Hoop Group New Jersey Warm Up: NJ 15U Eye Catchers

AAU season is now fully underway, with teams shifting their focus to the tournament schedule ahead. Several programs have already competed in early tune up events as they gear up for a demanding stretch of competition. This past weekend, Hoop Group hosted its New Jersey Warm Up in Manalapan, NJ, showcasing a strong mix of talented in state programs along with some of New Jersey's most intriguing prospects. With that in mind, let's take a look at a group of 15U players who made an impression during Saturday and Sunday's action.    Proving to be a legitimate offensive hub, [player_tooltip player_id='2884536' first='Evan' last='Wells'] added tremendous value to this Shoreshots UAA 15U offense by combining his size with a unique and versatile inside out skill set. An uncommon strength for a player at his position, Wells impressed the most with his ability to consistently space the floor as a perimeter threat and drag opposing bigs away from the paint in a multitude of ways— excelling as a ghost screener in PnP action while also being effective spot up shooter as a trail man and a spot up shooter off the ball in the half court, settling into a nice rhythm as the weekend wained and highlighting his quick and confident release with a super soft outside shooting touch.     [player_tooltip player_id='3536400' first='Braelen' last='Blackmon'] provided a legitimate scoring punch out of the backcourt for this 15U particularly with his diverse shot making profile throughout the course of the weekend's action, settling into a nice rhythm offensively. Efficient from the perimeter percentage wise and shooting the basketball with a high level of confidence, Blackmon proved to be just as effective as a spot up shooter off the catch as a shot maker that can create a little bit of separation off the dribble and also knock down outside shots off the bounce.     Having already been widely considered by many as athletically gifted as anybody in his class largely driven by his standout physical traits and the belief in how those tools could translate to long term development, [player_tooltip player_id='2879104' first='Flory' last='Kuminga'] offered a lot of strong insights to the intrigue that surrounds his overall skillset. A lot of those flashes consisted of Kuminga pushing the break himself off a rebound and putting pressure on the rim, attacking driving angles out of his perimeter face up game with improving creativity in his handle, maintaining good court vision to make impressive skip passes all while also leveraging his size and strength to win battles on the boards.     Having built up quite a bit of a buzz in South Jersey as a dangerous perimeter shooting threat backed by strong shooting numbers but still flying slightly under the radar, [player_tooltip player_id='3523011' first='Alex' last='Whitworth'] delivered an impressive showing that highlighted his lethal and versatile shooting prowess. Proving to be one of the best shooters over the course of the weekend, Whitworth put on a dynamic shooting performance on display— stepping into a number of in rhythm looks off the catch while also shooting it with insane deep range accuracy and extreme confidence.     [player_tooltip player_id='2633990' first='Clint' last='Martin'] pretty much lived at the rim all weekend, ultimately finding a number of different ways to generate rim pressure. Becoming a more and more efficient and much stronger finisher, particularly being increasingly more comfortable playing through contact and in traffic in the lane, Martin was extremely impactful attacking driving angles and defensive closeouts to get to the basket while also being just as effective in transition and pushing the break himself as well as a cutter cutting to open space to finish from different angles around the basket.     Over the course of this past weekend's action, [player_tooltip player_id='2884535' first='Ryan' last='Gannon'] proved to be an overall well rounded point guard who provides so much value in just flat out playing the right way. Gannon impressed with his ability to be a strong and confident ball handler who rarely gets sped up against opposing ball pressure. Fundamentally sound with good feel for the game coupled with a natural ability to keep defenses honest, Gannon also impressed with balancing when to push tempo versus when to slow it down and run offense while also making the right reads as a ball handler balancing scoring from different areas and facilitating and creating for others.

AAU season is now fully underway, with teams shifting their focus to the tournament schedule ahead. Several programs have already competed in early tune up events as they gear up for a demanding stretch of competition. This past weekend, Hoop Group hosted its New Jersey Warm Up in Manalapan, NJ, showcasing a strong mix of talented in state programs along with some of New Jersey's most intriguing prospects. With that in mind, let's take a look at a group of 15U players who made an impression during Saturday and Sunday's action.