PHILADELPHIA– The Nike-sponsored LeBron James Skills Academy in Vegas will get most of the attention in large part because Ben Simmons, the 6-9 Australian import from Montevede, Fla. Academy who is committed to LSU, is playing like he wants to unseat 6=9 Ivan Rabb of Bishop O’Dowd in Oakland as the best prospect in the Class of 2015.
But the Reebok Breakout Challenge this week has produced more than its share of unexpected surprises because of the overwhelming amount of quality bigs in the camp (22 players 6-10 or taller including four seven-footers), which was held at Philadelphia University in the East Falls section of the city.
The three biggest front court prospects entering this three day competition were 6-10 senior center Diamond Stone of Dominican (Wis.) High, 6-9 senior center Elijah Thomas of Lancaster, Tex. and 6-11 senior center Skal Labissiere of Evangelical Christian Academy in Memphis (No. 4, 8 and 112 in ESPN’s Top 100 for the Class of 2015), but the two most intriguing prospects at camp in our mind were a pair of African imports, 7-3 senior Jean Marc Christ Koumadje of Montverde, and 6-11 junior Abdulhakim Ado of Hamilton Heights,Tenn. Christian.
Koumadje, who is originally from Senegal, rarely played for Kevin Boyle’s Dick’s national championship prep school team last year, but he could follow in the footsteps of Joel
Embiid, the 7-0 transplant from Cameroon who developed into a prime time prospect after just one season at Montverde. Koumadje has made enormous strides since the spring, playing for the Showtime Fla. Ballers ‘ travel team, with his ability to run the floor and get to the rim and acrobatic finishes. Koumade, who is considering a transfer to the Village School in Houston, picked up offers from Connecticut and Tennessee after the first night to go with offers from UCLA, Peperdine and Washington.
Ado, who is from Nigeria, is listed as the No. 17 player in the rising junior class by Rivals. But we think his energy shot blocking ability and aggressive personality close to the basket merit a much higher profile. Tennessee, Memphis and Vanderbilt all want him, but his talent should go viral after this week.
We got a first hand look at the future of college basketball at this camp with more and more elite African big men making their way to American prep schools or nontraditional academies and the on campus gym was filled with prime time head coaches like John Calipari, Larry Brown, Rick Pitino, John Bellein, Kevin Ollie, Steve Fisher, Buzz Williams, Jay Wright and Bo Ryan, who were in the house to satisfy their curiosity.
The guards we thought had the biggest upside at the camp were juniors– 6-6 Tyus Battle of Gill Saint Bernard in Jersey, 6-2 point guard Derryck Thornton of Findlay, Nev. Prep and 6-5 Mustapha Heron of Scared Heart in Waterbury, Conn.
