Three things to know about the Adidas 3SSB Finals

After spending four days in luxurious Rock Hill, S.C., at the Adidas 3SSB Championships, I can confidently say a couple of things:

You are not going to find many facilities that are better suited to an event like this than the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center. And I can also say that the talent disparity between the Nike EYBL and the rest of the circuits is as large as it has ever been.

Now, part of the issue is that some of the circuit’s best players were elsewhere. Five-star Ugonna Kingsley was at the NBA Academy. Andrej Stojakovic was hurt. Taison Chatman was sitting out. But that doesn’t change the fact that EYBL rosters have top 100 players coming off of the bench. At Adidas, there were two or three in a given game. 

The biggest difference? The big guys. There are good guards everywhere, but at the highest level of club basketball, there is a 6-foot-10 brute who catches and dunks everything. Saw a lot of missed bunnies last week.

But there were some key takeaways. Let’s get to it.

THREE POINTERS

1. Freddie Dilione is a star

I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I am the best talent evaluator, or that I’ve seen anywhere near every prospect in the class.

So I am not sure where Dilione should rank nationally.

But I do know a bucket when I see one, and Dilione is #Certified. A 6-foot-5 lead guard, Dilione is a smooth, bouncy scorer who understands how to use change of pace and direction to get to his spots. He’s lethal in the mid-range, and he has the talent to put up 30 on a given afternoon. With offers from places like Texas, Indiana and Alabama, I’d assume that he will end up being one of the risers coming out of this live period.

2. Sleeper alert!

Herb Jones was one of my favorite college players of the last decade. At 6-foot-8, he was the SEC Player of the Year, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and Alabama’s starting point guard. 

Rob Dockery, a 6-foot-7 wing from Wilson HS in DC, is the closest thing I’ve seen to Herb Jones. A rising junior (2024) who played for Team Loaded VA, Dockery was the best defender that I saw in Rock Hill. Dilione is a special talent. He had a 30-ball against Loaded VA, but there were five possessions down the stretch where Dockery locked him up.

Dockery also can handle the ball, and his ability as a passer and a slasher is high-level. His issue is going to be the jumper; his stroke needs work, and that is about the most respectful way I can put it. 

Dockery is currently rated as a borderline top 100 prospect, and he does hold an offer from Maryland, but I’d expect his profile to grow. 

TOGETHER WITH FAST MODEL SPORTS

Finding the right pieces

When college basketball coaches build rosters for 2023 and beyond, it’s not easy to manage. Recruiting players, plus tracking the transfer portal is more than some staffs can handle. That’s where FastRecruit comes in.

Start with their customizable, easy-to-use Draft Board to create player profiles, add notes, and rank them according to your needs. Rob Dauster liked Rob Dockery so much last weekend, we slotted him in just behind Liam McNeely.

Better yet, there’s video integration with Synergy Sports and automated stats, taking the mundane work out of your hands and allowing you to focus on those winning details stats can’t capture. Then share it with coaches via the iPhone and Android apps.

Learn more about FastRecruit here.

3. Reed Sheppard will be an impact player at Kentucky

One of the biggest debates last weekend was whether Sheppard would be able to play significant minutes at Kentucky given his reputation as a shooter and John Calipari’s unwillingness to move entirely away from the dribble drive.

And while Sheppard is a sniper first and foremost, he has a little more to his game than catching and chucking up threes:

The guy he dunked on in that first clip is 5-star, top 20 prospect Baye Fall, who just won the MVP of NBA camp. 

Reed is not Tyler Herro and he’s not Tyrese Maxey. He’s probably the most similar to Devin Booker, but that isn’t even a perfect comparison — or a fair comparison right now. But he can play, and I do think that he will force Coach Cal to give him minutes in Lexington. 

ICYMI

• South Carolina State finally hired a coach. After 15 seasons as an assistant for Bob Huggins, Erik Martin will take over for the Bulldogs just a month before the semester starts.

• UCLA picked up Abramo Canka, a 6-7 wing who played 16 games in Russian Superleague 1 last year (10.9 points, 3.7 rebounds).

• Tafara Gapare, a 4-star forward, decided DePaul wasn’t for him. The 2023 prospect and New Zealand native will have plenty of offers.

• Four-star prospect Trent Pierce, a 6-8 forward in the Class of 2023, announced he’s headed to Missouri.

THE FAST BREAK

Links as you decide which of the galaxies here produces the best point guards.

• Here’s a “what if?” for you: When Jabari Smith was younger, he always wanted to go to Kentucky.

• One phone call made the difference in Trayce Jackson-Davis’ return to Indiana.

• A name to know: T.J. Power. (Yes, it sounds like a Homer alias)

• John Calipari wants to “take this thing to another level.”

• Maryland Eastern Shore fired Athletic Director Keith Davidson.

• Here’s another NIL resource for college athletes.

• More than 97 percent of Oregon athletes earned an academic financial award during the 2021-22 season. That’s $2.6 million total.

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