Hampton EYBL: Evans' All-Underclassmen Teams

HAMPTON, VA. — While the final leg of the Nike EYBL featured plenty of stars from the class of 2019, we wanted to acknowledge the up-and-coming talent from the class of 2020 and below. Here is our look at the first and second underclassmen teams from Hampton.

RELATED: The Evans Awards from Hampton | Evans Twitter Tuesday mailbag

RANKINGS: 2018 Rivals150 | 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2018 Team | 2018 Position

A top-five standout from Hampton, Cooper finished with two games of 30 points or more and pushed his AOT Running Rebels team into the argument of who the best travel team is in America. Difficult to find a comparison for the top-35 guard. Cooper’s handles, scoring and unwavering approach place him among the best in his class in the backcourt. He is the leader of our underclassmen team and is one of the top scorers in high school ball, regardless of classification. He averaged 21.3 points, 5.8 assists, five rebounds over the weekend.

A much slept on guard out of the Windy City, think tough when Beard’s name is brought up. He is more than just a blue-collar workhorse as the combo guard threw a handful of impressive passes that led observers to believe that he is sliding flawlessly over into the lead guard position. DePaul and Iowa are the lone twosome to have offered from the power conferences.

There are not many others as versatile than Barnes nationally. The Nike Team Florida star completed his weekend with a game-winning floater at the buzzer, capping a strong first full spring on the Nike EYBL circuit. Barnes can guard four positions but at 6-foot-8, might be bested used on the ball as a playmaking agent; add it all up and this is one special prospect. The second-ranked sophomore holds offers from Florida, Kentucky and Oregon, while remaining arguably the most unique prospect in high school ball thanks to his two-way versatility. He averaged 12.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and two blocks over four games.

What a sight it was on Friday evening, getting the chance to see Amaefule for the very first time. The native of England entered the United States a year ago and while he has remained under the radar, the places that he could go with the sport of basketball is only where a few can venture.

A 6-foot-8 power forward with tremendous length, motor and a rapidly developing skillset, LSU jumped in with an offer over the weekend, joining TCU as the two programs to have done so. He is primed for a five-star rating during next month’s update and more than earned his keep on this underclassmen team.

In a day and age where highlight reel dunks and pick-and-pop jumpers have become the norm for frontline stars, Dickinson is a complete throwback in the post that can score on a bevy of counter moves, rebound in volumes, and pick apart the opposing defense with the accurate pass off of the face-up.

A limited athlete at this stage but arguably the most polished 10-foot-and-in center in America, the DeMatha Catholic standout is a starter for an undefeated Team Takeover team. Whenever crunch time comes and a basket is needed, Dickinson is the go-to for the deepest travel team nationally. He will head to the United States under-18 training camp on Wednesday but before he did, he averaged 10 points and 6.3 rebounds in Virginia, all while making close to 70 percent of his field goal tries.

Any other time, Roach’s stance as the top 2020 lead guard standout would have been concrete. If it wasn’t for the play of Cooper, that would have been the case but regardless, a sophomore playing a year up on the Nike EYBL circuit and having the reigns of his Team Takeover unit’s offense in his hands, the ultimate degree of respect has to be placed onto Roach seeing that they are the first team ever to win all of its 16 regular season games on the swoosh platform.

He finished with a 4.3-to-1, assist-to-turnover ratio in Hampton as Virginia, Villanova and Kentucky are just a few that have become entranced by the five-star guard.

Johnson, playing a year up on a 15-under team, displayed just why he is regarded as one of the best in his class nationally. He has yet to pick up a high school textbook Johnson has scored over 1,000 points on a high school playing floor. Holding offers from St. John’s, TCU and Georgia Tech, Johnson’s ability to change speeds and directions, all while heavily guarded, is second to none. He looks the part of an elite guard recruit and is already being treated as such as he pushed his Albany City Rocks team to the semifinal portion of play over the weekend.

Ware had a tremendous go of it in Hampton as the 6-foot-8 power forward has come a long way with his motor and because of it, has become that much more of a valuable prospect. The Rivals100 sophomore can score inside and out, but it was his rim-protecting skills, ones that earned him honorable mention as the best shot blockers in Hampton, that really stood out. Villanova, Michigan and Oregon are just a few involved already for the talented New York Rens prospect who will soon become a priority sort of prospect for the top programs throughout the northeast.

Jaden McDaniels has taken up most of the attention regarding the Seattle Rotary 17-under unit this spring and rightfully so, but if it wasn’t for his ensemble of talents supporting him, the Pacific Northwest based unit would not be slated to appear in its first ever Nike Peach Jam in a few weeks.

The son of two former Washington standouts, Banchero is a well-developed power forward from the 2021 class that more than belongs among those two or three years older than him. He sees the games through the lenses of someone of greater age and produces regardless of opposition. He averaged 15.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, and two blocks in Hampton.

Arguably the best shot blocker in America, Dante had another showing that has placed him deeper among the best of the best in his 2020 class. His ceiling might be the best out of any one in his class and the strides that he has made within his offensive skillset just makes the headache that he induces onto his opposition that much more severe. He averaged 7.3 points, eight rebounds and 2.5 blocks over the weekend, looking like the high school version of Andre Drummond around the basket.