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Eight takeaways from the Nike Peach Jam tournament
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — The highlight of the first week of the July live period is the Nike EYBL finals at the Peach Jam, an event that annually lures some of the most well-known college coaches in the nation thanks to its star-studded field.
I spent this past Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Peach Jam watching games and chatting with the coaches on hand. I've written extensively about Duke's recruiting successes already, but here are eight other takeaways from the event:
1. At a tournament featuring many of the most coveted prospects in the nation, the MVP was an unranked 5-foot-9 point guard without nearly as much hype. Auburn commit Jared Harper was outstanding at times during the tournament, tallying 24 points in the semifinals and 34 in the title game to lead a loaded Georgia Stars team to the championship. With Auburn coach Bruce Pearl watching courtside, Harper expertly controlled the pace of play and showed a knack for scoring and passing, sinking 21 threes in eight games and tallying more than twice as many assists than turnovers. Small sample size of games or not, it appears Auburn has found its point guard of the future.
2. Chris Paul doesn't merely attach his name to Team CP3. The Los Angels Clippers point guard takes pride in being extremely involved with his grassroots club. Paul was on the bench for each of Team CP3's games this past week in South Carolina, instructing players during timeouts, shouting encouragement between plays and generally living and dying with every basket. To sum up how competitive Paul is, consider what he did during Team CP3's final game of pool play. Paul led a fake 5-4-3-2-1 chant to try to convince an opposing player that the shot clock was about to expire.
3. If De'Aaron Fox wasn't already considered the Class of 2016's best point guard, he made a strong case for himself at Peach Jam. The Houston Hoops point guard showcased a lightning-quick first step to the rim, excellent court vision and an ability to finish in traffic in leading his team to the quarterfinals. About the only thing glaringly missing from his game at this point is a consistent jump shot. Coaches from Arizona, Kansas, Louisville and LSU were on hand for most of his games, but the program with the most at stake with his recruitment may be Texas. New coach Shaka Smart reportedly first called Fox on his second day on the job and has made him a top priority ever since.
4. California Supreme failed to reach the Peach Jam quarterfinals, but its most coveted prospect still asserted himself well. Rapidly improving 6-foot-11 Brandon McCoy solidified himself as one of the Class of 2017's top big men by blocking shots, rebounding in traffic and scoring either on short jump shots or with his back to the basket. He has excellent size, length and athleticism for a prospect his age and simply needs to continue to get stronger and develop his skill level. Arizona, Oregon, San Diego State were among the programs who sent their head coaches to scout McCoy. One high-major head coach whose team reached the NCAA tournament last year confided that he loved McCoy but wouldn't bother to recruit him because he didn't consider him a realistic target.
5. Two of the most interesting recruiting battles to watch will be whether Kentucky can pry elite prospects Malik Monk and Miles Bridges away from programs in their home states. Monk, maybe the Class of 2016's top shooting guard, is a Fayetteville, Ark. native whose older brother Marcus starred for the Razorbacks. Arkansas coach Mike Anderson watched every one of Monk's games, as did either Kentucky coach John Calipari or his assistant Kenny Payne. Bridges is a fast-rising small forward from Flint, Michigan, a city that has produced a lot of Michigan State standouts over the years. He narrowed his list of schools to five finalists on Monday — Michigan, Michigan State, Kentucky, North Carolina and Indiana.
6. The most oft-discussed player on Team CP3 this past week may not have been Harry Giles or any of the other high-major prospects on the roster. Almost everyone who watched Team CP3 left buzzing about its tiny backup point guard. Darnell Rogers, the son of 5-foot-5 former George Washington star Shawnta Rogers, was listed at 5-foot-3 on a team roster but he might not even hit 5 foot without the poofy mohawk he sports. Nonetheless, Rogers is a legitimate Division I prospect drawing interest from his dad's alma mater and a handful of other mid-major programs. He showed a good enough floater and jump shot to be effective on offense, but where he makes the most impact is with his ball pressure defensively. His quick hands and feet make him a nuisance guarding opposing point guards from end line to end line.
7. Virginia coach Tony Bennett was scouting a young forward in a U-16 game on Saturday when an elderly spectator unknowingly wandered into a section of seats reserved for the coaches, plopped down beside him and struck up a conversation. It would have been easy for Bennett to have been terse or gruff, especially since the man had limited basketball knowledge and no idea he was speaking with the head coach of the two-time reigning ACC champions. Instead Bennett displayed patience and kindness, learning that the man was from Baton Rouge, informing him that was also his wife's hometown and quizzing him about his favorite restaurants in the city. To me, that conversation was as impressive as any of the high-flying dunks or no-look passes I saw on the court that day. The way Bennett treated the man says a lot about his character.
8. I asked a couple of coaches I chatted with for their all-Peach Jam team, and this was the consensus: PG De'Aaron Fox, SG Malik Monk, SF Jayson Tatum, PF Harry Giles, C Wendell Carter. I have no argument with that quintet, but Miles Bridges certainly was impressive too.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
