AAU Superlatives Leading Up To the First Certified Weekend
The first NCAA certified period is starting this evening and runs through Sunday afternoon. Scholarships will be earned and trophies will be handed out. Looking ahead, I thought it would be fun to hand out some superlatives leading into the weekend.
Most Likely to get their First High Major offer: Damion Baugh, Team Thad 17u. After reclassing to 2019, former Cane Ridge High Raven Damion Baugh has the size and speed to electrify college coaches in Dallas, Texas. Baugh did not get the looks he wanted while attending Georgia’s Lincoln Academy this winter. He will explode this month. Watch.
Most Likely Team to go Undefeated this Weekend: EAB 17u. The Hoopseen Bama Jam field is decent, but EAB 17u has their program’s best team ever. Three of the best five players in the event might just be on the EAB 17u team. Teams like Team Penny (EYBL) and Team Thad (UA) will rarely if ever manage an event undefeated because the competition level is screamingly high.
Most Likely 2019 Player to Rack Up Offers this month: Tre Edwards UPlay Canada 17u. Hamilton Heights Christian Academy does a wonderful job training their young men. Tre is a 6-foot-6 shooting guard with delicious touch and improving quickness. He plays with a lot of friends and supporters in Canada, his home country. Both he and Wheza Panzo earned New Mexico offers this week.
Most Likely 2020 Player to Get Their First Offer: Marvin Hughes, Team Thad 16u. There are likely to be a handful of kids in 2020 who get their first offer in the next few weekends. Marvin is the starting point guard for a program renowned for producing high major point guards (Jaylen Fisher-TCU, Chris Chiozza-Florida, etc.). College coaches watch Team Thad without knowing who they have simply because of their tradition of excellent players. Marvin is the latest excellent player.
Most Likely 2021 Player to Get Their First Offer: Randy Brady, W.A.C.G. 15u. Expect Randy to transfer to Brentwood Academy. Also, expect Randy Brady to sparkle during AAU. He holds the ball longer than most elite players at his age, but he makes good choices. He doesn’t over-dribble or take dumb shots. Brady is a classic versatile scorer.
Most Likely Player to Rack Up Offers this month: Brandon Huntley, BMaze Elite . Brandon picked up his first D1 offers last week per mother as Auburn extended an offer. Huntley has all the weapons to be an elite recruit. These next two weekends can carry him into a top 100 national ranking and a slough of high major offers.
Most Unknown Player to Add His First Offer: Keon Ambrose, UPlay Canada 16u. Because he came off the bench for Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, Keon Ambrose rarely turned heads over the winter. Ambrose is 6-foot-7 with budding wing skills. His emergence has waited long enough. On a weaker high school team Ambrose would have been the star player. HHCA’s development certainly helped him mature at a more natural pace. The time to unleash his greatness has arrived.
Most Likely to Dunk on Someone this Weekend: James Wiseman, Bluff City Legends 17u. I mean…c’mon.
Most Likely to Get Hot and take over a Game: Keon Johnson, EAB 17u. The state’s best sophomore will crush competition in Birmingham. He has the killer instinct mixed with the skills to dominate. Johnson recently earned top 2020 player in the state and also picked up a Mr. Basketball award. He carried his Webb School through March. There is nothing he cannot do at this level.
Team With the Most to Prove: WHBH Gold 16u. Work Hard Be Humble (WHBH) is a relatively new team to the grassroots atmosphere. Program Director JP Primm performed the most miraculous recruiting feat in central Tennessee. He brought in DeArre McDonald, Harry Lackey, Jacobi Wood, J’Quan Ewing, etc. They won a smaller event last weekend. Can they keep it going and make that first big splash?
The Unanswerable Question: Is this the year Tennessee finally gets a third power program? W.A.C.G. has been pounding the pavement at the lower grades and BMaze Elite torched the 14u/15u age groups last season. EAB cobbled together some stars. They are ready to compete with some bigger boys. Beyond Team Penny/Bluff City Legends and Team Thad the state annually lacked that dominant shoe deal franchise. That ends now.
If you ardently disagree tweet better players to @PrepHoopsTN or respond in the comments below!