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Providence Jamfest Takeaways

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Craig Leighton and Kevin Farrahar were in attendance at the Providence Jamfest over the weekend. Here are our key takeaways.

Day 1 Takeaways – Kevin Farrahar

1. Wenyen Gabriel is bound to blow up. Every time you see Gabriel it looks like he’s added another inch or two — and his game is growing just as quickly. His rise is somewhat reminiscent of Paschal Chukwu’s, as both were under-the-radar recruits prior to their junior years, but by the summer before their senior seasons their stock took off.

Gabriel is bordering on breaking into top 100 lists, and he’s an easy top 100 talent, if not top 50 as far as I’m concerned. He looks every bit of 6’9 and on Saturday morning he flashed small forward skills, scoring on dribble drives to the basket on three straight attempts. Gabriel kicked off the Saturday night session with a Europe step and one handed slam that had the gym buzzing. Athleticism and coordination at his size and age are rare. There’s a ton of upside here.

As was the case with Chukwu, Providence was the first school to offer Gabriel a scholarship, and they were soon joined by Boston College last season. Rhode Island, UConn, Maryland and Rice all followed suit during spring AAU play. Gabriel was quoted earlier this spring saying Providence was the only school recruiting him to play small forward, and he showed those skills throughout the first day of the Jamfest.

At this point, there isn’t a 2016 target I’d want to see more at Providence.

2. Jumping the gun on Ashton-Langford vs. Waters. I may have gotten a little ahead of myself when writing that Makai Ashton-Langford was the better prospect than Tremont Waters last week. This is no knock on him, but Waters was terrific throughout, controlling the play for the 17u champion New England Playaz and walking away with the MVP. Waters is a near impossible cover off of the bounce, was among the best shooters at the event and distributed the ball evenly across a deep and huge Playaz group. For a young prospect he has a terrific sense of when to distribute and when to look for his own offense. In watching him this fall I mistakenly thought that his game was more flash than substance. I was wrong.

Ashton-Langford showed the pure speed that makes him a promising prospect. He looks to be filling out physically, and if he adds a consistent jump shot to go along with that speed he’ll be a problem. He blows by defenders.

3. A top heavy field. Saturday was filled with mismatches. We focused heavily on the 17u Mass Rivals, New England Playaz and Sports U games, and no opponents could challenge them on the opening day of the Jamfest.

The Playaz were an especially difficult draw. They ran as crisp of an offense as you could expect at an early-May event (being led by a former NBA coach doesn’t hurt), with not only Waters showing well, but Kellan Grady, AJ Brodeur, Tomas Murphy, Jerome Desrosiers, and the very large Jimbo Lull all producing.

Grady is a guard worth monitoring. He recently reclassified to the class of  2017 after leading Catholic Memorial to a Massachusetts state title this year. He’s transferring to Northfield Mount Hermon, where so many of his Playaz teammates (Brodeur, Ian Sistare, Murphy, Desrosiers) attend.

Lull is massive and twice flashed a soft right handed hook shot on Saturday night. He’s received mid-major offers, but could develop into a high-major prospect at New Hampton.

Day 2 – Craig Leighton

1. Wenyen Gabriel and Tremont Waters. I have to agree with Kevin on both Gabriel and Waters.

Gabriel impresses me more every time I see him. He has to be 6’10 now and still growing. He runs the court like a deer and and has a variety of moves going to the basket. It is fortunate the the Friars were on him early as he will be blowing up this summer. Right now he is my number one target for the Friars in the class of 2016.

Up until the Providence Jamfest this weekend I had overlooked Tremont Waters. Sure, he was ranked as one of the top players in New England, but he is only 5’10 and the Friars seem to be all about going after big point guards.

I became a Waters convert very quickly this weekend. He is that rare point guard who combines superior speed, ball handling, and passing ability with an incredible outside shooting touch. He was able to demonstrate all of these abilities while still playing within himself and getting everyone else on his team involved. I thought Waters was easily the best player on the court at the Jamfest and he deservedly won the MVP award. At the next level he will be the type of point guard who makes all of his teammates better.

2. Nazreon Reid. I no longer need to wonder what all the fuss is about with Nazreon Reid. The 15 year old who stands 6’10 already has all the physical tools to become a big time high major player. Size, speed, athleticism, coordination — he has it all. His overall game is still a work in progress, but he had moments where he showed that he could be a future one-and-done type player.

Reid and his Sports U15 team played up one level in the 16 and under division and still ran through their bracket. In the finals they were going to face the Sports U16 and under team, but the Sports U program director decided he didn’t want the two teams to play each other. That was disappointment to everyone looking to see more of Reid, one of the top players in the class of 2018.

3. Other players of interest. Here are some brief capsule reports on a few other players that caught my eye during the weekend:

Tomas Murphy (NE Playaz) – Murphy is progressing. In extended minutes he showed effective inside moves and an outside touch. All the hype he has been receiving nationally and in New England is very much justified.

Malik Petteway (USAD) – The class of 2015 Sacred Heart product demonstrated a very good inside-out game while leading his USAD all the way to the finals before they lost to a very strong NE Playaz team. A 6’7 power forward, Petteway may have enough potential to play at the high major level.

A. J. Brodeur (NE Playaz) – Brodeur seemed to be able to score at will all weekend long with some absolutely great low post moves. It didn’t hurt, however, that he had Waters continuously feeding him the ball in great positions to score. The 6’8 2016 power forward from New Hampton showed why many high major programs will be looking at him sooner rather than later.

Breein Tyree (Sports U) – It does not take you long to figure out why this 6’1 point guard from St. Joseph’s (NJ) is on most top 100 lists for the class of 2016. Tyree is blessed with superior athletic ability (both speed and bounce). Like most young point guards his outside shot is streaky, but he does have nice form. If PC is not yet recruiting Tyree they should be.

One Comment

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    May 11, 2015 at 11:22 pm

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