Tracking July Evaluation Period No. 1

Kyle Guy reminds me of the FSU version of Bobby Sura. Some wildness in his game but makes so many plays & energizes his teammates.

— Rob Harrington (@Rob_Harrington) July 9, 2015

– Per 247Sports, Coach Bennett watched Dream Vision take on the Michigan Mustangs at the Adidas event.

– A pair of Virginia frontcourt targets went head-to-head in Atlanta, with Mamadi Diakite and Team Loaded Virginia facing off against Wenyen Gabriel and the Massachusetts Rivals. Team Loaded won, 65-49, with Diakite finishing with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block. Gabriel struggled from the field (made 4 of 16 shots) but finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Mamadi Diakite showing impressive flashes in this game. Improving perimeter arsenal and showing off his shot-blocking. #adidasUprising

— Eric Hampford (@3ricHampford) July 8, 2015

THURSDAY MORNING/AFTERNOON, JULY 9

– Ty Jerome scored 18 points and dished out 13 assists in an 88-74 win over MOKAN Elite in the opening round of 17U games at the Nike Peach Jam. The 6’4″ combo guard had four rebounds, three turnovers, and one steal in the victory. Class of 2017 targets Michael Porter Jr. and Trae Young had 25 points and 19 points, respectively, in the loss. Both players have been offered by Virginia.

– MakePlayz.com analyst Houston Wilson tweeted that UVa assistant Brad Soderberg was in Atlanta to watch class of 2016 power forward/center Edrice Adebayo. Adebayo, a 6’9″, 235-pound prospect out of North Carolina and considered one of the top overall rising senior recruits in the nation, tweeted shortly after the NBPA Top 100 Camp that Virginia had offered.

Wilson also tweeted that Bennett was in Atlanta Thursday afternoon to watch Kyle Guy in action after spending time at the Peach Jam Thursday morning.

– Guy poured in 12 points as the Indiana Elite defeated Texas P.R.O., 70-69, Thursday afternoon. Syracuse-bound forward Matthew Moyer drained two free throws to give IE the win. Moyer, a rising senior, impressed me with his versatility (he can guard the perimeter and the post), competitiveness and tenacity at the NBPA Top 100. From the few glimpses I’ve gotten, I think the Orange got a good one.

– Per Twitter, 6’4.5″ wing Markelle Fultz plans to narrow his list to five next week. The DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, MD) star, who reportedly included UVa as one of the schools recruiting him the hardest at this point, is a top remaining target of Virginia’s in the class of 2016.

Fultz is playing for Team Charged at the Under Armour All-American event. After a tough shooting performance (4-of-18) on Wednesday, the star prospect rebounded by making 7-of-12 shots for 19 points in the first wave of games on Thursday.

– Former Virginia frontcourt commit Sacha Killeya-Jones reportedly is now being recruited by Duke.

Here are some more stats on UVa targets (those rising seniors the Hoos have offered) from Thursday morning/early afternoon games…

– 6’9″ PF/C Edrice Adebayo, Team Loaded NC (Adidas Uprising Gauntlet Finale), 7 points and 9 rebounds in a 3-point loss to the NY Rens.

– 6’8″ PF Tyler Cook, St. Louis Eagles (Nike Peach Jam) – 6 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 block in an 85-83 win over New Jersey Playaz

– 6’9″ PF/C Mamadi Diakite, Team Loaded VA (Adidas) – 5 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks in a loss to the Atlanta Celtics.

– 6’9″ F Wenyen Gabriel, Massachusetts Rivals (Adidas) – 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks in a loss to the New England Playaz.

– 6’10” F Sacha Killeya-Jones, Team Passion (Under Armour) – 16 points and 4 rebounds in a loss to Team Energy on Thursday. The former UVa commit had 13 points and 4 boards in a loss on Wednesday.

THURSDAY EVENING NOTES

– After watching Kyle Guy and the Indiana Elite in action Thursday night against the New York Rens, Coach Bennett was among those in attendance for the Massachusetts Rivals contest against the Upward Stars. Once again, class of 2016 forward Wenyen Gabriel plays for the Mass Rivals, and on Thursday night he led his team to a 67-27 win with an 18-point, 15-rebound and 2-block performance.

Texas head coach Shaka Smart and Notre Dame’s Mike Brey watched Gabriel as well Thursday night. They must have been impressed because both schools have now offered.

Gabriel has demonstrated his ability on both sides of the court, averaging 13.3 points, 12 rebounds and 3.3 blocks in three games.

– Markelle Fultz exploded for 35 points Thursday night at Under Armour. The big news for Fultz was landing a scholarship offer from Kentucky, adding to an already impressive list of suitors. UVa remains in contention, but there is a pretty good chance Fultz ends up attending college in Kentucky. He is high on both Kentucky and Louisville, but until Thursday only Louisville had offered.

– UVa commit Ty Jerome continues his excellent play. On Thursday night, the Iona Prep (New Rochelle, N.Y.) star totaled 13 points, 7 assists, 3 steals, and 3 rebounds as the PSA Cardinals improved to 2-0 at the Peach Jam with a win over E1T1 (a team that features new FSU commit Jon Isaac). In the two wins, Jerome has scored 31 points and dished out 20 assists with only 4 turnovers.

Kyle Guy had 18 points (6-18 shooting) and 4 rebounds Thursday night, but the Indiana Elite fell to the NY Rens in the Adidas Gauntlet semifinals. Guy and company face the Compton Magic Friday afternoon in the 3rd Place game.

– Mamadi Diakite turned in a quality performance on both ends of the court on Thursday night, compiling 15 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks in a 74-72 win over Dream Vision. Team Loaded VA takes the court one more time in Atlanta, facing Texas P.R.O. Friday at 3:20 p.m.

– Class of 2016 power forward Tyler Cook, a prospect who has Virginia in his final 6, had a double-double (18 points, 14 boards) in leading the St. Louis Eagles to a win over California Supreme Thursday night at Peach Jam. Another UVa power forward target, Edrice Adebayo, had 21 points and 8 rebounds in a loss to Texas P.R.O. in the Adidas event.

– Sacha Killeya-Jones had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in the Under Armour All-American event Thursday night.

FRIDAY, JULY 10

Cavalier commits Guy and Jerome, as well as offered class of 2016 targets Cook, Diakite, Fultz and Killeya-Jones were in action Friday. Here is the stat line on each…

– Kyle Guy: 14 points (6-13 from the field including 2-3 from 3), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 0 turnovers in 72-60 loss to Compton Magic in 3rd place game at the Adidas Uprising Gauntlet Finale.

– Ty Jerome: Helped the PSA Cardinals to two more wins on Friday, boosting the team’s record to 4-0 at the Nike Peach Jam. In a 54-28 win over BABC Friday morning, Jerome had 4 points (2-5 from the field), 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 turnovers. In a 59-47 win over Elfrid Payton Elite, Ty had 10 points (2-10 from the field), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 5 turnovers.

– Tyler Cook: 17 points, 8 rebounds in a close win over the Oakland Soldiers Friday morning; Helped the St. Louis Eagles to a win Friday evening as well with an 8-point, 5-rebound performance. The Eagles are 4-0 heading into Saturday’s action at the Nike Peach Jam.

– Mamadi Diakite: Diakite was outstanding for Team Loaded VA, accounting for 20 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks in a win over Texas P.R.O. in the Adidas Uprising Gauntlet Finale. Per Jerry Meyer of 247Sports, UVa had an assistant at this game.

– Markelle Fultz: 20 points on 9 of 14 shooting in his final game at Under Armour’s All-American Camp. He led the camp in scoring, averaging 22 points per game in four games. Markelle’s stock was high heading into the camp, but I think he raised it with his play this week.

– Sacha Killeya-Jones: The 6’10” forward had 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in a 1-point win at the Under Armour event.

Here are some more news and notes from Friday…

– Ty Jerome received high praise in this Sports Illustrated article.

– If you have ESPN Insider, Reggie Rankin writes a section on top Virginia target Mamadi Diakite in this article. In the article, Team Loaded VA’s E.J. Sherod notes that Kentucky and Duke are showing interest in the Blue Ridge star. This is the first I’ve heard of those schools expressing interest, but certainly Mamadi’s excellent play this week will get attention.

We still feel UVa is the school to beat. The question now is if Mamadi makes more college visits. At the NBPA Top 100, this was something Mamadi himself wasn’t sure about.

– Corey Evans of NY2LA reported that Tony Bennett scoped out Jagan Mosely, who is playing for the NJ Playaz at the Peach Jam.

Mosely impressed me at UVa’s Elite Camp in August of 2013 and you can check out my EDGE update on him from back in September of 2013 by clicking here. He has connections to UVa, which is the school both of his parents graduated from.

The 6’3″, 200-pound shooting guard, a rising senior at St. Anthony’s (Jersey City, N.J.) has played well this spring and boasts scholarship offers from Georgia Tech, Harvard, Northwestern, Rutgers, Temple and Xavier, among others. Where Bennett’s possible interest goes from here remains to be seen, but it’s not surprising to see the Cavalier head coach give Mosely another look. No offer has been extended at this point, though.

In 21 games on the Nike EYBL circuit this spring, Moseley is averaging 11.3 points (48.8-percent from the field, 24.1-percent from 3, 79.3-percent from the free throw line) and 4.2 rebounds per game. In four games at the Peach Jam, Mosely is averaging 9.8 points despite not scoring in the Thursday morning session. In the other three games Moseley is averaging 13 points per contest.

– Adam Zagoria tweeted that Coach Bennett was among the coaches watching the MOKAN Elite take on BABC at the Peach Jam Friday night. Bennett has extended scholarship offers to MOKAN’s Michael Porter Jr. (SF) and Trae Young (PG), stars in the 2017 Class.

SATURDAY, JULY 11

– Ty Jerome and several others sat out the PSA Cardinals’ Saturday morning matchup with the NY Lightning to rest up for the Peach Jam quarterfinal against Team Takeover later in the day. PSA defeated the Lightning to improve to 5-0 in Pool Play. Unfortunately, Jerome and company fell to V.J. King and Team Takeover in the quarterfinals, 58-56 in overtime.

Jerome scored 10 points (3-13 shooting, 2-8 from 3) in his final game at Peach Jam. In 16 games on the Nike EYBL circuit, the 4-star prospect averaged 11.6 points per game while making 46.2-percent of his field goals – including 39-percent (23-59) of his 3s – and 87.5-percent (42-48) of his free throws. Jerome averaged 3.6 assists to only one turnover, as well 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.

– The Peach Jam semifinals begin at 9 am and will be televised on ESPNU. The championship will take place at 3 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU as well. Here are some players to keep an eye on…

Semifinal 1: Georgia Stars vs Team Takeover

Stars rising senior wing Brandon Robinson (jersey #4) has UVa in his top 10 despite the fact that the Hoos had not offered prior to this weekend. Corey Evans of NY2LA reported that Coach Bennett was on hand to watch Robinson in action Saturday morning. The 6’6″ prospect scored 8 points in a 6-point win over Houston Hoops and followed up with an 11-point performance in a Peach Jam quarterfinal win over King James.

Team Takeover features Louisville-bound V.J. King as well as class of 2017 standout wing D.J. Harvey, among others.

Semifinal 2: St. Louis Eagles vs CP3

Class of 2016 power forward Tyler Cook (#32) is a high target of UVa’s and he plans to visit Charlottesville some this summer or fall. This game will feature two of the top overall prospects in the nation in the class of 2016 – Jayson Tatum of the St. Louis Eagles and Harry Giles of CP3.

– UVa assistant Ron Sanchez was spotted at the Big Shots tournament in Myrtle Beach eyeing class of 2016 small forward Jalen Johnson. Johnson, who visited UVa earlier this year but has not yet received an offer from the Hoos, reportedly landed offers from Alabama and South Carolina later in the day.

– OFFER UPDATE: Multiple outlets report that Virginia has extended a new offer in the class of 2016. It is to Andrew Jones, a 6’4″, 175-pound wing prospect out of Irving MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas.

Jones averaged 13.3 points per game in 22 appearances for Pro Skills (TX) on the Nike EYBL this season. Jones averaged 18.4 points per contest at the Peach Jam. Baylor, Kansas State and SMU are among the other schools that have offered.