Louisiana Top 250 Camp: Top 10 Performers
Rodney Munson 6’2 G Bonnabel 2019
Munson struggled a bit the very first game, and after watching him I was a little worried it would be a sign of things to come for the day. Boy I couldn’t have been more wrong. The very next game, he went off on the offensive end, including a 9-0 run that he scored for his team by himself. He scored on all three levels, and continues to look better and better everytime I see him. He is an improved finisher around the rim, and has definitely made himself into a college prospect.
DJ Burns 6’6 F Sophie B. Wright 2019
Burns’ game fits in perfectly in a camp environment, because he is a very versatile player on both ends of the floor, and plays with a motor that is constantly running. He was able to throw down some big time dunks, and showed an improved ability to handle the ball. What I was most impressed with was that while he was able to bully defenders, that wasn’t the only trick that he pulled out of his bag. He was able to play with more finesse than I’m accustomed to in his game, and showed a varity of finishing moves around the rim.
De’Antray Hughes 6’6 F Edna Karr 2019
If there is one thing that I can definitely say about Hughes, it’s that he gets better every single time that I see him. He might have one of the highest ceilings of his class, because he is simply a world class athlete and leaper. He threw down some of the hardest dunks we saw all day, including in traffic and on some peoples heads. What I was more impressed with was his improved ability to play on the perimeter and handle the ball a bit more. In one game I saw him knock down a pull up mid-range jumper, which I don’t think I’ve seen in his game before. Someone is going to get a bit steal at the next level.
Ladamien Bradford 6’4 G Jonesboro-Hodge 2020
As you will see later in this article, Bradford didn’t bring home my MVP, but he was as close to MVP as it gets. I had seen a ton of film on him, but this was my first time seeing Bradford in person, and he definitely lives up to the hype. He has a lightning quick first step, and it was tough for anyone to stay in front of him all day. He sees the floor really well, and might have had the pass of the day, with a smooth no look in transition from half court. He is a good ball handler, and has the size to survey the entire floor. He’s athletic enough to be able to finish above the rim as well.
Byron Joshua 5’9 G Crescent City 2020
Joshua showed up to camp a little late, so I was a little worried that he would have a bit of a slow start. However, he proved me wrong. He showed once again why he is one of the top point guard prospects of the 2020 class. He showed a much improved ball handling ability than I had seen from him this summer, and was able to really show off his speed and quickness when getting to the rim. He is about as pesky a defender as you will find in the state, and showed that ability off as well. His jumpshot looks to have improved as well, and he is at the very least average as a shooter from deep, and is able to keep the defense honest.
Tai’Reon Joseph 6’2 G Scotlandville 2020
When it came to Joseph’s game, I always knew that at the very least you would be getting lockdown defense, and a really good shooter from deep. However the part of his game that I was most impressed with was his ability to put the ball on the floor. He is now able to really beat defenders off the dribble, and showed a much improved ability to finish around the rim, including multiple and-1s and a really nice dunk in transition.
Corey Smooth 6’0 G Rummel 2020
If I’m being honest, Smooth’s game is perfectly fit for a camp enviroment, and he showed why this weekend. He is a really fantastic passer, and threw some really nice no look passes. When he has his head down and is attacking the rim, its tough for the defense to stop him, because if the help defender slides over, he hits the open guy every time, and if they don’t, he can finish through most defenders. His jumpshot is definitely still a question mark that he has a couple years to answer, but if he does, college coaches are going to come calling.
Carvell Teasett 6’1 G Scotlandville 2020
Teasett wasn’t able to play varsity basketball last season, so it had been a while since I had seen him play live games, but he reminded me real quick exactly what he’s made of. On the offensive end, he is near impossible to stop, as he is capable of scoring consistently at all three levels maybe better than anyone at camp. He has a quick first step and was able to get into the lane pretty much whenever he wanted. For those of you keeping track at home, this is the 2nd 2020 Scotlandville player on this list, and if the list went down to 20, there would be 3 (Jonathan Horton), and that’s not including 2020 top 100 player Reece Beekman who was in the building but didn’t compete. Something tells me Scotlandville is going to be just fine the next couple of years.
Emareyon McDonald 6’1 G Red River 2021
And now for the sole 2021 player to make the top 10 list, Emareyon McDonald, although his AAU and camp teammate Carlos Stewart made a pretty good case for himself as well, and if this list were 11 players long, Stewart would be on it. However, when McDonald really gets going, there’s not many capable of stopping him. He has in the gym range and maybe the quickest release in the state. However, what really impressed me was his ability to finish in the lane. Even just 3 months ago, all of his finishes in the lane were floaters, but now he is absorbing contact and finishing at the rim much stronger.
MVP: Hunter Dean 6’9 F Lakeshore 2019
If you were following along with the camp on twitter, you saw the strongest cases for Dean picking up camp MVP honors. He started off the camp with a bang, finishing a full extention windmill with his head at the rim, super impressive for a player at 6’9. Then once the games started, he enforced his will whenever he wanted. He dunked everything around the rim, was the best rim protector in the gym, and showed off range well beyond the college 3 point line. He was simply a matchup nightmare and no one was able to slow him down on either end of the floor. Dean is a clear mid major prospect, and coaching staffs across the country should be hopping on him as soon as possible.