North Carolina Standouts From Turnkey Classic (Part One)

This past weekend the 2nd annual Turnkey Classic took place at Webb School in Knoxville, Tennessee. There was a lot of talent on hand from all across the Southeast including three teams from North Carolina. Combine Academy, Moravian Prep, and Ambassador Christian all were able to showcase their games in front of a great crowd all weekend long. Let's take a look at some of the standouts!    Now at Moravian Prep and in the class of 2027, expect Allen to be in the upper echelon of those rankings when they drop. Allen is as Coach Ellis would describe a "jugg" meaning that he just does what he's supposed to do, to the best of his abilities, with toughness being on the forefront of everything. Allen has deep range on his shot, capable of playing above the rim in the open floor, and has an elite pursuit of the basketball on the glass or really whenever it's available. Allen fits in like a glove with everything Moravian does. Allen does a great job flourishing within the Moravian system while possessing the individual talent to make plays within it. With the physical gifts and skillset that he possesses, expect Allen's stock to continue to rise, and his game to show an even greater level of evolution with the time he'll be spending at Moravian.     A true glue guy, Kelly comes off the bench for Ambassador Christian and immediately changes the game with his physical point of attack defense and ability to apply pressure on the opposition with him touching the paint with regularity. Kelly lacks height but makes up for it by being incredibly strong, embracing his matchup defensively and making life difficult right upon checking in. He provides a contagious energy to their lineup, has shown the ability to finish through contact when attacking, along with hitting outside shots off the catch to keep the defense honest. Kelly should continue to carve out his very important role on this Ambassador team and see his stock rise in the process.     Dickerson has made the move to Combine Academy and really found himself in a vital role with this group. Dickerson is a crafty offensive player with deep range on his shot. He's got great size for a kid that possesses the ability to play on the ball and is able to bully smaller guards in the post when they're guarding him. Dickerson has the ability to take the game over from any level on the offensive end. As he continues to adjust to those around him, he'll only become more efficient with this group. Defensively, Dickerson can use his size and athleticism to impact smaller guards in a negative way, along with being a more than capable contributor on the glass. Combine has had some player turnover this year, but it looks like Dickerson is here for the long haul.     Jones is now at Moravian Prep and in the class of 2026, he will likely land as a top 10 guy in the rankings when updated in January. He is simply wired to score at an elite level and can do it from all over the floor going any direction. He knows what he's out there to do, fill it up, and he is such a tough check because of his strength, body control and touch from all over the court. He's proven he can do it against all levels of competition as well. In their win vs Ambassador Christian, Jones was able to get downhill and just raise up over guys for floaters in the lane. He shoots it a lot, he scores it a lot. Caleb Jones: Wired to Score.     Brown is now a 6'9" member of the 2027 class and is starting to turn the corner in his development in a major major way. He is now showing real flashes of dominance defensively as a rim protector while also showing the ability to switch and guard perimeter players at a very high level for someone of his size. Brown is now catching in traffic with more consistency, that will still have to show improvement but he has come such a long way with that aspect of his game, there's no reason to believe that progress will stop or slow down anytime soon. As he continues to get high level experience with Ambassador this season, he will only get better and better. Definitely a big to monitor very very closely.

This past weekend the 2nd annual Turnkey Classic took place at Webb School in Knoxville, Tennessee. There was a lot of talent on hand from all across the Southeast including three teams from North Carolina. Combine Academy, Moravian Prep, and Ambassador Christian all were able to showcase their games in front of a great crowd all weekend long. Let's take a look at some of the standouts!