Porter and Young put on five-star show at Hampton EYBL

HAMPTON, Va. -- Nike's Elite Youth Basketball League, the EYBL, began it's third stop of the spring Friday night at the Boo Williams Sportsplex. With big-time matchups all around the building, anticipation was high for the New York Rens v. MoKan Elite game that featured three five-stars from the class of 2017. MoKan's five-star duo of Michael Porter and Trae Young stole the show.

All eyes were on the New York Rens and MoKan Elite during the evening's last round of games. One of the night's most anticipated contests, the game featured loads of talent on each side. Mokan with their class of 2017 five-star duo of wing Michael Porter and point guard Trae Young plus Rivals150 wing Jared Ridder and skilled 2018 forwards Carte'Are Gordon and Jontay Porter. On the other side, five-star shooting guard Hamidou Diallo hit the floor with four-star wing Jordan Tucker, Rivals150 point guard Jose Alvarado and skilled forward Jordan Nwora.

It was Porter and Young who scored the victory. Porter handed out 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in a clinic on how to make the game look easy -- jumpers, flushes off the dribble and transition buckets, he did it all at a high level. His teammate Young, who 28 points of his own, was bombing home threes, getting into the lane and scoring while creating lots of opportunities for his teammates.

With last week's hiring of Porter's father Michael Sr. as an assistant coach at Washington, the dynamic of Porter's recruitment has shifted. He is still going to be open to other programs and do some looking around, but the Huskies are surely in good position there.

Young hosted Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas for recent in home visits and is planning one with Oklahoma State.

For the Rens, Diallo had flashes of athletic dominance but got bottled up some by Mokan's pressure. Alavarado did a good job of pushing the tempo after stopping by VCU earlier in the day to take an unofficial visit.

The real star for the Rens, though, was Tucker. A strong and skilled 6-foot-6 wing, he played at a higher level than his already impressive No. 41 ranking in 2017. Tucker mixed tough drives with pure jump shooting in a 29 point outing. With offers from places like Villanova and Connecticut and fresh off of an unofficial visit to Syracuse, Tucker long ago caught on with high level coaches.

The Houston Hoops showed up in Hampton with a 2-5 EYBL record in need of some wins. They are loaded with talent, but perhaps a little short at point guard and they compensate for it with a unique, by committee, group of big ball handlers including five-star forward Billy Preston, five-star forward Jarred Vanderbilt and four-star guards Jay Jay Chandler and R.J. Nembhard.

They got the job done on Friday night against California Supreme. Preston controlled the lane and made plays for teammates while putting up a combined 33 points, 27 rebounds and nine assists.

Chandler was getting to the rim and the four-star made some shots from deep while leading the Hoops with 21 points. Another four-star combo guard, Nembhard added 12 points and six rebounds. Nembhard said he'd like to cut his list down to at least eight in Mid July and listed Baylor, Texas A&M, SMU, Texas and Oklahoma State as some that he felt pretty sure would make the cut. He also listed a new offer from N.C. State.

For Cal Supreme, 2017's No. 1 player DeAndre Ayton had to leave the game early after catching a stray elbow. Five-star teammate Brandon McCoy showed he can score on his own in the post with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Top five big man Wendell Carter -- who caught us up to speed on his recruitment in the video below -- and likely to be five-star shot blocker Mitchell Robinson had a nice duel. Carter looked a bit stronger and more skilled in his CP3 team's win over Robinson and Nike Pro Skills. However, Robinson was no slouch and is proving to be a big time shot blocker who can really run the floor. Robinson recently decommitted from Texas A&M and said that he's heard from LSU and North Carolina since opening up his recruitment.

He was hampered some by foul trouble, but five-star forward P.J. Washington was impressive for Team Penny. He's got all kinds of post game plus touch and is an energetic athlete and big time rebounder at 6-foot-7 or so. A tough shooting guard, Khalil Garland went down with a foot injury but looked good early and the recent Memphis decommit looks like legit Rivals150 candidate.

For Seattle Rotary, recently decommitted from Washington combo guard Daejon Davis showed some flashes of big potential. He's more of a two than a one and is a pure scorer off the dribble and potentially big time defender. He finished with 22 points and eight rebounds.

Class of 2018 five-star wing Keldon Johnson had 24 points and seven rebounds in a loss but looked good as a strong wing scorer. He listed offers from Florida, Providence, Texas, Wake Forest, Virginia, Virginia Tech, N.C. State, Penn State and ECU.