Shaw's Takeaways: Five hot takes from the NBPA Top 100 Camp

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Sixty of the nation’s best prospects gathered in Orlando for the NBPA Top 100 Camp. Started in 1994, this is one of the most prestigious camps in the country, routinely attracting the top prospects. Rivals.com’s Jamie Shaw was sideline along with NBA scouts and college coaches for the experience. Here are five “hot takes” Jamie took with him from the camp.

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2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position

2022 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position

2023 Rankings: Top 30

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This comes off a Nike EYBL session where I wrote, in this same space, that Jackson had earned his way to top-10 status. The 6-foot-9 forward continued to ride that wave here at the NBPA Top 100 camp, even as one of the younger players in attendance. Jackson plays with a lot of pop in his game. The Columbia (S.C.) Ridge View High 2023 prospect has ball skills to go with excellent timing on the defensive end. For the week, Jackson averaged 9.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1 block while shooting 65.5-percent from the field. He was perhaps the talk of the camp between the scouts and college coaches in attendance.

Recruitment: Jackson still has a ways to go in his recruitment, however the likes of South Carolina, North Carolina, Duke, Florida State, Tennessee, Florida, Wake Forest and a handful of others have offered.

Castle really shined in the 3-on-3 play where he helped lead his team to a camp championship. It was there he showed the ball skills and vision, the range out to tree, and the pop around the rim. While in game play, the 6-foot-6 guard averaged 7.8 points on 40-percent shooting from three, his effect on winning continued to show. Currently at No. 55 in the 203 Rivals150, Castle showed at this camp he deserves to be talked about among the best, expect a bump to be forthcoming for the Covington (Ga.) Newton High guard.

Recruitment: Like Jackson, there is still a ways to go in Castle’s recruitment. He carries early offers from the likes of Georgia Tech, Xavier, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Miami, UConn and others.

Wallace has a rugged nature about his game, onlookers may call it a winning pedigree, but it is something that shines through every time the Richardson (Texas) High guard steps on the floor. Offensively, he fills in the gaps on any team, with the ability to pass, shoot, and handle. However, defensively he can be a game changer. Questions arise if Wallace can be a true No. 1 option offensively, and that is fine. In three games at the NBPA Top 100 camp he averaged three steals and a block per game. Overall Wallace averaged 10.3 points, 5 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 3 steals, shot 36-percent from three for the event.

Recruitment: Thought to be a Tennessee lean for some time, Wallace has set August visits with Kentucky and Texas and is looking about setting one with Kansas as well.

Clingan is a mountain of a man, who was visibly the biggest player at the camp. He has soft hands, sets great screens, posts hard with a huge target, rebounded his area, and blocked shots. The questions will spark when it comes to overall athleticism, both pop and quickness, but the Bristol (Conn.) Central High center is so big and lengthy with high IQ and hands the athletic questions will probably will not be as much of an issue on the college level. Clingan is also a very good passer. He averaged 7.3 points, 7 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks in his seven camp games.

Recruitment: Clingan is committed to UConn.

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There is not much on the floor Traore cannot do. Now he still needs to continue to tighten it all up, but he has range on his jump shot, can score with his back to the basket, can slide his feet on defense, can attack the basket off the bounce, it is a full quiver of arrows for him. The 6-foot-9 forward showed glimpses of brilliance in this camp, and he competed, which was not always the case in this setting. When it comes to his NBA prospects, you wish he was a couple inches taller, but for college, this will not matter as much. Traore, of Napa (Calif. ) Prolific Prep, is currently ranked No. 64 in the ‘22 Rivals150 and averaged 12.4 points and 3.8 rebounds on 57.4-percent shooting for the week.

Recruitment: Traore took official visits to Texas and TCU in June.