EYBL Scholastic La Porte Invitational: Thursday Elites

Returning to the historic La Porte Civic Auditorium for its third year. The newly named Nike EYBL Scholastic (formerly the NIBC) made its lone Midwest stop. Accordingly with a few exceptions I'll focus on the prospects hailing from that region in Thursday action.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Elites </h2>   VJ Edgecombe 6-5 2024 Long Island Lutheran (NY)(pictured) Simply put, what an elite top 5 national prospect is supposed to look like. Just moved at a different speed and pace than everyone else on the court. Exploded to the rim and glided around the court. Excellent body control and hangs in the air forever on his jump shot. The competitiveness stood out to me on Friday night. Appeared to be injured near the end of the first half. Didn't warm up coming out of the locker room and appeared to be significantly limping. However when La Lumiere opened on a big run in front of their home crowd. Edgecombe stretched out and checked back into the contest. Began by moving quickly off the ball in a set to get an easy two. That appeared to get him going. As the duration of the game was an all out assault on the rim. Including dunks that had the gym buzzing. With John Calipari watching. Stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of 21 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists. An elite performance from an elite prospect.   Isiah Harwell 6-5 2025 Wasatch Academy (UT) While Edgecombe's aerial exploits opened eyes and had the camera phones out. Harwell delivered a similarly elite performance— just in a more surgical way. Put on an absolute clinic in how to get shots in half court sets. Did it off the dribble with efficiency. Cut with precision and purpose off the ball. Rose up quickly with shoulders square after seemingly always catching the ball in the shooting motion. Like Edgecombe showed toughness playing through an injury after nasty first half fall. Toughness also showed through in strong performance on the glass against a big IMG frontline. Especially on the defensive end. Finished with 22 point, 14 rebound (13 defensive) double double. Further cementing his status as one of the elite players nationally in the 2025 class.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Ohio </h2>   Jerry Easter 6-4 2025 La Lumiere School (IN) The Toledo guard appears to acquitting himself nicely at the Northern Indiana prep powerhouse. Came out on fire to start the second half after La Lumiere faced a halftime deficit. Scored his squads first eight points of the second half. Including a steal and dunk that really set the tone. Continued to play well in the second half. Especially in pick and roll situations. Looked bigger than this summer and has excellent size for the point guard position already. Finished with 18 points in the loss.   [player_tooltip player_id='1222353' first='Ace' last='Buckner'] 6-2 2024 La Lumiere School (IN) Like his teammate Easter. The Clemson commit played well in pick and roll situations. I have always liked how he plays with a sense of balance. Isn't very big but is stronger than he looks. When you combine the balance and the strength you have a strong finisher who plays bigger than his listed height. Is also a very good athlete with a quick second jump and sudden lateral quickness. Went 0-4 from beyond the arc. That will have to improve to really pop in the ACC. No reason it shouldn't. It looks fine mechanically. The Tigers might have gotten a steal when the dust settles in this class.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Michigan (Present and Future) </h2>   Darius Acuff 6-2 2025 IMG Academy (FL) The meteoric rising Detroit point guard came out on fire in the nightcap against Wasatch Academy. Balanced explosive scoring with mature and controlled playmaking. Has a knack for going to hard to the basket but always having an escape route. Accordingly is an advanced kick out passer with between the trees court vision. Things slowed down a bit in the second half. Had to take on most of the perimeter load after IMG lost Amari Allen to an injury. Finished with 22 points in the loss. Despite his recent quick rise up recruiting boards. Doesn't appear to be plateauing developmentally. Still trending towards being a to 20 recruit nationally. Maybe even higher.   Khani Rooths 6-8 2024 IMG Academy (FL) Not from Michigan but will heading to Ann Arbor next year. Rooths showed his versatility on Friday night. Played mostly in the post during the first half. Doing it well with his athletic and lanky frame. Operated especially well in the high post. With the aforementioned loss of Allen to injury. Moved out to the perimeter in the second half. While there is definitely long term potential in that area of the court. Didn't seem as comfortable there. Still finished with 17 points and provided glimpses for Wolverine fans of the talent that could make the DC area prospect a contributor next season.   Christian Anderson 6-1 2024 Oak Hill Academy (VA) The Atlanta area point guard has been committed to the Wolverines since the pandemic. He is a unique prospect. Extremely quick with good court vision. However has a small frame that might not be tailored for the rigors of the Big Ten. Showed versatility by toggling between the 1 and 2 spots with standout junior Kaden Magwood. However it was telling in that in crunch time. The ball was in Anderson's hands. Finished with a complete stat line of 15 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists.   [player_tooltip player_id='1806433' first='Manu' last='Manciel'] 6-3 2026 Wasatch Academy (UT) I'll toss this one in briefly at the end. Not as much for what he did Friday night. He received spot minutes as he has only recently joined Wasatch. I feel pretty confident in saying that as I saw him less than a week ago in Michigan with Sterling Heights Stevenson. With Stevenson he showed long term playmaking potential against Detroit King. Interesting to see how he develops in the next few years in Utah.

Returning to the historic La Porte Civic Auditorium for its third year. The newly named Nike EYBL Scholastic (formerly the NIBC) made its lone Midwest stop. Accordingly with a few exceptions I'll focus on the prospects hailing from that region in Thursday action.