7/23/2015 football Edit

Adidas Uprising: Smith rises up

Eric Bossi

Rivals.com Basketball Recruiting Analyst

THE RIVALS150: 2016 | 2017

LAS VEGAS -- With bigtime matchups taking place all over the city of Las Vegas, it was tough to go wrong on the opening night of the final of July's three live evaluation periods. For Rivals, the place to be was the Adidas Uprising Summer Championships as four of the top five point guards in the class of 2016 took the floor.

Smith, Team Loaded win big

The nation's top two ranked point guards in the class of 2016 went head-to-head in the evening's opening game as Dennis Smith and Team Loaded NC took on Lonzo Ball the Big Ballers.

Smith and Team Loaded controlled the game from beginning to end to score 101 points and cruise to a victory.

Though Smith and Ball didn't match up all that often, the decision in this one has to go in the favor of Smith. The 6-foot-2 Smith had 14 points and eight assists while only taking eight shots from the field.

With Kentucky's John Calipari, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and N.C. State's Mark Gottfried watching, Smith essentially led his team in a fullcourt layup drill against the Big Ballers trapping, full-court press.

Ball outscored Smith with 20 points and had to have had double digit assists, but he had a poor night shooting the ball. He's still as good an up-the-floor passer as the high school ranks have seen in some time and he showed that ability, but he also settles at times. The UCLA commit is a major talent and a much better athlete than given credit for being, but he wasn't at the top of his game.

Jackson shines in spotlight

In the second big time point guard matchup of the night, No. 8 overall Kobi Simmons and the Atlanta Celtics took on No. 10 Frank Jackson and the Utah Prospects.

With Coach K (plus two assistants), the entire Stanford staff as well as Arizona's Sean Miller and Utah's Larry Krystkowiak on hand to see him play, Jackson was the best player on the floor, scoring 20 points and leading the Prospects to victory.

He got into the lane when he wanted, played above the rim in transition and got to the free throw line. Jackson does have some turnover issues he needs to clean up, but he's a scoring point guard with tremendous ability. Based on the buzz in the coaching crowd, it's sounding like Duke and Stanford have surged ahead of the pack.

Simmons actually outscored Jackson by netting 22. However, he didn't register a single assist, had eight turnovers and shot poorly (6-17 overall) from the field. After a bad first half, Simmons did get it going a bit in the second half. He nailed some deep threes and showed the speed and quickness that, when paired with his 6-foot-5 size, is awfully dangerous.

He will be the subject of much closer focus later on this week, but MBA Hoops combo guard Tyson CarterClick While DeLaurier had a star studded crowd watching him, it was Team Loaded VA's three-star guard tandem of point guard Justice Kithcart and shooter Jeremy Sheppard that combined for 34 points. Kithcart got into the lane repeatedly and scored or made plays for others while Sheppard showed that he's one of the better shooters in the country. Sheppard is a little on the small side for a two guard at around 6-foot-1/6-foot-2 but he can really stretch a defense.Here to view this Link. looks like a legit high-major prospect. He's 6-foot-4'ish with feel and scoring ability. Carter drew coaches like Mississippi StateClick While DeLaurier had a star studded crowd watching him, it was Team Loaded VA's three-star guard tandem of point guard Justice Kithcart and shooter Jeremy Sheppard that combined for 34 points. Kithcart got into the lane repeatedly and scored or made plays for others while Sheppard showed that he's one of the better shooters in the country. Sheppard is a little on the small side for a two guard at around 6-foot-1/6-foot-2 but he can really stretch a defense.Here to view this Link.'s Ben Howland and Iowa StateClick While DeLaurier had a star studded crowd watching him, it was Team Loaded VA's three-star guard tandem of point guard Justice Kithcart and shooter Jeremy Sheppard that combined for 34 points. Kithcart got into the lane repeatedly and scored or made plays for others while Sheppard showed that he's one of the better shooters in the country. Sheppard is a little on the small side for a two guard at around 6-foot-1/6-foot-2 but he can really stretch a defense.Here to view this Link.'s Steve Prohm.

Nick Weatherspoon, a teammate of Carter's on MBA Hoops, looks like a high-end athlete. The rising junior can get to the rim in a hurry. Hoops runs in his family, as his older brother Quinndary Weatherspoon was a member of 2016's final Rivals150 and is a freshman at Mississippi State.

Click Here to view this Link.