What We Learned: Swish N Dish
It was quite a three days of hoops in Mequon, Wisconsin for the NY2LA Sports Swish N Dish! We have extensive scouting of the event, video interviews, and more covering the event. What did we learn from our trip to Homestead High School? We look at that here in What We Learned: Swish N Dish!
Brad Beal Elite Runs Through State of Illinois Teams to 17U Title
Brad Beal Elite features the top three prospects in the state of Illinois in the 2019 class with Francis Okoro, EJ Liddell, and Terrence Hargrove. They looked like it in the tournament running over all Illinois teams in the way to the title beating in a row: Full Package, Get Buckets, Chicago Demons, Meanstreets, Mac Irvin Fire, and Illinois Wolves. I would say that was quite a good showing beating three other shoe company teams with many of the other D1 prospects from the state. All three of their stars had their moments along the way to the title. After a wakeup call loss to Quad City Elite in the showcase game it was lights out for BBE!
Illinois Wolves 17U Has Strong Opening Weekend
I was interested to see how this Illinois Wolves 17U group would look. They played well together as a group reaching the championship game of the 17U bracket where they fell to BBE. Perry Cowan and Bryant Brown have to be their go to guys for them to be successful. After strong junior years it looks like they are ready to take the next step. Cowan was the most aggressive we have seen him and Brown was hitting his jump shots. Marquise Kennedy from Brother Rice displayed athleticism on the perimeter running the show while still scoring. Tom Welch looked jacked with his added upper body strength contributing on the glass and scoring around the paint. Keenon Cole was comfortable with his new team bringing energy at the four. They also randomly had UW-Milwaukee commit Ty Mosley on the team. Wolves were without possibly their best player in La Lumiere (IN) win Paxson Wojcik and center Ciaran Brayboy who is a top 10 in-state prospect.
2022 Duo Has Chance to Be Special
Let’s be honest the truly elite prospects have been few and far between over the last few seasons. The next Cliff vs Jahlil debate could come in 2022 as elite freshman Amari Bailey and AJ Casey enter high school. Bailey is a name that has been known to even casual basketball fans for a while now with a reality TV show, committing and then decommitting from DePaul, and now the question of where he will go to high school. He didn’t give us any indication on that, but he has special qualities as a prospect. Big guard with supreme skill. Playing up on the 16U level he drilled a game winning three in their opening game. AJ Casey is a 6’7” center that has a frame that he should continue to grow several more inches. Exceptional skill level on the block with fundamentally sound footwork and he runs the floor great! Casey told us that he will go to either Simeon or Whitney Young. He plays with Meanstreets 14U on the circuit.
Illinois Irish Lost Some, but Have Reloaded
The Illinois Irish 16U was my favorite team to watch last summer. They were led by Donovan Moore and Anthony Fairlee. Those two are now on other teams, but the Irish have reloaded. They brought in one of the more underrated players in the state in Effingham’s Landon Wolfe who should emerge as a low-major target. Also Terrion Murdix out of Springfield Southeast continued his momentum from the state title run into the spring. They bring back Sean Houpt (Danville) and Karl Wright (Lanphier) who were starters last year. Also top 20 2020 prospect center Yves Nkomba (La Sallette) will make his debut with this team soon giving them size and rim protection.
Quad City Elite 17U Front Court Improvement
We came into the spring looking for frontcourt players to either emerge or the ones that we know about to take the next step. Normal Community power forward CJ Wilbourn and Lincoln center Jermaine Hamlin have both made improvements since we last saw them. In their battle against the two elite posts in the state on Brad Beal Elite’s front line Wilbourn and Hamlin more than held their own. Wilbourn rebounded well, fought on the interior, and showed an improved mid-range shot. Hamlin is more defensive oriented and used his length to block shots. They should both attract interest from college coaches during the live periods.
Meanstreets 15U Length and Upside
Meanstreets 15U group has length at multiple positions along with a lot of scorers. They have skilled guys like Troy D’Amico, physical scorers in Norvell Meadows, Ahamad Bynum, and Amar Augillard, along with an array of upside forwards.
Moses Moody is About to Blow Up Nationally
This 6’6” wing made his debut with Brad Beal Elite and the Arkansas native absolutely lit it up! Moody went for nearly 30 points while drilling almost every three he put up. He has everything you look for in a three and D wing at the high-major level. With the exposure he will get in the EYBL expect more power conference offers to pour in!
DJ Carton is the Truth
This Bettendorf (IA) 2019 point guard left absolutely no doubt he is one of the premier point guard prospects in the country with his play at Swish N Dish. He had the poster dunk of the weekend hammering one down on Brad Beal Elite on opening night. Carton is a smart and crafty guard that has an extremely high basketball IQ. He knows how to play the game and make the right play whether that is scoring or passing. Plus shooter from the perimeter. Carton is a priority lead guard for Big 10 programs.
Max Christie is #1 in 2021 in Illinois and Its Not Close
Rolling Meadows freshman Max Christie lit it up as a freshman and the guard put on even more of a show over the weekend at Swish N Dish with Illinois Wolves 15U. At 6’4” he has a frame that he should continue to grow. His skill level is off the charts. Elite wing passer. Can score at all three levels drilling shots both off the catch and pulling up with ease. Christie impacts the game defensively with his length. He will debut at #1 when the 2021 rankings are revealed. Potential top 25
prospect nationally.
Hoops Avenue 2021 Trio Is Fun to Watch
Really enjoyed watching Hoops Avenue/Manimal 15U trio Jaylin Gibson (Evanston), Kimahri Wilson (Carmel), and Tevin Smith (Danville). All three have cases to be made to debut in the top 10. Smith probably had the best weekend of the trio with his big scoring games getting out in transition and finishing above the rim with thunderous slams.
Meanstreets 16U Guard Trio Primed to See Recruitments Take Off
Meanstreets three headed monster in the backcourt is going to be tough for opponents to keep up with. DJ Steward, Tyler Beard, and Ahron Ulis are all top 10 overall prospects in the 2020 class. They play the same position, but seemed to mesh well together playing unselfish and off each other. Played to each individual player’s strengths.
Team Rose 15U is Exciting Group
It was an intense game as Team Rose 15U played their first game at the main venue on Saturday night. The Chicago fans were cheering loud. The player I was looking most forward to was Fred Poole from Simeon. He played solid especially later in the game, but it was Hillcrest transfer Markeise Irving that was on fire from three! He hit a ton of them on his way to 27 points. Depth of guards will be fun to watch develop on this team.
Phenom University 16U is Loaded With Talent
The new Nike EYBL team out of Wisconsin has a ton of talent! They are led by Jalen Johnson who is a top 10 player nationally in the 2020 class. This wing has a complete game being able to score at all three levels as well as passing it well for a wing. Jamari Sibley is a rangy four man that blocks shots and scores in the paint. The Greek Freak’s little brother Alex Antetokounmpo brings size, athleticism, and toughness.
Mac Irvin Fire 17U Off the Charts Athletic
The Fire might lack some skill at certain positions, but their athleticism is off the charts! In the EYBL to win games they will have to rely on that and getting out in transition to win games. With Kahlil Whitney, Markese Jacobs, Terrence Shannon, and Anthony Fairlee those are four highlight reel players that can run and jump right there!
ET21 17U Continues to Progress from Last Summer
It was a productive weekend for ET21 Buckeyes who were one of our favorite groups from last season. They went 4-1 on the weekend reaching the quarterfinals. Martin Macenis and Deng Reng are top 20-25 prospects that could emerge on D1 programs boards this spring. Matas Masys can flat out shoot the rock from three!
LeBron James Jr is Biggest Spectacle of Weekend
The biggest spectacle of the weekend had nothing to do with the older players or even the five stars in attendance. It was LeBron James Jr playing at Homestead High School on Sunday. His Blue Chips 13U squad played their semifinal game in the big gym and almost all the fans where trying to get a look at him. Even the parents of other players in different games going on at that time were trying to catch a peak. They eventually won 13U title and Bronny came up big in the title game. While I was watching Brad Beal Elite vs Illinois Wolves (5 of top 7 prospects in state) in 17U championship game it was like a ghost town because everyone wanted to see the King’s son in the other gym.
Unsigned Seniors Everywhere
There were unsigned senior prospects everywhere all weekend! Coming into the event we were focused on watching 2019-2021 prospects so many of them we didn’t get a chance to see, but a lot of ranked prospects are still looking for a home. They included DeAndre Heckard, Eddie Creal, Barlow Alleruzzo, Brian Conaghan, Paul O’Leary, Charles McKinney, Darren Williams, Brian Hernanez, Emmanuel O’Neal, David Forrest, and many more.
Travel Team Transfer Season About to Begin?
After one weekend of travel team basketball now let the transfer season of the spring commence! Technically there were some smaller events the previous weekend and some kids have already played for two teams in two weeks. I have always maintained travel teams should stick with who they brought in to the spring. Also for the players changing travel teams, once in your career for whatever reason is fine. If you become known as a team jumper college coaches notice and it is a sign you might transfer in college. Just another red flag you don’t want next to your name.