Elite Preview part one- Issa Muhammad and others make noise
Many of the best prospects in Georgia made the trip to Kell High School on Saturday morning for the HoopSeen Elite Preview camp. Some under the radar prospects in the 2018 class like point guard D.J. Murray stood out, while a few potential high-major prospects like big man Issa Muhammad broke out in the 2019 class.
His day: Upside is the big word with Muhammad right now. He’s a smooth athlete at 6-foot-9 with a really nice frame to carry some weight. He’s also developed a pretty nice looking jump shot out to three-point range and has some back to the basket game in the post. It’s hard for post players to stand out in a camp, but in limited viewing time, he certainly did just that.
Who is involved: Offer from Georgia Tech and interest from schools throughout the southeast.
Prediction: He’s going to have a lot of eyes on him the next few months playing with the Georgia Stars 16-under team. He’ll be playing with a terrific point guard in Ashton Hagans who will help him have opportunities to flourish. By the end of the summer, Georgia Tech will not be his only high-major offer. That feels like a pretty safe prediction.
His day: Murray played on Saturday like exactly he had played his whole junior season at Pebblebrook this year. Whenever he steps on the court, you know he’s going to bring the energy and leave everything on the court. What the Elite Preview revealed though is just how much of a threat he can be offensively. On Pebblebrook this year, he often was overshadowed by his teammates and didn’t get as many chances to score. He was aggressive all day attacking the rim and knocking down shots from the perimeter. He’s a pesky defender and type of player that will dive on loose balls in a camp setting. He’s a winning player.
Who is involved: Southern Utah offer with interest from Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Murray State, South Alabama, Penn, and St. Joe’s.
Prediction: Murray will be playing with Nike South Beach in the upcoming travel season, so he’ll have plenty of chances to earn more scholarship offers. The only prediction we can really make on Murray right now is that he’ll be a highly recruited prospect at the mid-major level and will have plenty of options by the end of July.
His day: Fagan teamed up with Murray at the Elite Preview and he too brought great energy to the camp making them a tough backcourt for the other teams. While Murray is more of a lead guard, Fagan is more of an off guard that can handle some ball handling duties when needed. Fagan’s strength is finding crafty ways to score in the paint. For a guard, he’s a terrific post-up player. At only 6-foot-3, he finds a way to come up with an impressive number of rebounds because of his length and ability to rise quickly. His shot is coming along as he hit a couple deep off the dribble, but he’s still streaky in that area.
Who is involved: Georgia, Georgia Tech, LSU and Georgia State are showing interest. Middle Tennessee offered.
Prediction: Fagan’s recruitment will be an interesting case to watch. He just helped lead Upson Lee to a 32-0 record and 4A state championship in Georgia and was one of the best players in the Peach State this season. During the travel season, he’ll be playing with the Middle Georgia Supersonics and won’t be on any of the shoe company circuits, so coaches will have to go out of their way to see him. He’s a very good player and very productive, but he’s the type of player you have to watch closely and frequently to fully appreciate what he does. It will be interesting to see which coaches put in the time with him. His talent level should have high-majors paying close attention to his progress, but will they? Time will tell.
His day: From the start of camp until the very end, nobody had more dunks than Wyatt and it wasn’t really even close. The 6-foot-6 forward is back from a foot injury that hampered him in the early part of the high school and once again playing at a very high level. Right now, he’s best operating in the mid-range and attacking the basket from the elbow, but there is potential for him to expand to play more from beyond the arc.
Who is involved: UNC-Greensboro offered with interest Furman, Mercer, Tennessee Tech and VMI.
Prediction: UNC-Greensboro has done the most work with him early on in the process and that appears to be the right level for him. The Southern Conference is a tough league now with so many good young coaches bringing better players in, and Wes Miller has done as well as any of them. He’ll likely be a hot commodity for mid-major programs in the southeast in a few months.
His day: If all Wyatt did was dunk, all Ezikpe did was rebound and finish. The 6-foot-7 forward from Discovery High School is a workhorse in the paint. He’s strong and athletic and he plays a very physical game. He’s come a long way in his development on the offensive end.
Who is involved: Stetson offer.
Prediction: Mid-major and low-major programs have won a lot of games with players like Ezikpe. He’s not going to fit the size that high-majors look for, but he’s going to work his tail off and produce wherever he ends up. A good comparison for him would be current UNC-Wilmington star and Georgia native Devontae Cacok, who led the nation in field goal percentage this season. Neither were blessed with great height for the college game, but you look at the stat sheet after they play and usually both are in double digits on rebounds and many times points too.
His day: Broadnax, the son of Savannah State head coach Horace Broadnax, ended up missing the last part of the day after cramping up, but he put on a show before shutting it down. He’s a 6-foot-3 point guard and very smooth in everything he does. He makes good decisions with the ball and he’s a very good scorer.
Who is involved: UAB offered and he’s taken an unofficial visit to Florida State.
Prediction: Once he hits the Nike EYBL this travel season with Southern Stampede, it won’t be long before high-majors start to trickle into his recruitment. Florida State and UAB were smart to get involved early, but it’s likely that list will be growing quickly throughout the next calendar year. Or maybe he’ll he just decide to stay home and play for his father.
His day: The big man from South Georgia made a strong impression during the morning session of camp. The 6-foot-8 power forward has a smooth jumper from the three-point range and knows how to use his body to create angles in the post. On the defensive end, it was great to see how vocal he was in communicating with his teammates on screens and calling out plays. He wore down a little as the day went on, but there is no doubting the talent he possesses.
Who is involved: Georgia Tech and Kansas State offered with interest coming in from Georgia, Arkansas, Texas and Stanford.
Prediction: It’s early for Ramsey as a 2019 prospect, but he’s already starting to generate some serious interest from high-major programs. You can bet just about all the schools in the southeast will be involved with him along with the top academic schools around the country.