City of Basketball Love

--Teddy Bailey (@TheTeddyBailey)

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C.--The nation’s premier event on the Nike Circuit kicked off Thursday, as Nike EYBL invited 24 teams to compete for the Peach Jam title. The area’s lone Nike program, Team Final, was in action against New England-based BABC. Despite holding a ten-point halftime lead, BABC’s backcourt press sparked a 66-65 comeback win.

Here a few players that stood out the most during the first day of competition in Augusta:

Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree (2017/Team Final/Neumann-Goretti)
The 6-foot-9 forward was vital in Team Final’s offensive performance against BABC in the tournament’s first set of games. Against the frontcourt BABC duo of 6-foot-10 forward Terrell Brown and 6-foot-7 forward Marcus Santos-Silva, Cosby-Roundtree scored 12 points and corralled eight rebounds in 25 minutes of action. The Villanova commit, who shot 6-of-9 from the field, was the most efficient Team Final player on the floor against its New England opponent. It will be intriguing to see how much Team Final utilizes Cosby-Roundtree on the offensive end t with the injury of 2017 wing Cam Reddish.

Daron Russell (2017/Team Final/Imhotep)
Despite losing his balance with a one-point deficit and 5.8 seconds remaining, Russell was a clear bright spot in the team’s opening defeat. The rising Imhotep senior tallied a game-high 17 points on three 3-pointers  to go along with nine assists. The only negative mark of Russell’s performance was four turnovers -- all of which forced by the fierce BABC backcourt press from Corey Romich and Bailey Patella. Russell, a 5-foot-10 guard, fulfilled the majority of ball handling duties for Team Final Wednesday along with Tamir Green. Recruiting wise, Russell has visited both Temple, Rhode Island and holds high-major offers in SMU, DePaul, VCU, East Carolina and Seton Hall.

Mohamed Bamba (2017/PSA Cardinals/Westtown)
The highly touted 7-footer jumped out to a terrific start at Peach Jam Wednesday. Bamba was efficient offensively in PSA Cardinals’ 89-79 win over Nike South Beach in front of countless high-major head coaches. The Duke target poured in 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting in addition to a game-high 14 rebounds. PSA was fueled by both Bamba and Brandon Randolph, who scored a game-high 24 points of his own. PSA Cardinals is expected to make a deep run in this year’s Peach Jam, boasting Goretti’s Quade Green as well as Westtown’s Hasahn French.

Corey Romich (2017/BABC/Vermont Academy)
Romich played a critical part in BABC’s opening win against Team Final. Offensively, the 6-foot-4 guard from Massachusetts tallied 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range to help BABC claw back from double-digit deficits. On the other end of the court, Romich and Patella both forced the Team Final backcourt to cough up the ball on multiple second-half possessions. In 21 minutes, Romich showed that he is capable of holding his own on both ends of the court against the highest competition. The rising Vermont Academy senior is currently without a Division-1 offer after being overshadowed by Bruce Brown and Tyrique Jones, among others.

16U Peach Jam Invitational:

Joe Girard (2019/Albany City Rocks/Glens Falls)
Despite playing up a year with the U16’s, Girard has experience playing against older competition -- the 6-foot guard has been playing varsity basketball for Glens Falls since seventh grade. The sharpshooter knocked down a few 3-pointers in Albany CIty Rocks’ first game against The Family. Girard, entering his sophomore year, holds a High Point offer.

Keenan Fitzmorris (2018/Mokan Elite/St. James)
Fitzmorris, a lanky 6-foot-11 center out of Kansas City, shined in his team’s first game against Mac Irvin Fire. The high-energy player holds offers from Wichita State, Texas Tech and St. John’s, played well with Shocker head coach Gregg Marshall in attendance. Fitzmorris not only showed a smooth stroke from mid-range and the free-throw line, but also near the rim with numerous dunks and finishes.