While over 140 games on the college side took place, we had an octuplet of elite high school games in Blake Arena on Saturday. Here's what I saw over the first four contests:
Game 1: Notre Dame (Fairfield) 72-Mater Dei 57
Note of transparency: I got to this one midway through the second quarter. I promise I did not sleep in, but these first games are 9:00 a.m. tipoffs, and I decided to prioritize getting coffee and being a little late over 14 hours of work with no caffeine. Sue me.
Notre Dame was already up big when I walked in, and the Connecticut team held its lead.
In the final 2.5 quarters, Notre Dame's Josh Charlot looked good to me as a multi-tool offensive weapon. The junior got to the rack relatively easily and showed off some perimeter touch. On the wing, Jameer Reed also looked good, an unsigned senior with a bevy of finishing moves. The 6-foot-6 forward did a great job blowing by defenders and converting at the rim, although his lack of a perimeter game may limit his upside.
The main prospect in this game was Mater Dei's Luke Barnett (#143 SR/Kansas), and it was not possible for him to have a worse showing. Jayhawks fans, look away at this statline: 2 points (0-8 FG), 3 rebounds, 4 turnovers. He was tentative and never got into the flow of the game. Not much else to say.
Without Barnett's contributions, Mater Dei relied on Malloy Smith (Kenny Smith's son) and Richie Ramirez to score. Both looked like solid offensive options, although again, they were limited with a slashing-oriented game. Nobody on Mater Dei impressed me with their defense, with their full court press in particular getting broken far too easily. At times Notre Dame ran really good press breaks, at other times it felt like each Mater Dei player was running their own individual press.
Game 2: Blair Academy 78-TMI Episcopal 52
Our first star-studded boys' matchup took place here, with Blair's Deron Rippey Jr. (#12 SR/Duke) leading a relatively loaded squad against a TMI Episcopal team featuring head coach Monty Williams and his son. I found out five minutes before tip that Monty Williams was on the sidelines, and I couldn't believe it.
Monty did not have a good Hoophall debut, with his shorthanded team getting blown out.
Rippey Jr. was as advertised in this contest, finishing with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists on 6-of-9 shooting. He's going to be an impressive lead guard for the Blue Devils next season, as he showed off great vision, patience and control in leading Blair's offense.
With that being said, he can also electrify a gym on a dime, as he did in Springfield on multiple occasions. His burst is unreal, which led to multiple one-man fastbreaks in this game. On defense, he struggled to get through screens, but in isolation he stuck well. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say his playstyle reminds me of a different North Carolina college guard: Dennis Smith Jr.. Fun prospect.
(Side note: for the first time since Zion in 2019 Duke v. Virginia, I saw a three-point contest where the crowd ooh-ed because of how high the player jumped. That came from Rippey Jr.)
Elsewhere for Blair, Jaen Chatman (#201 SR/Rhode Island) was the glue guy, bringing a balanced blend of athleticism, scoring and defense to the court. You can tell that him and Rippey have picked up the same passing traits, but Rippey does it better. Isaiah Carroll (#279 SR/Penn) is a good two-way wing with athleticism already better than most of the Ivy League, while Coleman Elkins (Texas) is a stretch big with solid defensive traits. Kamsi Awaka (#72 JR) was a solid postman but disappointed particularly on defense, as the big was out of position numerous times.
Without Monty's son Elijah Williams (#33 SR/Baylor), Jaden Flemons was the star for TMI, a point guard who stuck with Rippey's production in the first half. The unsigned senior is just a step slower than the Duke commit but still lightning-quick with multi-level scoring, good vision and a tight handle. On defense, his timing was good and he had very active hands. I'm pretty surprised he's not ranked: some team is getting a gem next year.
Game 3: Arizona Compass Prep 59-Long Island Lutheran 58
This was our first EYBL Scholastic game of the event, with talent all over the floor. It was a defensive affair for much of the game until offense took over in the fourth. Arizona Compass Prep led wire-to-wire, although LuHi made things as tight as could be late.
I'll start with the winning side, Arizona Compass Prep. As much as I would love to go in-depth on each of head coach Peter Kaffey's players, I have to tell it like it is. It felt like everyone suiting up for that team had the same playstyle: extremely high-motor on defense, solid on offense. They were dogs that forced 17 LuHi turnovers, and I was very impressed with the team's controlled aggression and switchability, but there wasn't that much that stood out to me from one player to the next.
Kaden House (#45 SR/Maryland) and Kalek House (#112 SR/Xavier) both were good two-way wings: I think Kalek is the more quiet, versatile scorer while Kaden is the more dynamic playmaking slasher. DeMarcus Henry (#17 JR) was the best offensive player on this team, a versatile player in general with good length and finishing. Quincy Wadley (#50 SR) is a freak athlete with decent touch, although his outside shot wasn't falling. Rajan Roberts (#219 SR/Valparaiso) is the rawest out of the rotation guys. Hopefully I'll get more offensive notes in their second game tomorrow against Link Academy.
For LuHi, Dylan Mingo (#5 SR) is the star, but he may be nursing an injury as he came off the bench. In 22 minutes, he had 3 points (1-5 FG) and 5 rebounds. From what I saw, the guard oozes confidence and plays defense that does its job by not standing out (although he did have a bad lapse in the third quarter). He also played with a chip on his shoulder the whole game, diving for loose balls and mixing it up down low.
Now notice what I didn't mention: his offense. His game on that end left much to be desired, as he faded away for multiple stretches and didn't do much with the ball in his hands. Arizona Compass Prep's defense did seem to key towards him, but as the No. 5 prospect, I expected a much larger presence.
Jamaal McKnight (#152 JR) was one of my standouts from this event last year, and I was reminded of how much I love his game. At 5-foot-10, the point guard is fearless, with a penchant for attacking the rim and making life difficult for lead ballhandlers. He has a shot too, and when he's not scoring, he's a pretty good table-setter. I think he should be a riser in the 2027 class.
Kayden Allen (#57 SR/Cincinnati) was a victim of Arizona Compass Prep's defense at first, but he found his shot in the second half, turning into a rim-and-three specialist. He won me over after that rough start, ultimately scoring 16. TJ Crumble (#205 SR/North Texas) aligns with North Texas' program as an uber-physical 4, but here he was way too reckless. Moussa Kamissoko (#5 JR) looked promising to me as a lanky wing who uses his frame well on both ends.
Game 4: Millennium 61-Christ the King 43
To conclude the afternoon session, we had a coast-to-coast battle between two premier programs. Millennium gradually built up a lead until it had won by 18.
Similarly to Arizona Compass Prep in the last game, Millennium was made up entirely of players hunting tough shots within the arc. It felt like they converted on those more often than not, leading to their victory.
While most expected Cameron Holmes (#34 SR/Arizona) to be the main piece in this game, the future Wildcat was outplayed by teammate Trey McKinney (#71 SO). McKinney was absolutely one of the best players I saw in this session, finishing with 23 points and 8 rebounds on 10-14 shooting.
The 6-foot-7 forward does pretty much all of his work inside the paint, rumbling down the lane with both strength and speed to convert. No hand-slaps are allowed with this guy: he already has a college-ready frame, so you need to wall up. He moves pretty well for his size on defense too. Watch for him in the 2028 class.
Holmes had a quiet 13 points, utilizing his spot-up game primarily to either finish or go to the line. He's another big body on defense with multi-positional versatility, and I suspect Tommy Lloyd will use him as an off-ball wing at Arizona.
Adan Diggs (#7 SO) and Adrian Higuera were the guard duo at Millennium. Both players had success within the arc, with Higuera making a couple complex finishes while Diggs hunted tough pullup jumpers. Diggs looked good as a defender too, with active hands and nice lateral movement.
Christ the King was anchored by unsigned senior Filip Runjo, a 6-foot-11 brawny center who doesn't offer much besides size, but that size pays dividends for him. He carved out great positioning consistently even against the strong McKinney, leading to a few easy makes.
Skyler Ragoo was an energetic sophomore two-way guard who was fun to watch, showing a willingness to run out in transition whenever the opportunity presented itself. John Magna (La Salle) had an awful night scoring (4 points, 0-8 FG) but was a confident and effective lead initiator. Sophomore Aaron Ellis provided some microwave scoring.