PORTLAND, Ore.—It didn’t take long for James Wiseman to establish himself as the leading candidate for the first pick overall in the 2020 NBA draft.

The towering center from Memphis East, who measures 7-1 without sneakers and weighs  240-poiunds, has been named the Gatorade and Morgan Wooten national Player of the Year, was the dominant figure for the U.S. Nike Hoop Summit team that blew away a local team of high school All Stars that included 6-9 McDonald’s All American Jalen McDaniel of Fed Way, Wash., 74-34, in a pre-game scrimmage at the Trail Blazers’ practice facility.

Wiseman, who signed to play for Memphis and is ESPN’s No. 1 prospect in the class of 2019, scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, punctuating his performance with when he blocked a shot at one end and then ran 94 feet to score off a pass and dunk at the other. This team gives up the ball. Wiseman patterns his game after Kevin Garnett and can shoot from range, is long, athletic, can run the floor and is an active rebounder and shot blocker. His motor, which has been questioned at times during his high school career, was on full display in the 40- minute, four- quarter scrimmage.

Scouts from all 30 NBA teams were in attendance.  They are now allowed to watch prospects at six different USA Basketball events—the U16 and U19 FIBA events, three mini-camps and the Hoop Summit.

Wiseman, who started attending USA Basketball mini-camps in ninth grade and led the U.S.A. U16 team to a gold medal in the FIBA Americas tournament in 2016, has become a finished product after playing four years for USA Basketball with fellow big men like 6-10, 230- pound Vern Carey who is going to Duke; and 6-9, 248- pound Isaiah Stewart, who signed with Washington. He has been receiving full time instruction from his former travel team, high school and current college coach, Penny Hardaway from the University of Memphis who is an icon In that town after staying local and playing college ball for the Tigers,  Memphis, then going on to make several NBA All Star teams with the Orlando Magic and playing in the 1996 Olympics.

Hardaway has always been one of Wiseman’s heroes. He has had Hardaway’s picture on the screen saver of his computer since he was in sixth grade

Wiseman wasn’t always a star. Hardaway took up basketball at the age of five. He also played football. But his favorite sport was baseball until he joined a local AAU basketball team at age seven. “The first day of practice, I tripped over my feet and the ball went off my feet. I double dribbled and the ball went off my foot.’’

Wiseman was a quick study and was eventually invited to play for Team Penny, a Nike EBYL team coached by Hardaway. “When I first met him, I was in awe,’’ Wiseman said. “I used to follow guys like him and Kevin and Shaq since I was little.’’

At the time, the personable Wiseman was a strong student at the exclusive Ensworth School., a private academy in Nashville, who was a voracious reader who has devoured books on basketball, horror and business and curious enough to study Chinese Mandarin for three years. It didn’t take much inducement for Wiseman to transfer to Hardaway’s perennial state power East High as a junior, moving to Memphis with his mother Donzaleigh Artis to be closer to his sister Jaquarius Greer, who is a student and a player at Memphis.

As can be expected, the Tennessee state association did not take kindly to the transfer to an already perennial state power that has won three straight state championships and accused Wiseman of transferring to athletic reasons. There was a court battle before Wiseman was finally ruled eligible.

He has been the talk of that town ever since, especially when he had the conviction to choose Memphis—an American Athletic Association team, over brand name programs like Kansas and mighty Kentucky in November.  “Memphis had been down recently, so I wanted to go there to see if we could get the program back on the national scene. And it was a chance to work with Penny on a regular basis.’’

Wiseman averaged 25.6 points and 14.8 rebounds for East as a senior, punctuating his prep career when he jumped over an opposing 6-5 player for a slam dunk. “That was my favorite play,’’ he said.

As good as this USA team is, they will have their hands full with an international team whose roster includes front court talent like 7-0 Kelli Cockburn of Oak Hill, Va Academy and Jamaica, 6-9 Precious Achiuwa of Monteverde, Fla. Academy and Nigeria,  6-9 Oscar Tsiebewe of Kennedy Christian, Pa. and the Congo, 6-11 Marko Pecarski of KK Parrtizan in Belgade, Serbia and 6-10 n’Faly Dante from Sunrise, KS Christian and Mali.