ROCK HILL, S.C. – The first live period is in the books, and Rivals spent its final weekend at the Under Armour Association stop outside of Charlotte. There were no shortage of notable performances from future college stars in the last three days, and our Jacey Zembal was on hand for many of them.
Below, he shares the prospects that made the biggest impressions over the weekend.
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Zembal's Takeaways: Sunday at the Under Armour Association
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MVP
A case could be made for the likes of junior Derik Queen of Team Thrill, but Oliogu showed the complete package nearly every time out. He scored between 19 and 26 points his first four games and is coming off a fractured thumb injury that prevented him from playing in the first Under Armour Next session.
He has several good offers already — including Oregon, Alabama, Maryland and Syracuse among others — but colleges will be lining up.
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MR. SHOWTIME
Jackson of Team Thrill 16s plays the point guard position like he is on skates. He is similar to five-star 2024 point guard Boogie Fland of NYC in many ways. The slick and quick lefty helped lead his squad to the title and he cemented his top 20 status.
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UNDER THE RADAR I
Jennings has a name known in basketball circles — point guard Brandon Jennings played in the NBA — but the Richmond (Va.) St. Christopher’s product isn’t related, though they are both lefties. Jennings played with Global Squad and showed he was a productive combo guard with a nice jumper and ability to get into the lane.
Winthrop shrewdly offered following the event, and he had been offered by Radford and Lafayette last summer.
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STOCK ABOUT TO EXPLODE
Jackson didn’t have any offers going into the event, but after anchoring Team Thrill’s defense with his shot-blocking and rebounding, and combining that with his power around the rim offensively, it proved to be a big weekend for him.
The Baltimore (Md.) Edmondson-Westside High product was offered by Illinois and more offers should start rolling in as colleges watch him.
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BUY STOCK NOW
Rock was a long ways from home in Rock Hill, S.C., but his presence at the Under Armour Association allowed Rivals to get a recent viewing of the No. 101 junior. The 7-foot, 225-pounder played with Sanford Basketball Academy in the secondary UA division.
The Iowa State commit made the most of it, but had a rocky start Sunday afternoon. After getting popped in the nose accidentally, he settled in and showed good hands, the ability to finish around the rim and mid-range touch.
It wasn’t a vintage effort against the scrappy Alaska squad TruGame, coming up short 58-56, but he showed what he could be down the road.
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NOT HOW YOU START...
Miller of West Coast Elite arrived and got smoked right off the bat 68-43 by NJ Shoreshots on Friday morning. Miller had 12 points and went 5-of-10 from the field with two assists and seven turnovers.
The AZ Compass Prep standout turned it around and West Coast Elite won three straight games to reach the 17s title game, before falling to a quality Team Thrill squad.
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BEST GAME WINNER
B. Maze Elite saw its lead crumble and were down by one point against Atlanta Xpress. Jahseem Felton of Lincolnton (N.C.) Combine Academy sprang into action and hit a three-pointer with 0.5 seconds left to pull out the victory. Felton had 28 points and five three-pointers in the win.
