USA Basketball: Sunday night standouts
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO. – The last session until the first round of cuts were made, diminishing a group of 30 in the hunt for the ultimate final 12 spots on the United States Basketball under-17 team, took place on Sunday evening. Finding standout performers was not an issue but we did our best to pin-point all that we saw in Colorado Springs.
No one, and I mean, no one brings more energy to the floor than Scottie Barnes. The top ranked forward prospect in the 2020 class is a smorgasbord of abilities in the frontcourt as his feel for the game and playmaking skills concoct for one impressive ballplayer. Barnes set the tone immediately during the scrimmage portion on Sunday, remaining as vocal as ever as a back-line defender, but it was his interior passing skills, hounding defense and rebounding, that really stood out. His jump shot remains his most pressing need as he still displays a high arching jumper that is streaky, at best, but in a day and age where versatility is of the biggest need, Barnes comes of age at the ideal time where comparisons between he and Draymond Green will continue to become louder as he matures.
Favorites: Kentucky, Oregon, Florida, Florida State and Miami.
What is De’Vion Harmon? Is he a 1? He is a 2? He is a combo of each? Who really cares as the Oklahoma recruit shined on Sunday evening, remaining a vocal agent in the backcourt displaying tremendous leadership qualities that should transition nicely to Norman next year. The Sooners recently celebrated the commitments of two graduate transfer additions as each will be gone by the time Harmon enrolls, giving him the chance to impress from day one. The best way to describe Harmon is that he is a pressure applier; on offense, he gets downhill and forces the defense to collapse where he can then finish through contact or hit the open teammate with the kick-out pass. Defensively, he uses his granite-like physique and plus-seven wingspan to defend all three spots on the perimeter. It was all on display Sunday as Harmon continues to be the glue to any team that he is placed upon.
Committed to Oklahoma
Mobley is just a basketball adolescent at this stage of the game but the five-star’s ceiling is of that only a few can scratch. Sporting a slender body type, Mobley can struggle in holding his ground around the basket, just as he did going up against physical beasts that is Isaiah Stewart and Eric Dixon, giving up over 50 pounds to each. Whenever the game gets going though, his ability to read the play as a back-line defender is unseen even at the highest levels of play. He blocked a handful of shots with his off hand and was a menace on the offensive glass. His motor, length and mobility create for a monster of a prospect out of the 2020 class. Seeing that his father is on staff at USC and older brother, Isaiah Mobley, just committed to the Pac 12 program a month ago, the writing on the wall says that the Trojans are about to land one of the most intriguing prospects that the nation has to provide.
Favorite: USC
Hampton has grown close to an inch and added 12 pounds since last October’s USA Basketball training camp and while physically, he isn’t where he needs to be as he can take a pounding whenever contact is provided upon him, it is his unrelenting nature and willingness to compete that supersedes any of his deficiencies. A top scorer on the Under Armour circuit this spring, it was nice to see Hampton blend playmaking and scoring into his evening showing. He showed the ability to run his team as an unselfish facilitator but whenever he had to, score from each level on the floor. In a day and age where some of the top prospects go about things in robotic fashion, it is easy to tell that Hampton enjoys playing the game. He is one of the best guard prospects in high school basketball and he did nothing refute the claim on Sunday evening.
Favorites: Texas, Kansas and Duke.
He isn’t Jaylen Brown but Isaac Okoro does share similarities with his fellow Peach State native. Both display strong, developed physiques and while, at the same stage, each were never thought of as drop-dead shooters, it is the other facets of the game that make them so valuable. Now, Okoro has gotten bettered his jumper as he hit on a timely shot from 21-feet, displaying sound mechanics and touch upon it, but it is his defensive buy-in with guarding the 2-4, rebounding in traffic and winning practically every 50-50 ball, that makes Okoro such a coveted recruit. It is not his first time on the campus of the US Olympic Training Facility as Okoro took a leadership approach on Sunday, talking like his spot was on the line and boasting the chops that make him a worthy inclusion within the final group of 12.
Favorites: Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Clemson.
Thought of primarily as one of the top scorers in America, Josh Christopher has put together a tremendous spring thanks to his play on the Nike EYBL circuit and at the various camp stops. Averaging over 19 points and playing a full year up on the swoosh platform, Christopher is among the few that I would want taking a shot with the game on the line. On Sunday, he was more than good in putting the ball through the basket off of spot-up looks and mid-range pull-ups, yet it was his under appreciated passing skills that really opened eyes. A 6-foot-4 guard with a plus-five wingspan, while weighing in at 203 pounds, Christopher has the frame that absorbs contact nicely but it is his composure and vision in making the proper play thereafter that impressed the most. The under-17 trials is loaded with backcourt talent but Sunday afforded for an even stronger argument to be made for his placement within the final roster of 12.
Favorites: California, Arizona, UCLA, UNLV, Kansas, USC and Oregon.