Team Spotlight: 15U Georgia Stars (EYBL)
Dillon Hunter The 2019 edition of The Indy Tip-Off Classic featured great teams, competition, and a lot of answered questions as big time match-ups were present all over the city of Gwinnett, just north of Atlanta. A lot of…
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Continue ReadingDillon Hunter
The 2019 edition of The Indy Tip-Off Classic featured great teams, competition, and a lot of answered questions as big time match-ups were present all over the city of Gwinnett, just north of Atlanta. A lot of teams answered the call to some of those questions and in the form of a championships by Sunday afternoon. This Georgia Stars EYBL squad did that just with a balanced effort in the 15U division this past weekend.
Led by Westlake (GA) rising sophomore guard Dillon Hunter, the Stars were able to post a 6-1 record over the course of three days. Hunter, who was a part of USA basketball’s minicamp last fall, showed all facets of his game all weekend but specifically in a Saturday matchup against a talented Team YRN. All 15 of his points came from behind the arc by halftime and in the second half he was able to break defenders down with a quick crossover and finish on both sides of the rim in a winning effort. He has great length at 6’3” and can handle the basketball to make plays from anywhere on the floor with big time athleticism to finish above the rim.
Trinity Prep (FL) guard Javon Bennett was the backcourt running mate to Hunter and he is no slouch in his own right. He was also able to get going offensively during games, often times coming from the perimeter. A comfortable and streaky shooter from anywhere on the floor, Bennett was also able to get to the rim in transition with his quickness and has a lot of versatility playing off the ball or handling pressure when Hunter was denied the basketball.
Braeden MooreMore balance paces this team with the production of several two-way players at the wing position. I was impressed with both Georgia Military College High School (GA) guard Jakobe Strozier and Trinity Christian (NC) guard Fredrick Dilione. Strozier was a ball hawk defensively, aggressive in his drives to the rim and was able to crash the glass heavy to start breaks in transition. Dilione at 6’4” made a consistent impact on games with his athleticism and had one of the more impressive dunks on the afternoon as he finished over several defenders to put an exclamation point on the victory in that same match-up Saturday afternoon.
The consistent output from the individuals mentioned as well as Veterans (GA) combo guard TJ Grant, Christ Presbyterian Academy’s (TN) skilled 6’8” pick and pop forward Braeden Moore among others creates for a lot of success in tournaments such as The Tip-Off Classic. This is the second championship this month for the Georgia Stars and as the spring portion of the AAU season heads into its first live period next weekend, college coaches looking for talent in the 2022 class should take a look at this team. This bunch knows how to play together and more importantly win together and that was proven once again this past weekend.