Top 10 Players at Next Up Recruits Jamboree
Over the course of the day Saturday at Butler high school, 16 teams made the trip to Shivley for a showcase/jamboree. I arrived half way through the second game of the day between Southern and Collegiate. Here are the standout players from the event. The list is strictly in order of when they played their game, not ranked.
- Sophomore Cearius Warren showed off his elite high major athleticism more than once in the game against Collegiate but also showed his immaturity by whining about calls instead of getting back on defense more than once. Warren has the most upside of anyone in the 2021 class in Kentucky. At the rate he’s improving, he could be a Top 100 level player in that class nationally.
- Collegiate Junior Chez Moore looks to have grown a little bit and was much more comfortable putting the ball on the floor than he was the last time I saw him play in May. Moore has great size and athleticism as a wing but needs to improve his shooting to play at the next level. There were several times he didn’t even look at the rim on the catch so he was never a threat to shoot the ball. Chez is one to track in the 2020 class.
- Central sophomore point guard Devin Perry showed a real ability to penetrate the lane and either finish or kick out to teammates. Perry is very quick with the ball in his hands and is only going to get stronger as he grows and starts to hit the weights. I don’t recall Devin shooting any perimeter jumpers but that will be a part of his game he has to show as he starts seeing some recuitment come his way.
- Waggener Junior Dallas Rufus continues to improve. Dallas is skilled and athletic and has become a much more confident perimeter shooter over the past year. It’s hard to tell what Rufus’ ceiling is only because he doesn’t get to play with the ball in his hands much at Waggener. As a point or combo prospect, it’s hard to evaluate him when he plays primarily off the ball at the high school level. Regardless, watch for Dallas to have a much more impressive year this year statistically.
- Junior Dre Boyd made the move from Adair County to Warren Central this summer and Boyd looked better than I’ve ever seen him on Saturday. Dre was making plays all over the court and impacting the game as much as possible. In addition to a massive dunk in the first half against Waggener, Dre had a really good all around game Saturday and looks like a very good college prospect moving forward.
- Seneca Senior Richard Ninamou is another prospect who never fails to play super hard. His motor never stops and he always looks like he is having the most fun of anyone on the court. Rich is a long athlete who has a lot of upside but needs to start showing more of an offensive game to make the next level. With a 20 ACT and 3.5 GPA, Ninamou should have some college options by the end of the season.
- Butler’s Trey Minter showed his scoring ability against Collins Saturday night. Minter is the type who can get hot quick but he never quite got into a rhythm Saturday in a very ugly scrimmage. Trey was able to get to the rim and finish through contact while keeping Collins’ guards in front of him on the defensive end. Minter is a 4.0 student who could be a steal for a high academic school when the time comes.
- Collins’ Marcellus Vail appears to have grown and added significant muscle to his frame. Vail was looking to attack the rim on drives and made several nice moves to score. As mentioned before, this particular scrimmage had no offensive flow and a lot of fouls so no one looked particularly great but Vail is a no doubt D1 player as a scoring combo guard.
- Male Junior point guard Tyren Moore was electric on Saturday. He hit several threes against the UHA defense. Moore’s best position may be playing off the ball as a shooter but his lack of height makes him a point guard by default sometimes. Regardless, Tyren was the best player on the floor Saturday against UHA and that includes Xavier signee KyKy Tandy.
- Speaking of UHA, Senior Drew McGowan had a big game against Male. McGowan has been committed to Mississippi State for baseball for a couple of years now and has pro potential on the diamond but he’s a pretty good basketball player too. If UHA is going to make a return to Rupp, McGowan is likely to be the second leading scorer behind Tandy but, more importantly, Drew is a very efficient scorer. While KyKy Tandy made the highlights, Drew was quietly UHA’s best player on Saturday.