Live Period Weekend Rewind: Checking In With Exum Elite’s Jace Whiting
On the first weekend of the live period, Prep Hoops Idaho checked in with Exum Elite guard Jace Whiting, one of the top 2020 guards in the state of Idaho who plays his high school ball at Burley.
Whiting, similar to his high school team is guided by his father Trent Whiting with the Exum Elite 16s team as well. The team, based in Bountiful, Utah played in the Adidas Gauntlet series (Gold division) held in Los Angeles, California. Next weekend, Whiting and his Exum Elite squad will travel to Atlanta, Georgia as part of the Gauntlet Series to continue their Spring schedule.
Heading into a weekend such as this and against this type of competition, the younger Whiting dished on the mindset needed to have success. “I felt really good about how my game matched up. It’s key to have confidence in yourself no matter who you are facing. Because when you play these big names and people who are really good, you have to have the mindset that I don’t care who they are or where they are from and they still have to guard me as well.”
First up, was a matchup with Compton Magic whom Exum Elite suffered a 4 point loss 67-63, but Whiting kicked off his Gauntlet series in style despite the L going for 23 points.
In Whiting’s second contest against EBO, his team rolled to a 12 point victory 78-66 with Whiting going for 23 points for a second consecutive game. This past season with Burley, Whiting demonstrated that he could lead the way in the scoring department, something that he is picking up again with Exum Elite as shown in his first two games with the 16s team.
In the third game of the weekend, Whiting and Exum Elite topped Pump N Run by 11 points, 65-54 as Whiting finished with 12 points.
In Whiting’s final tilt of the weekend, his team defeated Chuck Hayes Elite by 10 points, 55-45, as Whiting was once again in double figures scoring 15 points. Overall, Whiting’s team finished an impressive 3-1 on the weekend. In terms of how the team feels after the weekend, Whiting told us, “me and my team are feeling very comfortable now. We added a few new guys which took some getting used to but now we’re rolling and feeling good.”
As the Spring session rolls on, next week it’s off to Atlanta for Exum Elite where both Whiting family members will be far from Idaho and playing against top level competition. However, the goals remains clear according to Jace, “we want to win the Championship at the end of (Adidas Gauntlet Series) summer tournament.”