Summer prime time for prospects
Apopka is the center stage for Florida’s college basketball recruiting circuit today as the 2018 Summer Hoops Festival tips off a four-day stay at the Cooper Palms Sportsplex.
The event, which draws many of the state’s elite travel teams and top prospects, tips off at 5 p.m. to coincide with the opening minute of the NCAA’s second of three July evaluation periods, where college coaches can eyeball prospects in play. Games continue through Saturday at 5 p.m. on three side-by-side courts at the Cooper Palms venue (110 Athletes Row, Apopka).
“We’ll have well over 100 college coaches, for sure,” said event director Scott Golden.
Also tipping off today are AAU national tournaments for three high school age groups (15U, 16U and 17U) at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex.
The biggest night on the Summer Hoops schedule showcases marquee 17U squads today in Apopka.
That list includes an Each 1 Teach 1 United team that boasts two of the hottest rising senior prospects in Florida in Villages Charter guard
(6-foot-1) and gravity-defying Orlando Christian Prep forward
(6-8). E1T1, directed by Oak Ridge High coach
will play games at 5 p.m. and 7:20 on Court 2 before heading to Atlanta for more live period tournament play.
Showtime Ballers, featuring West Oaks scoring machine (6-1) and up-and-coming sophomore sharpshooter
(6-0) of West Oaks, will play games at 6:10 and 8:30 before departing for the Super 6 Showcase in Atlanta.
A lengthy CP25 Gauntlet 17U team will play at 8:30 tonight and twice on both Thursday and Friday before heading to the Best of the South tournament in the outskirts of Atlanta. Its front line boasts shot-swatter (6-9) and
(6-8) of Montverde Academy and
(6-7) of Windermere High. Payne was an imposing sophomore and junior for Osceola before transferring to Montverde this summer.
Team Breakdown 17U, with former Orlando Christian Prep center (6-10) and (6-4, Jr.) of West Oaks, will play today, Thursday and Friday morning at the Apopka event.
Jones, who has collected a stack of high-major offers since April, plans to play his senior season at a New Hampshire prep school, Brewster Academy.
A 6:10 p.m. game matches up two more Central Florida-centric squads when Q6 All Stars faces CP25 Mix 17U. And GameSpeed Elite 17U takes on Showtime Ballers Select at 9:40.
In 16U play, E1T1 2021 plays CP25 Gauntlet 2021, at 8:30 in a game pitting two sophomore squads playing up a grade level. Daily spectator admission for the Hoops Festival is $15.
Admission for the AAU championships at Disney is $18.50 general admission and $13.50 for ages 3-9 daily, or $55.40 and $40.50 for length of the event passes.
The AAU 16U Division I field includes E1T1 United 2020 with (6-7) of Apopka and
(6-0) of Wildwood. Disney will also host separate AAU Super Showcase events for 15U, 16U and 17U teams to coincide with the NCAA’s final live evaluation period of the summer, July 25-29.