UAA MDW Saturday-Bigs Notebook
Yesterday in Westfield, IN the Under Armour Memorial Day Weekend event tipped off inside the Pacers Athletic Center. UA sponsored teams from around the country were in attendance, so it was a great chance to see a wealth of talent…
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Continue ReadingYesterday in Westfield, IN the Under Armour Memorial Day Weekend event tipped off inside the Pacers Athletic Center. UA sponsored teams from around the country were in attendance, so it was a great chance to see a wealth of talent to end the month of May. I’ll be doing breakdowns of each day with notebooks from the guards, wings an bigs. We finish off with the bigs that I noticed throughout the day’s action.
For the guard notebook, click here!
Maximus Nelson Maximus Nelson 6'7" | PF Appleton North | 2022 State #236 Nation WI | 6’7 | Wisconsin Playground Club ’22
Nelson had arguably the best individual performance that I saw all day Saturday. The 6-foot-7 forward is the definition of a stretch four who can do damage from three, but also score inside with his back to the basket where he showcased sound footwork. In their win over Team Curry, Nelson sunk six triples on his way to a game-high 28 points and shot at a ridiculously efficient clip. He doesn’t need much time to get his shot off and it come with textbook form and good rotation on the ball after the release. A sneaky athlete, Nelson gets off the ground quickly as he showed on the couple of blocks he had when guards challenged him around the basket. He pursues rebounds at their peak and runs the floor with intent.
Iffy Ufochukwu Iffy Ufochukwu 6'10" | C Covenant Day | 2022 State NC | 6’10 | Team Curry ’22
Ufuchukwu catches you eye immediately because of his size and he didn’t waste time using it to his advantage on post touches. The 6-foot-10 big was good in back to the basket scenarios and capitalized on multiple over the shoulder hook shots throughout the game against Wisconsin Playground Club. His overwhelming size resulted in drawing fouls as he proceeded to make his way to the basket and Ufochukwu did a nice job of converting on his trips.
Christ Essandoko Christ Essandoko 6'10" | C Winston-Salem Christian | 2022 State NC | 6’11 | Team Curry ’22
Essandoko is a name that has started to gain traction among DI programs and for good reason. His massive 6-foot-11 frame is already filled out nicely for a high school prospect and on a few occasions yesterday, I saw him knock his defender down before laying the ball in or throwing down two-handed flushes. He’s a big body who isn’t afraid to throw his weight around, especially when it comes to defensive rebounds.
Michael Moore | 6’9 | Team Thrill ’22
Moore had a rough outing in Team Thrill’s loss to D1 Indiana, but in the first game of the day against DC Premier he showed his shot-blocking prowess. Denying over a handful of shots, Moore was a disruption whenever he was in the vicinity of the player attempting a shot. He was also key in Thrill’s dominant defensive performance by helping limit Premier to one-shot possessions as he took good control of the defensive glass.
Jourdain Dishmond | 6’9 | Houston Defenders ’21
Dishmond looked like a defensive lineman on the basketball court and played with the physicality that you usually see in dual-sport athletes. I caught the Defenders when they played against SOH Elite and Dishmond was a grown man with his touches on the block. The lefty used one or two dribbles to bully the defender under the rim and routinely laid the ball in with both hands. As the game progressed, SOH Elite bigs started to foul in order to contain Dishmond in the post, but his strength allowed him to absorb the contact and finish the play.
Derik Queen Derik Queen 6'9" | PF Montverde Academy | 2024 State #18 Nation FL | 6’8 | Team Thrill ’24
I may have watched Queen more than any other scout in the country at this point, but it’s always a joy when he takes the floor because of his creativity and IQ for his size and position. Queen threw his share of one-handed full court passes after securing defensive rebounds to streaking teammates for lay ups, blocked over 12 shots in the two games played and scores in such an effortless manner. His team won both of their games to set up a very intriguing matchup against Team Curry early Sunday afternoon.