CREI Evaluations

The first June weekend CREI [Crossroads] commenced. It is a camp based out of Indianapolis, Indiana hosted by Adam Shoulders. For 11 years now Shoulders has invited and often hosted many of the top incoming freshmen in the country. He is aggressive with his camp invitations and scouting. He tends to get some high-end prospects.    The following players are from Tennessee, but the camp obviously had many more involved.   EDITOR'S NOTE: The numbers preceding the player's name are merely their jersey number. They do not hold any deeper meaning.   Campers   #67 [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] #71 [player_tooltip player_id='1578715' first='Osby' last='Cavin'] #93 [player_tooltip player_id='1981500' first='Baba' last='Diop'] #125 [player_tooltip player_id='1830667' first='Garrison' last='Eady'] #162 <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/mj-gibbs/">MJ Gibbs</a> #201 [player_tooltip player_id='1578683' first='Clay' last='Payne'] #278 [player_tooltip player_id='1959160' first='Trey' last='Thompson'] #290 [player_tooltip player_id='1519029' first='Trey' last='Guthrie'] #483 [player_tooltip player_id='1455019' first='Cade' last='Bennerman']   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] (Webb-Bell Buckle)</h2>   vs. Team Brandon Boston   Eli played both on and off of the basketball. His court awareness was good. Eli hovered around the arc, as his team featured a couple of bigs. The cohesion offensively was not great, and usually this is the case at showcase events. Eli did move well away from the basketball. In fact, he tugged his man all over the floor.   [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] looks like a point guard. Probably. He could handle a little bit. His between-the-legs dribble is smooth enough. He operated on the sideline one time, and his teammate set a screen and the crowding of four bodies in a tiny spot came off poorly. The defender, Eli's defender poked the ball out-of-bounds and that was frankly probably the best potential outcome of a mucked-up situation.   With more watching, Eli is definitely a point guard. He showed off a nice amount of wiggle. His ability to stop and start was good. As he gets older and physically matures, those subtle little changes in direction will result in blow-bys and larger advantages.   [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] plays with his head up all of the time, constantly scanning the floor. This is obviously an important element to thriving as a point guard...on both ends. [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] was swatted down under the basket on one semi-fastbreak. Finishing under the rim against bigs will be a long-term problem, assuming he plays against 6'6"+ bigs after high school. It takes extra amounts of guile to get shots off against tree limbs.   Defensively, [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] did a solid job. He kept his between his man and the ball. Very rarely did he find a dribbler attacking him though. His lateral mobility was ok, not good. This will likely be his limiting factor on the defensive side. How quick of a guard can he effectively defend?   The team defense [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] played was excellent. His awareness and spacing was very sharp. Teams did not find Brown's man open often at all. This was because of the quiet, intelligent defensive positioning of [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown']. His eyes were always locked on both the ball and his man.   Regarding his basketball body, [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] showed a pretty good bit of strength for a person who just wrapped their freshman year.   vs. Team Mark Mitchell   [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] moved well away from the basketball. He didn't get many passes his way though. The team was quite direct with their attacks. There was not much of an interest in swinging it around the arc of finding outside shooters.   When his team got a rebound, [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] did very well to hit the corner, which is kind of the way the modern spaced floor offense works.   [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] played a really scrappy defense on one possession. When the possessing guard slowed to use a high screen, [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] capitalized on a moment's indecision and deflected the ball and then dove to the ground to get to it. In the scramble the ball was recovered by the dribbler. Ultimately, the attacking guard did score though using a hesitation move.   He missed a single three-pointer from the far wing. The attempt was not a poor one. On the other end [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] was scored on top of by Deuce Burkes (WI), with a quick three-pointer from a wing. Deuce was also difficult for [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] to keep in front of him. Doing a little research, Deuce Burkes earned D1 offers from SIUE, Milwaukee, and IUPUI and he is also a Class of 2026 guy. So, his game is very advanced clearly. At the end of his time, [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] staggered and chopped his steps up very well and kept Burkes from slashing from the near wing. It took a lot of movement, but it was a mild success.   [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] did not turn the ball over once in the entire game. He was not the only ball-handler. The team rotated five at a time, so obviously the other quintet had a different guard. Also, his team had another guard in his unit working.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1981500' first='Baba' last='Diop'] (Webb-Bell Buckle)</h2>   vs. Team Brandon Boston   [player_tooltip player_id='1981500' first='Baba' last='Diop'] actually played on the floor at the same time as high school teammate [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown']. Diop kind of appeared to the be the odd man out on the offensive end. He received very few touches. On one possession, Diop put a dribble on the deck and tried a pull-up jumper from 8' or so. It was challenged, but the form looked sketchy anyway.   Defensively, Diop was hyper aware of the lane. He did play his man around the arc, as all five guys typically faced up, but Diop helped in the lane quite a bit. Is he a long-term wing? His defensive instincts seem to be guarding the lane right now, which is probably for the best considering his high school role will likely be to play forward. The feet are light enough to defend outside a touch now though. That is rare for a player at his height.   When the shots go up, Diop could get more aggressive and more hungry. His natural athleticism and height suggest he should be a great rebounder, but he was not all that effective in this game doing that. Broadly-speaking, Diop was just a non-factor on offense, and it was not because he played poorly. He just did not get passed to much at all.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Collin Clark (Missouri)</h2>   Collin Clark is not a Tennessee guy, but man he can shoot. The success he found from deep was not a fluke. PrepHoopsMO ranks him #12 in the Class of 2025. Listed 6-foot-7, Clark looks like a Kyle Korver-type. The dude is pretty nimble too and he can dribble.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1455019' first='Cade' last='Bennerman'] (Father Ryan)</h2>   vs. Team Thompson Twins   Cade run a nice pick'n'roll at the near wing. He dropped with the feet and caught the ball facing the basket. He then put two dribbles on the ground and muscled a layup up and in. The defender was shorter, though not absurdly so.   On one defensive possession, Cade got caught in no-man's-land. He as near the free throw line. A dribbler dribbled near Cade and Bennerman effectively set a screen on his own teammate, allowing the guard to get out of trouble and then score an unchallenged layup.   Bennerman showed off a little handle in the open floor. After crossing halfcourt he executed a fancy yet composed between-the-legs dribble into a back down. He hit the defender with a turnaround and though he missed, the footwork was pure.   His shooting touch is what landed him in our Top 5. That the footwork is this far along really makes that early ranking appear prescient.

The first June weekend CREI [Crossroads] commenced. It is a camp based out of Indianapolis, Indiana hosted by Adam Shoulders. For 11 years now Shoulders has invited and often hosted many of the top incoming freshmen in the country. He is aggressive with his camp invitations and scouting. He tends to get some high-end prospects.