CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – If there had been a sudden invasion of mosquitoes in the John Paul Jones Arena on the University of Virginia campus Wednesday afternoon or evening, it wouldn’t have been an issue for long.
That’s because, without question, Jethro Tshisumpa would have quickly swatted them from existence during the first day’s game action of the 22nd National Basketball Players’ Association Top 100 Camp.
The 6-foot-9 senior-to-be from Cedar Hill, TX (by way of the Mountain Mission School in Grundy, VA) was credited with 10 shot blocks for the “Cavaliers” camp team.
For those who watched him, it may have only seen like at least twice that many.
Tshisumpa (originally from the Congo) was credited with six of those in his team’s opening 98-69 win over the Blazers and all of them were of the spectacular variety – at least two of those, by my count, coming against one of the more highly touted centers in the Class of 2016, Marquis Bolden (DeSoto, TX).
Tshisumpa has a lot of gifted teammates with the Cavaliers included a couple of the very best point guard prospects in the camp.
And both were terrific in the game vs. the Blazers that I watched from start to finished as juniors-to-be Trevon Duval (Newark, NJ, St. Benedict’s) and Matt Coleman (Norfolk, VA, Maury) combined for 25 points – on 10 of 14 shooting from the field – to go with 12 assists and five steals.
The Cavaliers were stopped in their tracks in pursuit of a 2-0 starter Wednesday night when guard Myles Powell of New Jersey – a late addition to the camp Wednesday afternoon – hit a 3 from the right corner at the buzzer to give the Warriors a 76-74 decision.
The Blazers did bounce back later Wednesday evening for a 74-71 win against the Hawks.
The Blazers have three of the best scorers in the camp in seniors-to-be guards Frank Jackson (Highland, UT, Lone Peak) and Tyree Crump (Bainbridge, GA) and junior-to-be forward Billy Preston (Los Angeles but of late, DeSoto, TX).
Jackson – one of the most heavily recruited guards in the class – ended the day with a camp’s best scoring averages of 16.0 points per game while Crump, who committed to the University of Georgia nearly a year ago, was at 15.0 and Preston at 13.5.
Another guard who had a superb first day scoring was 6-1 Shamorie Ponds (Brooklyn Jefferson) who, like the aforementioned Powell, Crump and Preston, was one of the better performers at the Pangos All-American Camp in Southern California on the final weekend of last month.
The left-handed Ponds averaged 14.5 points while leading the Clippers to a couple of wins on Wednesday, the second of those coming at 71-70 on a buzzer-beating shot by guard Carsen Edwards (a senior at Houston Atascocita in the fall).
No one seems to have a definitive idea of what 7-foot-1 Thon Maker – another year of “prep school”, enrollment in a college program or playing professionally outside of the U.S. while awaiting the 2017 NBA Draft? – will be doing in the fall.
In the meantime, there was no question as to what he was doing in this camp.
And that, of course, is staking a claim that he’s the best “big” prospect on hand.
He struggled a bit in the first half on the Rockets’ eventual 63-58 win over the Wizards as the latter’s Omari Spellman and Duwan Huell each had their way with him inside the lane.
But the “struggles” ended abruptly after intermission as the full range of his inside and outside skills were on display as he finished the first day averaging 15.0 points and 9.5 rebounds.
Two future University of Virginia Cavaliers had a chance to get a feel for what it’s going to be like to be play in the JPJ Arena a little more than a year from now.
Class of 2016 guards Kyle Guy (Indianapolis Lawrence Central) and Ty Jerome (New York’s Iona Prep), each of which committed to Coach Tony Bennett’s program a while ago. Here they are teammates on the Wizards.
Guy, a leading candidate to be his state’s “Mr. Basketball” next spring, was particularly impressive on Wednesday while averaging 12.0 points per game.
Full disclosure: I’m a member of John Lucas’ Player Selection Committee for the NBPA Top 100 Camp.
Action resumes Thursday morning with games beginning at 10:45.
The camp wraps up Saturday night.
