Orlando Summer Hoops Festival Wednesday Takeaways

APOPKA, Fla. – The second of July’s three live evaluation periods began at 5 p.m. Wednesday and GatorsTerritory.com was at the C.P.S. Sportsplex for the Orlando Summer Hoops Festival hosted by Source Hoops and the Hoop Exchange.

E1T1 UNITED AND TEAM LOADED VA DRAW A CROWD

The first game of the evening attracted a huge crowd of coaches, more on that later, and with very good reason. Team Loaded Virginia has a trio of players in the class of 2020 ranked by Rivals.com. E1T1 United has two players Top-50 players in the class of 2019, unfortunately Tre Mann was not in uniform tonight.

C.J. Walker put on a show for everyone watching. The slender 6-foot-7 forward played like a five-star prospect in this game. Going up against taller and thicker front court defenders, Walker rebounded well, scored on all three levels, led the break and just played hard each possession. Walker displayed his improving perimeter game by knocking down jump shots over a hand. On one possession when the defender got into him off the catch, Walker used his shoulders to create space and calmly drained a 20-footer. Walker finished with 23 points and eight rebounds against Team Loaded Virginia (he had 11 points and 10 rebounds later against Atlanta Xpress).

Team Loaded Virginia’s Earl Timberlake, Henry Coleman III and Mark Williams each have offers from UF and it was easy to see why. Williams is a mobile, fluid 7-foot, 225-pound rim protector. He excels in transition, has great touch around the rim, passes well and is a bouncy shot blocker. The game video I’ve seen of him does not do him justice. He is much more imposing in person. Williams had eight points.

Timberlake has combo guard skills but has the size and strength to defend big wings and possibly some small forwards. An impressive shot blocker, Timberlake has elite athleticism, solid playmaking skills, plays with a lot of heart and with the type of toughness you need at DeMatha Catholic and to compete in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC), arguably the toughest high school basketball conference in the nation. Timberlake led his team with 14 points.

At 6-foot-8, 220-pounds, Coleman is a big, strong and skilled forward. He is versatile enough to play as a big wing or as an athletic and mobile power forward. He seemed to always be around the ball on defense, and is one of the most vocal and defensively active players you will come across. He is a threat to score from the wing and will take a defender on a ride if he has a straight line drive to the cup. Coleman had 12 points.

Now about the coaching crowd. I know I missed some but from my viewpoint I saw head coaches from Florida, Georgia, Virginia, UCF and USF. Among the assistants I saw were Florida, LSU, Miami, Ole Miss, Louisville, Western Kentucky, Clemson, Florida International, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, UCF and USF.

JAMES BISHOP IS A BUCKET

No one saw their stock rise more during the second live period in Indianapolis than Bishop. He matched up against five-stars Bryan Antoine and Scottie Lewis and put on a scoring explosion of 43 points on 11-of-15 shooting from behind the arc. In fact I thought he might get an offer from UF, but it has not happened yet. Wednesday night may change that. With head coach Mike White and assistant coach Al Pinkins looking on, Bishop scorched the nets by splashing six three-pointers on the way to a game high 22 points. He also set up teammates and handled the pressure defense from Showtime Ballers. If Florida plans to jump into the mix with Bishop, we’ll know soon enough as list cutting season is almost here.

On the other side, Showtime Ballers combo guard Tyrell “Turbo” Jones was also dialed in. Jones showed why he has picked up nine offers in the past seven days including from VCU, Auburn, Xavier, Houston and Wichita State. The muscular 6-foot-2, 175-pounder has good quicks, a solid handle, uses ball screens well and has a jump shot that must be respected – he sank five three-pointers. Jones is tough, fast and quick to long rebound opportunities and aggressive on the defensive end of the floor. In the game against Team Thrill Jones led his team with 21 points. In a later game he exploded for 32 points and sank five-of-seven three pointers. Jones has earned consideration for the Rivals150 at the next update.

FOUR-STAR OMAR PAYNE MAKES SHOT BLOCKING LOOK EASY

A highly regarded prospect for over two years now, Payne is an elite rim protecting agile big man who is a superb finisher in transition. His ability to block shots without fouling is impressive. Payne also has a great motor, amazing length and is willing to do the dirty work – that helps teams win games – even if his only opportunities to score come off of put backs. That last part is important. Many high school players can become disengaged, particularly bigs, when they don’t get what they feel are enough touches. Not Payne, he keeps playing hard. In fact, at times he seems too unselfish. In an overtime win over Pro Skills (Nike EYBL) Payne had 18 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for Team Parsons (adidas Gauntlet) with Coach White and Coach Pinkins looking on from the sideline.

KAI JONES OOZES POTENTIAL

What a difference a year makes. It was almost 365 days ago that I tweeted this about an unknown player from the Bahamas:

One season of high school basketball in the U.S. plus a desire to improve, an above average athleticism, great length, a good feel for the game and lots of hard work and you have a prospect with a sky high ceiling. At 6-foot-9, 200-pounds Jones definitely needs to get stronger but his versatility on defense and rim protecting skills and touch around the basket are impressive. After winning a state championship at Orlando Christian Prep, college recruiters will find Jones at Brewster Academy this season. Jones does not have an offer yet, but both Coach White and Coach Pinkins watched him closely Wednesday night. Jones finished with eight points and eight rebounds in a loss to Team Speights.