1. The three main priorities for NC State in the class of 2024 at the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League in Cartersville, Ga., was clearly small forward Isaiah Evans, shooting guards Jaeden Mustaf and Austin Swartz, and power forward Jarin Stevenson.
NC State assistant coach Joel Justus was there Friday and Saturday, and coach Kevin Keatts and Levi Watkins got the second the half of action of Saturday. I could be wrong, but I think NC State didn’t come Sunday and headed back to Raleigh, and have an official visit from Missouri post player transfer Mohamed Diarra that starts today.
I’ll start with Evans, who was a pleasant surprise that he played with The Skill Factory (TSF), as rumors were he’d miss this weekend with an injury. Evans just officially visited Duke this past week, and narrative for about 20-plus years now is that Blue Devils are also the “perceived” leader on a recruit they target early.
One scenario that I see unfolding is that Evans doesn’t play well when on TSF. It’s just different for him than when he’s at Huntersville (N.C.) North Mecklenburg, where he has complete freedom and just rocks out.
TSF went 1-3 this weekend and Evans’ numbers weren’t good — 12.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, and he shot 37.5 percent from the field and 6 of 25 from three-point land.
I watched him Friday night and he went 4 of 17 from the field against Georgia Stars and I could tell that things were off, especially in the second half. He hit two three-pointers and a long two-pointer in the first half, and then it went quiet. He never scored more than 14 points in his four games, and that isn’t Evans. Duke also saw that and they could prioritize someone else like say Tyler Betsy of Oakdale (Conn.) St. Thomas More at small forward, who is ranked No. 14 by Rivals.com. So that is one theory.
The other theory is who plays similar to North Meck? NC State does. Evans knows that coach Kevin Keatts will let him rock it out in Raleigh and embrace his “Showtime Slim” skills. He could still end up at a blue blood, but that’s kind of where things stand.
2. Jaeden Mustaf and Austin Swartz went through the EYBL field like a buzz saw.
I lucked into picking Boo Williams’ game against Team Final because that was going to be a challenge Saturday night. Team Final has point guard Robert Wright of Philadelphia, who is ranked No. 27 overall in the class of 2024 and is committed to Baylor. They also have fellow junior point guard Ahmad Nowell of Philly, whois ranked No. 36 and shooting guard Jalil Bethea, who is ranked No. 39. It’s always good to see good vs. good.
For the first half, both Swartz and Mustaf were held in check, but then they showed why they are coveted prospects. Swartz finished 6 of 15 from the field, but he hit four straight 3-pointers and that’s pretty dang rare. He has a maturity to his game and doesn’t let misses affect him. He’s a good enough shooter that when he gets a good look, you are surprised it doesn’t go in.
Mustaf made his adjustment to not having his jumper working and drove hard to the rim, where he either converts or gets fouled. He’s such a smart basketball player and gifted at getting to the free-throw line and competes on defense.
Team Final won 80-68, due in part to junior center Thomas Sorber being a man-child in the paint (18 points and seven boards).
Mustaf finished with 13 points, five assists and five rebounds even though he didn’t have his fastball. He went 3 of 13 from the field (0 of 2 on 3’s), but made up for it going 7 of 9 at the free-throw line.
Swartz finished 5 of 15 from the field and 4 of 8 on 3-pointers for 18 points and three rebounds.
Bethea got hot late to finish with 20 points, Nowell had 15 points and five assists and Wright had eight points, 12 assists and six rebounds. Again, good vs. good.
Swartz finished the weekend averaging 21.8 points per game (third highest in EYBL) and he shot a blistering 48.5 percent on 3-pointers (16 of 33). He picked up new offers from Indiana, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Georgetown. Expect the Hoyas to offer a lot of North Carolina prep players with former Wake Forest assistant Jeff Battle on the staff.
Swartz has always wanted to play point guard, but he played more off the ball with Boo Williams, and had five assists and 10 turnovers.
Mustaf finished fifth in scoring with 20.7 points, to go along with 3.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. He shot 50 percent from the field and was 1 of 5 on 3-pointers, his lone kryptonite. He missed Sunday due to injury, but he went 25 of 33 at the free-throw line in three games, which is an incredible number.
3. Jarin Stevenson had a solid weekend but Team United went 1-3, but I did get to see the one win, which was over Team Takeover on Sunday.
Another example of good vs. good because Stevenson had to battle against power forward Donnie Freeman, who is ranked No. 54 from Washington (D.C.) St. John’s College, which is NC State’s Casey Morsell’s alma mater, and massive center Patrick Ngongba of Chantilly (Va.) Paul VI.
Stevenson played with a good motor and even tried to block Isaiah Abraham’s dunk attempt, which ended badly for Stevenson. He just didn’t get many touches or be assertive enough, which has been a common theme for the No. 24-ranked player.
The Raleigh News & Observer and Charlotte Observer had the big feature on him this past week, and he’s all over the place in terms of recruiting, but he’s more a down the road stock, who needs a college S&C program. What he can do at power forward that sets him apart is that he can be a good 3-point shooter and has the ability to face up and drive on clumsier post players. The latter, he should do way more often, and if he did, he’d have the same success when C.J. Leslie did that years ago.
Stevenson has talked about going into the class of 2023, and I think that has faded because he’s just not ready yet to come in and play a major role on a winning team.
Stevenson finished averaging 14.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game and he shot 52.6 percent from the field and 4 of 12 on 3-pointers. He went for 20 points against a good Vegas Elite team, which has serious size on the roster, so if coaches weren’t there to watch that contest, that will be the one that will be popular on Synergy.
NC State assistant coach Joel Justus was there Friday and Saturday, and coach Kevin Keatts and Levi Watkins got the second the half of action of Saturday. I could be wrong, but I think NC State didn’t come Sunday and headed back to Raleigh, and have an official visit from Missouri post player transfer Mohamed Diarra that starts today.
I’ll start with Evans, who was a pleasant surprise that he played with The Skill Factory (TSF), as rumors were he’d miss this weekend with an injury. Evans just officially visited Duke this past week, and narrative for about 20-plus years now is that Blue Devils are also the “perceived” leader on a recruit they target early.
One scenario that I see unfolding is that Evans doesn’t play well when on TSF. It’s just different for him than when he’s at Huntersville (N.C.) North Mecklenburg, where he has complete freedom and just rocks out.
TSF went 1-3 this weekend and Evans’ numbers weren’t good — 12.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, and he shot 37.5 percent from the field and 6 of 25 from three-point land.
I watched him Friday night and he went 4 of 17 from the field against Georgia Stars and I could tell that things were off, especially in the second half. He hit two three-pointers and a long two-pointer in the first half, and then it went quiet. He never scored more than 14 points in his four games, and that isn’t Evans. Duke also saw that and they could prioritize someone else like say Tyler Betsy of Oakdale (Conn.) St. Thomas More at small forward, who is ranked No. 14 by Rivals.com. So that is one theory.
The other theory is who plays similar to North Meck? NC State does. Evans knows that coach Kevin Keatts will let him rock it out in Raleigh and embrace his “Showtime Slim” skills. He could still end up at a blue blood, but that’s kind of where things stand.
2. Jaeden Mustaf and Austin Swartz went through the EYBL field like a buzz saw.
I lucked into picking Boo Williams’ game against Team Final because that was going to be a challenge Saturday night. Team Final has point guard Robert Wright of Philadelphia, who is ranked No. 27 overall in the class of 2024 and is committed to Baylor. They also have fellow junior point guard Ahmad Nowell of Philly, whois ranked No. 36 and shooting guard Jalil Bethea, who is ranked No. 39. It’s always good to see good vs. good.
For the first half, both Swartz and Mustaf were held in check, but then they showed why they are coveted prospects. Swartz finished 6 of 15 from the field, but he hit four straight 3-pointers and that’s pretty dang rare. He has a maturity to his game and doesn’t let misses affect him. He’s a good enough shooter that when he gets a good look, you are surprised it doesn’t go in.
Mustaf made his adjustment to not having his jumper working and drove hard to the rim, where he either converts or gets fouled. He’s such a smart basketball player and gifted at getting to the free-throw line and competes on defense.
Team Final won 80-68, due in part to junior center Thomas Sorber being a man-child in the paint (18 points and seven boards).
Mustaf finished with 13 points, five assists and five rebounds even though he didn’t have his fastball. He went 3 of 13 from the field (0 of 2 on 3’s), but made up for it going 7 of 9 at the free-throw line.
Swartz finished 5 of 15 from the field and 4 of 8 on 3-pointers for 18 points and three rebounds.
Bethea got hot late to finish with 20 points, Nowell had 15 points and five assists and Wright had eight points, 12 assists and six rebounds. Again, good vs. good.
Swartz finished the weekend averaging 21.8 points per game (third highest in EYBL) and he shot a blistering 48.5 percent on 3-pointers (16 of 33). He picked up new offers from Indiana, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Georgetown. Expect the Hoyas to offer a lot of North Carolina prep players with former Wake Forest assistant Jeff Battle on the staff.
Swartz has always wanted to play point guard, but he played more off the ball with Boo Williams, and had five assists and 10 turnovers.
Mustaf finished fifth in scoring with 20.7 points, to go along with 3.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. He shot 50 percent from the field and was 1 of 5 on 3-pointers, his lone kryptonite. He missed Sunday due to injury, but he went 25 of 33 at the free-throw line in three games, which is an incredible number.
3. Jarin Stevenson had a solid weekend but Team United went 1-3, but I did get to see the one win, which was over Team Takeover on Sunday.
Another example of good vs. good because Stevenson had to battle against power forward Donnie Freeman, who is ranked No. 54 from Washington (D.C.) St. John’s College, which is NC State’s Casey Morsell’s alma mater, and massive center Patrick Ngongba of Chantilly (Va.) Paul VI.
Stevenson played with a good motor and even tried to block Isaiah Abraham’s dunk attempt, which ended badly for Stevenson. He just didn’t get many touches or be assertive enough, which has been a common theme for the No. 24-ranked player.
The Raleigh News & Observer and Charlotte Observer had the big feature on him this past week, and he’s all over the place in terms of recruiting, but he’s more a down the road stock, who needs a college S&C program. What he can do at power forward that sets him apart is that he can be a good 3-point shooter and has the ability to face up and drive on clumsier post players. The latter, he should do way more often, and if he did, he’d have the same success when C.J. Leslie did that years ago.
Stevenson has talked about going into the class of 2023, and I think that has faded because he’s just not ready yet to come in and play a major role on a winning team.
Stevenson finished averaging 14.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game and he shot 52.6 percent from the field and 4 of 12 on 3-pointers. He went for 20 points against a good Vegas Elite team, which has serious size on the roster, so if coaches weren’t there to watch that contest, that will be the one that will be popular on Synergy.
