Arizona Recruiting, Brian Bosworth, California Recruiting, Colorado, Colorado State Recruiting, DePaul Recruiting, Illinois Recruiting, Kansas Recruiting, Kansas State Recruiting, Kentucky Recruiting, Loyola (MD) Recruiting, Marquette Recruiting, Michigan State Recruiting, Oregon, Tennessee Recruiting, Washington Recruiting

2012 PEACH JAM REPORT – DAY IV (PART A)

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By Brian Bosworth, National Recruiting Analyst

17U teams concluded pool play on Saturday morning and many of the games had major playoff implications. Here’s who stood out on the courts NBE was camped out at.

Top Performance of the Morning:

James Young (The Family 2013) – With John Calipari, Bill Self, Tom Izzo, and a host of other high major coaches watching courtside, Young showed why he is such a coveted wing in the 2013 class. He finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists remaining in constant attack mode throughout his team’s win. Young’s 19 free throw attempts are a perfect indication of how aggressive he played throughout not settling for jumpers but rather forcing the issue in the paint. At a well built 6’6” he has the ability to overpower other wing players at the high school level and to shoot over them from the perimeter. In addition to grinding his way into the paint all game Young also buried deep shots going 5-6 from behind the arc mostly off the dribble. He uses a tight crossover to create space and then rises over his defender to sink shots. A clear cut top 10 player in the 2013 class, Young has his choice of basically any college program in the country.

Sleeper Performance of the Morning:

Matt Howard (Team United 2013) – Howard’s teammates Kennedy Meeks and Sindarius Thornwell get the majority of the press for Team United but he was the main reason they stayed in it with the powerhouse Oakland Soldiers until the final moments. An athletic 6’4” guard, Howard was a pest on defense, ran hard in the open floor, and made acrobatic plays around the rim. He brought an intensity and physicality to the guard spot that you need to win big games and impressed quite a few college coaches who were there to watch his teammates in the process.

Other Standouts:

Tyler Ullis (Mean Streets 2014) – The rising junior point guard’s 5’9”, 150 pound listing might be generous but regardless of his actual size Ullis plays much bigger than his listed measurements. He’s a traditional pass first point guard who gets everyone else involved first and looks for his own offense only when the situation requires it. His coaching staff asked him to be more aggressive for himself on Saturday and he responded by pouring in 15 points on only 9 shot attempts.

Kendrick Nunn (Mean Streets 2013) – Nunn is a born scorer and showed off his whole arsenal in a tough loss to The Family. He attacked from the opening tip to the final whistle not content to settle for perimeter shots. Nunn has excellent body control around the rim and finished at a variety of angles with scoop shots, floaters, and even a power dunk thrown in. If he were 6’5” instead of 6’2” Nunn would probably be considered a top 10 player in his class but instead will have to settle for being an obvious high major shooting guard.

Stanley Johnson (Oakland Soldiers 2014) – Johnson is the most physically imposing wing in high school basketball. He has the body of a pro already even though he hasn’t started his junior year in high school. Combined with his elite size and strength, Johnson has an evolved skill set featuring jump shots, power drives, and facilitation for others. While all of his offense is impressive, Johnson’s ability to lock in on the defensive end against elite wing players stood out most to me and gives the Soldiers a legitimate chance to topple title favorite CIA Bounce and stud wing Andrew Wiggins.

Jabari Bird (Oakland Soldiers 2013) – After a very quiet first half Bird came out a different player in the second stanza demanding the ball and attacking the rim once he got it. His length at the wing is incredible and allows him to glide past defenders for easy scores. He showed pull-up jumpers, a developing mid –post game and hammered down one of the loudest one handed alleyoop dunks of the week on a lob from teammate Aaron Gordon.

Kennedy Meeks (Team United 2013) – As one of the biggest post players in the 2013 class, Meeks had an interesting matchup with freakishly athletic combo forward Aaron Gordon down low. He was able to use his strength to get into Gordon’s chest and not allow him to rise and contest shots. Meeks established a jump hook over his left shoulder as his go to move repeatedly scoring on it including with under a minute to play to give his team a one point lead. He also played outstanding post defense on Gordon throughout frustrating him into ill advised shots and costly turnovers.

Andrew Chrabascz (BABC 2013) – Some schools won’t take a second look at Chrabascz because he lacks elite size or athleticism for the power forward position but those who look closer will see one of the most skilled big men in the class. Whether it be up and unders, jump hooks, spin moves, or anything else you can think of, Chrabascz scores every which way from both the high and low post. He can be an instant impact player at basically any mid major program and thus has offers from seemingly all of them.

Rene Castro (BABC 2013) – Castro was among the best performers of the day on Friday and backed it up with another stellar outing on Saturday. His offense was the same driving, slashing style I’ve come to expect but defensively Castro brought things to a different level. With the game in the balance in the final few minutes he started checking stud 2014 point guard Tyus Jones from baseline to baseline and really seemed to frustrate Jones. Castro is physical, tough, and will not be out worked by anyone. Physical tools aside, he’s a player you can win with.

Recruiting Updates:

Tyler Ullis (Mean Streets 2014) – While not the biggest name on his AAU squad, Ullis has already made a big impression on plenty of college programs. He mentioned Tennessee, Michigan State, Colorado State, Illinois, Kansas State, DePaul, Loyola, Marquette, and “a couple more” that he couldn’t recall as the main suitors for his services at the moment. Ullis is looking for a strong relationship with the coaching staff and for that reason mentioned two schools from that list that stand out to him. He has bonded with Coach Tracy Webster at Tennessee and coach Dane Fife at Michigan State. Other schools will have to duplicate that bond if they’re going to be serious players for his services.

Jabari Bird (Oakland Soldiers 2013) – Bird has narrowed his choice to five schools in California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and Colorado. Of those he clarified that Cal and Washington are his “top 2” but he still doesn’t plan to sign until the spring period. Bird wants to wait out the college basketball season and see how each of those programs develops in addition to what other recruits they land before he makes his choice. Cal has the hometown advantage as they are in his back yard and are also his father’s alma mater. Washington provides a chance to potentially play with Aaron Gordon at the next level (also on Gordon’s short list) which is something Bird expressed interest in. He told me that “me and Aaron are like brothers” and it sure seemed like playing with Gordon in college would play a role in his recruitment.

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