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Hoop Group Elite Camp Notebook: Wednesday, July 15

07/16/2015, 1:30am EDT

By Jack Goodwillie and Ari Rosenfeld

Jack Goodwillie (@jackgoodwillie) &
Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
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READING, Pa. -- The second day of Hoop Group’s Elite 2 session has concluded at Albright College. Players attending the camp hail from all over the east coast, from as far north as Canada to as far south as Florida.

Here’s a notebook from the second day of the camp:

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Chuba Ohams (2016/Putnam Science/Putnam, Ct.)
Sometimes, even the most talented of players will have off-days where things just aren’t clicking on all cylinders. It is a phenomenon that cannot always be explained. Sometimes it just happens.

It takes a certain level of maturity for a player to realize this and refocus his efforts into other areas on the court.

Not only will 2016 prospect Chuba Ohams be the first to admit when he’s not playing his best basketball, he is always up for handling the other tasks that are conducive to helping his team to victory; with or without the ball in his hands.

“I didn’t play too, too well,” Ohams said. “But when I’m not scoring as well I just do things to help my team. I just rebound, go for blocks and get my open teammates the ball. It doesn’t always have to be about me.”

Though things may not have gone to his liking, the 6-foot-7 swingman has seen his stock rise since the July live period began. Ohams, to this point has received offers from the likes of UMass, Fordham, Rhode Island, Providence, Iona and DePaul.

In addition to those schools, he says he has also received interest from VCU, UConn, Virginia, Indiana, Seton Hall and Louisville, from which he received a phone call from Rick Pitino himself.

During those phone calls, the scouts and coaches that reached out had a lot of good things to say about the rising senior.

“They said they love the fact that I’m a long wing,” Ohams said. They said that I could dribble the ball and play anything from the “one” to the “three” and possibly the “four.”

Some of the scouts are visiting with Ohams at Hoop Group. The rest of them will see him at Las Vegas Classic later this month.

Ohams says he will ultimately settle with the school he believes can best develop him into the pro player he aspires to one day become.

“I already know a lot of things,” Ohams said. “I want a coach that will teach the ropes of basketball and how to get to the next level.”

Kimani Lawrence (2017/Cushing Academy/Ashburnham, Ma.)
Kimani Lawrence says one of the main things he’s working on is transitioning from the small forward position to the shooting guard spot. Based on his play at Albright so far, it looks like he may have skipped right over the ‘2’ and turned himself into a 6-foot-7 point guard.

Lawrence put on a show all day, using his size and ball handling ability to run his team effectively and getting into the paint whenever he wanted to create for both himself and his teammates.

“During the EYBL I play the ‘3’. Since summer started I’ve been playing a little bit at the ‘2’,” he said. “Since the last few tournaments my point guard got hurt so I was bringing the ball up a little bit, the offense was kind of playing through me, so I was just being more of a playmaker.

“I don’t think [any college coaches] have seen it yet,” he said of his point guard play, “but hopefully they’re impressed with it, ‘cause I’ve been working on it.”

While he’s been impressive as a lead ball handler thus far, Lawrence’s future undoubtedly lies on the wing. As he said, he’s traditionally a small forward, but many coaches, specifically those from Maryland, Syracuse, and Stanford that have expressed interest but have yet to extend offers, want to see him transition to the shooting guard spot at the next level.

“They want to see me play as more of a 2 guard, so I’ve just been working on becoming a 2 guard. Shooting better, being more consistent with scoring, and just making my teammates better,” Lawrence said. “So far it’s been good. I’ve seen a lot of progress that I’ve been making and I’ve gotten a lot stronger, so everything’s been good.”

“I don’t think anybody has seen it yet, but hopefully they’re impressed with it, ‘cause I’ve been working on it.”

Lawrence is considered a consensus four-star prospect and a top-50 recruit in his class by several media outlets, and he’s got the offers to show for it; so far, he’s garnered offers from Creighton, Providence, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Xavier, Wake Forest, and Miami.

A Rhode Island native, he’s taken visits to both URI and Providence already, but says that his hometown schools don’t necessarily have a leg up on the competition, and with two years left of high school, he’s taking things slow and letting the offers continue to roll in.

“Location is not a factor. I’d be happy to play anywhere where I’d get to play right away,” he said. “I’m just open with my recruitment right now.”

Justin Powell (2016/Pine Bush/Pine Bush, N.Y.) and Chris Baldwin (2016/Notre Dame Prep/Springfield, Ma.)
For a pair of teammates that play with a comparable level of intensity on the court, Justin Powell and Chris Baldwin harness it in two entirely different manners.

While the 6-foot-8 Massachusetts native Baldwin is the outspoken, charismatic on-court leader of their Hoop Group team, Powell is more of a ticking time bomb--silent until opportunity knocks. It is then that the explosiveness comes out.

After a rough second quarter, the teammates found their chemistry in the fourth quarter and ultimately led their team to victory.

“We played hard out there,” Baldwin said. “I’ve actually improved a lot here. My motor is better and luckily I was able to will my team to victory.”

The 6-foot-6 Powell plays a similar, explosive game in the low post as does Baldwin, though the size didn’t come until recently. Baldwin, who began his high school career at just 5-foot-8 has grown 10 inches in four years, which for that age bracket is slightly out of the ordinary.

By utilizing his lanky frame and raw power, Powell constantly commanded the glass. Even when out of position he still managed to pull down rebounds from angles that would typically be a challenge for an average player.

Powell mostly attributes the growth spurt to genetics and a little bit of good luck.

“My mom is like 5-10 and my dad is like 6 foot,” Powell said. “I didn’t expect to be too tall.”

Powell plans on playing collegiately at the Division II or Division III level. He says he has spoken with a few Division III schools as well as Saint Rose out of the Northeast 10 conference in Division II.

Baldwin, meanwhile has offers on the table from West Virginia, Rhode Island, La Salle and UMass, though he has also received interest from DePaul and Oklahoma State. He believes that he can generate more offers if he can improve his play on the wing while rounding out his game from top to bottom.

He admits however, that he still has a long way to go in his decision making process and is open to just about anything.

“I just want to be comfortable with wherever I go,” Baldwin said. “It’s all about being comfortable with both the coaches and location.”

Asem Johnson (2015/Paterson Eastside/Paterson N.J.)
The jump from high school to collegiate basketball is not one that is tailor made for all players. Junior colleges have a number of different purposes for athletes, but one of them is to serve as a bridge between high school and college basketball, providing a forum for those who are either not ready to be a full fledged college athlete or are not satisfied with their options.

For Asem Johnson, it was a little of both.

“My SAT scores weren’t on par with my grades,” Johnson said. “My grades were good, but my SAT scores were just a little off.”

Johnson is currently mulling his JUCO options. He has opportunities available in both Maryland and Kansas.

Prior to settling on playing at the JUCO level, Johnson had fielded offers from Iona, Niagara and Central Connecticut State. Not only are those offers still on the table, they are still weighing heavily on Johnson’s mind, having already visited Iona with plans to visit his other two options as well.

“[Iona’s] coaching staff is tremendous,” Johnson said. “They showed me love when I went there, told me what I needed to work on and I practiced with the team. They liked me, but said I needed to take a year of JUCO.”

The Gaels’ run-and-gun style suits Johnson’s game well, as he excels getting out in the open floor and finishing well above the rim with highlight slams. Iona is one of the best in the country at doing just that, as the regular season MAAC champs put up 79.5 points per game last season, good for fifth in the nation.

It is the type of offense that Johnson is looking to play in when he is eventually eligible to play Division I basketball.

“That really appeals to me,” Johnson said. “They run-and-gun. They pass the ball around. They just play the game.”

While his exact college plans are still in flux, Johnson made sure to end his Paterson Eastside career on the highest note possible when the Ghosts took home the New Jersey State Group 4 championship.

It was a proud moment for Johnson who was especially appreciative of the company he got to bask in the glory with.

“It was a tremendous end to a great year,” Johnson said. “Me and Shakur [Juiston] and the fellas were looking forward to getting a ring for our last year as seniors. We were all proud of ourselves that we made it that far and got the win.”