Hello Big Blue Nation! As promised, in yesterday’s release announcing the partnership to bring you UK-focused updates during the Nike Peach Jam, Rookiewire is dropping in with the first post previewing the event.
But first, you may ask “why the partnership” and “what the heck is Rookiewire?” In short, Rookiewire is devoted to following the top prospects in the country during their recruitment in High School through their transition in College and eventually to living their dreams as an NBA Rookie. To do this, we focus only on the top 50 or so prospects from each year, with a much heavier focus on the top 10 players. We want to follow and showcase the best but also don’t want to let anyone sneak up on us. As far as the partnership, that’s simple, Kentucky has become THE breeding ground for this exact process. Never in history has a school brought in and pumped out pros at the rate Kentucky is doing. In other words, we’re covering half these guys anyways. It also doesn’t hurt that Kentucky fans dominate summer basketball reading like no other. And we’re happy to feed the beast. That is also why we started the #GSOC series on UK’s 2013 Class. GSOC is short for Great Show on Court. Maybe its a bit lofty a name for such a young group but with the greatest class of all time being dumped into the largest of all college basketball fishbowls, it simply had to have a circus theme. Take a minute and check it out. Part I focused on the Killer Duo of Andrew and Aaron Harrison and Part II asked if James Young was The Forgotten Star of the class. You can keep up with this series by clicking LIKE on Rookiewire’s Facebook page or following us on twitter.
Now back to the Peach Jam.
What is the Peach Jam?
The EYBL (Elite Youth Basketball League) Finals at the Nike Peach Jam (North Augusta, SC) is the last leg of a tournament that has spanned four other locations over 3 months totaling 360 games (Los Angeles, Hampton, Dallas and Minneapolis). 40 teams from across the country enter and only 24 qualify for the Peach Jam Finals. At the Finals, games begin in pool play to determine the final eight teams, creating the tournament bracket that will eventually decide the 2013 EYBL Champion. At each of the stops, recruits are put to the test competing head to head with other top players and teams. They are analyzed, talked about, talked to and pushed by the competition of their peers. Last year, over 240 coaches from the top college programs around the country attended to observe the talent.
Rookiewire will be onsite covering the prestigious final session of the EYBL, and as part of this partnership, will also provide content specifically written for Nation of Blue readers for the Friday and Saturday sessions. This content will focus on current UK targets participating at the Peach Jam and will include updates on their performance, recruiting observations and coaches checking them out. We’ll also provide some tidbits on other top recruits that may be working their way closer into the center of coaching staff’s radar.
The Cats have been busy working their magic on top prospects in the 2014 and 2015 classes, but with only Karl Towns in the hole, the options are wide open. The majority of those prospects will be at the Peach Jam this week performing in front of a who’s who of college coaches. Known as one of, if not the, best recruiting event of the year, the Peach Jam offers up true competition and separates the elite prospects from the rest of the pack. Many players have established their name there and others have added to their legacy.
Let’s Take a Quick Look at the Top Kentucky Targets
Stanley Johnson – UK’s staff has made no bones about their desire to sign him and Johnson has publicly admitted to enjoying the courting. Johnson is also planning to attend Big Blue Madness in October and recently crashed a Devin Booker interview saying that Booker would join him. Sounds a bit like recruiting to me. Right now, a handful of top teams, including Kentucky have him near the top of their list, but many believe he is a UK lean. When Cal is all in, he usually gets his man. Johnson, playing alongside Oakland Soldiers teammate, and top 5 prospect, Aaron Gordon (’13) won the EYBL title in a controversial victory over Andrew Wiggin’s CIA Bounce team last year.
Jahlil Okafor – The #1 prospect in the 2014 class comes into the Peach Jam fresh off winning a Gold Medal for Team USA in the FIBA U19 World Championships. Okafor plays alongside fellow five-star prospect and top 10 big man Cliff Alexander on the Mac Irvin Fire. Okafor is the real deal and is the unquestionable best big man in the class. He has stayed consistent in his commitment to attend college with #2 prospect Tyus Jones and just recently noted he plans to make a decision before his senior season of high school basketball. The team that lands that duo is a near lock for tops in team recruiting rankings.
Cliff Alexander — Speaking of Cliff Alexander, UK has him high on the wish list. He’s a consensus top 10 player and most analysts list him as the #2 big man in the 2014 class. He is an absolute load at 6’9″, 240 lbs and possesses an impressive wingspan longer than others with a couple inches on him. He gets most of his points very close to the rim and is a mean dunker that has opponents thinking twice about drawing a charge. He visited UK last year during Big Blue Madness and many think he is a UK lean. Kansas and Michigan State are also heavily in the mix. He is the second-leading rebounder in the EYBL coming into the Peach Jam.
Tyus Jones – Since we mentioned his intent to attend the same school along with Okafor, let’s go ahead and take a peak at him next. Jones, playing for Howard Pulley, is 2nd in EYBL scoring at 22.8 per game and 1st in assists at 6.9 per game. When it comes to point guards in the class of 2014, you either prefer Tyus Jones heady play or Emmanuel Mudiay’s athletic dominance. Teams couldn’t go wrong either way, but there is the “fit” factor due to the strong differential in style of play. Personally, Mudiay feels a better fit for UK, but if they can convince Jones, they’d be just as happy. Jones is a tough call on a college decision due to the intent on attending with Okafor. If they stay strong with their decision to play together at the next level, Kentucky may need to nudge out the Blue Devils.
Malik Newman — Malik Newman sits in the top 3 of my list of guys to watch this weekend. He is a one man army for the Jackson Tigers and currently leads the EYBL in scoring at 24.7 per game. With little help in the way of other top prospects on his team, coaches and scouts will watch his games simply to witness him score. Rookiewire recently profiled Newman, noting that he is the best pure scorer in the class of 2015. He will battle Stephen Zimmerman for the #1 overall recruit spot in the class of 2015 for the next few years. Newman has offers pouring in, including Kentucky, but recently stated he is wide open in his recruitment. But, if his twitter timeline has anything to say, he certainly enjoys the interaction with BBN.
Trey Lyles – A consensus top 10 overall recruit, he previously committed to the fighting Tom Crean’s but has since re-opened his recruitment and Kentucky is amongst a handful getting his attention. His recruitment may be a stressful one to watch for Kentucky fans. The other teams heavily in the mix are Louisville, Duke and Florida. Lyles team, the Spiece Indy Heat have dominated the EYBL to the tune of a 15-3 record, but now find themselves a man short, with Louisville commit, JaQuan Lyle making the move to join Mac Irvin Fire following the Peach Jam. In doing so, JaQuan will not participate in the Peach Jam. You just can’t trust those dirty birds…..Ah, you liked that dig didn’t you. See, we’re friends now.
Skal Labissiere – One of a handful of 2015 guys to already recieve a UK offer, Labissiere is a lanky 6’10”, 198lb mobile power forward. He fits the mold of previous Cal recruits in that he is long and can score from everywhere, rebounds and plays defense……and he’s still getting better. Labissiere plays for Team Penny
Other notable UK Targets in attendance that we’ll be keeping an eye on for you include: Abdul Malik Abu, Zylan Cheatham, Elijah Thomas, Charles Matthews and Chieck Diallo
A few other top UK targets, Rashad Vaughn and Devin Booker are not participating because their teams did not qualify.
Last Tidbits:
– One team I know you’ll be cheering for is the gritty Kentucky Travelers, who just squeaked into the peach jam. The team, previously out of Tennessee, finished 2-18 last year. Must’ve been that ugly orange color that’s everywhere in Tennesse distracting them. Zing. Another one at a rival. Now I know we’re friends.
– Only 5 of the top 10 scorers in the EYBL actually qualified for the Peach Jam Finals. #teamwork
– In addition to Friday and Saturday UK recruit coverage, Rookiewire will be taking over Nation of Blue’s twitter account on Friday, tweeting out live updates, pics and observations during match-ups that include top UK targets. Be sure to follow Nation of Blue on twitter at @uknationofblue and follow @rookiewire for full Peach Jam coverage: Stanley Johnson’s Oakland Soldiers takes on Expressions Elite’s Abdul Malik Abu at 9:00am, followed by Jackson Tigers (Malik Newman) vs Team Scan (Chieck Diallo). Later, Spiece Indy (Trey Lyles) takes on Team Penny (Skal Labissiere) at noon. Three more games tip off in the second session highlighted by the Mac Irvin Fire (Okafor, Alexander) vs. Houston Hoops (Justise Winslow, Justin Jackson, Kelly Oubre).
– A couple of other guys we can’t wait to see: Ivan Rabb, who, even though he is a consensus top 5 prospect in 2015, hasn’t quite got the pub he deserves. At 6’10”, 200lb, he is a hybird Power Forward that can do it all. Newman and Zimmerman dominate the coverage of the class so far, but don’t be surprised if Rabb takes over the top spot. We’ll see if UK’s interest picks up along the way. Justise Winslow, top 20 Small forward, was also a part of the Gold Medal winning team at the U19 FIBA and looked very impressive. Kentucky hasn’t shown much attention due to their focus on Stanley Johnson, but this kid could sneak his way into the top 10 overall for 2014.
– Finally, Here’s a couple quick videos to get you pumped up for the Peach Jam:
Recap of last year’s Road to the Peach Jam:
A quick preview of 2013 Peach Jam:
