Dennis Gregory Memorial Classic More Eye Catchers

A fixture on the New Jersey basketball calendar and one of the state's most anticipated events, the Dennis Gregory Memorial Classic once again assembled an impressive collection of talent. The field featured many of New Jersey's most established players alongside a number of under the radar prospects. Held this year at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ, the event was hosted by The Hoop Group in partnership with the Team Hill Foundation. Annually, the Dennis Gregory Memorial Classic serves as a highly competitive stage, delivering multiple days of intense, high level action. With that in mind, let's take another look at more prospects who stood out with strong performances throughout last weekend.    A true table setting point guard who consistently exhibits a compelling command of the offense and a potent ability to control the tempo for St. Mary, [player_tooltip player_id='2763609' first='Jake' last='Ellis'] impressed as an overall dynamic playmaker. Settling into a nice rhythm offensively and routinely making sound decisions, Ellis maintained a healthy balance between creating for himself and getting his teammates the ball in the right spots— using quick change of pace off the bounce to get to the basket for crafty finishes and getting to his spots in the mid range area for smooth pull ups while also showcasing his feel as a facilitator, making decisive and patient reads in PnR action and utilizing his strong court vision to hit dump offs and create drive and kick threes.     A physical two guard with a powerfully built frame, [player_tooltip player_id='2858268' first='Sean' last='Perrotta'] thrives as a downhill attacker, playing strong and efficiently off the bounce while countering his paint touches with his potent touch from the perimeter. Perrotta excels as a perimeter shot maker off the catch— consistently hunting his jumper in both halfcourt sets and in transition and demonstrated so by knocking down a pair of open looks against Ridge. A fundamentally sound player with strong instincts, Perrotta made several quality decisions within the flow of Bloomfield's offense while also utilizing his strong frame to contribute heavily in the rebounding department.     With the value he provides impacting the game both on the interior with his length and with his unique skillset out on the perimeter, [player_tooltip player_id='2634334' first='Merrick' last='Olkowski'] often times provides a unique layer to a lot of the different things St. Mary can do on the offensive end of the floor. Effective across a variety of actions— Olkowski proved dangerous as an outside shooting threat particularly as a spot up shooter off the ball as well as legitimate pick and pop option, providing valuable floor spacing. Olkowski was also highly active on the offensive glass, creating extra possessions and finishing timely putbacks. Defensively, Olkowski used his long arms and athleticism to influence plays around the rim, consistently altering and blocking shot attempts.     A reliable and productive two guard who possesses a sturdy and well built physical frame paired with the ability to provide steady scoring from different levels, [player_tooltip player_id='2081040' first='Connor' last='Lee'] demonstrated the different ways he's capable of scoring the basketball. Lee displayed a high level of feel and touch on his attacks to the basket out of a number of different half court actions, while also showing the ability to extend his range beyond the arc with what appears to be a compact and repeatable perimeter shooting stroke, knocking down a pair of open looks from outside.     An overall solid and reliable guard who has versatility within Ridge's offense, [player_tooltip player_id='2203814' first='Gabriel' last='Kielb'] demonstrated his ability to be productive not only as a guy who can handle the basketball against pressure and initiate offense but also score within the flow of the offense and provide steady scoring. When tasked with setting the table and orchestrating some of Ridge's different actions, Kielb showcased a composure and poise to himself to help do so. However when the offense called for it, Kielb took advantage of certain driving angles to finish from different angles around the basket while also keeping the defense honest and living up to his reputation as a dangerous outside shooter.     Possessing a unique combination of a strong and muscular frame coupled with a certain poise and confidence with the ball in his hands, [player_tooltip player_id='2505361' first='Sidd' last='Narayanabhatla'] not only displayed his comfortability handling the ball and initiating offense but also an ability to generate a large portion of successful offense out of numerous PnR actions. More often than not making sound decisions as a primary handler, Narayanabhatla showed solid feel in the PnR— rejecting ball screens to attack certain driving angles and finish strong at the basket, using ball screens to get to mid range pull ups, and navigating ball screens to get downhill, read help defense and find open teammates.     Emerging as a standout guard in Bloomfield's backcourt with extremely productive and reliable play, [player_tooltip player_id='3437162' first='AJ' last='Cruz'] plays with strong poise and a high level of control, consistently impacting the game in a variety of ways. Cruz showcased his ability to knock down outside shots from beyond the arc, initiate offense and facilitate the basketball to others in advantageous scoring opportunities, and attack the paint to finish with soft touch. A seamless offensive fit, Cruz clearly shows the ability to be effective and productive at either guard position.

A fixture on the New Jersey basketball calendar and one of the state's most anticipated events, the Dennis Gregory Memorial Classic once again assembled an impressive collection of talent. The field featured many of New Jersey's most established players alongside a number of under the radar prospects. Held this year at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ, the event was hosted by The Hoop Group in partnership with the Team Hill Foundation. Annually, the Dennis Gregory Memorial Classic serves as a highly competitive stage, delivering multiple days of intense, high level action. With that in mind, let's take another look at more prospects who stood out with strong performances throughout last weekend.