Sin City Scouting: Jack’s Underclassmen Wing/Big Standouts
The end of the AAU season sees over 1,000 AAU teams travel to Las Vegas to compete in a dozen or so tournaments. It’s a great place to be for a hoops fan, college coach or scout, however there’s just so much going on across the city that it’s hard to see everything. I focused on the Adidas Gauntlet Finale, the Fab 48, Adidas Select Showcase and Bigfoot Hoops The Ei8ht. While I wasn’t able to see everything, I compiled a notebook of standouts from across the country, and here’s a look at some of the underclassmen wings and bigs that stood out from across the events.
Matt Hurt | 6’9” F | D1 Minnesota 17U
I have watched this kid a handful of times over the past few seasons, and he continues to show that he’s as good, maybe better, than advertised. After picking up a Duke offer earlier in July, he showed out in Vegas as one of the most skilled and efficient forwards in the country. He’s a true shot maker from all over the floor, and his added size allows him to post up smaller players where he can shoot the fadeaway or attack the rim and finish. He’s very good at getting to his spots and not doing too much, as I’ve never seen him take more than a few dribbles to get his shot off. He finished the event averaging 19.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game all while shooting 61% from the floor, 58% from deep and 89% from the line. All this coming from a 6’9” forward, now that’s consistent efficiency!
Armando Bacot | 6’10” PF | Team Loaded VA 17U
Playing alongside one of the best 2018 bigs in the country means he isn’t going to get the touches needed to put up huge numbers, but Bacot showed his skill set and stepped up at the biggest of stages to help his team win a championship. In the championship game, he finished with 12 points and five rebounds in just 20 minutes of play, and when they needed an easy basket inside they went to Bacot. He has great footwork, finishes well through contact and is also a good passing big man. He finished the tournament averaging 8.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Zac Ervin | 6’5” WF | Team Loaded VA 16U
Ervin really stepped up big for Loaded VA 16s, taking more of an aggressive scoring role and showing that he can fill it up in a number of different ways. He’s a good shooter from deep, can put it on the floor and get in the lane where he showed off his athleticism with a couple of big dunks and he’s also a good rebounder for a wing. The thing that Ervin did really well this past week was get to the line often. In their win over Compton Magic 16U, he finished with a game high 18 points and shot 10 free throws throughout the game. With his size and ability to put it on the floor in straight lines, this should be a way for him to score a lot of points efficiently over the next few years.
Bryce Wills | 6’5” WG | NY Rens 17U
Wills supposedly struggled early in the summer, but you couldn’t tell with how he played when I watched him with the Rens last week. A smooth wing that can put it on the floor and finish at the rim both in transition and in traffic, Wills was efficient, took great shots and provided a spark off the bench. He’s immensely talented offensively, as he can make shots from all over the floor and he has a quick first step for his size. He has a great frame as well, meaning he’ll be college ready in a couple of seasons when his time comes.
Christian Brown | 6’6” WF | GAME Elite 17U
What can you say about this kid? He’s big, strong, tough and super athletic. On top of that, he’s skilled! Brown plays the game extremely fast, and since he plays the 3/4 hybrid role for this team he’s a walking mismatch. He finishes ferociously above the rim, he can shoot it from deep, has good vision for a guy his size and he plays equally as hard defensively as he does on the offensive end. His all out mentality feeds energy to the rest of his team, and he was a big reason they were two points away from making the semifinals with a team of all 2019 guys. He finished the tournament averaging 15 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Isaac Johnson | 6’9” F | Exum Elite 17U
Johnson was another super skilled big man that translates well as a stretch four man at the next level. He’s super long, gets up and down the floor well and can absolutely stroke it from deep. His length allows him to shoot over top smaller posts, and he can pull out big men and allow his guards to attack the paint without worry of a shot blocker. While he can shoot the deep ball, I really liked how he worked from the high post, where he knocked down the jumper and also made good decisions passing the ball. In the game I watched, he finished 10-for-11 from the field, scoring 23 points and grabbing five rebounds in just 22 minutes of play. Injuries limited him the rest of the tournament, but he still finished averaging close to 11 points per game in just over 15 minute per game.
Mark Williams | 6’10” PF | Team Loaded VA 15U
Williams continues to develop and continues to rake in the offers as a result. The long 6’10” big man has filled out significantly since the summer started, and at just 15 years old he’s still growing! While he was content to just float around the perimeter and shoot jump shots early in the summer, he’s now using his length to finish over the top of smaller posts and is attacking the glass much harder. However, it is his skill set that makes him so intriguing moving forward. He can handle it in transition, step out and knock down set shots or shoot the fadeaway in the post and he’s a capable and willing passer out of the post. His most recent offers of Clemson, UVA, Oklahoma State, ODU and VCU show that there are already high major programs that see how special he may become.
Qudus Wahab | 6’11” PF | Team Loaded NC 17U
With such a potent backcourt, Wahab doesn’t get enough touches to make a huge impact offensively, but the strides he’s made over the past year can’t go unnoticed. He’s still an intimidating shot blocker and rebounder in the paint, but he’s starting to develop as a post scorer that can step outside and knock down shots. He showed touch out to 18 feet, a jump hook with both hands and the ability to run the floor and finish in transition. In his best game of the tournament against the Iowa Barnstormers, he finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds and two blocks in just 14 minutes of play and shot 5-for-6 from the field.