With the spotlight on Nike Peach Jam, the Under Armour All-American Camp and the Adidas Gauntlet during the first live July recruiting period, it may be necessary to keep an eye on three players that participated in the BasketBull Tournament at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA.
New Heights, who drew the largest crowd of the day, has two high quality 2017 prospects, while CBC’s young, big man took center stage.
Here is the breakdown of the three top prospects in the tournament:
2018 four-star SF Sidney Wilson (Bronx, NY)
The 6’6″ small forward, who played his high school basketball at St. Raymond’s and has transferred to Brewster Academy, has impressive length, size and athleticism. Wilson is not a great outside shooter but finished virtually everything in the painted area thanks to his touch and ability to finish above the rim.
Where Wilson can really make an impact is in transition, but more so on the defensive side of the ball. While he needs to continue to gain strength (he is a very thin at just 170 pounds), Wilson can guard numerous positions due to his physical tools and wingspan.
Minnesota, St. John’s, Rutgers and Oklahoma State have extended offers to the Bronx native, while he also took an unofficial visit to Rhode Island recently.
The Golden Gophers were two deep for Wilson at BasketBull on Saturday (including Richard Pitino).
2017 four-star PG Isaiah Washington (Bronx, NY)
Washington, who stands at 6’0″ and plays his high school ball with Wilson at St. Raymond’s, is a competitive guard with confidence on offense and tenacity on defense.
Washington does not have the physical tools that other lead guards have (doesn’t have great size or length), but he is a feisty defender who can stick to a ball handler like glue.
The point guard is the 10th best player in the state of New York and has offers from DePaul, Iona, Minnesota, New Mexico, Providence, Rutgers, Seton Hall, USF, Texas A&M and VCU.
The Golden Gophers were also two deep for Washington, while the Seton Hall Pirates had Shaheen Holloway representing the program.
2019 five-star C Chol Marial (Cheshire, CT)
Marial is headed into his sophomore year of high school and he is 7’3″.
Yes, 7-foot-3.
Marial is unstoppable in alley-oop situations and finishes with authority around the basket. He obviously has absurd size but his long arms give him the ability to swat shots on the defensive end of the floor and grab passes that seem to be out of his reach.
At nearly 200 pounds, Marial is very thin at this stage of his career, and will need to put on weight in order to bang around with bigger bodies at the college level. The big man is also still learning the game. He doesn’t have the softest of hands and needs to improve his feel for the game on both ends of the floor.
Marial fouled out in CBC’s game on Saturday, so defending without fouling will be critical moving forward.
But with three years left of high school, that’s plenty of time for him to put everything together and continue to learn the nuances of the game.
It’s obvious to see his upside and potential, and to see the reason he ranked 7th in ESPN’s top 25 for the class of 2019.
St. John’s recently extended an offer, but Florida State, Georgetown, Iowa, and West Virginia are also in the mix.