Peach Jam Wednesday: Eric Bossi's takeaways

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- It wasn't going to be easy for the highly anticipated battle of 2019's best big men Vernon Carey Jr. and James Wiseman to live up to the hype, but it did. The battle and Wiseman's epic second half lead Rivals.com National Basketball Analyst Eric Bossi's Wednesday night takeaways from the Peach Jam.

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It was going to be hard for anything in the highly anticipated Bluff City Legends and Nike Team Florida matchup on opening night of the Peach Jam to live up to the hype or expectations. Especially the matchup between current No. 1 in 2019 Vernon Carey Jr. and current No. 3 James Wiseman. The game, the matchup, everything about opening night managed to do so and then some.

I want to start with Wiseman -- who had Kentucky's John Calipari and his old coach Penny Hardaway among his most interested observers. I don't know any way to put it other than he put together one of the most impressive performances -- especially in the second half -- that these eyes have ever seen from a big man at the Peach Jam. He dunked, he protected the rim, he ran the floor, he posted strong, he hit pretty jump shots and man did he compete.

After some time to think about it, I'm still taken and beyond impressed by all the things he did. But after some reflection you know what impressed me the most? The little things. That's right, the little things that don't get credit like shaking off early foul trouble and not letting it get him out of his zone. Like not getting caught up in a hyped one-on-one matchup and making sure that he was about team first.

Wiseman was all of that and more. His 25-point and nine-rebound effort was the type of thing that No. 1 rankings are built on and when he's doing what he did on Wednesday night, it's hard to say with a straight face that there's anybody better in 2019.

That is no dis against Carey -- who had coaches from each of his final five of Duke, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan State and North Carolina on hand -- either. He's a more than worthy No. 1 player who is competing and fighting for his spot. Like Wiseman, he didn't get caught up in the one-on-one and played remarkable team ball. Seeing him leave it all on the line and bust his tail down the floor for an improbable block of a Wiseman dunk in transition, selling out for deflections and working hard on both ends was impressive. He had 21 points, nine rebounds and six blocks, but it wasn't quite enough.

Whoever you like more, at the end of the day both Wiseman and Carey are special big men prospects and they are clearly a level above any other big man that 2019 has to offer at this point. Kudos to them for the show and to both teams for competing but on Wednesday night the edge has to go to Wiseman.

When he entered high school, D.J. Jeffries had it all. He was already close to his current height, he was a big-time athlete and he had so much potential. Somewhere along the line between the end of his sophomore and junior year, though, his development appeared to stall a little. The motor wasn't always there and he appeared to be at a crossroads with his game.

The Kentucky-bound combo forward responded in a big way during the spring and he continued to do so Wednesday night. He's playing harder than ever, has improved by leaps and bounds as a jump shooter and most importantly he's finding ways to make winning plays. As good as his teammate James Wiseman was, without Jeffries' big plays in key moments all night long, Bluff City doesn't win. His future coach John Calipari had to have loved what he saw from his courtside seat.

I know, I know, I'm not exactly going out on a limb by saying that Scottie Barnes is a legit competitor for No. 1 in 2020 considering that he's already our second ranked prospect. But man, he's really pushing to make it a tough discussion between him, current No. 1 Jalen Green and No. 3 Evan Mobley at the end of the summer.

The kid is a true Swiss Army Knife of a basketball player and he showed that and more on Wednesday. At one time or another he defended basically every position on the floor. He didn't let some missed early jumpers dissuade him from swishing clutch shots down the stretch and his ability to wreak havoc and make plays in the open floor was and is second to none.

Everybody talks about positionless basketball these days and Barnes is the poster child for the type of prospect who fits that movement. A true heavyweight battle is about to go down between Miami, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Kansas, Syracuse, Oregon and any other big time programs thinking they want to get involved.

Kenyon Martin was one of the hardest playing dudes I ever saw in college or the NBA.The apple didn't fall very far from the tree when it comes to his son Kenyon Martin Jr.

Martin Jr. is 6-foot-6 inches or so of pure effort, toughness and athleticism that is hard to discount. He's the type of guy that after watching him play, you want to go and get into the gym and get a workout. Whether you hoop, hit the treadmill, box or whatever, he makes you want to go and work because that's what he does.

His effort is such that his teammates on the Oakland Soldiers have to meet it and his impact on the floor isn't one that you want to measure by a boxscore.

When we updated the rankings last week, combo forward C.J. Walker was a huge riser. I'm thinking he may be in line for another bump before it's all said and done.

Everybody has watched as the light comes on for somebody in anything that they do and anybody watching Walker hit the floor can see that happening for him. Does he need to get stronger? Does he need to continue to work on his shooting or ball handling? Sure. But the strides he's made in the last three or four months are pretty remarkable and the more I see him, the more I feel he's just scratching at the surface of what he can ultimately do.

Walker and Each 1 Teach 1 fell to a Team Takeover squad that is absolutely loaded with talent and writes the summer of 2018 book on playing together as one, but he left a big impression with his play. Florida's Mike White, Memphis' Penny Hardaway, LSU's Will Wade, Georgetown's Pat Ewing, Arkansas' Mike Anderson, Tennessee's Rick Barnes, VCU's Mike Rhoades and assistants from Oregon, Louisville and many others were just a few of the coaches on hand.