By Michael McAllister
The second session of Nike's EYBL finished up over the weekend from Hampton, VA. Syracuse had some staff on hand to check out their targets. They saw some perform very well, while others struggled. CIA Bounce, which features Tyler Ennis, remained undefeated at 9-0 overall. They are the only remaining unbeaten in EYBL play. Here's how the individual players faired.
The Good
Dakari Johnson of E1T1 had a fantastic second session. He averaged 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals per game while shooting 67% from the floor overall. His best game was a 20 points, 12 rebound, 3 block effort while making all 10 shots he attempted. Johnson is an elite center prospect, rated 5-stars by Scout.
The most recent recruit to receive an offer from Syracuse is Theo Pinson who plays for the Chris Paul All-Stars. Pinson is a 5-star small-forward prospect from North Carolina in the 2014 class. He had a solid session, averaging 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and nearly 2 steals per game. He shot 47% from the floor and 35% from beyond the arc. Pinson had a spectacular game against the Georgia Stars. He scored 29 points on 7-11 shooting, and grabbed 10 rebounds. Maybe the most impressive stats was he went 14-15 from the free-throw line in the game. Pinson can do everything offensively, and is great on the boards.
Wayne Selden, a 2014 5-star shooting guard prospect, shot the ball very well for BABC. He averaged 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists per game while shooting over 52% from the floor. He also made 5 of 12 shots from three-point range. Selden's best game was a 19 point, 6 rebound, 5 assist performance in a victory against Dakari Johnson and E1T1. That game is the only loss E1T1 has had during EYBL play.
Stanley Johnson, a small forward prospect who's been gaining a lot of attention of late, performed very well. The 2014 prospect from California averaged 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal per game for the Oakland Soldiers. He shot nearly 51% from the floor and made 5 three-pointers. His best performance was a 21 point, 9 rebound performance where he went 8-13 from the floor and 3-5 from beyond the arc.
Ishmail Wainright of Team Takeover had a solid, but unspectacular performance. He averaged 9 points and 8 rebounds per game while shooting 58% from the floor. Wainright is a 6'5" 2013 small forward prospect from Maryland.
BeeJay Anya was solid despite limited minutes. The 2013 center prospect shot 52% from the floor, and averaged 7 points, 4 rebounds, and more than 1 block per game. His best performance of the session was in Team Takeover's last game. Anya scored 11 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots. He made all four shots he attempted.
Maybe the most talked about Syracuse target in the 2013 class is point guard Tyler Ennis. He led CIA Bounce to another undefeated session. In five games, he averaged 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and only 1 turnover per game. He shot 55% from the floor overall, and 46% from three-point range. Ennis was spectacular against the Albany City Rocks. In a blowout win, he scored 22 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and dished out 3 assists. He was 7 for 10 shooting and 4 for 4 from beyond the arc. Ennis has said recently Syracuse and Memphis have been recruiting him the hardest. Boeheim and the staff really want this kid, and for good reason.
The Bad
2014 guard prospect JaQuel Richmond from the Chris Paul All-Stars struggled shooting the ball. He only shot 39% from the floor, and 29% from beyond the arc. During session 2, he averaged 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists per game. It was the second straight sub-par shooting performance for Richmond, who shot under 30% in the first session.
Similarly, 2013 5-star forward prospect Rondae Jefferson had trouble making shots. Jefferson hit only 30% of his shots. However, he did still average nearly 10 points and 8 rebounds per game. It seems as if it was just a bad session, as in the first session he shot 55% from the floor.
Jefferson's teammate Davon Reed, a 2013 guard prospect, also shot poorly. He hit only 38% of his shots, and made only 2 of 10 from three-point range. Reed only averaged 7 points and 4 rebounds per game during the session.
Rochester center prospect Chinoso Obokoh, who performed very well in the first session, struggled in the second session. While he shot 50% from the floor, he only averaged 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game. Obokoh was in foul trouble for a few of the games, which limited his minutes and production. But Obokoh was much less impressive than he was in the first session. He did have a solid 14 point, 5 rebound, 3 block performance in his first game, however.
Stanford Robinson of Team Takeover averaged only 8 points and 3 rebounds per game. The 2014 guard prospect only shot 43% from the floor, and didn't stand out in any game in which he played.
The Ugly
Goodluck Okonoboh, a 2013 center prospect and former teammate of Nerlens Noel, had his second straight poor session. He made only 2 of the 6 shots he attempted during the entire session. He averaged only 1 point and 6 rebounds per game. He did, however, average nearly 3 blocks per game. But he has really struggled in Noel's absence.
