Louisiana Top 250 Expo: Top 10 Performers
This past Saturday, we held out third annual Louisiana Top 250 expo, and it was a huge success. The building was absolutely loaded with talent going as hard as they absolutely could, and the results speak for themselves. We were able to get a look at some of the best players in the state go head to head against each other, in front of our staff, college coaches, and other members of the media.
This is going to be a list of the top 10 performers from this Saturday, as well as my own person MVP. The MVP was much harder this year than it had been in years past, as there are 4-5 players all with very legitimate arguments that they were the best player there, and the race for best player was neck and neck throughout the event. Without further ado, here were the top 10 players.
Jacoby Decker 5’8 PG Bossier 2019
Decker left little doubt in anyone’s mind than he is more than capable of scoring at a high level, going for 40+ points in the final game of the day! When he gets going, there is little the defense can do to stop him, and he is an elite scorer at all three levels. He is also super quick, and it is just downright tough to try to stay in front of him. What he might lack in size, he more than makes up for in heart, as he is tough as nails.
Moses Ngodock 6’7 PF Northshore 2019
Ngodock is a player that I’ve seen a few times, but he has a much more diverse skill set than I have seen him play with. For AAU, he was kept mostly around the basket, but he can stroke it from outside, and is able to take guys off the dribble at a better rate than I had seen before. He is still more of a stretch 4 for now, but I could definitely see him playing the 3 in the future. Moses is a guy that I could definitely see rocketing up the 2019 rankings sooner rather than later.
Kalil Thomas 6’3 SG Holy Cross 2019
The first time that Thomas really popped up on our radar was at last years Top 250 expo, and he brought the same intensity along with a lot more polish around his skills. He is a super long prospect, that is much smoother with the ball in his hands than you would expect. He finishes well around the rim and shoots it confidently from the outside.
Jamiree Williams 6’3 SG Central Lafourche 2018
Williams is another player that I’ve been able to watch a handful of times before, and this was the best I’ve seen him look. He attacked the goal hard, and finished through contact at a higher level than I’ve seen before. His jumping ability has always been there, and this weekend was no different, as he went between the legs on an alleyoop, which you can check out on our twitter.
Norris Williams Jr. 6’1 PG Archbishop Hannan 2019
Williams Jr. was one of the most impressive PG prospects we had at the camp. He has grown quite a bit since I saw him last, and he has picked up an offer to Southeastern along the way as well. He is still as shifty as ever getting to the goal, and continues to finish at a very high level. His IQ is also off the charts, and he is capable of seeing the floor as well as anyone at camp this weekend. He had some pretty impressive passes to guys cutting that left me thinking “how in the world did he see that?!”
Dywan Griffin 5’11 PG Landry-Walker 2019
Griffin is another prospect that continues to get better every time that I see him. He looked very aggressive getting to the goal, and was one of the best finishers with either hand, as he had a wide variety of layups and floaters once he got into the paint. He is also a dominant presence on the defensive end of the ball, and can simply lock the other teams best player down.
De’Antray Hughes 6’5 PF Edna Karr 2019
Hughes is a great example of what these Top250 camps are all about. I came into the weekend not knowing anything about Hughes, and I wasn’t the only one, as an AAU coach out of New Orleans was also asking about him. Hughes has a super high motor, can jump out the gym, and can score and defend well. If he can transition to the wing, he is a college prospect just waiting to happen.
Terry Collins 6’3 SG Bonnabel 2018
Now we get down to guys who were all in the conversation for camp MVP. TJ was undoubtedly the best player from the 2018 class, and there were certainly times when he was tough to stop. He had one of my favorite plays of the day, in a “Kobe-esque” turnaround jumper from the baseline that hit nothing but net, as well as a super deeeeeep pullup NBA 3 in transition.
Jalen Cook 5’10 PG 2020
I might have had some concerns due to size, but after this weekend there is little doubt in my mind. Jalen Cook is the best player in the 2020 class, and right now it’s not super close. He can do it all on the offensive end, and over stretches, there wasn’t a person in the building that could stop him, and when you tried to over-help on him, he made the right play time after time. On defense, he plays the passing lanes, and if you aren’t careful dribbling around him, he will just snatch it. I came away super impressed after watching Cook, and he has a chance to be a top 30 player in the nation.
MVP Tylan Pope 6’5 SF 2019
You can make good arguments for a handful of players to be named camp MVP, but you can’t argue that Tylan Pope had the loudest day at camp. Whether it was rim rattling dunks, behind the back dribble moves in transition, or big spot up threes, Pope was making a splash whatever he did. His motor has always been relentless, but now that he has polished up skills to go along with it, he is super tough to handle. In the past, I’ve been worried that he might just be an undersized post player, but now that I have seen him improve in both ball handling and shooting, I have no doubt his transition to the wing at the next level won’t be a problem.