adidas Gauntlet: Peters elevates game
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FISHERS, Ind. -- For the second April live period, college coaches flocked to
suburban Indianapolis where Adidas has all of their top travel teams on display
at the Best Choice Fieldhouse for the second stop of their Gauntlet circuit.
Rivals150 junior point guard Lamar Peters showed why his stock is on the rise,
four-star forward Vance Jackson switched things up and Shaun Kirk proved why
he's an attractive option for programs looking for late help from the class of
2016.
Peters takes game to new level
For a while now, college coaches have been lamenting the lack of depth at the
point guard position in the class of 2016. The door is wide open for floor
generals to enter the VIP room and raise the level of their recruitment and
Rivals150 point guard Lamar Peters is taking full advantage of that
opportunity.
Currently ranked as the No. 135 player in the junior class, it isn't as if the
6-foot prospect from New Orleans (La.) Landry Walker is a total unknown. But, when he
took the floor with New Orleans Elite on Friday night he did so without a bunch
of advance hype or accolades.
That's fine with Peters. He just goes out and shows that he belongs as a high
major prospect. Playing against Team Wall, Peters controlled things on both ends
of the floor. On the offensive end he got into the lane at will and created
shots for himself and teammates. He also stepped out and made some jumpers and
kept the pace how his team wanted it. A very good defender, he harassed his
opponents at the point of attack and stayed alert to rotate and help teammates
where needed.
By the time his night was over, Peters had put together a good looking 21 point,
three rebounds and three assist outing in an 82-60 win that had coaches
scrambling for more info.
According to Peters he entered the month of April with offers from programs like
Forest. Since the start of the month he's added Tulane, Illinois,
Gonzaga, Louisiana Lafayette, Houston and South Carolina. He's
happy with the interest and the way he's playing but still eager to prove that
he belongs with the nation's best players.
"I just want to show people that I'm a great player too," Peters
said. "I feel
like I've been underrated a bit. I want to show that I shouldn't be down at the
bottom of all of the lists."
Jackson switches it up
One of the more prolific shooters at the forward position in the class of 2016,
Vance Jackson has developed a pretty high level of self awareness when
it comes to what is working and what isn't with his game.
In the past, the 6-foot-8 forward from Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco has
simply been content to keep letting shots fly from deep whether he was hitting
or not. The No. 30 player in the junior class, Jackson wasn't one to scrap
around the hoop. That was in the past, though, and it looks like he has turned
over a new leaf.
Friday night, his shot wasn't really falling from deep so Jackson took his game
inside, pounded the glass and made 15 trips to the free throw line during an
impressive 25 point and 10 rebound performance in his Dream Vision team's come
from behind win over Team Rose.
"I'm a known shooter so people are going to try and shut me down on that," Jackson
said. "So I have to get to the rim if I'm missing my shots. It hurts us if
I'm missing and keep shooting from deep so I have to get to the inside."
It doesn't hurt that Jackson is notably stronger thanks to maturity. He hasn't
hit the weights yet, but once he starts doing so it should help with his
explosion in traffic. It's not like he needs a lot of help, though.
On Friday night Jackson drew Arizona's Sean Miller,
Connecticut's Kevin Ollie, California's Cuonzo Martin and a slew of assistants. Jackson said that he won't start cutting
his list down until July and mentioned offers from the Wildcats, Huskies and
started to sniff around.
Kirk emerges as legitimate 2015 option
Frankly, if you are a college program that is still looking for help from the
class of 2015 you are either going to land one of the few remaining studs or you
are probably going to have to reach. If you are lucky enough to land Shaun Kirk, well then, things might be a little different.
An athletic 6-foot-6 wing from North Carolina, Kirk put on a pretty impressive
display while helping Team Loaded North Carolina to a win over the Oklahoma
Wizards.
Friday night Kirk did a little bit of everything. He played above the rim, he
pounded the glass, he ran the floor and when he was able to get his feet set he
knocked down some jumpers. His ball handling is a little shaky but he has shown
enough during the spring and in the past to prove he could help out at a pretty
high level.
A legitimate Rivals150 type talent, what has held Kirk back is the question of
whether he was going to enroll as a class of 2015 or 2016 recruit. Friday night, he
made it clear that he wants to enroll as a 2015 kid.
"Right now I'm graduating in 2015," said Kirk. "I've qualified and I'm good to
go and I definitely want to be in the class of 2015."
He visited Charlotte officially last weekend and said that he got a
good vibe from new coach Mark Price. Others involved include UNC Wilmington,
While Lamar Peters was terrific for New Orleans Elite, he wasn't a one man show. He got an awful lot of help from 6-foot-4 shooting guard Malik CrowfieldClick More Gauntlet news and notes Here to view this Link. who drilled
five three-pointers and finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Crowfield listed offers from Mississippi State, LSU, Louisiana Lafayette, Baylor, Southeastern Louisiana, Richmond, UMass and Tulsa to go along with interest from Tulane, Arkansas and Texas A&M.
Team Wall
ran out of steam late but their 2016 Jalen duo has a chance to be pretty good.
Speedy Rivals150 point guard Jalen Harris is a speedy floor general
with athleticism while 6-foot-6 wing Jalen Johnson has range to the
three point line and is a highlight reel finisher in transition. Harris went for
17 points 11 assists while Johnson added 16 points and six rebounds of his own.
In many
ways it was Shaun Kirk's night for Team Loaded NC, but their five-star studs
Dennis Smith and Edrice Adebayo lived up to the billing. A
legit top five player and ridiculous athlete, Smith is strong and lulls people
to sleep before shifting into a gear off the dribble that few high schoolers can
dream of matching before he finishes with jams or finds teammates. A brute of a
big man, Adebayo chases down every rebound in the building, blocks shots and
dishes out intimidation by the case with his violent dunks and the way he uses
his powerful shoulders to carve his way through traffic.
If he can
come close to replicating his Friday effort, Oklahoma Wizards wing Lindy Waters is going to see his stock take off. A thin 6-foot-5 wing with
athleticism and a good looking skill level, he put up 21 points, six rebounds
and three assists in a loss to Team Loaded NC. He listed offers from Stephen F.
Austin, Utah Valley (head coach Mark Pope watched), Mercer, William & Mary, UT
Arlington, Central Arkansas (head coach Russ Pennell on hand) and North Florida
(head coach Matt Driscoll). A 3.5 GPA student, he also mentioned interest from
Harvard and Yale.
Five-star
point guard Kobi Simmons has taken his game to another level. He was
way too explosive off the bounce for Gamepoint Elite to stop and he did the bulk
of his damage during the first half of the Atlanta Celtics runaway win. He's
pushing hard for a spot inside of the top 10 of the Rivals150.
A recent
addition to the Rivals150 in 2016, 6-foot-8 forward Tim Harrison can
stretch defenses with his shooting. However, to truly unlock his potential he'll
need to use his athleticism and length to his advantage and become more of a
force on the glass and around the rim. Harrison's Gamepoint teammate Eric Monroe is a pretty good looking point guard option for West Coast mid
majors. Monroe can shoot, is a clever passer and plays with all kinds of
toughness. Cuonzo Martin and Stanford's Johnny Dawkins were
among those watching Harrison.
He started
off slowly but class of 2017 five-star Brian Bowen came to life in the
second half. A lithe wing with soft touch, he floats around the floor and is
bouncier than you expect around the rim. He finished with 17 points, two
rebounds and two assists with Tom Izzo tracking him. His Michigan
Mustangs teammate Algevon Eichelberger provided a nice lift doing the
dirty work while scoring 14 and grabbing 11 rebounds. A three-star prospect in
the class of 2016, Eichelberger always plays with a tremendous motor.
Finally,
four-star forward Brendan Bailey struggled with his shot going just
5-of-15 from the field for Dream Vision. But, he found other ways to make things
happen and still finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. A former Arizona
State commitment who opened things up after Herb Sendek was wacked, he was
watched by two assistants from new coach Bobby Hurley's staff. Others who
and Gonzaga.
