LAS VEGAS - Championships were won in Las Vegas as the last of July's three live recruiting periods came to an end on Sunday. Rivals.com spent the last day of the period splitting time between the Fab 48 and adidas Summer Championships, where the nation's No. 1 player,
Josh Jackson, and four-star forward
Sacha Killeya-Jones led their teams to championships.
For much of the week in Las Vegas, 2016's top-ranked player,
Josh Jackson, had been a bit up and down. Looking tired from a long summer, he was focused more on involving others and taking over offensively when needed. On Sunday, he was fully locked in and as a result his 1Nation squad won the 17U Invitational division of the Fab 48.
In the semifinal, Jackson led his team to a gutty overtime win over We-R1.
Despite being plagued by foul trouble, Jackson was a factor on both ends of the floor. He rebounded, he scored at the rim and with the jumper, he defended and he showed off his passing ability. If it weren't for
Lonzo Ball being a part of the 2016 class, Jackson would be arguably the best passer in the class and he showed exactly why on the game-winning play.
Tied late in overtime, Jackson got a rebound and when everybody in the gym expected him to drive the length of the court and make a play, he delivered. Only, he delivered with a beautiful 60-foot pass up the floor to a streaking teammate who scored the game-winning layup.
As he has done almost the entire month of July,
Arizona's
Sean Miller was following Jackson each step of the way.
For a good part of the 17U title game at the adidas Summer Championship, the Mass Rivals held a comfortable lead over Team Loaded Virginia. Over the final 10 minutes, though, Team Loaded's ability to throw a three-man rotation of active and talented four-star big men
Sacha Killeya-Jones,
Javin Delaurier and
Mamadi Diakite proved to be too much as Loaded won a thriller 76-74.
While the trio combined for 38 points and 18 rebounds, it was the contribution of Killeya-Jones that proved to be the biggest down the stretch. The highly skilled power forward hit on some tough jumpers, made a huge play late with an offensive rebound and dunk, and he showed grit.
In the past, one of the knocks against Killeya-Jones has been that he plays too much of a finesse game. Over the course of the summer he's become much tougher around the rim on both ends of the floor and Sunday was a true reflection of that. Currently ranked No. 51 in the class of 2016, Killeya-Jones has positioned himself for another climb in the next set of rankings.