But don’t just hand him the crown, because fellow five-star Isaiah Briscoe is playing at a high level himself. Ranked No. 19 in the class of 2015, Briscoe put on a show with the New Jersey Playaz while leading them to an undefeated weekend at Fieldhouse USA just outside of Dallas.
The class of 2015 isn’t filled with a lot of pure point guards at the top of the rankings – as the best backcourt players are more scorers than distributors. Isaiah Briscoe is in that category, but the 6-foot-3 Roselle Catholic (N.J.) is trying to become more of a point guard and a leader.
A little incentive went a long way for young Tyus Battle. His dad Gary Battle, an All-American at the University of New Haven, put a basketball in the 5-year-old’s hands and made him a deal.
Tyus Battle’s freshman year on the Gill St. Bernard’s boys basketball team was most notable for what he didn’t do. He didn’t force things, show off or alienate older teammates.
The NCAA early signing period for basketball runs from Nov. 13-20, and even with Tuesday’s commitment by Trey Lyles to Kentucky, there’s still a slew of elite prospects and future NBA lottery picks left on the board.
Syracuse-bound Chris McCullough, one of the top power forwards in the Class of 2014 out of Brewster (N.H.) Academy and Team Scan is on the list of players invited to the Aug. 24 Elite 24 game in Brooklyn.
Josh Perkins listed scholarship offers from USC, UCLA, Gonzaga, Minnesota, Baylor, Kansas, Connecticut, Syracuse and New Mexico, to go along with interest from Kentucky.
James Southerland tied a single-game school record with nine 3-pointers for 35 points against Arkansas and also set a Big East tournament record with 17 3-pointers, including a perfect 6-for-6 start against Pittsburgh.
The Nike Point Guard Skills Academy and Big Man Skills Academy are running simultaneously at Harwood Arena on the campus of Kean University. The event opened Monday and will run through Wednesday with the 23 guards and 16 big men going through a total of five workouts over the three days.