War Before The Storm: Saturday Takeaways
War Before The Storm FORT WORTH, Texas – The War Before The Storm was loaded with multiple Division I prospects. On Saturday, PrepHoops Texas contributor Andre Powe got the opportunity to watch and evaluate some very talented players and teams. Here…
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FORT WORTH, Texas – The War Before The Storm was loaded with multiple Division I prospects. On Saturday, PrepHoops Texas contributor Andre Powe got the opportunity to watch and evaluate some very talented players and teams. Here are some of his takeaways from this event:
ELI STEPHENS PROVES A POINT
Not a lot of people may know who Eli Stephens (China Springs ’21) is, but after this weekend, I’m sure every team and spectator who was present now knows that he is one not to be taken lightly on the court. The 5-foot-8 point guard and his talented 16U team had an early morning heavyweight matchup against Nike Drive Nation 16U (EYBL). From the jump, Stephens was facilitating and displaying his ability to break defenders down at a high level with the rock in his hands. Stephens is currently unranked in our 2021 player rankings, but after this weekend and a strong high school campaign, don’t be surprised to see his name on our updated list in the next couple of months.
TEXAS LEGION IS NO ORDINARY INDEPENDENT TEAM
It has only been two weeks into the spring/summer season and Texas Legion (17U) is already one of the teams in Texas that everybody is raving about. They are an independent program that has multiple Division I and Division II prospects.
On Saturday, they took on Mudiay Elite (UAA). The game was standing room only from start to finish and was very fast-paced and physical from the jump. Texas Legion Players: guard Jaylin Posey and wing Joey Madimba were locked in and attacking the rim off the bounce at a very high rate. As the game progressed, Mudiay Elite started to play better help-side defense to prevent the D1 caliber duo from getting to the rim but, that is when 6-foot-6 wing and talented shooter Donald Ghostone made them pay with his ability to knock down threes from multiple spots off the catch. Texas Legion ended up pulling off a double-digit win over Mudiay Elite, proving that they are one of the best independent teams in the state of Texas.
DRIVE NATION 2022 SQUAD IS SPECIAL
There are a lot of talented 15U teams in the Lonestar State. However, I don’t think there is any team in 15U that has as much talent and depth in every position the way Nike Drive Nation (EYBL) does. Forward Colin Smith, forward Jordan Walsh, guard Keyonte George, center Lee Dort, guard Noah Shelby, forward Rylen Griffen, and forward Trae Clayton are all ranked in our 2022 player rankings. On Saturday afternoon, they matched up with Marcus Smart YGC36 (15U) in what would result in being a competitive game throughout the full 32 minutes. In the end, the talent and size of Drive Nation was too much as they won the game by 23 points.