Augusta Live: Friday's 16U Standouts
July 8, 2023 by Trent Watson
Camden Cowgill (SA Future): Camden Cowgill stood out Friday night with his poise playmaking and versatility as an offensive player. Cowgill has great size from the wing position, allowing him to shoot over closing defenders and late contests. He’s a natural wing but his ability to make the correct reads and create for himself or his teammates off the bounce is what stood out today. The fluidity in his set shot and how he quickly gets into his shot pocket gives him the ability to make contested shots with a quick release.
Jamarion Fleming (Team Thad EYBL): High energy post player Jamarion Fleming stood out Friday night with his shot blocking prowess and defensive awareness. He excelled as a pick and roll defender playing out of drop coverage and contesting shots at the rim. He showcased some good foot speed and the ability to stay in front of smaller defenders in tight spaces. Very active on offensive glass, and was very effective corralling offensive rebounds crashing from the weak side.
JD Gossett (Hawks Elite): JD Gossett was lights out today shooting the ball, putting on quite the impressive shooting display from deep. Gossett isn’t the most elusive ball handler, but has enough wiggle in his game to create space for his lethal jumper. Very confident when manipulating ball screens, getting the switch with bigs on an island and shooting over late contests. His scoring ability opened up his selflessness as a playmaker, making the right passes when seeing double teams and heavy help.
Austin Sperry (Team Thad EYBL): Austin Sperry had yet another impressive performance today as the lead guard for Team Thad’s 16U group. Sperry picked up right where he left off on Thursday night, bringing the energy as the leader of his team. Today it was his downhill playmaking, and ability to get into the lane at will that helped him standout. His high IQ decision making was on full display, as he obtained paint touches and connected on short runners or found teammates for dunks with no-look drop-off’s.
Keashawn Jordan (Brad Beal Elite EYBL): Keashawn Jordan is a hard-nosed post presence who did all the little things right. Jordan didn’t try to do too much outside of his game, kept things simple and played his role to perfection. His energy and effort never wavered whether he was getting offensive touches or not. Jordan set great on-ball screens, ran the floor hard, played with physicality and protected the rim with force.
Luke Walsh (Brad Beal Elite EYBL): Walsh caught fire Friday night from deep, splashing threes and carving up zone defenses with his off-ball movement. The streaky shooter put consecutive makes together, putting the entire defense on edge. His hot shooting off the catch had defenders flying out on close-outs, which opened up his ability to cash in on one, or two dribble pull-up jumpers. When Walsh saw zone defense from the opposition, his off-ball movement allowed him to continue to get open looks, often flashing into the high-post for mid-range makes.
Ladarius Givan (Alabama Fusion): Ladarius Givan is already regarded as one of the best post players in his class, and his potential was on full display today. His budding offensive arsenal and ability to score on multiple levels gave him an advantage over opposing post players. Givan showed flashes as a floor spacer with a confident looking shot off the catch. Inside the lane Givan used his length and patient footwork to finish over defenders.
Zymicah Wilkins (Team United EYBL): Zymicah Wilkins already has an early bid as one of the best players in his class. The big, physical post player has an intriguing skill set to go along with his wide frame and physicality inside. Wilkins has a Draymond Green-esque type of game, with the way he can grab defensive rebounds and push the break as a playmaker. His ball handling, court vision and agility at his size give him all the makings to be a special player down the road. Defensively he also showed flashes of being an elite help side defender.
Ashton Walker (Boo Williams EYBL): Walker had a huge performance today against Team United finishing with about 25 points. Walker affected the game in every possible way you can think of, showing real legitimacy as a two-way prospect. His size and functional strength made it easy for him to score inside as well as guard bigger players on the other end. Offensively he was a matchup nightmare with his IQ, ability to stretch the floor, and ability to blow by bigger defenders off the bounce utilizing his quickness.
Sadiq White (Team United EYBL): High-level wing Sadiq White had a great showing utilizing his defense and intangibles. His quick pop off the ground and explosive leaping ability allowed him to deter shots at the rim as a shot blocker. White was able to block shots at the rim as well as on the perimeter, which led to fast break dunks. White was efficient on the glass on both ends of the floor and was great in transition, sprinting the lanes and making himself available for high-flying alley-oop dunks.