Howard Pulley Invite: Sunday’s Best
Howard Pulley won the Pulley Invite this weekend and Prep Hoops was present to bring you our Best of the Invite.
Nation’s #1 improves to 26-1. For the second time in three weeks the Howard Pulley 17u squad defeated KC Run GMC, this time 63-57. Tre Jones controlled the game with his 28 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Jones made 9 of 15 attempts and 10 of 14 foul shots for his 28. Big Daniel Oturu dealt with early foul trouble but had a huge second half with 16 points (7 of 10 shooting, 2 of 3 free throws) and 13 rebounds. Gabe Kalscheur knocked out three treys and scored a supporting 11 and Jarvis Thomas scored four points with five boards and three assists. Tyreese Davis had 16 points and eight boards for KC while Angelo Allegri put up a dozen points with seven boards.
The Howard Pulley talent is talked about everywhere. If you like basketball you will see these kids up and down your twitter feed. We watched the Panthers multiple times this weekend and here a few new things we picked up (or known items we wanted to stress):
Tre Jones: A player got in Tre’s face and you could see the Jones demeanor flip. And when his demeanor changed he completely destroyed his opponent. And Jones became very physical and when that happened he took over the game in every single way. Also, his basketball intelligence is at a whole different level than anybody else at this level. His fade off a screen to catch and hit, his reads on the pick and roll, and his knowledge of when to chase and deny of the ball defending stopped a pair of KC sets.
Daniel Oturu: Oturu was in foul trouble within two minutes so he sat the first half. Nearly all of his 16 points and 13 rebounds came in half two when Oturu played a motor that few bigs have in their game.
Jarvis Thomas: This was a rough and physical game so there were few of those transition chances that led to so many Jarvis highlights in the previous contests. Thomas made an impact as a high-low passer feeding Oturu and Jarvis threw those passes perfectly leading Oturu.
Gabe Kalscheur. Gabe had a tough shooting day but he made an impact defensively. Gabe has put a focus on his defensive this spring and it’s showing. Kalscheur will always make shots but he’s also become a consistent defensive worker. Gabe made all of his foul shots and scored 13 in the semi-final.
Roddy & Brown. David Roddy is the starting small forward for Pulley and this weekend he showed off the perimeter skills to play that spot. NHR also saw Courtney Brown Jr score four times actively against the Phenom. Brown has a strong frame and he’s a hard working player that you can trust to be in the right spots. A quality sixth man.
Yes he’s D1. Jarius Cook is getting calls from several division one programs and has received an offer from Idaho. Do we think he is that level of a player? Absolutely. Cook has the size and frame of a guard at the level that is recruiting him and is a consistent and hard working defender. What makes Cook different is his offensive efficiency. Jarius made early threes (and threes when Powerhouse made a run) and when Omaha Elite contested him harder at the arc Cook attacked the cook for finishes at the rim.
Phenom Seniors. The Minnesota Phenom made the Pulley Invitational final four winning a couple Sunday games including a revenge match with Minnesota Select 60-50. Two of the standouts were seniors who are about to graduate and that is Isaiah (Zeke) Carver-Bagley and Kevin Totusek. Totusek is a 6-foot-8 center that defended well inside, rebounded, and continues to show a nice little mid-range jumper. Carver-Bagley looks to have grown in length and height standing about 6-foot-5 as a guard. His ability to create and cleanly get looks over the top to complete was tough for Select to slow down leading to the Phenom win.
A Strong Shooter. Josiah Strong looked up and saw his team was down nearly twenty and then the Champlin Park guard exploded for three three-point makes and the red and black were back in it. Strong is a game changing three-point shooter and we are seeing that happen again and again.
Team Get Shook 15s. At the start of the spring Get Shook battled their way to the Comets Shootout finals. They earned quick respect at the 15u level but they’ve had a few losses since. They earned all of that respect back this weekend by beating Howard Pulley’s top 15u team twice and then beating All Iowa Attack for the title.
TCjr. The Minnesota Phenom has several 2017s and a lot of 2018s but the player that was able to work his way into space for the Minnesota Phenom was Tommy Chatman Jr, a 2019 wing from Park Center. He scored a three and went at the Panther wings for four baskets.