A Star Is Born (and his name is Keyonte George)

Baylor vs. Italy, Summer League rages on, the Live Period heats up and I'm sweating just thinking about it.

July 06, 2022

The dog days of summer can make the college basketball season feel like it’s as far away as first place feels to a hot dog eating contest participant competing against American hero Joey Chestnut. But there are still plenty of hoops-related appetizers to look forward to while we wait.

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THREE POINTERS

1. Keyonte George dominates Globl Jam

Scott Drew’s Baylor Bears are representing the United States in this week’s Globl Jam, which is NOT the name of a horrible conclusion to a Space Jam trilogy.

Globl Jam (a jelly that Elon Musk made?) takes place in Toronto and features U23 men’s teams from Italy, Canada, Brazil and the United States, alongside U23 women’s teams from Belgium, Canada, France and the United States.

Baylor is one of many college teams that will participate in overseas trips this summer, and it looks like the Bears are enjoying themselves.

The biggest news from Day 1? Keyonte George’s dominance against Italy. This summarized the Keyonte George Experience better than I ever could:

The incoming freshman guard was the best player on the floor, showcasing a variety of hesitation dribble moves, pouring in stepback jumpers and throwing one-handed crosscourt bounce passes in transition. He finished the game with 32 points in just 28 minutes (and was ejected due to picking up two technicals).

Baylor lost Tuesday’s game to Italy, 88-77, but take that with a grain of salt. Adam Flagler, LJ Cryer and Langston Love were all sidelined. With those three alongside George, Baylor may have college basketball’s most explosive backcourt.

Globl Jam (not to be confused with Globo Gym) will be available to stream on ESPN+ all week.

2. What happens in California stays in California

The Summer League basketball main event kicks off Thursday in Las Vegas, where some of the biggest names from the 2022 draft will make their debuts. But real hoops die-hards were gifted the California Classic as a precursor.

The Classic is a four-day, round-robin style brawl between the summer league editions of three California-based teams (the Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, and Golden State Warriors) and the Miami Heat, for some reason. Apparently, the Los Angeles Clippers aren’t cool enough to sit at the adults’ table in July.

We already told you about how Keegan Murray starred in his debut. But now that the event has concluded, here’s a statistical rundown of key names (plus a summary from my eye test):

  • Keegan Murray

    • 29.9 MIN, 19.7 PTS, 8.0 REB, 0.7 AST, 2.7 TOV, 51.1 FG%, 43.8 3P%

    • Murray largely looked the part of an NBA-ready rotation mainstay, and at times looked the part of a guy who’s ready to make the photographer of that draft night photo that excluded him pay.

  • Cole Swider

    • 20.2 MIN, 11.3 PTS, 3.7 REB, 0.3 AST, 0.7 TOV, 57.9 FG%, 60.0 3P%

    • Swider showed more things than I expected at this level and stood out as a 3-and-D piece with size.

  • Scotty Pippen Jr.

    • 21.7 MIN, 11.3 PTS, 4.3 REB, 4.7 AST, 2.7 TOV, 34.6 FG%, 18.2 3P%

    • Pippen has a do-it-all game like his pops, though it’s easy to wonder if he can be more than just a guy who fills the stat sheet in open gym style runs (much like his entire career at Vanderbilt).

  • Mac McClung

    • 17.2 MIN, 13.0 PTS, 3.5 REB, 1.5 AST, 3.5 TOV, 64.3 FG%, 0.0 3P%

    • Mixtape sensation turned summer league darling is so on-brand for McClung, who could be productive for the next 10 years in July NBA games if he wants to.

  • Moses Moody

    • 26.1 MIN, 11.0 PTS, 1.5 REB, 3.0 AST, 3.5 TOV, 30.8 FG%, 18.2 3P%

    • Arguably the biggest disappointment in the three games. Moody shot poorly and looked flustered when thrust into the role of a feature guy instead of the 5th 10th option role he played in Golden State’s championship run.

  • Lester Quinones

    • 24.2 MIN, 9.7 PTS, 4.7 REB, 0.0 AST, 2.0 TOV, 37.0 FG%, 35.7 3P%

    • Quinones looked much like the same player he was at Memphis, not bringing much of anything other than shot-making and shot-missing (zero assists in three games…yikes).

  • Max Christie

    • 22.7 MIN, 6.0 PTS, 7.7 REB, 2.0 AST, 1.7 TOV, 25.0 FG%, 14.3 3P%

    • Lakers fans already find themselves in the midst of Stage 2 of the Max Christie Emotional Cycle that Michigan State fans know all too well: 1) Excitement!2) “His shot looks good, it’s just not going in!”3) “Oh wait, it never goes in”4) Frustation5) Waving the white flag

  • Nikola Jovic

    • 21.9 MIN, 11.3 PTS, 5.3 REB, 0.3 AST, 1.7 TOV, 43.3 FG%, 42.9 3P%

    • I selfishly would have loved to see Jovic for a year in college in the U.S. but he doesn’t need it — he has some shake in his dribble package and hunted shots from deep.

There is one other ‘appetizer’ event — the Salt Lake City Summer League, another four-team event featuring summer league rosters for the Memphis Grizzlies, Philadelphia 76ers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz. That tipped off yesterday and will run for just three days. Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren is the biggest name to keep an eye on - and he’s already doing unicorn-like things.

3. All-stars of the future

The NBPA Top 100 Camp wrapped last week, featuring 100 of the best high school basketball players in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 classes. Shining in this event can sometimes be a sign of great things to come — 10 members of last year’s NBA All-Star teams were former participants.

Yesterday’s Daily told you about GG Jackson, the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2023, who took home MVP honors for the week, but who else starred?

10 players were named as NBPA Top 100 Camp all-stars. Here’s a cheat sheet of the top performers with their per-game statistics from the official event records.

  • Baye Fall - 15.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.3 APG

    • Position: Center

    • Class: 2023

    • Offers: Arkansas, Auburn, Texas, Baylor, Georgetown

  • Cameron Boozer - 11.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 2.5 APG

    • Position: Power Forward

    • Class: 2025

    • Offers: Duke, Florida International

  • Jared McCain - 11.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.0 APG

    • Position: Shooting Guard

    • Class: 2023

    • Committed to Duke

  • Silas Demary Jr. - 12.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.3 APG

    • Position: Guard

    • Class: 2023

    • Offers: Georgia Tech, Loyola-Chicago, Providence, Texas A&M, VCU, Wichita State

  • Layden Blocker - 7.5 PPG

    • Position: Point Guard

    • Class: 2023

    • Committed to Arkansas

ADIDAS CAMP PREVIEW

What to watch for in the Live Period

Today is the official start of 2022’s July Live Period, which means that it’s officially Crootin’ SZN. Rob Dauster has a primer for you.

Staring today, interspersed within the doom and gloom tweets about conference realignment, you’re going to see lists of which coaches are watching which players. Nothing gets the juices flowing like seeing a dozen top 25 coaches sitting in the same set of cheap, wooden bleachers watching glorified pick-up basketball all because they need that one five-star prospect to know that they care enough to spend an hour in a sweltering gym, staring at their phone instead of the game, feigning enough interest to keep them in the race for a commitment.

AAU basketball, baby. Does it get any better?

The Field of 68 will start our summer journey by making the trip to Rock Hill, S.C., to watch the third session of the Adidas 3SSB series. The EYBL is the pinnacle of the grassroots world, but the 3SSB tour isn’t all that far behind. You guys know how these work by now: All of the Adidas sponsored grassroots teams play throughout the spring and the summer for the right to advance to the 3SSB finals in the final July weekend. There is a level of competitiveness at these events that you don’t typically see at AAU tournaments. Part of that is due to what amounts to a season that is as long as many high school seasons. Part of it is due to the fact that the depth of talent is deeper on these rosters; there are three or four high-major kids on each of these 3SSB teams. That number is closer to six or seven on the EYBL teams.

That’s what makes these events great to watch, and even better for evaluating. This is when the Class of 2023 sets themselves apart from everyone else. So here are the names that you’ll need to know down in Rock Hill this weekend:

  • BAYE FALL: Fall is a talented, 6-foot-10 center from the Colorado Hawks that ranks as a five-star, top 15 prospect in the class. He’s being targeted by the likes of Arkansas, Auburn and Baylor.

  • JAKOBE WALTER: The latest five-star guard to commit to Baylor, Walter is a 6-5 scorer that will thrive playing in Scott Drew’s spread offense.

  • UGONNA KINGSLEY: Kingsley is a 6-11 center that projects as an elite rim-running, rim-protecting five. His ability to move his feed on the perimeter is why programs like Texas Tech, Kansas and Illinois have joined the majority of the Big East in offering him.

  • ANDREJ STOJAKOVIC: Peja’s son, Andrej is a 6-6 sniper that plays for the Compton Magic. A top 25 prospect, Andrej is considered a UCLA lean.

  • REED SHEPPARD, GABE CUPPS and RAYVON GRIFFITH: Sheppard, Cupps and Griffith are all guards who play for Midwest BC. Sheppard, the son of Kentucky legend Jeff Sheppard, is committed to Kentucky. Cupps is committed to Indiana

  • KJ LEWIS: A top 30 prospect out of El Paso, Lewis was Tommy Lloyd’s second commitment to Arizona in the Class of 2023.

OFF THE CAROUSEL

Fresh from Gainesville

Out from one SEC program and into another, what can Georgia fans expect from ex-Florida head coach Mike White in year one? Check out Jeff Goodman’s interview with the new Bulldogs head coach to hear more from White on why he feels the Georgia basketball program is a sleeping giant:

THE FAST BREAK

Links to click while you wait for her to text you back:

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