Thursday “Dagger” Sheet: Buford Showcase Standouts Part 1

<p>A six-game slate at the Buford Showcase brought forth a slew of talented teams and players who shined.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>Montavious Myrick, 6-7, Senior, C, North Atlanta</strong></em></span></p> <p>Hampered by leg injuries last season, Myrick has fought back and at 100% has regained the impressive skillset he displayed in unfortunately only small spurts last season, exceptional shot-blocker with a ton of length and terrific timing makes him an elite rim protector and it showed in their win over Druid Hills, around the basket he’s a high-efficiency finisher inside 6 to 8 feet and his assertiveness on the glass at both ends with a ton of energy and fight is notable, enamored with his ability when I briefly saw him early last season and that continued at Buford Arena.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>K’hamani Olivacce, 5-9, Junior, PG, North Atlanta</strong></em></span></p> <p>With such a bevy of options at his disposal as a distributor Olivacce takes full advantage with Myrick and excellent senior Kaleb Johnson as inside options and senior wings Tyson Motton and Charlie Hamilton doing damage from range and off the drive, he showed great control while still pushing pace against a solid Druid Hills teams and sliced and diced both on the break as well as in the halfcourt, left room for his own offense showing deep shooting range as well as no fear driving it in close in getting 11 points, also displayed elite one-on-one defending often against larger DH opposition.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>Jaden Lingo and Jaylen Kendricks, both seniors, Druid Hills</strong></em></span></p> <p>The very interchangeable duo showed similar skills in standing out against the savvy group at N Atlanta, both are aggressive pursuing offense off the bounce and have the skill and bodies to do it, Lingo’s a little taller at 6-3 and that extra size opens up a wider array of moves in near the basket, loved seeing him get into the mid-range and shed defenders with effective fakes to combo with a quick propensity to pull it from 3 (four in the game), the 6-1 Kendricks has all the same polish and even though not as tall was no less effective getting to the rim, can play either guard spot just like Lingo and really showed a sleeper skillset of a refined and well-schooled scorer that hopefully gets him some looks in this weird 20-21 season. </p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>Will Mepham, 6-5, Senior, PF, Chamblee (pictured above)</strong></em></span></p> <p>The whole Chamblee group showed great fight and grit against a feisty bunch from Hebron Christian (senior guards Zach Calvert, Scott Gabel and Sam Hutto were standouts for the Lions), but no one had an answer for Mepham and his effective inside-out game, he got 26 points in a huge variety of ways, getting three treys in the 4th as the Bulldogs kept it close, he was also confident and polished with his back to the basket, and he knocked down J’s from the mid-range with impunity, plays bigger on the glass, yet another of those under the radar bigs in the ATL-Metro who has the talent and athleticism to play at the next level but would need coaches and scouts to dig deep to discover.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1049934" first="Malachi" last="Chipp"] (2021) and [player_tooltip player_id="1045096" first="Amaru" last="Grosvenor"] (2022), Alpharetta</strong></em></span></p> <p>Loved seeing the 6-1 Chipp in his element as a lead scoring option after spending the summer on a very talented Mva Outlawz team with options everywhere, he didn’t disapopint showing off his deadly 3-point range and confident stroke (five 3s and 19 pts), he’s one of the most "ready to shoot" guys I’ve seen this season and gets it off faster than most, he’s that modern-day shooting prospect that has no qualms about distance from the basket, equally impressive was Grosvenor at the point as he took it right to Lakeside in the Raiders solid W knocking down four treys of his own among his 14 pts, his strong handle was evident and he’s a low-built powerhouse at 5-11, great savvy and understanding, and when he and Chipp get senior [player_tooltip player_id="1049936" first="Jamari" last="Denson"] back after the New Year from a broken finger that makes for a fun backcourt grouping to watch. </p>