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NBPA Top 100 Camp Notebook

06/20/2017, 9:00am EDT
By Ari Rosenfeld

Cole Anthony (above) and many other high-major targets impressed at this year's NBPA Top 100 Camp. (Photo: Kelly Kline/Under Armour)

Ari Rosenfeld (@ARosenfeldDVHR)
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- While April, May, and July are reserved for AAU tournaments across the country, the month of June sees high school prospects back with their high school teams for various summer leagues and team camps, but also features several elite camps for some of the nation’s top recruits.

One such event is the NBPA Top 100 camp, held annually in mid-June at John Paul Jones Arena on the University of Virginia campus. Each year, 100 of the top high school players in the country, along with a select few international prospects, descend on Charlottesville for a week of lectures, drills with current and former pros, and of course, gameplay.

This year’s event included two prospects--both rising seniors and 2018 recruits--with local ties. Although Eric Ayala now attends Connecticut prep powerhouse Putnam Science Academy, the Wilmington native and former Sanford School star still plays his AAU ball with WeR1 on the Under Armour circuit. Louis King, a small forward from Hudson Catholic (N.J.), made the jump this year to join Philly-based Team Final in the Nike EYBL.

Having spent the week in Charlottesville and taking in six sessions of games, here are my impressions on Ayala and King, along with a series of other takeaways from one of the year’s premier scouting events.

Eric Ayala
Despite not putting up the gaudy scoring numbers he’s used to posting in high school and AAU, Ayala was nonetheless quite impressive over the course of the week. While most “combo guards” tend to actually be undersized shooting guards, Ayala showed this week that he’s equally adept at playing both backcourt spots.

Standing around 6-foot-4, he remains a scorer at heart, but displayed an improved ability to facilitate for his teammates. He consistently attacked the rim under control and with his head up, looking more to dump off to a slashing teammate or kick out to a shooter than to score it himself. Ayala was also effective in the pick-and-roll, a must for any modern point guard, using his strong frame to get defenders on his hip, read the defense, and make the right play. Off the ball, he was at his best as a jump shooter, showing great versatility to his shot; he made the right reads to get open running off screens and displayed solid footwork, was reliable as a catch-and-shoot guy, and hit a couple tough pull-ups to boot.

Ayala currently sits in an interesting position as far as his recruitment goes, with the ability to go to college as a member of either the 2017 or 2018 classes. Having already graduated--as the valedictorian of his class--from Putnam Science, he could still choose to remain there for a post-graduate year. He said this week he’s still undecided, and will firm things up after the July AAU season. With a dire need at point guard, Syracuse was thought to be a favorite for his services in 2017, but the Orange just filled their last scholarship with graduate transfer Geno Thorpe; he said Oregon, Ohio State, and Maryland remain in pursuit of his services for this fall. While things remain a bit up in the air, Ayala has about 20-30 schools recruiting him for 2018, including Arizona, Syracuse, Maryland, and Indiana.

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Louis King
While it may have took watching Ayala closely to appreciate his strong play, Louis King was a clear standout throughout the week. Standing around 6-foot-8, he displayed a vast array of point forward skills that aren’t always utilized on his high school team, playing alongside five-star point guard Jahvon Quinerly, or with Team Final, next to top-5 prospect Cameron Reddish and point guard Sam Sessoms. Nonetheless, King looked much more comfortable with the ball in his hands than at this time last year, whether he was pushing the break or operating out of high pick-and-roll sets. He’ll need to continue tightening his handle, which will only exacerbate his outstanding court vision and natural feel for the game.

King currently appears to be wide open in his recruitment, with his immense talent and strong play of late earning the interest of a number of blue blood programs. He mentioned Kansas, Syracuse, Oregon, NC State, and Seton Hall as schools that stand out as far as their interest in him at this time. He’ll visit Maryland unofficially in August, and mentioned Kentucky (no offer yet), Kansas, Oregon, and NC State as schools who would be in the running to receive his official visits. King will go directly from Charlottesville to Colorado Springs, where he’ll be participating in the USA Basketball U-19 tryouts, vying for a chance to compete in the FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup in Egypt next month.

Villanova Targets
The camp featured a number of Villanova’s top targets in the 2018 class, where the Wildcats have already secured a commitment from top-50 forward Brandon Slater. Three such recruits -- five-star New Jersey point guard Jahvon Quinerly, Florida combo guard Elijah Weaver, and New England forward Cole Swider -- actually played on the same team throughout the week. The trio shared the court for a large chunk of minutes, with Quinerly and Weaver taking turns running the show and the 6-foot-7 Swider knocking down shots with one of the purest strokes in the country. Quinerly has Villanova in his final list of seven schools and the Wildcats are considered a potential frontrunner. They are also considered one of a few favorites for Swider, who recently cut his list to four schools: Villanova, Duke, Xavier, and Syracuse.

Another prospect with whom the Wildcats sit in solid position is AJ Reeves, a four-star New England wing who recently included them in his final four along with Providence, Virginia, and Louisville. Fresh off a great spring with a powerhouse Mass Rivals team considered one of the best in the country, Reeves had a strong week in Charlottesville as well. One of the nation’s most dangerous shooters, he knocked down 22 of his 54 three-point attempts (40.7 percent) en route to finishing fifth in the camp in scoring at 13.5 points per game. Far from a one-trick pony, he also showed an ability to put the ball on the floor, including a vicious poster dunk on the break that may have been the play of the week. This is thought to be a two-horse race between Providence and Villanova, with the Friars the perceived favorites at this point.

Point guards (2018 and 2019)
Each year, NBPA camp provides some clarity in regards to national position rankings prior to the July live periods. This year’s camp included almost all of the nation’s top point guards, a crop which features as many as 10 players with legitimate claims for the top spot. While Darius Garland (Brentwood Academy, Tenn./Bradley Beal Elite) and Tre Jones (Apple Valley, Minn./Howard Pulley), who could be considered the top two floor generals in the country, were not in attendance, each of the remaining top point guard prospects were there.

I’ve long felt personally that Quinerly is the best lead guard in his class, and fresh off a dominant spring with Sports U on the Under Armour circuit, he did nothing to alter that belief this week. In earning all star honors for the week, Quinerly was near the top of the camp in points (13.3 per game), assists (3.7), and steals (1.5), displaying the elite quickness and cerebrality that make him a special prospect. While he had probably the best week of any of the top point guards, guys like Immanuel Quickley (John Carroll, Md./Team BBC), Devon Dotson (Providence Day, N.C./Team Charlotte), Ayo Dosomnu (Morgan Park, Ill./Mac Irvin Fire) all came to play in their own right. It will certainly be interesting to see who separates themselves from the pack come July.

Another talking point amongst scouts and media throughout the week was the Class of 2019 point guard crop, with Cole Anthony (Archbishop Molloy, N.Y./PSA Cardinals) and Ashton Hagans (Oak Hill Academy, Va./Game Elite) both staking their claims as the best floor general in their class. For my money, Anthony still holds onto the top spot which he has occupied pretty much since entering high school, as his dynamism with the ball in his hands is perhaps unrivaled by any player in the nation. However, Hagans has inserted himself firmly into the conversation, leading the camp in assists (5.9 per game) and playing perhaps the best on-ball defense of anybody in attendance. While these two have vastly different games, they look like the cream of the crop at the point guard spot in 2019.


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