HAMPTON, Va. – The first of two live weekends for college coaches comes up quickly this season, as the national championship was settled just a few days ago. This weekend meant a trip to see the first of four weekends in the Nike EYBL circuit, with berths in the Peach Jam at stake during the next couple of months.
Friday night saw each team play one game. A full day is ahead on Saturday, and there will be time to view 16-under and 15-under action as well. The college coach turnout was pretty good on Friday evening, with a number of head coaches showing up in the building. More will probably make their first appearance on Saturday.
With that, here’s a look at a few who stood out in Friday night’s action.
Milan Acquaah (6’2″ Jr. PG-SG, Bakersfield (CA) Cathedral HS) A well-built guard, he hot better as the game went on and helped his team nearly steal one late in the day. He showed he can finish with the left hand, and he also showed some ball toughness late to tie the game by scoring after the defender nearly swatted the ball away.
Alphonso Anderson (6’6″ Jr. SF-PF, Seattle (WA) Garfield HS) The well-built forward had a nice game against California Supreme to close the night that included the game-winning stickback in the final seconds. First, he scored looking more like a wing, with close finishes, then he scored from the post, which he has the body to do.
Abdul Ado (6’10” Jr. PF-C, Chattanooga (TN) Hamilton Heights Christian School) He was no small part of his team winning a blowout to start the evening, as he was constantly on the glass at both ends of the floor. He has a good body that can still mature more, and offensively he has some room for growth.
Eric Curry (6’8″ Jr. PF, Little Rock (AR) Southwest Christian HS) On a team with Malik Monk getting a lot of attention, he was ever-present on Friday night as he was in a lot of plays at both ends of the floor. He has some length and is a plus athlete, and while he wasn’t great offensively he didn’t need to be as he’ll get scoring chances just from being around the ball often.
James Jones (6’3″ Jr. SG, Chicago (IL) Bogan HS) One of the main bright spots in a loss where his team didn’t play all that well offensively, he got to the basket and finished often. Athletic and with a good body, the highlight was when the opponent made a bad pass that he turned into a fast break layup.
Brandon Robinson (6’6″ Jr. SF, Douglasville (GA) Douglas County HS) Very long wing was all over the court in his team’s blowout win to get things rolling. Besides that, he hit from deep, and if he gets stronger, he should finish better as right now he can get easily knocked around.
DeShawn Wilson (5’6″ Jr. PG, Zion (IL) Benton HS) Diminutive point guard played better as the opening game went along, as he has above-average quickness and made a couple of nice passes with defenders drawn to him. He’s not a baby physically, so he may not grow anymore, but he could get some Division I interest.
