Highlights of the two holiday week events played in the Atlanta area
The week between Christmas and New Year’s is dominated in the Atlanta area by the Lake City Classic at Allatoona High School and the Tournament of Champions held at Wheeler High School. Between the two events, we had a pair of five-star standouts, a four-star announce his commitment and some under-the-radar prospects are featured in Dan’s Dozen notes from the holiday season.
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Isaiah Todd was the highest-ranked prospect playing in the metro Atlanta area this week, as the No. 2-ranked player in the 2020 class. It’s rare to see a prospect at 6-foot-9 as a sophomore in high school with his skill level. He’s comfortable putting the ball on the floor, pulling up for jumpers and can hit contested jumpers from deep. He’s still raw overall as a prospect, but his ceiling is as high as anybody in high school basketball.
E.J. Montgomery has and will face tougher competition than what he saw against Pace Academy, but it was still impressive to see him do what he did. He can score over either shoulder on the block and doesn’t really let contact faze him. He also runs the floor in transition as well as any post player in the country, and he routinely finishes with dunks. Clemson, Georgetown and Georgia watched him Thursday night.
One of the most exciting games of the week was McEachern (Ga.) against Miami Christian (Fl.) because of the point guard matchup. A four-star in the 2020 class, Sharife Cooper lived up to that billing by making all the clutch plays in crunch time to help McEachern pull out a big victory. Cooper is a high level passer who can fill it up as a scorer, but arguably his most impressive trait is his how instinctive he is as a player. On the losing end of the matchup, Neftali Alvarez had an impressive showing, as well. He too is an elite passer and scores more than enough to keep the defense honest. He’ll be a nice late addition for one lucky school in the 2020 class.
Elias King started the Tournament of Champions with 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and then announced after the game he’s taking his talents to Georgia in 2019. King struggled in his second game of the week, but came back strong on Saturday afternoon by scoring 23 points against a tough Meadowcreek team in a low-scoring game. Now pushing 6-foot-8 after a recent growth spurt, King is a long, athletic wing with one of the better three-point strokes in the 2019 class.
Brenden Tucker, Maurice Harvey and Jamir Chaplin will be three prospects high-major coaches should keep tabs on going forward. Tucker already holds offers from Clemson and Georgia, but could see that list expand in a hurry. A 6-foot-1 guard with elite athleticism, he has no problems getting by defenders regularly and shoots it pretty well. The key for him will be consistency. Harvey is a bigger guard (6-4) who used to be known primarily as a slasher and elite on-ball defender. He’s now a confident and capable shooter, which makes him a very intriguing prospect as a combo guard. Chaplin is a tough, athletic, rugged small forward that just produces every time out. He’ll make shots, but his bread and butter is going to work in the paint.
Dwon Odom and Christian Wright, both lead guards in the 2020 class, look like potential high-major prospects. Odom already has a long list of schools tracking him. Right now, he’s best at getting out in the transition game, in which he’s equally effective as a passer or finishing the job himself. The same could be said for Wright, who is a slightly bigger guard between the two at 6-foot-3, but not quite as explosive athletically. The recruiting interest won’t be too far behind for Wright.
Upson Lee has now won 48 straight games. That includes an undefeated season last year capped by a state championship along with an appearance at the City of Palms this year and now a championship at the Lake City Classic. That’s the type of run that deserves some national attention. The Knights are led by Middle Tennessee signee Tye Fagan, an athletic versatile 6-foot-2 off guard, but their success is team-driven and not reliant on any individual.
Also having an impressive showing at the Lake City Classic was unsigned senior forward Jamari Dean. The 6-foot-6 Cedar Grove (Ga.) star was impressive all week, but was at his best in a 36-point performance against Dacula (Ga.). He added an offer from James Madison.