KSU Team Camp Pt 1: Team Reports

<p>Kennesaw State’s basketball program hosted a 2-day Team Camp at their campus facility last weekend, I was able to swing in for most of Saturday’s action. Here we’re looking at 3 teams who had intriguing outings and highlighting some of the top dogs from what was a very strong field.</p> <p><strong>NORTH GWINNETT</strong></p> <p>No convo about the Bulldogs can open without mentioning the stellar play of 2022 G/F [player_tooltip player_id="1011351" first="Thomas" last="Allard"], he’s been showing off the pure stroke from 3 all spring, great release and love the way he gets his body square off the catch, can knock it down off the bounce as well in the mid-range and has really been attacking the basket this offseason to expand his profile, has been a riser since last summer but is asserting himself as a leader and skilled scorer as he enters his senior campaign, with of course 2022 star [player_tooltip player_id="758360" first="RJ" last="Godfrey"] in the fold for his final season but injured at the moment and fellow 2022 F [player_tooltip player_id="1215451" first="Dylan" last="Gary"] assuming a larger role and looking good as a multi-level, athletic scorer there’s excitement yet again in Suwanee, Allard’s versatility and size at 6-5 allows him to play forward or in the backcourt where he’d be joined by speedy scoring PG [player_tooltip player_id="1045096" first="Amaru" last="Grosvenor"] (transfer from Alpharetta) and 2023 Blake Seitz, who has looked more and more confident each outing and has had a good spring with BCB.</p> <p><strong>KELL</strong></p> <p>The headline news surrounding the Longhorns has been [player_tooltip player_id="598763" first="Scoot" last="Henderson"]’s departure to the G-League, and while that is obviously a significant gap in the lineup you have to really like some of the pieces that remain, 2023 guard [player_tooltip player_id="598767" first="Parrish" last="Johnson"] looked confident and strong at KSU stepping into the Scoot-less void, he’s a smooth scorer on the drive with a nice shooting touch who can play either guard spot and has plenty of minutes under his belt as aLonghorn as well as for Game Elite, in the athleticism dept he gets plenty of help from 2023 forward [player_tooltip player_id="820314" first="Aaron" last="Smith"], so gifted at 6-5 he’s got all the game at the small forward or big guard spot to step into a starring role this winter, love the array of moves he has when he catches it either with his back to basket or facing up from 15 feet, another veteran returnee who will be fit from the space available without Henderson will be forward [player_tooltip player_id="1215450" first="Dylan" last="Cambridge"], plays so much bigger than his 6-3 and was the day’s hardest worker as his motor never leave high gear and he battles on the glasss and scores in close with proficiency , a young star on the rise is 2024 guard [player_tooltip player_id="1215446" first="Jaylen" last="Colon"] (younger brother of departed Najhae) who had the ball in his hands quite a bit at KSU, looks poised beyond his years, and has star potential with a muti-level game on the move.</p> <p><strong>WALNUT GROVE</strong></p> <p>Of late I’ve seen several of Walnut Grove’s individual pieces at local Showcases but this was my first time seeing the full unit and the depth and skill was impressive, 2022 SF Shawn Walker had a pair of good showcase performances in prior weeks and looked even more assertive at 6-5 playing with his compadres, he’s a beast inside and showed off more of his downhill driving game at KSU, he will love the help in the frontcourt dept he’ll get with 6-9 Central Gwinnett transfer [player_tooltip player_id="1183123" first="Valdy" last="Zephir"] arriving with more beyond that at 6-3 or above, 2023 guards Nick Tyre and 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="1183120" first="Demyron" last="Williams"] provide leadership and composure with Tyre being your glue guy type and Williams quickly establishing himself as a top ATL-Metro 3-pt gunner, 2023 wing John Avatabile also has looked good on the Showcase circuit and has a lot of moxie to his game as a developing, dynamic scoring threat.</p>