The Platform: Steve’s Friday Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are the&nbsp;standouts players from Friday's games at The Platform hosted by Prep Hoops in Chicago.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jamarion Martin IHoop4Peace (Wi) 2025</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Martin had an exciting first half scoring 23 points in a few different ways. He made 6 threes but ran up his points off fastbreaks layups and dunks. Playing against a formidable All In squad Jamarion plays with a good change of pace. He moved well laterally slicing through defenders and hitting difficult layups. He finished the game with 34 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2836248' first='Joshua' last='Anderson'] 1 DreamBball 2028</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Joshua is a fluid-moving big man at 6'5. Reads the ball well off the glass. Scored a couple off a few putbacks. Also scored off a tight spin move. He has a good second jump and displayed good coordination for a young prospect.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2906394' first='DJ' last='Moore'] IL Nightmare 2030&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Slender guard with terrific arm length who shoots the ball well off the dribble. Moore is a guard with a terrific feel to the game he knows how to get a bucket but also how to get others involved. He used a tight crossover into a pro-hop that he often worked to shake his defender. DJ finished with 15 points hitting a trio of threes in the second half. He's a prospect we will monitor&nbsp;long term.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Luke Berran [program_tooltip program_id='2452456' first='Mac' last='Irvin Fire'] 2030&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It took a while but Luke was able to get a couple shots to go down and he started to cook a little. Against the zone he had to find a soft spot to hit a couple of jumpers. Berran can also put the ball on the floor some and score while attacking the rim.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He scored 11 in the win over IL Nightmare.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Robert Smith Jr. [program_tooltip program_id='2452456' first='Mac' last='Irvin Fire'] 2030</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I heard about how well he performed last week at the Tune Up so I made sure I watched him myself tonight. Robert is a player who impacts the game in many ways without scoring a ton of baskets. He showed great leadership by guarding the best player and holding him to only 5 points in the first half. Another aspect that might go under the radar was how well he handles pressure as a ball handler. He broke the Nightmare full-court press by just advancing the ball with passes and not trying to dribble through it. Smith did drain a three but his scoring isn't what stood out it was his basketball IQ and patience.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2865685' first='Jayson' last='Benton'] 1 Dream 2029&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Benton is such a spark plug guard who excels playing an up tempo pace. He flourished in fastbreaks hitting tough shots over much taller defenders. Jayson is a smaller guard who has some wiggle to his game but also shoots it well from three. As an incoming freshman he plays with a ton of confidence and is sure to be an impact guard on the high school level.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->