ADIDAS UNRIVALED CAMP: BY THE NUMBERS
by Dan Poneman (@swagair)
The first-ever Adidas Unrivaled camp featured 100 of the elite prospects in America from the classes of 2015 through 2018. More than 100 college coaches packed the gym throughout five days of competition, including Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Bill Self (Kansas), Roy Williams (UNC) and Rick Pitino (Louisville). Here are some numbers that stood out from Chicago.
1 – Torn ACL — and college commitment — by Ray Smith, a 6-foot-8 forward from Las Vegas High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. Smith tore his ACL during the second day of competition, and chose to commit to the Arizona Wildcats two days later. Smith chose Arizona over Arizona State, California, Georgetown, Louisville, Oregon, Texas, UCLA, USC and Wake Forest. A five-star prospect in the class of 2015, Smith averaged 24.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game last season for Las Vegas High.
99 – Points scored this week by Kobi Simmons, a 6-5 junior point guard from St. Francis High School in Alpharetta, Georgia. Simmons, a consensus top-25 player in the nation who competes on the AAU circuit with the Atlanta Celtics, led the camp in scoring at 16.5 points per game and topped the 20-point threshold in three of his six games. Simmons holds offers from Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, Memphis, NC State, Providence, USC, Virginia, and Wake Forest, along with strong interest from Kansas and Kentucky.
3 – Duke coaches sitting courtside while top prospect in the camp — Jaylen Brown — had his best game of the week. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski sat front and center along with assistants Jeff Capel and Jon Scheyer, while Brown posted 26 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in just 22 minutes of action. Two of those 22 points came on a monster one-handed slam on an unfortunate defender, undoubtedly the most memorable play of the week. A 6-6 shooting guard from Wheeler High School in Alpharetta, Ga., Brown is a consensus top-ten player in the nation for the class of 2015. Duke made a clear statement that they’ve made Brown a priority by bringing their entire staff to Chicago to see him play. The competition to land him will be stiff — Kansas’s Bill Self, Louisville’s Rick Pitino and Georgia’s Mark Fox were also on hand this week watching the Jaylen Brown show. Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Maryland and UCLA are among the other schools who have offered.
10 – Field goals made by Brandon Ingram in Sunday’s senior All-Star game. Ingram scored 26 points on 10 of 13 shooting, and emerged as the clear star amongst stars in the final day of camp. A 6-8 small forward who some have compared to a young Jabari Parker, the mild-mannered Ingram was phenomenal all week. Currently considered a top-25 player in the nation, you can expect him to make a push for the top-10 sooner than later. In his final game Saturday, Ingram had his best showing of the week, posting 26 points on 10 of 16 from the field to go with three blocks. This dynamite performance came against the other top prospect in the camp, 6-6 shooting guard Jaylen Brown — who scored 21 points of his own, also on 10 of 16 shooting. Ingram currently holds offers from Clemson, Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Kansas, Louisville, North Carolina, NC State, VCU, and Wake Forest.
8.0 – Rebounds per game by Chase Jeter, a 6-10 senior power forward from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jeter, a consensus top-15 player nationally, was the top rebounder in the camp. He also finished in second in the camp in points-per-game (16.0) and blocks per game (2.0). He saved the best for last — posting totals of 23 points and 7 rebounds and 22 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks in his final two games. Jeter has offers from Duke, UCLA, Arizona, Cal, Oregon, Kansas and UNLV. All of the schools recruiting him had coaches present at his games throughout the week.
2 – Freshmen participating in the camp: 6-10 center Kenneth Nwuba and 6-7 power forward D’Marco Baucum. It’s certainly an intimidating task for a kid who has never played a high school game to compete with the top players in the nation for five straight days, but both of these young men held their own.
Nwuba, who hails from Mississippi, started off the week strong. In his first game he posted an impressive stat line of 10 points (on 5 of 7 shooting), 5 rebounds, and 1 block in 19 minutes of play. That game also happened to come in his only matchup against fellow freshman Baucum. He cooled off as the week went on, but he played well enough to earn a spot in the all-star game on the camp’s final day. Nwuba is super-long and freakishly athletic — he displayed impressive rebounding and shot blocking ability and converted a few nice dunks — though he needs to work on his hands and touch around the rim. He is a front-runner for the top big man prospect in the nation for the class of 2018.
Baucum was less impressive throughout the week, but will still likely find himself ranked amongst the top prospects in the nation for his class. He posted no points and a lone rebound in his head to head matchup with Nwuba, but fared much better in his second game of the day, with 6 points and 2 rebounds in 22 minutes. After that, he didn’t score again, compiling a total of 8 rebounds and no points in his final two games of the week.
7 feet, 2 inches – The height of the tallest player in the camp — Rick Bol, a sophomore center from Indiana. Rick is a relative of the late Manute Bol, a 7-7 NBA legend. One of the youngest players in the camp, Bol’s stats were underwhelming, but his immense potential was evident. He’s slender, but runs the floor well and has a soft touch around the rim. His best performance of the week came on the first day of games, when he posted 12 points and 4 rebounds on 6 of 7 shooting in 19 minutes of play.
5 feet, 6 inches – The height of the shortest player in the camp, junior guard Loren Jackson Jr. of Victory Rock Prep in Sarasota, Florida. Jackson — the son of legendary prep school coach Loren Jackson — didn’t let his lack of size hold him back, as he was one of the most consistent backcourt performers in the camp. A lightning-quick pure point guard with a remarkable basketball IQ, Jackson set the tempo for his team and controlled the pace of the game whenever he was on the floor. Jackson was one of the top three-point shooters in the camp — connecting on 8 of 13 attempts — and he was consistent as can be throughout the week. He posted solid stats in all of his games:
Game 1 – 5 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds
Game 2 – 8 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds in 16 minutes
Game 3 – 8 points, 3 assists and 1 rebound
Game 4 – 7 points, 1 assist and 3 rebounds
Game 5 – 5 points, 1 assist and 1 rebound in 17 minutes
2 – Chicago-born players selected for the camp, which took place on Chicago’s West Side at the Quest Multisport Complex, formerly known as ATTACK Athletics.
6-4 shooting guard Joshua Stamps, who won a city title this season playing alongside Kansas Jayhawk freshman Cliff Alexander at Chicago Curie, played up to the level of his competition. He may not be nationally known, but he has a reputation in the city of Chicago as a sharp-shooting scorer with big-time athleticism. He didn’t disappoint, particularly on the second day of camp, dropping 11 points in 22 minutes in his first game of the day and 15 points in 20 minutes (on 7 of 10 scoring) in his second. He is currently drawing interest from low and mid-major D1 programs in the midwest, but you can expect his list of suitors to grow significantly while he competes with Team Rose throughout the remainder of July.
The other Chicagoan participating in the camp was 6-2 guard Dwayne Rose, a cousin of Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose. Rose wasn’t spectacular, but held his own throughout the week. In his six games, he posted point totals of 9, 6, 5, 4, 2, and 2.