Full Preview: Nike EYBL Tournament Brings Loaded Field, Gophers Recruits to Minnesota

Nike EYBL Tournament Brings Loaded Field, Gophers Recruits to Minnesota
By Chris Monter

http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/258199?referrer_id=331171


If you are a basketball fan and are unable to make it to the 2014 McDonald’s All-American Game at the United Center in Chicago, you might want to make a trip to Eagan this weekend. Most of the probable candidates for that contest will be playing in the EYBL event at the High Performance Academy this weekend.

In fact, eight of ESPN’s Top 10 juniors and 19 of the top 25 will be playing in the state of Minnesota Memorial Day weekend, making it the best group of high school talent to ever hit the state. Thirty-seven of ESPN top 60 will be playing.

The “Big Three” of Minnesota, Tyus Jones of Apple Valley, Rashad Vaughn from Robbinsdale Cooper and Minneapolis DeLaSalle’s Reid Travis will be performing in front of big crowds this weekend. With the event being held in a “dead period,” college coaches are not allowed to attend, which should give more room for the grassroots basketball fans.

Jones is the leading scorer (301 points) in the EYBL through the first three events in Los Angeles, Hampton, Virginia and Dallas. He is averaging 23.2 points and is top in assists (6.8), steals (3.0) and minutes played (30.8). He is shooting 89.0% from the line and has helped lead Howard Pulley to a 7-6 mark.

His AAU teammate, Travis, is tied for tenth in scoring with 17.5 points per game. He is adding 8.2 rebounds per game.

Vaughn is the fourth leading scorer with 19.2 points per game. He has helped pace the Wisconsin Playground Elite to a similar 7-6 record. Vaughn is averaging 6.4 rebounds per game.

Gopher fan will also be watching several out-state players who have received Minnesota interest.

Isaiah Whitehead, who is ranked #46 by ESPN, comes from fabled Brooklyn (NY) Abraham Lincoln High. He received a Gopher offer last month and is averaging 16.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.7 steals per game for the NJ Playaz.

Rashad Vaughn’s teammate, Sandy Cohen, is averaging 8.5 points and 4.2 rebounds for the Wisconsin Playground Elite. He has excellent size and can play multiple positions.

Tyler Ulis is small in nature, but plays big on the court. He is averaging 15.7 points and 5.5 assists per game for Mean Streets (9-4). His teammate, Paul White, adds 10.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Both Illinois natives have Gopher offers.

The following is a look at the 37 ESPN Top 60 seniors who will be playing this weekend and their EYBL stats. Ten of the players have already made their college choices, including three players who have verballed to North Carolina (the #12, 13 and 14 players in the country) and two to North Carolina State.

RK PLAYER POS HOMETOWN /HIGH SCHOOL HT WT COMMITMENT EYBL
1 Jahlil Okafor C Chicago, IL Whitney Young High School 6'10'' 265 Mac Irvin
2 Tyus Jones PG Apple Valley, MN Apple Valley High School 6'1'' 171 Howard Pulley
3 Emmanuel Mudiay PG Arlington, TX Prime Prep Academy 6'4'' 190 Team Texas Pro
4 Trey Lyles PF Indianapolis, IN Arsenal Technical High School 6'8'' 210 Spiece Indy Heat
6 Chris McCullough PF Bronx, NY Brewster Academy 6'10'' 220 Syracuse Team Scan
8 Cliff Alexander C Chicago, IL Curie High School 6'8'' 225 Mac Irvin Fire
9 Rashad Vaughn SG Minneapolis, MN Robbinsdale Cooper High School 6'6'' 200 Wisconsin Playground Elite
10 Justise Winslow SF Houston, TX Saint John's High School 6'5'' 208 Houston Hoops
12 Joel Berry PG Apopka, FL Lake Highland Prep 6'0'' 185 North Carolina E1T1
13 Theo Pinson SF Greensboro, NC Wesleyan Christian Academy 6'6'' 190 North Carolina CP3 All Stars
14 Justin Jackson SF Tomball, TX Homeschool Christian Youth Association 6'7'' 185 North Carolina Houston Hoops
15 Stanley Johnson SF Fullerton, CA Mater Dei High School 6'6'' 220 Oakland Soldiers
16 JaQuan Lyle PG Evansville, IN Bosse High School 6'4'' 185 Spiece Indy Heat
17 Jalen Lindsey SF Franklin, TN Christ Presbyterian Academy 6'7'' 180 Southern Stampede
19 Devin Booker SG Moss Point, MS Moss Point High School 6'5'' 185 Alabama Challenge
21 Shelton Mitchell PG Waxhaw, NC Cuthbertson High School 6'3'' 170 Wake Forest CP3 All Stars
22 Dion Wiley SG Oxon Hill, MD Potomac High School 6'4'' 195 Team Takeover
24 D'Angelo Russell SG Louisville, KY Montverde Academy 6'4'' 180 E1T1
25 Ahmed Hill SG Augusta, GA Aquinas High School 6'5'' 190 Southern Stampede
26 JaKeenan Gant SF Springfield, GA Effingham County High School 6'8'' 210 Southern Stampede
28 Victor Law SF South Holland, IL Saint Rita High School 6'7'' 185 Mean Streets
29 Dwayne Morgan SF Baltimore, MD Saint Francis Academy 6'7'' 180 UNLV Baltimore Elite
30 Parker Jackson-Cartwright PG Los Angeles, CA Loyola High School 5'8'' 150 Arizona California Supreme
34 L.J. Peak SF Chicago, IL Whitney Young High School 6'5'' 190 CP3 All Stars
35 Phil Booth SG Baltimore, MD Mount Saint Joseph High School 6'2'' 170 Team Takeover
36 Grayson Allen SG Jacksonville, FL Providence School 6'4'' 185 Duke E1T1
40 Reid Travis PF Minneapolis, MN De La Salle High School 6'8'' 240 Howard Pulley
43 Kelly Oubre SF Fort Bend, TX Bush High School 6'6'' 190 Houston Hoops
45 Trevon Bluiett SF Indianapolis, IN Park Tudor School 6'5'' 205 Spiece Indy Heat
46 Isaiah Whitehead SG Brooklyn, NY Lincoln High School 6'4'' 195 NJ Playaz
47 James Blackmon, Jr. SG Marion, IN Marion High School 6'2'' 175 Indiana Spiece Indy Heat
49 Kameron Chatman SF Long Beach, CA Long Beach Polytechnic High School 6'6'' 175 ICP Elite
52 Jae'Sean Tate SG Pickerington, OH Pickerington Central High School 6'5'' 190 Ohio State All Ohio Red
53 Abdul-Malik Abu PF Boston, MA Kimball Union Academy 6'8'' 220 Expressions Elite
55 Marial Shayok SG Ottawa, Ontario, CAN Blair Academy 6'6'' 205 CIA Bounce
56 Phil Cofer PF Atlanta, GA Whitewater High School 6'7'' 196 Team Takeover
57 Obi Enechionyia PF Saint James, MD Saint James School 6'8'' Mean Streets

There are also plenty of talented sophomores who are playing in Eagan as well.

Ivan Rabb of the Oakland Soldiers is the top player in the class of 2015, according to ESPN. He is averaging a double-double with 12.9 points and EYBL third-best 11.2 rebounds per game.

Malik Newman from the Jackson Tigers, has the highest scoring average in the EYBL, as he is contributing 23.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He is ranked fourth by ESPN.

There are three other top ranked sophomores playing this weekend. Elijah Thomas of Team Texas Elite is averaging 16.1 points and 7.5 rebounds. He is ranked sixth. Tenth ranked Eric Davis of the Michigan-based The Family adds 8.3 points per game and #11 Charles Matthews of Mean Streets scores 11.0 points per contest.

The 16-and-under EYBL qualifier will be held this weekend at Bloomington Jefferson. Gopher fans will want to check out Alex Illikainen of Grand Rapids. His team, the Minnesota Cyclones face MoKan Friday evening at 8:45 and Mac Irvin Fire at 11:30 Saturday morning.

alright, i might get a little bit of hate for saying this, not alot, just a little but i think you could maybe argue that tyus jones is one of the best high school PLAYERS, not PROSPECTS but PLAYERS of all time, he leads the EYBL in scoring, assists, steals, and minutes played, when was the last time a player dominated the EYBL like that, now obviously you have the andrew wiggins's and lebrons of the world but those guys are some of the best PROSPECTS, as in they are only so highly sought after due to potential and exciting style of play, but as a PLAYER andrew wiggins wasnt even that good, he was only 10th in the EYBL in scoring last year and wasnt even in the top 10 in any other statistical category, reid travis has just s good of stats as wiggins did last year, so do you think it is justified if i consider tyus one of the best highschool players of all time, or at least the last decade, jabari parker is probably up there as well as a player, not prospect, an an andres broman type player is probably better then most of the guys at the EYBL in highschool as well, wont be better hten very many in college or the pros but in highschol he is just as good as almost any EYBL player, didnt he average more points then tyus last year? and tyus was in the top ten in scoring last year

die hard gopher said:

alright, i might get a little bit of hate for saying this, not alot, just a little but i think you could maybe argue that tyus jones is one of the best high school PLAYERS, not PROSPECTS but PLAYERS of all time, he leads the EYBL in scoring, assists, steals, and minutes played, when was the last time a player dominated the EYBL like that, now obviously you have the andrew wiggins's and lebrons of the world but those guys are some of the best PROSPECTS, as in they are only so highly sought after due to potential and exciting style of play, but as a PLAYER andrew wiggins wasnt even that good, he was only 10th in the EYBL in scoring last year and wasnt even in the top 10 in any other statistical category, reid travis has just s good of stats as wiggins did last year, so do you think it is justified if i consider tyus one of the best highschool players of all time, or at least the last decade, jabari parker is probably up there as well as a player, not prospect, an an andres broman type player is probably better then most of the guys at the EYBL in highschool as well, wont be better hten very many in college or the pros but in highschol he is just as good as almost any EYBL player, didnt he average more points then tyus last year? and tyus was in the top ten in scoring last year

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I think you missed a comma at the very end to conclude the sentence. In all seriousness though, Tyus is definitely one of the better high school players in recent memory. Disagree about Broman though.

die hard gopher said:

but as a PLAYER andrew wiggins wasnt even that good, he was only 10th in the EYBL in scoring last year and wasnt even in the top 10 in any other statistical category, reid travis has just s good of stats as wiggins did last year,

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Wiggins shot 65.2% eFG in the EYBL regular season a year ago. Reid Travis is shooting 47.9% eFG. Not taking anything away from Reid, but Wiggins was unbelievably good. He also had a free throw rate of 54%. His offensive efficiency was amazing.

die hard gopher said:

didnt he average more points then tyus last year? and tyus was in the top ten in scoring last year

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Broman was very good last year, but no.. in the regular season he averaged about 13 ppg vs. Tyus at 18.

Anyway, although some of your facts are off I'd agree that Tyus is an exceptional talent. His EYBL numbers this year are remarkable and he's just flat out an amazing player.

I don't know the Gophers chances with these guys, but the staff has also offered:

53 Abdul-Malik Abu PF Boston, MA Kimball Union Academy 6'8'' 220 Expressions Elite
55 Marial Shayok SG Ottawa, Ontario, CAN Blair Academy 6'6'' 205 CIA Bounce

Shayok had a very good game against Vaughn .

die hard gopher said:

alright, i might get a little bit of hate for saying this, not alot, just a little but i think you could maybe argue that tyus jones is one of the best high school PLAYERS, not PROSPECTS but PLAYERS of all time, he leads the EYBL in scoring, assists, steals, and minutes played, when was the last time a player dominated the EYBL like that, now obviously you have the andrew wiggins's and lebrons of the world but those guys are some of the best PROSPECTS, as in they are only so highly sought after due to potential and exciting style of play, but as a PLAYER andrew wiggins wasnt even that good, he was only 10th in the EYBL in scoring last year and wasnt even in the top 10 in any other statistical category, reid travis has just s good of stats as wiggins did last year, so do you think it is justified if i consider tyus one of the best highschool players of all time, or at least the last decade, jabari parker is probably up there as well as a player, not prospect, an an andres broman type player is probably better then most of the guys at the EYBL in highschool as well, wont be better hten very many in college or the pros but in highschol he is just as good as almost any EYBL player, didnt he average more points then tyus last year? and tyus was in the top ten in scoring last year

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Andrew Wiggins could have skipped half of his AAU games and nobody would really care. These teams don't have fans. They have families but no fans. Win 1000 EYBL titles and MVPs and it's nothing compared to winning in College or the NBA.

@collegebbnews: Minnesota target Isaiah Whitehead is not on Minnesota with NJ Playaz. He is playing with the Juice All Stars this weekend.

Go Gophers!!