WESTFIELD, Ind. — The main attraction Saturday was to see Arden (N.C.) Christ School junior post player Zymicah Wilkins and get a updated feel for his recruitment.
Wilkins hasn’t done much with recruiting, but he’s likely the biggest priority for NC State in the class of 2025, or at least should be. He went to Rutherfordton-Spindale Central High outside of Forest City, N.C., and with classes over, he’s back home for the summer.
NC State is the only college he’s been to so far, taking an unofficial last August. He is finally ready to see that change. Wilkins told me that NC State, Mississippi State, Georgetown, Virginia Tech and Villanova are the main schools involved. He’s playing well, so we’ll see if that changes after this weekend with Team United.
Wilkins finished going 8 of 14 from the field and 3 of 5 at the free-throw line en route to 19 points, plus seven rebounds, three assists, one block and three steals in a 87-72 loss to Wisconsin-based Team Herro, which is sponsored by Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat.
I liked the energy that Wilkins played with and he was all business on the court. He’s not going to out-athlete opposing big men, but he’s about 6-8 and I’d guess over 235 pounds. He’s been on the scene since the eighth grade and he keeps getting better. Wilkins didn’t try any outside jumpers, but that is in his bag too.
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The day started with Boo Williams against Indy Heat, with Boo Williams winning 79-73. Boo Williams has a pair of North Carolina natives in Raleigh Millbrook High junior small forward standout Colt Langdon and reclassed junior wing Ryan Crotty of Holly Springs, N.C., who now attends Miller School in Crozet, Va.
This weekend is the first for Langdon playing for Boo Williams, and he came in off the bench. He had played for Team Loaded VA 16s last year, and started off with Team United this spring. He didn’t make a shot in three attempts and went 5 of 6 at the line in eight minutes, so he’s figuring out his role on the squad. He did pass well.
Crotty has been a bit of a revelation this spring. I don’t think he will get recruited by NC State, but he’s developed into a sniper. He went 7 of 11 from the field and 3 of 6 on three-pointers for 21 points and six boards against Indy Heat, who has two top 50 players, and a third player, who looks to be high major.
I first saw Crotty two years ago with Team Wall 16s, and last year he played NC State signee Paul McNeil and Rockingham (N.C.) Richmond Senior High in the NCHSAA playoffs in Sanford, N.C. If you had told me Crotty would become a high-major target, I’d have thought ‘No way.’ But Iowa offered Saturday and Virginia Tech has offered.
NC State hasn’t recruited either Kareem Stagg or Sincere Jones, but they are the kind of tough guys that project well in college. Stagg is 6-8 and 228 pounds, and attends Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith High. Jones is a 6-7, 200-pounder from Portsmouth (Va.) Churchland High. They both have Virginia Tech offers.
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Three off the highest ranked players in the event didn’t have an easy time of it Saturday. Small forward AJ Dybantsa was originally in the class of 2026, but moved into 2025 to shorten his high school clock. He’s the No. 1 player in the class of 2025 by Rivals.com and others, and is originally from Boston, Mass., but attends school at Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif.
Dybantsa joined the Oakland Soldiers and he had to grind it out for a 70-68 win over a gritty Albany City Rocks of New York. Dybantsa’s final numbers were good, with 21 points and 12 rebounds, but he had five rebounds and didn’t make a jump shot.
Dybantsa’s teammate on Oakland Soldiers and at Prolific Prep is sophomore small forward Tyran Stokes of Louisville. He’s an athletic freak and built like an NFL tight end or defensive end. The box score had him going 2 of 12 from the field for 12 points, six rebounds and three assists.
The class of 2026 top spot is wide open in my opinion, partly due to current No. 1 Brandon McCoy Jr. also struggling in one of his games Saturday. The 6-4 point guard from St. John Bosco in Bellflower, Calif., went 2 of 8 for six points, five rebounds and two assists in a 79-63 win for his AZ Unity squad against Meanstreets of Illinois.
Class of 2025 rankings
Class of 2026 rankings
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The best performance that I witnessed was by Kiyan Anthony, the son of NBA legend and Syracuse star Carmelo Anthony.
Kiyan Anthony is ranked No. 38 and that is simply too low by Rivals.com. He’s simply much, much better than he was at this time last year, where when I watched him he didn’t have a great feel for the game and was shot-happy.
In an intense game, Anthony has 28 points and five three-pointers, but Team Melo fell 68-65 to Team Final of the Philadelphia area.
Anthony has gone to Christ the King in New York City and then Long Island Lutheran this past year. Talk about recruiting pressure on the Syracuse staff?
The other aspect of what I liked about Anthony’s improvement, he’s been playing under a spotlight. One part of the industry I’m not a fan of is using players from famous families for clicks, and that has been a theme with Anthony over the last year. It’s on a smaller scale than what Bronny James has gone through, but similar. Anthony’s game wasn’t ready for it last year, but he is this year, and I could see him challenging for McDonald’s All-American honors, not for his name, but with his game.
LeBron James was on the adjacent court, with his other son playing, Bryce James. I don’t know if he was the coach that game, but he did coach Strive For Greatness earlier in the day. He popped over to watch the ending of Anthony’s game. A mob of people do anything they can to film James, while Carmelo Anthony doesn’t get swarmed.
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Former NC State players turned college assistant coaches Justin Gainey and Al Pinkins were on the trail. Gainey is at Tennessee and Pinkins is at Ole Miss, and both played against NC State last December. They were excited about the Wolfpack’s postseason run and both said they were nervous about playing them because they knew they were a talented team. The Volunteers were worried about not having a chance to stop D.J. Burns in the post.
I didn’t see Rhode Island coach Archie Miller, but new Ohio State assisstant coach Joel Justus has been here.
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One of the weird vibes at a big event like this is that you will walk by a coach, and just think, “Oh, he just lost his star player to the portal,” or “Boy, he just stole a guy in the portal.”
By happen stance, I ended up near Bowling Green assistant coach Bryce Martin I believe. I couldn’t resist and I asked him, how he thought new NC State player Marcus Hill would do and he was enthusiastic. He thought he could handle being a “bigger” point guard in the ACC on both ends of the court.
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To follow up on CP3's Isaiah Denis of Davidson (N.C.) Day, I heard he played well again Saturday and Floirda has offered him. CP3 continues to struggle and are now 3-7, with losses Saturday to Expressions Elite and Team Takeover.
Against Takeover, Denis had 21 points and went 4 of 5 on three-pointers. Southern Durham junior small forward Jackson Keith had 20 points and made both of his three-pointers, but no one else reached double figures.
Denis had 14 points against Expressions Elite and made 2 of 6 on three-pointers. Keith went 3 of 9 for eight points in the 70-63 loss.
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One new aspects of Nike this year is having 24 teams in the ECYL. Some are program’s B teams, and others are former high profile Nike teams that are trying to come back up, like Howard Pulley of Minnesota. For instance CP3 has a second team called CP3 Academy in the 16s division.
Then there is Paris Hustle of France in the 17s division. I haven’t watched them and might end up just seeing them on video, but they have an intriguing forward. The 6-10 Hugo Facorat hasn’t lit it up this weekend, but he finally had a quality game in his third contest of the event. He went 6 of 7 from the field and made both of his three-pointers, but surprisingly went 1 of 5 at the line for 15 points and four rebounds in 21 minutes in a 71-64 win over UPlay West of Canada.
I doubt Hugo is a popular name in France, but Hugo Yimga, who is not at the EYBL, could be the next great NBA Draft prospect from France.
