This Friday and Saturday (June 10-11), Georgia State will be hosting a summer team camp featuring 47 teams from across the state. Out of the 47 attending teams, 16 made it to the state playoffs in 2015-16. Day 1 of the camp will see each team play three games before Saturday’s single elimination tournament tips off at the 3 PM hour after most teams get at least one morning session game in.
Miller Grove, Allatoona, Gainesville, McEachern, Langston Hughes, St. Francis and Dacula headline a few of the teams with the most intrigue surrounding them. Holy Innocents, Eagle’s Landing, Monticello and North Clayton are also coming off successful seasons that saw them earn berths to the state playoffs in their respective regions.
Among some of the best matchups on paper on Friday, Allatoona meets Miller Grove at 3:20 PM in a rematch of the Class AAAAA state title in which the Wolverines held on 50-48 for their seventh championship. At 1:40 PM, the Wolverines tip off camp with Gainesville, another team with ties to Georgia State. Former Miller Grove head coach Sharman White is now an assistant at GSU while Gainesville’s D’Marcus Simonds is an incoming freshman.
North Clayton plays Gainesville at 3:20 PM. Senior center Ahsan Asadullah was one of the first players Coach White offered upon joining the coaching staff at GSU. The Eagle will be tested against the likes of Bailey Minor and KJ Buffen inside. The two juniors will be focal points for Coach Benjie Wood’s offense. Buffen has seen his stock sky rocket after a great offseason with the Southern Stampede. His versatility as a 6-foot-6 forward should help him post big numbers as the lead dog at Gainesville.
The 12 PM time slot sees Eagle’s Landing, coming off a 24-5 season play McEachern, who finished 26-4 with a trip to the Class AAAAAA Elite Eight. Coach Elliott Montgomery must replace Jordan Lewis (15.6 ppg) and Antonio Gibson (11 ppg, 5.3 rpg) while Mike Thompson sees the departure of AJ Jones (Snow College), Darius Jones (Gordon State) and Bryce Smith (Northeast Mississippi). The Eagles return ’18 Tarrence Evans (10.2 ppg) and ’19 Christopher Hood (7.8 ppg). McEachern boasts ’19 forward Isaac Okoro and freshman point guard Sharife Cooper.
Class AA semifinalist Monticello faces quarterfinalist Holy Innocents’ at 4:10 PM. Tough guards ’18 Ashton Bonner (10.8 ppg) and ’17 CJ Adams (10 ppg) return to the Hurricanes while Holy Innocents’ has rising seniors Cole Smith and Jules Erving back for a final season. Erving, a 6-foot-5 forward, earned Sandy’s Spiel Class AA Most Improved honors after raising his averages from 4.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game his sophomore season to 12-9-3.
Single Elimination Championship
There will be 32 teams in Saturday’s single elimination tournament. Four first round matchups stand above the rest with three being played at 3:30 PM.
Eagle’s Landing vs. Holy Innocents’
McEachern vs. Jackson-Atlanta
Langston Hughes vs. St. Francis
6-foot-6 senior forward JaQuavius Hayes has a chance to boost his stock going into his final year at Jackson-Atlanta. Hayes earned Sandy’s Spiel Class AAA Most Improved honors after posting 21.9 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks per game while leading the Jaguars into the state tournament after an upset of Top 10 ranked Westminster in the Region 4 Tournament.
Expectations are high for Langston Hughes with the backcourt of seniors Khalil Cuffee and Derrick Cook welcoming back to the state of Georgia, ’18 Landers Nolley II, a 6-foot-5 guard that won a state championship at Curie (IL). All three guards have a future playing D-1.
St. Francis turns the page on the Kobi Simmons era and says goodbye to Anthony Showell and Chance Anderson (San Francisco) as well. Dylin Hardeman has transferred to Woodstock, presumably leaving senior guard Wallace Tucker as the most experienced player left on the roster.
At 4 PM, Douglas County and Dacula get their first looks of their program without their best players in school history. The Tigers lose Brandon Robinson to North Carolina and Dacula sees Kevon Tucker start his collegiate career at Wofford. Sophomore Mekhail Bethea, senior Justin Goodson and juniors Arusha Hunter and Shayne Buckingham have picked up the slack for the Falcons early on in the offseason and have had Dacula playing well. Douglas County will get to see who emerges as a leader after this weekend.
