8 Takeaways from the Next Up Recruits Jamboree
Butler High School played host to the 4th Annual Next Up Recruits Jamboree. Each game pitted a Louisville school against a school from outside Louisville. There were some close games and some blowouts. There were several kids on the floor that hold Division 1 offers and others who will definitely be college basketball players eventually. Taylor Hicks, Wes Hinton and the Next Up Recruits team put on a really good event full of basketball talents. Here are 8 takeaways from the event.
- The best athletes in the state are in Louisville. The one consistent theme throughout the day was the difference in athleticism between the Louisville schools and their opponents. In every game, the Louisville schools had long athletes coming off the bench one after the other. You just don’t see that type of player outside the city.
- 2020 Bardstown Wing JJ Traynor has high major potential. Traynor caught my eye in warmups because he appeared to be trying to rip the rim off in the layup line. But the 6’7 wing quickly showed that he can do more than just dunk the ball. Traynor displayed a big time motor and was active on the offensive boards. JJ even showed the range on his jump shot, hitting a long 2.The big wing could easily go from unranked to top 10 in the class when we update our 2020 rankings.
- Central lacks stars but has a lot of depth, Louisville Central didn’t wow anyone in the layup line and they lacked true post play but they just swarmed UHA with pressure and intensity for the full scrimmage. They’re going to be a problem for teams in the 7th region all season.
- John Hardin has a lot of nice pieces. Recent Saint Louis University signee Mickey Pearson gets the headlines but John Hardin has some quality depth behind him. Seniors Malik Wright and Anthony Witherspoon combined with sophomores Alex Matthews, Trevon Harris and Preston Murrell all play their roles for a team that I think is the favorite to win the 5th region.
- Doss has weapons but lacks discipline. With seniors Steph Franklin and Henderson transfer Taye Calloway, the Dragons have the guard play they’ll need to make some noise in the 6th region. But as a team, they were clearly not executing what the coaching staff was wanting to do. Combine that with a ridiculous foul that cost them the scrimmage and these Dragons showed that they have a long way to go before being ready for the season.
- Butler is for real. The Bears have length, athleticism and depth to compete for the 6th region title. With Seniors JaQuay Wales, Michael Burns and Devin Pendergrass, Coach KC Goodin has 3 of the top 7-8 players in the region. Throw in a good sophomore class for depth and it’s easy to see a path to Rupp Arena for Butler.
- Seneca’s Rich Ninamou has a nonstop motor. I’d never seen or heard of Ninamou before Saturday but he stands out with how hard he plays. Ninamou is about 6’3 but is long and athletic and swarmed the ball on defense. Built like a safety in football, the Junior scored 8.6 points per game last season but should score closer to 20 per game this season if his activity level stays like it was on Saturday.
- The 6th and 7th regions are ridiculously loaded. You could put Seneca, Southern or Central in about any region in the state outside of Louisville and they would be a top 2-3 team. As it stands, it would take a minor miracle for any of those three teams to win their respective region. Taylor County is the defending 5th region champion and was run out of the gym by Waggener. And Waggener was without injured JJ Kalakon. The depth in the Louisville regions is impressive.