Adidas Southeast Invitational: Standouts
We had the opportunity to catch some more basketball from travel teams before "Team Camp June" at the Adidas Southeast Invitational in Birmingham, AL the last weekend of May. The 17 & under age division fielded some quality prospects who either had breakout performances, made a name for themselves or just flat out brought it like they usually do.
Reggie Todd was back in full effect. Photo Cred/Ty Freeman
STILL BRINGING THE HEAT
Despite his less than normal performance during the first NCAA open period in April, Reginald "Reggie" Todd was back to his dominant form with the Alabama Legends. He used his quick first step and athleticism to get into the lane to finish above the rim and through contact. His jumper looks to be improving as he knocked the open three consistently and efficiently. Known to have been quite wild in the past, Todd did a good job of staying under control while changing speeds with the ball in his hands. On the defensive end, he still tends to gamble but his aggressive play leads to several steals and deflections. It seems Todd's IQ is improving the more he plays. New Mexico St has been in contact the most while Southern Miss recently offered him a football scholarship. With his athleticism and play making ability, he would be a great fit for Marvin Menzies style of play in the WAC.
Despite his less than normal performance during the first NCAA open period in April, Reginald "Reggie" Todd was back to his dominant form with the Alabama Legends. He used his quick first step and athleticism to get into the lane to finish above the rim and through contact. His jumper looks to be improving as he knocked the open three consistently and efficiently. Known to have been quite wild in the past, Todd did a good job of staying under control while changing speeds with the ball in his hands. On the defensive end, he still tends to gamble but his aggressive play leads to several steals and deflections. It seems Todd's IQ is improving the more he plays. New Mexico St has been in contact the most while Southern Miss recently offered him a football scholarship. With his athleticism and play making ability, he would be a great fit for Marvin Menzies style of play in the WAC.
Kevin Morris is steadily improving. Photo Cred/Ty Freeman
Kevin Morris had another good showing with his Southeast Elite squad as he looks to be in great shape as ran rim to rim while logging major minutes. He filled his lane in transition, finished and even made a few nice passes for the highly skilled big at 6-foot-7. In the half court set, he finished well around the rim and had his share of explosive dunks. Morris owned the glass this weekend on both ends of the court. His recruitment has really picked among mid major programs. Morris holds offers from Brown, Cornell, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee, North Florida, Samford, South Alabama and Troy. Louisiana Tech looks to offer soon per his travel coach Chris Monroe. Morris is a pretty good student and obtains a 3.5 GPA and a 24 on the ACT so qualifying won't be an issue for the big who has improved tremendously during his high school career.
BREAKOUT PERFORMANCES
Rod Scott was known as one of the best point guards in the class of 2016 two years back but when he was forced to transfer from St. Jude to Robert E. Lee, he seemed to have lost a step. He seems to have gotten it back with the Southeast Elite as the tough point guard played with a chip on his shoulder. Scott constantly beat his man off the dribble to finish in the lane with floaters and nifty layups around bigs. When not finishing at the rim, he was working the mid range and showed a good feel in ball screen situations.
Sharp shooter Spencer Newman was in rare form this weekend. Catch and shoot, coming off screens or working the ball screen, his jumper was almost automatic. We could say he still needs to work on attacking the basket but Newman knows his role as a shooter and has a great feel of when to pull up and take a nice elbow jumper in which he gets great elevation. With consistency, Newman could really stretch the floor at the next level as teams had to pretty much keep a guy locked in on him.
Skylar Hawkins showed an improved skill set, or shall we say gained confidence, during the tournament since the last time we saw during the first live period. The 6-foot-6 forward knocked down the three from the corner consistently and beat his man off the dribble to score in the paint with his Alabama Legends team. Hawkins used his length and athleticism to rebound but needs to add strength to be able to fight on the glass. He's more of a developing wing right now but looked comfortable all weekend. His time as a face up four throughout his career helps as he is efficient from mid range especially in the high post or the short corner when opponents go zone. Navy has recently been in contact.
Baby Draymond Green defines Josh Hill, who had a stellar weekend with the Mobile Warriors. Two more inches would be the best gift Hill ever received as the 6-foot-4 forward muscled the competition on every possession. He showed his ability to knock down the three ball but more importantly, showed an improved handle on the perimeter. With taller defenders having to defend him on the perimeter, he constantly got past them and finished through contact. When smaller defenders were forced to play Hill, he showed his post game and flat out dominated them around the rim. His height and athleticism is the only weakness he has but his confidence and determination makes it hard not to mention him when you see him.
Rod Scott was known as one of the best point guards in the class of 2016 two years back but when he was forced to transfer from St. Jude to Robert E. Lee, he seemed to have lost a step. He seems to have gotten it back with the Southeast Elite as the tough point guard played with a chip on his shoulder. Scott constantly beat his man off the dribble to finish in the lane with floaters and nifty layups around bigs. When not finishing at the rim, he was working the mid range and showed a good feel in ball screen situations.
Sharp shooter Spencer Newman was in rare form this weekend. Catch and shoot, coming off screens or working the ball screen, his jumper was almost automatic. We could say he still needs to work on attacking the basket but Newman knows his role as a shooter and has a great feel of when to pull up and take a nice elbow jumper in which he gets great elevation. With consistency, Newman could really stretch the floor at the next level as teams had to pretty much keep a guy locked in on him.
Skylar Hawkins showed an improved skill set, or shall we say gained confidence, during the tournament since the last time we saw during the first live period. The 6-foot-6 forward knocked down the three from the corner consistently and beat his man off the dribble to score in the paint with his Alabama Legends team. Hawkins used his length and athleticism to rebound but needs to add strength to be able to fight on the glass. He's more of a developing wing right now but looked comfortable all weekend. His time as a face up four throughout his career helps as he is efficient from mid range especially in the high post or the short corner when opponents go zone. Navy has recently been in contact.
Baby Draymond Green defines Josh Hill, who had a stellar weekend with the Mobile Warriors. Two more inches would be the best gift Hill ever received as the 6-foot-4 forward muscled the competition on every possession. He showed his ability to knock down the three ball but more importantly, showed an improved handle on the perimeter. With taller defenders having to defend him on the perimeter, he constantly got past them and finished through contact. When smaller defenders were forced to play Hill, he showed his post game and flat out dominated them around the rim. His height and athleticism is the only weakness he has but his confidence and determination makes it hard not to mention him when you see him.
DeAndre Robinson is breaking out. Photo Cred/Ty Freeman
2017 DeAndre Robinson was one of the underclassmen who caught our eye as a potential division-I prospect in the 16 & under field. The 6-foot-5 developing wing show an inside-outside and head plenty of success. He did a good job of mixing it, depending on who was defending him. Robinson showed his athleticism around the basket and also knocked down the long ball when he decided to step out on the perimeter. He was forced to play more on the block with teammate Toryque Bateman out for the weekend. He also showed flashes of some good ball handling but will need to develop into a full time wing between now and next travel season to increase his stock. A few mid major programs have inquired but his recruitment probably won't take off until next travel season when he moves up to the 17 & under age division but if you're a college coach who doesn't mind traveling, the Monroe County product has something to offer in the back woods.
MAKING A NAME
There were a couple kids who made names for themselves this weekend and Terry Brown of the Steel City Gators had to be the most intriguing of them all. What's so intriguing is, Brown has yet to play high school basketball as a rising senior. The football prospect for Clay-Chalkville is easily one of the best guards in the state and is built like a college ready running back. He got where ever he wanted, when he wanted using his strength to finish through defenders. When he wasn't getting to rack, Brown was knocking down the three ball with ease and talked plenty of trash while doing it. He seemed to be having so much fun as he toyed with defenders with his flashy and powerful ball handling using the ball screen like he has played basketball competitively all his life. We don't know if Brown will ever touch a basketball for Clay-Chalkville, but if he does he will definitely have much success.
Brandon Mahan also caught our eye as the athletic wing showcased a good feel for the game with the Birmingham Kings. The 2017 wing has a quick first step and scored on all three levels. His ability to do so created much success like he did during the high school season at Fultondale this past season. Mahan also rebounded well for his position at 6-foot-2 maybe 6-foot-3. Curious to see how much he improves from now til the high school season.
MJ McGowan was also another 2017 who has improved here recently. He did a fairly good job running the point guard position for the Southeast Elite 16U, knocking down the three ball and creating for his teammates. McGowan showcased his athleticism and played with poise but needs to loosen up his ball handling a bit as he is too stiff at times. That's an easy fix but as the young guard continues to develop, he could be a solid prospect in the near future.
It's kind of late for TaMarco McDuffie to be making a name for himself but the unsigned senior was stellar the entire weekend. The 5-foot-11 point guard had much success in ball screen action by making heady plays with whatever the defender showed. He used his quickness to get past defenders and dropped off good passes for easy baskets for teammates. McDuffie finished around the rim really well for his size and hardly ever misses in the paint. He will be a good pick up for a division-II, NAIA or JUCO looking to pick up a point guard late.
There were a couple kids who made names for themselves this weekend and Terry Brown of the Steel City Gators had to be the most intriguing of them all. What's so intriguing is, Brown has yet to play high school basketball as a rising senior. The football prospect for Clay-Chalkville is easily one of the best guards in the state and is built like a college ready running back. He got where ever he wanted, when he wanted using his strength to finish through defenders. When he wasn't getting to rack, Brown was knocking down the three ball with ease and talked plenty of trash while doing it. He seemed to be having so much fun as he toyed with defenders with his flashy and powerful ball handling using the ball screen like he has played basketball competitively all his life. We don't know if Brown will ever touch a basketball for Clay-Chalkville, but if he does he will definitely have much success.
Brandon Mahan also caught our eye as the athletic wing showcased a good feel for the game with the Birmingham Kings. The 2017 wing has a quick first step and scored on all three levels. His ability to do so created much success like he did during the high school season at Fultondale this past season. Mahan also rebounded well for his position at 6-foot-2 maybe 6-foot-3. Curious to see how much he improves from now til the high school season.
MJ McGowan was also another 2017 who has improved here recently. He did a fairly good job running the point guard position for the Southeast Elite 16U, knocking down the three ball and creating for his teammates. McGowan showcased his athleticism and played with poise but needs to loosen up his ball handling a bit as he is too stiff at times. That's an easy fix but as the young guard continues to develop, he could be a solid prospect in the near future.
It's kind of late for TaMarco McDuffie to be making a name for himself but the unsigned senior was stellar the entire weekend. The 5-foot-11 point guard had much success in ball screen action by making heady plays with whatever the defender showed. He used his quickness to get past defenders and dropped off good passes for easy baskets for teammates. McDuffie finished around the rim really well for his size and hardly ever misses in the paint. He will be a good pick up for a division-II, NAIA or JUCO looking to pick up a point guard late.