up two age groups and had the best two foot jumping ability
of anyone in the tournament. Parker can sky for dunks, handle the ball on the
break, and can rebound just as well as any big man. The one weakness of
Parker’s game is his outside shooting as he shoots more of a set shot than an
actual jump shot. Once Parker starts to use his vertical on deep jump shots,
the sky is the limit for this high riser.
Already a
You Tube sensation, Woods’ tournament was cut off early due to an ankle injury
Saturday morning. Woods struggled early on with his shot against the New Jersey
Road Runners, but didn’t have a problem showing off his freaky athleticism.
Woods rocked the rim for a fast break dunk in the second half and also had two impressive
blocks as he went flying down the lane. Woods possessed a tight handle on the
break, but will need to slow down to lessen the unforced errors.
Tevin Mack,
6’-5” – 2015, SG/SF, Carolina Wolves (16U), Dreher (SC) – Mack earned himself some
future looks from colleges with his play over the weekend. Against the Road
Runners, Mack scored 26 points. Six of those points came from behind the arc,
while the remaining 20 came from drives to the basket and offensive rebound
put-backs. A strong kid for his age, Mack was a bully down low and almost
impossible to keep off the boards.
While Jordan
does not have the size of his teammate Joseph Toye, he might have the higher
current skill-set. Jordan is athletic enough to attack the basket off the
dribble and also a good enough shooter to consistently knock down the three.
Jordan tried to lead a comeback on Saturday afternoon with back to back three
pointers, but ran out of time.
Myles Stephens,
6’-3” – 2015 SG/SF, New Jersey Road Runners, St. Andrews School
Despite
being a bit under-sized, Stephens was terrific getting to the basket in a loss
to the Carolina Wolves. Stephens was comfortable driving to the right and left
sides and even posting up when he had the chance. While he did most of his
damage from inside the lane, Stephens also stepped out to the wing to nail a
three-pointer. Stephens noted that various Ivy League and Patriot schools were
showing interest.
Will
Ferguson, 6’-0” – 2014 PG, Team Loaded, Massanutten Military Academy
Once ranked
in the Top 100, Ferguson started to slide out of the rankings during his junior
year. Despite a stellar season at Herndon High School, Ferguson will attend
Massanutten next year for prep school. While a lot of schools forgot about
Ferguson over the past year, many coaches quickly opened their eyes upon seeing
the speedy guard this past Saturday. Ferguson was one of the quicker guards in
the tournament and will most likely see the recruiting attention pick up once
again when prep school play begins.
Despite a
loss in his team’s final game against the Richmond Squires, Stokes was the best
guard on the floor. He showed solid court leadership and kept his team in
contention throughout. Stokes got by his man off the dribble and scored in
double figures as many college coaches were on hand taking notes.
In the first
full day of action in the live recruiting session, coaches had almost 14 hours
to travel throughout the Pittsburgh area in search of their next recruit. With
games going on all day, there were plenty of standouts and top notch
performances.
Team of the Future:Karolina
Diamonds 17U
On Day 1,
the Karolina Diamonds squad lost their opening game and didn’t play again until
early Saturday morning disappointing several high major coaches that
anticipated a second game on Friday night. The Diamonds are one of the most
entertaining teams to watch, and that’s even before you realize that their
whole team consists of freshman playing against kids two years older.The big
names on the team are the two guards in Junior
Smith and Kwe Parker that are
also high school teammates.
Smith stands
6’1” with long arms and can handle the ball like a yo-yo. Parker stands 6’2”
and showed off the best two foot jumping ability in the tournament. In the
first half of their game against the NJ Celtics, the duo connected on a pair of
alley-oops with Smith penetrating into the middle of the lane and lofting up a
soft floater for Parker to finish with an authoritative two hand slam. In the
second half, the duo missed two alley-oops; however the misses might have been
more impressive than the makes considering the degree of difficulty (Parker
almost hit his head on the side of the backboard on one). Smith finished with
nine points on 4-6 shooting with four assists while Parker finished with 13
points on 6-10 shooting. Smith showed off his dribbling moves (making a
defender fall at one point) to get into the lane for the aforementioned
alley-oop pass or a soft floater. He also utilized a nice euro step to convert
a difficult lay-up. Parker also showed off a nice ability to drive to the
basket when not throwing down emphatic dunks and rebounded well for a guard. Both
players did their damage inside the paint, but still have plenty of time to
work on their outside shot. After opening Friday night with a loss, Karolina
finished 2-1 with both wins coming in blowout fashion.
Point Guard of the Future:Seventh
Woods
Seventh
Woods gained recognition during his freshman year for averaging 19.3 points per
game and is widely considered one of the top players in his class and a youtube
sensation. Woods struggled to start the game against the New Jersey RoadRunners
missing two outside shots, but showed a flash of his athleticism on a missed
flying dunk down a crowded lane. Woods scored seven points in the second half
before leaving with a slightly turned ankle. In the second half he showed off
his top notch athleticism with a rim rattling dunk and a few insane blocks as
players went driving down the lane for what appeared to be open lay-ups. Woods
also added a few rebounds and assists for good measure. Overall, Woods has
first class athleticism and a strong handle (especially considering his age),
but will need to continue to hone his outside shot to actually become the top
point guard in the class of 2016. fast break block before exiting with an ankle
injury with 7 minutes to go. While Woods didn’t show off as a top player in his
class, its obvious that he has the athleticism.
Despite the
injury to Woods, his 16U Carolina Wolves team pulled out the victory thanks to
26 points from 6’5” wing Tevin Mack who was hitting three pointers in the first
half and dominating in the pain throughout. While Mack helped his team to
victory, it was actually his counterpart on the RoadRunners who was the more
efficient player and leading scorer in the game. Myles Stephens, a 6’3”
sophomore kept the RoadRunners competitive throughout as he scored in a variety
of ways during the game. Stephens scored on drives down the lane, post-ups, put
backs, foul shots, and also hit a three pointer in the first half. Stephens
indicated that a host of Ivy League schools such as Yale, Princeton, and Penn
are showing interest along with Bucknell and some Patriot league schools.
How did they lose?Illinois
Celtics 16U
The Illinois
Celtics look like a top team and feature some of the most impressive length on
the AAU circuit with a trio of long armed starters that range from 6’4” to 6’7.”
These three starters are Kristian Santos
(6’5”), Joseph Toye (6’7”), and Aaron Jordan (6’4”). Santos is the shooter of
the group who has a picture perfect jump shot, while Toye is the athletic
slasher and Jordan does a bit of both. Despite these three wings along with
power forward Myles Carter, the Celtics lost to the unheralded Fairfax Stars in
an early Saturday matchup. This comes two weeks after the Celtics gave up a 20
point lead in a loss to the Wisconsin Playground Warriors in the Milwaukee
Swish N Dish.
The next Muggsy Bogues?Jason
Jolly (Fairfax Stars)
While the
Karolina Diamonds might have been the most entertaining team, 5’6” Jason Jolly
might have been the most entertaining player. Despite his short stature, Jolly
was the vocal leader of the Fairfax Stars as they upset the Illinois Celtics.
Jolly hit a key three in the second half and terrorized the Celtic guards on
defense with his quick feet. Once the Stars got the lead with a few minutes
remaining, Jolly just played keep away dribbling around defenders with ease.
The 6’7” Wing Crew:
Jared Nickens
Jared Nickens (6’7” Sports U) resembled Rashad Vaughn in
both body type and shooting form. Nickens was knocking in deep jumpers against
the Upward Stars from South Carolina on Saturday afternoon and continued his
hot shooting in the Sweet 16 with a game winning three over Team Loaded in the
quarterfinals. He also added in a one hand flush against Team Loaded that got a
nice crowd reaction.
Donte Grantham (6’7” DC Assault) Grantham propelled DC
Assault into the elite eight with clutch shooting against the Carolina Wolves.
The tall, lanky native of West Virginia calmly drained three pointers from the
wing and also was able to get into the lane for baskets. West Virginia head
coach Bob Huggins made his first appearance at North Hills High to catch
Grantham’s quarterfinal game.
Devin Robinson (6’7” Richmond Squires) The Squires faced
off against the talented Atlanta Xpress in another 17U Sweet 16 game. Despite
the apparent talent mis-match between the two teams, Robinson was undaunted. He
got the Squires off to a strong start with 10 first half points as he drained
two three’s along with a mid-range jumper and lay-up. The Squires led by 3 at
the half before running out of steam in the second half. Robinson still
finished with 18 points and was not afraid to attack the 7 foot Xpress shot
blocking machine in Trayvon Reed. Robinson entered the tournament as a fringe
top-100 prospect, but after this weekend should see his stock start to rise.
Several Big East schools and Virginia Tech were already interested, but expect
many of the other schools in attendance to take note.
The Best Halftime Speech: Miller
Jordan – ATL Xpress
As noted
above, Robinson and the Richmond Squires came out aggressive against the Xpress
and led 26-23 at the half. Not entirely pleased with his team’s effort, Jordan
took the players over to the corner at the gym and began a loud tirade that
echoed throughout. After a few minutes, Jordan finally stopped and the Xpress
quickly increased their intensity as they outscored the Squires 38-19 in the
second half.
The Busiest Coach:Mike
Winiecki – Associate Head Coach of Clemson
The Karolina
Diamonds tipped off at 10am in Ambridge High, a good 25 minutes away from North
Hills High School. Despite the abundance of 2016 talent on this team, Winiecki
was the only coach to show up as he sported a bright orange Clemson sweater.
After the game ended he made sure to stand in front of the basket as Parker and
Smith began a mini dunk off. After this game, Winiecki hopped in his car and
drove 30 minutes south of the city to South Fayette High. Sure enough, the only
coach in attendance to watch 2016 stud Seventh Woods was once again Winiecki in
his bright orange sweater. With the Carolina Wolves being from South Carolina,
plenty of people in the gym took notice. Once this game was over, Winiecki
watched a few Ohio kids before making his way back to North Hills high to catch
2015 South Carolina sensation PJ Dozier. With all of the young talent in the
Carolina’s, Clemson is trying to establish their mark early on.
