UA Association: New Jersey Standouts From Session III

A highly anticipated set of days on the grassroots basketball calendar tipped off in the initial July live period, and it definitely lived up to the billing. Fresh off the June Scholastic Live period, the weekend gave college coaches another opportunity to return to the gym and evaluate prospects in person, bringing an electric atmosphere and high level competition from start to finish. Under Armour's third session in Cartersville, GA featured a loaded schedule of marquee matchups and standout talent from across the country— among those who made strong impressions were several intriguing prospects from New Jersey, each taking advantage of the live period to elevate their stock. With that in mind, here's a first look at some of the NJ's top performers from UAA Session III.    Alex Pace is an ultra dynamic and crafty lead guard who possesses a smooth and adept ability to create offense in a plethora of ways off the bounce. Pace's smoothness off the dribble is what immediately stands out— using his creative change of direction moves to break his defender down off the bounce in isolation situations as well as navigating different PnR actions to knock down smooth pull ups in the mid range area. Part of what also makes Pace so dynamic is perimeter shot making ability, particularly when he finds a rhythm, he's able to let it fly from deep range. Pace's explosive scoring performance(s) also saw him mix in some strong rim attacks as well— pushing the tempo off long rebounds and forced deflections off forced turnovers on defense for graceful and acrobatic finishes at the rim and evading defenders in the lane on half court dribble drives.     [player_tooltip player_id='2201947' first='Anthony' last='Gonzalez'] is a reliable floor general who consistently keeps this Shoreshots' offense under control with his pace, poise, and decision making. However the part of his performance over this past weekend's action that stood out the most was his definitely his perimeter shooting, a part of his skillset that's necessary for his impact at the next level— knocking down triples both off the catch and off the dribble, and even flashing some movement shooting ability. Gonzalez did continue to do what he does best as a distributor that can orchestrate offense and get his teammates the ball in the right spots— finding open shooters when he attacked off the bounce and setting them up for in rhythm looks in different actions as well as hitting lane runners ahead in transition.     At his most impactful throughout the initial July live period as a facilitator, [player_tooltip player_id='3270158' first='Jack' last='Martinez'] combines a tight and confident handle and poise against ball pressure with really good feel for the game and impressive court vision to really emphasize setting guys up and getting his teammates the ball in the right spots.  Martinez does a really good job of maintaining his court vision to locate open guys on the court— finding open shooters, making sharp post entry passes, hitting look aheads in transition, and finding bigs in the dunker spot and short corner area around the basket. Martinez also impressed in a number of PnR actions with a lot of the reads he made navigating ball screens— operating with pace, passing feel as a distributor hitting divers, and even hitting cross court skip passes to find shooters.      Most impactful as a spark plug scorer who can find a rhythm and rattle off buckets in spurts, [player_tooltip player_id='2347952' first='Jahlil' last='Owusu'] provided a nice scoring pop for this Shoreshots group. Owusu was able to put the ball in the basket in a multitude of ways from different areas on the floor— play finishing at the rim in transition, getting to open space in the mid range area off closeouts and knocking down pull up jumpers, navigating PnR actions to get to his spots, and even spot up shooting off the ball.      An intriguing combination of physical tools and the developmental skillset to contribute and impact the game in different areas, [player_tooltip player_id='2628235' first='King' last='Josiah Hamilton'] strung together an impressive array of performances that backed that claim. Hamilton has the motor to be a legitimate two way threat— active hands to force deflections paired with a commitment to crashing the glass and winnings battles on the boards with energy and effort. Hamilton's energy also translates to the other end of the court with an offensive skillset that continues to feature a versatile attack— leveraging his strength and finishing ability against weaker and smaller defenders to convert on deep low post seals, making quicker decisions attacking closeouts and getting to the rim, running the floor in transition for easy fast break points, dunker spot finishing off dump offs, and even flashing perimeter shooting as a spot up shooter.     An extremely dangerous shot maker who possesses the shot making profile and shooting confidence that makes him a threat that defenses must always locate. Young exuded efficiency across all shot making types—deep range spot up shooting off the catch, movement shooting in transition and running off different type of of ball screens in half court sets, and even creating slight separation off the bounce and showcasing his off the dribble shot making. Young's scoring performances also featured some of his comfortability attacking off the bounce and getting to the rim to convert on soft touch runners and tough in traffic layups at the rim.     [player_tooltip player_id='2504904' first='Izayah' last='Cooper'] has all the qualities of a pass first point guard that you trust in running the show offensively— particularly in his ability to keep the ball on a string when handling it against pressure, unselfish facilitation, and the court vision to dissect defenses. Cooper stood out in the ways he was consistently able to locate open shooters out on the perimeter, feed his bigs the ball in the low post and hit them when running to the rim in the open floor, and even find cutters in different half court actions. All while remaining a threat to score with the ball in his hands— converting on soft touch runners in the lane and shooting it with efficiency from three point range, knocking down shots off the catch and tough perimeter pull ups.

A highly anticipated set of days on the grassroots basketball calendar tipped off in the initial July live period, and it definitely lived up to the billing. Fresh off the June Scholastic Live period, the weekend gave college coaches another opportunity to return to the gym and evaluate prospects in person, bringing an electric atmosphere and high level competition from start to finish. Under Armour's third session in Cartersville, GA featured a loaded schedule of marquee matchups and standout talent from across the country— among those who made strong impressions were several intriguing prospects from New Jersey, each taking advantage of the live period to elevate their stock. With that in mind, here's a first look at some of the NJ's top performers from UAA Session III.