A friend and site subscriber has a son that is interested in getting into the business. Here is a scouting report from a recent AAU event father and son attended.
If father, who is a good man, would like to provide additional information, please feel free to do so.
Friday night I was fortunate to attend my first AAU event. I attended the Under Armor event in Indianapolis. I was indoctrinated into the AAU scene with one of the greatest games I will likely watch no matter how many more AAU games I watch for the next 40 years. With Bill Self and Kurtis Townsend sitting courtside, Team Rio with headliners Scottie Lewis, Bryan Antoine and Aidan Igiehon took on West Coast Elite who were led by Nico Mannion and Josh Green. All 5 players have KU offers so there was plenty for Kansas fans to enjoy.
Team Rio jumped out quickly and found themselves with a 21 point lead mostly due to the play of Aidan Igiehon. West Coast Elite fought back and tied the game on a 3 at the buzzer by Nico Mannion. The overtime period was evenly played with West Coast Elite having a chance to seemingly ice the ballgame. 5 Star Josh Green had 2 free throws with 3 seconds remaining but missed them both. Team Rio rebounded the 2nd miss and called a time out. 3 star Jalen Gaffney then buried the game winner from just beyond halfcourt as the buzzer sounded. Gaffney finished the game with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. I find the 6'2 guard to be highly underrated and predict that he will see more high majors joining his offer list.
Igiehon is listed at 6'8 and 215, but looked much bigger. Quite frankly he was built like an NFL Tight End. He is built for contact and strong enough to play college basketball right now. I'm not sure there is a more impressive physical specimen in high school today. He was very athletic, obviously incredibly strong, finished with authority, owned the glass and even stepped out to 10-12 feet to hit a jump shot. He finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds and elicited smiles and chuckles from Coach Self and Coach Townsend on a rim rattling dunk.
Bryan Antoine struggled a bit with his shot, but it is clear that he has a nice stroke and can score. Antoine is extremely fast as he beat his opponent down the floor often. He is a quick jumper which helps him on the glass for a 6'4 guard. Antoine looked to take over the game late and scored a bucket "and 1" to give Team Rio a 3 point lead with 5 seconds remaining in the game. He absorbed a lot of contact and seemed almost unaffected. Antoine also looks to have the ability and desire to be a lock down defender. He can tend to force the issue at times, but I liked his confidence in wanting to take over a game. Antoine filled the stat sheet with 21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
Scottie Lewis has great hops and handles the ball well. He is a terrific athlete who can run and jump with the best in the class. He also showed strong leadership skills as his teammates looked to him often. He was very unselfish and has very good vision, but he didn't attack as much as I would have liked. Lewis disappeared for a good majority of the game. He only attempted 9 shots with almost half of them coming in the final 4 minutes of the game. Lewis totaled 7 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.
For West Coast Elite, Josh Green struggled with his shot but has a nice looking jump shot and is a fantastic athlete. Early in the 2nd quarter he took a pass on the right wing, dribbled toward the baseline and then took off to the bucket for a monstrous dunk. Green finished with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 impressive blocks and a pair of steals. He showed nice vision on a couple of his passes which resulted in assists. He does tend for force some drives in traffic, but his team was short an athlete and needed him to make plays.
Nico Mannion really controlled the pace of the game and, in my opinion, was the MVP of his team. Mannion is a great playmaker as evidenced by his 8 assists. He takes care of the ball and only had 1 turnover despite handling the ball for his team. Mannion can hit the 3 ball but he can also take the ball to the hoop with a nice floater. Mannion is fun to watch. In one sequence he broke the Team Rio press, crossed over another defender and slammed home a dunk over the final defender. Mannion finished the game with 20 points, 6 rebounds and a pair of steals to go along with his 8 assists.
A couple others players on WCE that merit being mentioned are Trey Anderson and DJ Rodman. Anderson finished the game with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Anderson is a 6'7 springy forward who didn't wow me with athleticism, but the ball always seem to find him. He did a nice job with his opportunities. He has a nice looking stroke from 3 despite only shooting 1-3 from long distance. DJ Rodman is the son of Dennis Rodman. Rodman is a 6'6 guard/forward but his game doesn't resemble his famous father. He has a thicker build and likes to stay out near the 3 point line. Rodman did connect on a huge 3 to tie the game in regulation with 25 seconds remaining. He finished with 6 points (both on 3s).
I was able to catch the 2nd half of Team Thad and Mudiay Elite. Mudiay Elite was led by RJ Hampton and he didn't disappoint. Hampton did a little of everything on the offensive end finishing with 28 points, 5 assists and 5 dunks to brought down the house. He is clearly as good as advertised on the offensive end. He did cheat a bit on the defensive side but he put on a show for the fans. I also liked Tyreek Smith who seemed to grab pretty much every missed shot and finished nicely around the hoop. Smith has a great knack to protecting the rim as I saw multiple blocked shots in the 2nd half. He finished with 6 blocks on the game to go with his 15 points and 13 rebounds. He is listed as 6'8, 205 but seems to have put on quite a bit of muscle since he last weighed in for Rivals.
Team Thad was led by Jaykwon Walton who hit 4 long 3s in succession. He wound up 7-9 for the 3 point stripe and totaled 28 points for the game. He is currently a 6'6 lanky wing man with some athleticism. He should move up from 3 star status if he can shoot the 3 ball anywhere near as consistently as he did in the 2nd half of this game. Daniel Ramsey is a big man who wasn't overly athletic, but he did finish everything around the rim and has a very big body. Keyvann Tandy didn't shoot the ball very well, but he attacked the hoop with no fear. Despite not finding his outside shot, he filled up the stat sheet with 7 points, 8 assists and 3 steals. One other player that caught my eye was Antonio Thomas who is a lightning quick guard. I didn't see the start of the game but I don't think he was a starter, but in the time I watched he really competed and turned up the heat on the opposition. He seems to have a little Frank Mason in him. I mean this more in the sense of his level of competitiveness and speed as opposed to his overall game.
I was able to watch the 16 yr. old division game involving KC Run GMC and Team Rio. KC Run GMC is sure to have a couple names that will soon be familiar to readers of Jayhawk Slant. Ty Berry in the class of 2020 and Jackie Johnson who is in the class of 2021. Berry had a tough night shooting but is clearly a skilled player who is unselfish and sees the floor well. He is the type of player that makes those around him better. Great passes led to multiple layups for his teammates while playing off the ball. Berry finished with 11 points and 5 assists along with 3 steals. He deflected multiple passes and was always around the ball. Berry's father played football for KU in the 80s so it wouldn't be a surprise to see Berry eventually don the Crimson and Blue if KU offers. Jackie Johnson is a well built 5'9 point guard who is still a high school freshman so he may add more size. Along with Berry, Johnson showed really well for KC. He is extremely quick and can really shoot the ball with his left handed jumper. He hit multiple 3s in the game and finished with 20 points and 4 assists. He was a little loose with the ball but he will tighten that up as he ages. I would like to see Johnson use his quickness a little better on the defensive end to create some turnovers.
The final game of Friday night involved KC Run GMC's 17 year old team with Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Zach Harvey. The team struggled to score, but Harvey had 14 and Robinson-Earl added 13. JRE added 11 boards and 3 blocks on the night while battling with a 7 footer from the Louisiana Elite. Robinson-Earl finished with both his left and right hands around the bucket and has the ability to step out and hit some jump shots. Harvey hustles on both ends of the floor. While he didn't shoot the ball particularly well for the game, he did connect on 3 of 7 from deep. Harvey did force a bit on the offensive end which resulted in a couple wild shots, but he has a nice all around offensive package and works hard. Josh Earley plays high school ball with JRE and was really aggressive on the boards. I'm not sure how anyone get a rebound when Earley and JRE are playing together. Earley had 12 points including a 3 pointer and a game high 16 rebounds.
Saturday morning I ventured over to the NIKE EYBL to watch the action at this venue. Immediately upon entering the Pacers Athletic Center I couldn't miss running into the Bluff City Legends led by James Wiseman, D.J. Jeffries and Chandler Lawson squaring up with Renaissance who brought Kofi Cockburn and Jalen Lecque to the battle. Coach Townsend was sitting in the front row to watch many of these KU targets, but first things first, it was hard not to notice just how big Cockburn is. He is a mountain of a man, but make no mistake, he is more than just a low post banger. The big man isn't overly athletic, but he can comfortably drill the 8-10 foot shot, finish strong in the post and even showed nice touch on his single attempt at a 3 (which he missed). His strength and size helped send James Wiseman to the bench with foul trouble. Cockburn finished with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Jalen Lecque is a 5 star PG that shows a Kansas offer. He absolutely shocked the crowd when he crossed over his defender, drove to the hoop and soared high to slam home a dunk while in a half court set. Lecque also did a nice job of running the offense but didn't attack much after his monster dunk. Another player I liked was 4 star Ethan Morton. He is a smart player who worked hard and never stopped competing. He has nice range on his jumper and buried a pair when the game was tight. I don't see him becoming a star at the next level, but I can see him carving out a nice role on a strong team.
D.J. Jeffries is a lot of fun to watch. He runs the floor like a deer and scores in a number of different ways. He was one of the most impressive players I saw this weekend. The 6'7 wing can shoot the long ball, slash to the hoop and hit floaters. He is also willing to hit the boards and throw the outlet to get his team out and running. Chandler Lawson looks like he is ready to step onto a college court right now. He didn't get as many touches as I would have liked, but he looked smooth as butter when he did. Lawson can shoot with range as the ball seems to float out of his hands on his shot. Lawson was also willing to go strong to the hoop which resulted in him being fouled multiple times. He hit 7 out of 8 from the line. He added 11 rebounds in the ballgame. Wiseman was limited by foul trouble, but it was clear that he will be a force at the next level. In his limited action I noticed that he is unselfish, a terrific passer, handles the ball incredibly well for a man of his size and has a feathery touch when shooting.
I snuck over to watch Nike Team Florida with Vernon Carey Jr. and Scottie Barnes play against Drive Nation with Samuell Williamson. I was disappointed as Drive Nation dominated the game early and the stars in the game didn't play much when I was watching. Carey is huge and talented, but seemed content to hang out at the 3 point line. He has a nice touch from out there, but I am confident that he could have helped his team more by going down on the blocks. On the defensive end he grabbed almost every missed shot in his limited action. Scottie Barnes made 4 out of his 5 shots and is very athletic, but I didn't get to see him attempt anything beyond 8 feet. He is long and athletic. For Drive Nation, Samuell Williamson was very active. He handled the ball a lot and was very unselfish. He made some terrific passes in traffic for easy buckets and can create his own shot. He only shot 1-4 from 3 point range, but I did see his make and thought he had nice form and height on his jump shot.
The last game I was able to watch was the Mac Irvin Fire with Markese Jacobs and Kahlil Whitney against the Indy Heat with Trayce Jackson-Davis and Keion Brooks. I was surprised that I didn't see any coaches from KU at this one with Jacobs and multiple KU offers on the court. Whitney and Brooks were very similar players. Both are springy wings that can take their man off the dribble, pull up and shoot the 3, or drive all the way to the hoop and finish strong. Jackson-Davis was an interesting player to watch. I didn't know much about the big man. After watching him I still wasn't sure what to think. He never took a shot from more than 5 feet from the hoop, but he made the game look easy. He has very good hands and never bobbled a pass. He simply caught the ball and laid it off the glass with his left hand or dunked it. Mac Irvin Fire didn't have a big man to body Jackson-Davis, but it still takes skill to take advantage of the mismatch. Jackson-Davis did just that. This was the first time I was able to watch Jacobs play in person. I plan to watch him quite a bit more this coming season. Jacobs didn't have the primary ballhandling duties for his team as 5'6 Chase Adams handled that role. With that said, Jacobs did have the ball in his hands quite a bit. Jacobs showed a nice ability to handle the ball and had some great passes that showed his vision. He had a couple dunks including one in traffic and hit a 3 to finish the game with 16 points. Jacobs has a solid build that allows him to absorb contact on his drives to the hoop. He will be exciting to watch in Crimson and Blue!!
If father, who is a good man, would like to provide additional information, please feel free to do so.
Friday night I was fortunate to attend my first AAU event. I attended the Under Armor event in Indianapolis. I was indoctrinated into the AAU scene with one of the greatest games I will likely watch no matter how many more AAU games I watch for the next 40 years. With Bill Self and Kurtis Townsend sitting courtside, Team Rio with headliners Scottie Lewis, Bryan Antoine and Aidan Igiehon took on West Coast Elite who were led by Nico Mannion and Josh Green. All 5 players have KU offers so there was plenty for Kansas fans to enjoy.
Team Rio jumped out quickly and found themselves with a 21 point lead mostly due to the play of Aidan Igiehon. West Coast Elite fought back and tied the game on a 3 at the buzzer by Nico Mannion. The overtime period was evenly played with West Coast Elite having a chance to seemingly ice the ballgame. 5 Star Josh Green had 2 free throws with 3 seconds remaining but missed them both. Team Rio rebounded the 2nd miss and called a time out. 3 star Jalen Gaffney then buried the game winner from just beyond halfcourt as the buzzer sounded. Gaffney finished the game with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. I find the 6'2 guard to be highly underrated and predict that he will see more high majors joining his offer list.
Igiehon is listed at 6'8 and 215, but looked much bigger. Quite frankly he was built like an NFL Tight End. He is built for contact and strong enough to play college basketball right now. I'm not sure there is a more impressive physical specimen in high school today. He was very athletic, obviously incredibly strong, finished with authority, owned the glass and even stepped out to 10-12 feet to hit a jump shot. He finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds and elicited smiles and chuckles from Coach Self and Coach Townsend on a rim rattling dunk.
Bryan Antoine struggled a bit with his shot, but it is clear that he has a nice stroke and can score. Antoine is extremely fast as he beat his opponent down the floor often. He is a quick jumper which helps him on the glass for a 6'4 guard. Antoine looked to take over the game late and scored a bucket "and 1" to give Team Rio a 3 point lead with 5 seconds remaining in the game. He absorbed a lot of contact and seemed almost unaffected. Antoine also looks to have the ability and desire to be a lock down defender. He can tend to force the issue at times, but I liked his confidence in wanting to take over a game. Antoine filled the stat sheet with 21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
Scottie Lewis has great hops and handles the ball well. He is a terrific athlete who can run and jump with the best in the class. He also showed strong leadership skills as his teammates looked to him often. He was very unselfish and has very good vision, but he didn't attack as much as I would have liked. Lewis disappeared for a good majority of the game. He only attempted 9 shots with almost half of them coming in the final 4 minutes of the game. Lewis totaled 7 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.
For West Coast Elite, Josh Green struggled with his shot but has a nice looking jump shot and is a fantastic athlete. Early in the 2nd quarter he took a pass on the right wing, dribbled toward the baseline and then took off to the bucket for a monstrous dunk. Green finished with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 impressive blocks and a pair of steals. He showed nice vision on a couple of his passes which resulted in assists. He does tend for force some drives in traffic, but his team was short an athlete and needed him to make plays.
Nico Mannion really controlled the pace of the game and, in my opinion, was the MVP of his team. Mannion is a great playmaker as evidenced by his 8 assists. He takes care of the ball and only had 1 turnover despite handling the ball for his team. Mannion can hit the 3 ball but he can also take the ball to the hoop with a nice floater. Mannion is fun to watch. In one sequence he broke the Team Rio press, crossed over another defender and slammed home a dunk over the final defender. Mannion finished the game with 20 points, 6 rebounds and a pair of steals to go along with his 8 assists.
A couple others players on WCE that merit being mentioned are Trey Anderson and DJ Rodman. Anderson finished the game with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Anderson is a 6'7 springy forward who didn't wow me with athleticism, but the ball always seem to find him. He did a nice job with his opportunities. He has a nice looking stroke from 3 despite only shooting 1-3 from long distance. DJ Rodman is the son of Dennis Rodman. Rodman is a 6'6 guard/forward but his game doesn't resemble his famous father. He has a thicker build and likes to stay out near the 3 point line. Rodman did connect on a huge 3 to tie the game in regulation with 25 seconds remaining. He finished with 6 points (both on 3s).
I was able to catch the 2nd half of Team Thad and Mudiay Elite. Mudiay Elite was led by RJ Hampton and he didn't disappoint. Hampton did a little of everything on the offensive end finishing with 28 points, 5 assists and 5 dunks to brought down the house. He is clearly as good as advertised on the offensive end. He did cheat a bit on the defensive side but he put on a show for the fans. I also liked Tyreek Smith who seemed to grab pretty much every missed shot and finished nicely around the hoop. Smith has a great knack to protecting the rim as I saw multiple blocked shots in the 2nd half. He finished with 6 blocks on the game to go with his 15 points and 13 rebounds. He is listed as 6'8, 205 but seems to have put on quite a bit of muscle since he last weighed in for Rivals.
Team Thad was led by Jaykwon Walton who hit 4 long 3s in succession. He wound up 7-9 for the 3 point stripe and totaled 28 points for the game. He is currently a 6'6 lanky wing man with some athleticism. He should move up from 3 star status if he can shoot the 3 ball anywhere near as consistently as he did in the 2nd half of this game. Daniel Ramsey is a big man who wasn't overly athletic, but he did finish everything around the rim and has a very big body. Keyvann Tandy didn't shoot the ball very well, but he attacked the hoop with no fear. Despite not finding his outside shot, he filled up the stat sheet with 7 points, 8 assists and 3 steals. One other player that caught my eye was Antonio Thomas who is a lightning quick guard. I didn't see the start of the game but I don't think he was a starter, but in the time I watched he really competed and turned up the heat on the opposition. He seems to have a little Frank Mason in him. I mean this more in the sense of his level of competitiveness and speed as opposed to his overall game.
I was able to watch the 16 yr. old division game involving KC Run GMC and Team Rio. KC Run GMC is sure to have a couple names that will soon be familiar to readers of Jayhawk Slant. Ty Berry in the class of 2020 and Jackie Johnson who is in the class of 2021. Berry had a tough night shooting but is clearly a skilled player who is unselfish and sees the floor well. He is the type of player that makes those around him better. Great passes led to multiple layups for his teammates while playing off the ball. Berry finished with 11 points and 5 assists along with 3 steals. He deflected multiple passes and was always around the ball. Berry's father played football for KU in the 80s so it wouldn't be a surprise to see Berry eventually don the Crimson and Blue if KU offers. Jackie Johnson is a well built 5'9 point guard who is still a high school freshman so he may add more size. Along with Berry, Johnson showed really well for KC. He is extremely quick and can really shoot the ball with his left handed jumper. He hit multiple 3s in the game and finished with 20 points and 4 assists. He was a little loose with the ball but he will tighten that up as he ages. I would like to see Johnson use his quickness a little better on the defensive end to create some turnovers.
The final game of Friday night involved KC Run GMC's 17 year old team with Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Zach Harvey. The team struggled to score, but Harvey had 14 and Robinson-Earl added 13. JRE added 11 boards and 3 blocks on the night while battling with a 7 footer from the Louisiana Elite. Robinson-Earl finished with both his left and right hands around the bucket and has the ability to step out and hit some jump shots. Harvey hustles on both ends of the floor. While he didn't shoot the ball particularly well for the game, he did connect on 3 of 7 from deep. Harvey did force a bit on the offensive end which resulted in a couple wild shots, but he has a nice all around offensive package and works hard. Josh Earley plays high school ball with JRE and was really aggressive on the boards. I'm not sure how anyone get a rebound when Earley and JRE are playing together. Earley had 12 points including a 3 pointer and a game high 16 rebounds.
Saturday morning I ventured over to the NIKE EYBL to watch the action at this venue. Immediately upon entering the Pacers Athletic Center I couldn't miss running into the Bluff City Legends led by James Wiseman, D.J. Jeffries and Chandler Lawson squaring up with Renaissance who brought Kofi Cockburn and Jalen Lecque to the battle. Coach Townsend was sitting in the front row to watch many of these KU targets, but first things first, it was hard not to notice just how big Cockburn is. He is a mountain of a man, but make no mistake, he is more than just a low post banger. The big man isn't overly athletic, but he can comfortably drill the 8-10 foot shot, finish strong in the post and even showed nice touch on his single attempt at a 3 (which he missed). His strength and size helped send James Wiseman to the bench with foul trouble. Cockburn finished with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Jalen Lecque is a 5 star PG that shows a Kansas offer. He absolutely shocked the crowd when he crossed over his defender, drove to the hoop and soared high to slam home a dunk while in a half court set. Lecque also did a nice job of running the offense but didn't attack much after his monster dunk. Another player I liked was 4 star Ethan Morton. He is a smart player who worked hard and never stopped competing. He has nice range on his jumper and buried a pair when the game was tight. I don't see him becoming a star at the next level, but I can see him carving out a nice role on a strong team.
D.J. Jeffries is a lot of fun to watch. He runs the floor like a deer and scores in a number of different ways. He was one of the most impressive players I saw this weekend. The 6'7 wing can shoot the long ball, slash to the hoop and hit floaters. He is also willing to hit the boards and throw the outlet to get his team out and running. Chandler Lawson looks like he is ready to step onto a college court right now. He didn't get as many touches as I would have liked, but he looked smooth as butter when he did. Lawson can shoot with range as the ball seems to float out of his hands on his shot. Lawson was also willing to go strong to the hoop which resulted in him being fouled multiple times. He hit 7 out of 8 from the line. He added 11 rebounds in the ballgame. Wiseman was limited by foul trouble, but it was clear that he will be a force at the next level. In his limited action I noticed that he is unselfish, a terrific passer, handles the ball incredibly well for a man of his size and has a feathery touch when shooting.
I snuck over to watch Nike Team Florida with Vernon Carey Jr. and Scottie Barnes play against Drive Nation with Samuell Williamson. I was disappointed as Drive Nation dominated the game early and the stars in the game didn't play much when I was watching. Carey is huge and talented, but seemed content to hang out at the 3 point line. He has a nice touch from out there, but I am confident that he could have helped his team more by going down on the blocks. On the defensive end he grabbed almost every missed shot in his limited action. Scottie Barnes made 4 out of his 5 shots and is very athletic, but I didn't get to see him attempt anything beyond 8 feet. He is long and athletic. For Drive Nation, Samuell Williamson was very active. He handled the ball a lot and was very unselfish. He made some terrific passes in traffic for easy buckets and can create his own shot. He only shot 1-4 from 3 point range, but I did see his make and thought he had nice form and height on his jump shot.
The last game I was able to watch was the Mac Irvin Fire with Markese Jacobs and Kahlil Whitney against the Indy Heat with Trayce Jackson-Davis and Keion Brooks. I was surprised that I didn't see any coaches from KU at this one with Jacobs and multiple KU offers on the court. Whitney and Brooks were very similar players. Both are springy wings that can take their man off the dribble, pull up and shoot the 3, or drive all the way to the hoop and finish strong. Jackson-Davis was an interesting player to watch. I didn't know much about the big man. After watching him I still wasn't sure what to think. He never took a shot from more than 5 feet from the hoop, but he made the game look easy. He has very good hands and never bobbled a pass. He simply caught the ball and laid it off the glass with his left hand or dunked it. Mac Irvin Fire didn't have a big man to body Jackson-Davis, but it still takes skill to take advantage of the mismatch. Jackson-Davis did just that. This was the first time I was able to watch Jacobs play in person. I plan to watch him quite a bit more this coming season. Jacobs didn't have the primary ballhandling duties for his team as 5'6 Chase Adams handled that role. With that said, Jacobs did have the ball in his hands quite a bit. Jacobs showed a nice ability to handle the ball and had some great passes that showed his vision. He had a couple dunks including one in traffic and hit a 3 to finish the game with 16 points. Jacobs has a solid build that allows him to absorb contact on his drives to the hoop. He will be exciting to watch in Crimson and Blue!!
