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Starting Five: Josh Minott & Zuby Ejiofor show out, event notes

The summer of the live streamed event continued over the weekend. Rising senior Josh Minott continues to ascend while 2022 big man Zuby Ejiofor announced his presence as a national level prospect.

In this week's edition of the Starting Five some notes from watching TB5 Report's King of the South in the Dallas area, On the Radar Hoops' Who wants the Smoke from Atlanta and Phenom Hoops' Phenom Challenge from South Carolina.

1. JOSH MINOTT IS TAKING OFF

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I watched four-star swingman Josh Minott play in CP25's Virtual Player Evalution Series in June and thought that he was somebody that we may have underrated a bit. After watching him play for CP25 Red on Saturday in the Who wants the Smoke event, there's no doubt in my mind that he's at least a top 50 prospect in the class of 2021 and that may even be a bit on the conservative side of things.

Down to a final five of Baylor, Florida State, Maryland, Memphis and Texas, Minott was a one man wrecking crew. He's on the slender side and needs more strength, but he was all over the place blocking shots, made high level passes to teammates for scores, finished over the top of opponents in transition and showed promise as a deep jump shooter. His rapid improvement has been one of the bigger stories of the summer and whichever of his final five ends up with him is getting a guy with significant upside who has really come into his own.

2. ZUBY EJIOFOR IS ONE TO WATCH IN 2022

One of the players I was most looking forward to watching over the weekend was 2022 big man Zuby Ejiofor. The 6-foot-8 product of Garland (Texas) High produced in a big way at King of the South while playing with Beast Up 16U.

An explosive athlete who heads to the rim with bad intentions, Ejiofor is physically dominant at the U16 level as there few rising juniors who can contend with his strength, bounce and aggression. Yes, he loves to play like a bully. But, he doesn't have to rely on overpowering guys. He puts the ball on the floor, shows promise as a jump shooter and is an absolutely dominant rebounder.

The next time we update 2022's rankings you can be sure that Ejiofor will make an impressive debut. So far his only offer is from TCU but he looks well on his way to being a Big 12 and SEC priority recruit.


3. KING OF THE SOUTH NOTES

In our weekend roundtable, I mentioned that 2022 four-star Cason Wallace's current ranking has been one that I've heard from a lot of people on. So, I wanted to make sure to lock in on him while he took the floor with Taz Elite. Wallace impressed. I'd call him a combo guard and what you have to love about him is the level of energy he plays with. He defends hard and causes tons of deflections, he is a dangerous pull-up jump shooter and he gets into the lane to make plays for others. Put it this way, he's doing all those who have been advocating for him proud.

A member of the 2021 Rivals150, Ja'Vier Francis isn't the bulkiest big man around. But he's certainly one of the most athletic and I liked watching him play with Houston based RL9. Francis is 6-foot-8 with very long arms He is quick to the rim for dunks, runs the floor and is a rim protector on defense. Houston, Iona, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, SMU, Tulsa and more have offered for good reason.

I continue to be impressed by how deep the pool of talent is in Texas for the class of 2022. It's just loaded. Add Jason Thirdkill of Dallas Showtyme to the list. A long and athletic 6-foot-6 wing with a chance to develop into a pretty good jump shooter, he primarily caught my eye because of his ability in transition. TCU offered Sunday night while his other offer comes from UT-Arlington.

Five-star Keyonte George looked pretty dang good and as advertised while I was watching him with Basketball Means More on Friday night. He left the game early due to an injury but he was spraying smooth looking jump shots from all over before going down. Offense just comes easy to him and at 6-foot-5 with a handle, it's easy to see why he's picked up offers from Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Cal, Florida, Kansas, LSU, N.C. State, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M and others.

4. NOTES FROM WHO WANTS THE SMOKE

It was a heck of a Saturday for Team Parsons point guard Darius Johnson. Currently sitting right on the edge of the 2021 Rivals150, Johnson is assured of a spot in the next set if I have anything to say about it. Man, I just love the way he competes, controls tempo and seems to always know when to be a scorer and when to be a setup guy. Alabama, Florida, Georgetown, Providence and Seton Hall are among his offers.

Already committed to Texas Tech, four-star wing Jaylon Tyson looked terrific with the Next Page Force. I love his combination of size, skill and overall feel for the game. He's particularly dangerous when catching in the corner. He's deadly as a shooter from that spot and if defenders close too hard, he's a slick baseline driver. Chris Beard and Tech just keep winning in recruiting.

Teaming up with Tyson on the NP Force, Ole Miss commit Daeshun Ruffin was cooking as well. A four-star prospect, when Ruffin is playing with the confidence he had on Saturday he's a load. Though he's a sub six-footer, he plays much bigger than his size due to his athleticism, toughness and sheer will. When he's making deep pull-up jumpers like he was in Atlanta at the Who wants the Smoke event.

I like the direction that 2022's No. 51 ranked player Julian Phillips is headed in. The Upward Stars winger is a bouncy athlete who has a nose for making plays around the rim and in transition. He's alert on both ends and has ideal size and versatility. He's an easy ACC and SEC priority and it shows given that he's got nearly 20 high major offers.

5. NOTES FROM THE PHENOM CHALLENGE

During the 2019-20 high school season I didn't see many point guards from the class of 2023 that are better than Robert Dillingham. He backed up that opinion at the Phenom Challenge on Sunday. Playing for the Game Changers, Dillingham electrified as a scorer and setup guy. He has deep range, tremendous quickness and loads of confidence. He's going to be fun to watch over the next three years and looks like a national level prospect.

I'm intrigued by the potential of 2022 shooting guard Donovan Atwell. He looks to be in that 6-foot-4/6-foot-5 range and has a long and rangy build with some serious deep range on his jump shot. The jumper looks good every time it comes off of his fingers and the size to shoot over most defenders only makes him more intriguing. He will certainly receive attention from mid to some high majors.

The backcourt for Tea Marie Hoops of Bobby Pettiford and Breon Pass was a lot of fun for me to watch. A Rivals150 prospect who recently committed to Louisville, Pettiford is a big-time athlete and really gets downhill with the ball. He's not backing down from anybody. A two-sport standout who holds several high major offers in football, Pass is worth a good look from high majors in basketball. He's a playmaker, he's tough and he can go and get a contested bucket.

Also impressive at the point guard position was South Carolina pledge Jacobi Wright. Strongly built and tough, he looks like he was rolled right off of an assembly line that was designed by Frank Martin. He'll play physical defense, does a good job of involving others and was going and getting baskets when his team needed them.

Look, I don't evaluate players until they are of high school age so I'm not going to speculate on the future of 2025 guard Eli Ellis. But, I stumbled across him playing in a 17U game with TLBA 2022 and it's not every day you see a rising 8th grader drop 27 against mostly rising seniors. He sure looks skilled and it will certainly be interesting to see what type of prospect he is a few years down the road.

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