Beach Ball Classic: Carlyle, Thurmon dominate in Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach featured big performances from juniors Kanaan Carlyle and Khoi Thurmon, and a pair of sophomores (one from Utah and one from Virginia) showed worthy of high major conversations.

Rivals.com's Jamie Shaw was sitting courtside for the high school bracket championships.

MORE BEACH BALL: Shaw's takeaways

Carlyle is an explosive bucket getter; some have mentioned some archetype similarities to Terquavion Smith (NC State) in the previous class. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard started the event off with a 30-point outburst, sitting for most of the fourth. Carlyle went on to knock down 10 threes over his three games while averaging 8.3 rebounds and two steals, leading his team to a finals appearance.

Carlyle, the No. 23 player in the 2023 Rivals150, has announced he will choose a school on Jan. 5, with Auburn, Baylor, Stanford, Florida and Kansas being his final five.

Katoa is a new name on the radar; however, one that deserves to be tracked. The 6-foot-3 sophomore came into this event with a single Utah State offer. Interestingly enough, he also picked up a football offer from Utah as a freshman. Katoa is now at Salt Lake City Real Salt Lake and fully focused on basketball.

Katoa has long arms and is very skilled. He is a very good perimeter defender, a tough positional rebounder and he is a very good passer.

Katoa padded the stat sheet all week, averaging 14.3 points, 57.1-percent from the field, 6.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 3.7 blocks and 2.3 steals per game. He has taken recent visits to Utah and BYU. Look for him to be in the conversation to enter the 2024 rankings when we expand to 150.

Thurmon is a native of Chicago and transferred to Akron (Ohio) Buchtel High this year. We first heard of Thurmon in middle school when he played for the North Coast Blue Chips team alongside Bronny James and Mikey Williams.

He is a 6-foot lefty with a crafty handle. He lived in the paint during this event and showed the ability to make reads and finish at the basket.

Thurmon finished the week on the all-tournament team after averaging 15.7 points and shooting 55.3-percent from the field. The junior claimed offers from Illinois, Toledo and Jackson State.

“I am looking for a team that will allow me to do what I am good at while growing with the team," he said.

Taking in the championship game, you saw a long-armed, quick as a hiccup guard who was touching the paint often. While 6-foot-3 sophomore Del Jones did not start the game, he certainly finished it. Jones was tied for the team-high with 15 points and added six rebounds and two steals.

Rivals.com caught up with Jones after the game for an introductory conversation:

On his game ...

“I would say I am a point guard. I like to get my teammates involved. I feel I can get in the paint very well and find others. I get a lot of comparisons, with my ability to get downhill like Kemba Walker.”

On his offers ...

“I have offers from South Carolina, NC State, Southeast Louisiana and Ohio Bobcats. I have not been on any visits yet.”

On NC State ...

“I have talked with coach (Kevin) Keatts before. I think I am going to take a visit there this summer. Things are going to really pick up this summer.”

On South Carolina ...

“Coach Bruce (Shingler) talked with us a good bit this summer when he was still there. Since he left to come back up here, they have been keeping in touch some. Coach (Frank) Martin said he liked my game.”

On college interest ...

“Texas is looking at me. I know UConn, Xavier, James Madison, VCU and a few more are recruiting me. Most of them are saying because I am only a sophomore, they just want to see how I progress this season.”

On what he is looking for in a program ...

“I want to play for a coach that is going to let me go, play my game and facilitate.”