SEMO Elite Camp (Five Takeaways)
Prep Hoops Missouri was in attendance at the SEMO Elite Camp on the campus of Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Here are five takeaways from the camp:
*Cape Girardeau Central will be good in ’19
Three players who were very impressive at the camp were hometown kids Tyrus Reddin, Kinyon Hodges and Chauncey Hughes of Cape Girardeau Central. Reddin is an electric quick 5’8′ 2020 point guard, Hughes is an energtic 2019 guard while Hodges is an explosive 6’2″ 2019 wing. They are a very talented trio to deal with. They led the Tigers to a 20+ victories last season and a near upset of Sikeston in the district championship game. Their return makes the Tigers a very interesting Class 4 team to watch in 2019.
*Shooters Shoot
There were some very impressive perimeter shooters on hand at the Elite Camp. Perhaps the most impressive was 2019 guard Treye Tucker of Machesney Park, IL, who was really lighting it up from long distance. Some of the other top marksmen on the day include: 6’3″ 2019 Ray Adams of Webster Groves, 5’11” 2020 Phillip Russell of Vashon, 6’2″ 2019 Isaiah Ervin of Hazelwood Central, 6’2″ 2020 Samuel Bledsoe of Charleston, 6’2″ 2019 Owen Long of Sikeston
*Dunking Donyae
There wasn’t a more explosive player in the camp than 2020 guard Donyae McCaskill of Vashon, who put his athleticism on full display at the camp. It wasn’t more evident that on two consecutive plays. On the first play, he drove down the lane and threw down a one-handed tomahawk dunk over the top of a poor 6’5″ defender who made a bad decision to try to jump with him. On the ensuing play, McCaskill got the ball in transition and threw down a double-pump 180′ dunk that got the rest of the camp quite excited.
*Standout JC/Preps on Display
The elite camp consisted of mostly high school players, but there were a handful of junior college of prep school players who were also invited and they showed quite well. 6’6″ 2019 forward Marque English was one of the most impressive offensive players in the camp. He was getting it done from all three levels. After a standout career at Pittsburg (KS), he will doing a year at Link Year Prep…..6’6″ forward Xavier Womack of Johnson County C.C. did an excellent job of scoring inside and on the perimeter while displaying excellent athleticism….Brian Tolefree, a 6’5″ wing from Neosho County C.C. is an athletic wing player who attack the basket and knocked down jumpers. He was very aggressive on offense….Chad Moore is a 6’6″ forward from Southwest C.C. (IA) who displayed a lot of versatility.
*Positionless Basketball and 3-pointers are alive and well
From watching the action at the camp, it’s clearly evident that the game is strictly a perimeter game as we’ve seen in the NBA with teams such as the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. I could count on one hand the number of times a player posted up and attempted a shot in the lane and those were by guards and not bigs. We are definitely in the age of small ball.