Rivals Recap: Fall Festival

ORLANDO--TheFallFestivalpresentedbytheHoopExchangeisauniqueshowcaseevent.ThingsstartedoffonSaturdaywitha32-teamhighschooljamboreefeaturingmanyofFlorida'stopteams.ThejamboreewillfinishuponSundaymorningandwillbeimmediatelyfollowedbyanindividualshowcase.Dominatingtheopeningnightwasthenation'sNo.2playerintheclassof2018,powerforwardSilvioDeSousa,whoisoneofthreetop-tenranked2018bigmenonmightyMontverde(Fla.)Academy'sloadedsquad.

Iwasimpressedwith...

OneofmyfavoriteplayersthatI'veeverscoutedwaspowerforwardLeonPowe,whowasatop-10playerintheclassof2003.Aruggedandathleticpowerforward,PoweovercamenumerousinjuriesandoffthefloorhardshiptomakehiswaytotheNBA.Watching2018'sNo.2playerSilvioDeSousa,Ican'thelpbutremindedofayoungandhealthyPowe.DeSousaisastraightuppowerbrokeraroundtherimwithoffthechartsathleticismandamotorthatneverstops.

DeSousamakeseachandeverytripdownthecourtaphysicalbattleandheteststhecourageofopponents.Whilehispowerandathleticismisimpressive,DeSousa'sskillgameisrapidlyexpanding.Hefinisheswitheitherhandaroundtherim,islearningtopassoutofdoubleteamsandhasbigupside.DeSousa'scoachestoldRivals.comthathe'swideopenintherecruitingprocessandthatit'stooearlyforhimtolistindividualprograms.

Itisprettyclear,however,thatDeSousawillattractattentionfrommanyofthenation'stophoopsprograms.

Nosurprisehere,2018'sNo.2playerSilvioDeSousahasbeenimpressive.Explosivebig,finishesbothhands.Drawsfouls.#fallfestival-EricBossi(@ebosshoops)October10,2015

Iwassurprisedby...

Priortohisfreshmanyear,bigmanCholMarialofJacksonville(Fla.)ArlingtonCountryDayhadalreadyexperiencedsomeYouTubefame.Oftentimes,it'shardnottobealittleskepticalwhenhearingorreadingabouttheexploitsofsuchayoungplayer.However,thealready7-foot-2centerfromSouthSudannotonlyliveduptohisadvancebilling,heexceededit.

AnyplayerasbigasMarialalreadyiswhocanrunupanddownthecourtwithanykindoffluidityisalreadywellaheadofthegame.NotonlycanMarialrunwithgreatfluidity,heisfast,canchangedirectionsandseemstohaveanaturalfeelforwheretobeandwhentobethere.Heshowedimpressivehandsonalley-oopfinishes,snatchedreboundswithbothhandsabovetherimandcausedalotofhavocanddisruptionasarimprotector.

He's15yearsoldandhashisentirehighschoolcareeraheadofhim,buthisintroductionwasquiteimpressive.

Classof2019sevenfooterCholMarialisaneyeopener.Canreally,reallyrunthefloor.Long&coordinated.#fallfestival-EricBossi(@ebosshoops)October10,2015

ThestateofFloridahasbecomesoheavilyscoutedthatitisn'teasyforaplayertomakehisjuniorseasonwithoutdevelopingareputation.It'sespeciallytoughwhenheplaysatoneofthestate'stopprogramslikePompanoBeach(Fla.)BlancheEly.But,6-foot-4ishguardGeremyTaylorseemstofallintothatcategory.Alongandathletic2017guard,Taylorlookedcomfortableplayingthepointandhisabilitytogetintothepaintviathedribbledefinitelycaughtmyeye.Helookstobeagoodathletewhoneedssomerefiningonhisjumper,buthehastoolstoworkwithandlookslikeakidwhocouldemergeontothescenewithastrongseason.

Asmentionedintheopening,Montverde(Fla.)Academyhasaridiculouslyimpressivefrontlineofclassof2018studs.InadditiontoNo.2SilvioDeSousa,No.5E.J.MontgomeryClickOtherthoughts...HeretoviewthisLink.andNo.8SimisolaShittuClickOtherthoughts...HeretoviewthisLink.patrolthefrontcourtfortheEagles.

Aslenderleftywhohasaddedsomeneededmuscle,Montgomeryisknownasaskillguyandhelikestohuntjumperswhenhecan.However,the6-foot-10powerforwarddidagoodjobofmixingitupinthepaintonSaturdaynight.Healsoranthefloorhardintransitionandasaresulthecameupwiththeplayofthenightwhenheranthefloorforahugedunkonthebreak.

AproductofCanada,Shittuisaphysicallytough6-foot-8powerforwardwithlongarmsandaverywelldevelopedfeelforthegame.HeimpressedduringthesummerwithCanada's16UnationalteamandattheAdidasNationscampinAugust.HewasimpressiveinOrlandotooasShittupoundedtheglassonbothendsofthefloor,playedaggressivedefenseandshowedoffimpressivepassingabilityoutofthepostandintransition.

Thetalentdoesn'tendforMontverdewiththeirtalentedsophomorefrontcourt.SeniorcenterBrunoFernandoClick"@JoshRosario6:Bodybag#montverdevs.branchelypic.twitter.com/MgCoCr9Rsj"EJMONTGOMERYHASRISEN!!-MontverdeBasketball(@MVABasketball)October11,2015HeretoviewthisLink.isamemberoftheRivals150himself.At6-foot-9,Fernandoisaplusathletewithlongarmsandagreatframetobuildon.He'snotpolishedoffensivelybutherunsthefloor,reboundshisareaandisalegitrimprotector.Hiscoachescalledhisrecruitmentaworkinprogressandelectedtomentionhisrecruitingbyconference--BigTen,SEC,BigEast,ACCandAAC--ratherthangiveaspecificschoollist.

AnotherimportfromCanada,anotherleftyandbutaclassof2019standoutforMontverde,is6-foot-5smallforwardR.J.Barrett.Hehaslongarms,anicelookingstrokefromtheperimeter,showedsomeabilitytoputtheballonthefloorandprovedthathecandialuptheathleticismwhenheneedsitwithabigdunkdownthelane.

USFClickHeretoviewthisLink.haslandedanoffensivelyaggressivepointguardinthree-starfloorgeneralAndresFelizClickHeretoviewthisLink.fromOrlando(Fla.)WestOaks.Felizhasspeedtoburnandhelovestoshowitoff.Attimes,heshowsitoffalittletoomuchanditcauseshimtogetoutofcontrolbutthedefensecan'taffordtorestwhentheballisinhishands.Hegotintothepaintwhenhewantedandprovedtobeaprettygoodpull-upjumpshooteronSaturdaynight.

Finally, it will be interesting to watch the progression of shooting guard Jeffrey PropheteClick Here to view this Link.. A three-star junior from Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) High, Prophete is a strongly built off the ball scorer with 6-foot-2 size. On Saturday he bombed some deep jumpers but what was most impressive was his ability to score in the mid range and near the basket via pull-ups, floaters and clever shot creating.

Click Here to view this Link.