Here's how to see UNC's latest recruit, top shoe-sponsored AAU teams battle this weekend
It's rare in North Carolina for the elite shoe company-sponsored travel teams to play each other.
This weekend in Greensboro, fans will get a rare treat. Not only will they get to see some of the state's best college prospects play - including the first game for new UNC recruit Dayron Sharpe since he committed to Roy Williams' Tar Heels -- but they'll also get to see some of those elite programs play against each other at the Phenom Champions Showcase.
Games will be played Saturday and Sunday at Proehlific Park and at the Spears YMCA in Greensboro, which are about a 90-minute drive from uptown Charlotte. Tickets are $15 Saturday and they are $10 on Sunday, when the 17U shoe company showcase games will be held.
"It's social media bragging rights for the kids," said Team Charlotte head coach and owner Jeff McInnis. McInnis' Under Armour-sponsored team will face Nike-based CP3 Sunday. "For the fans, it's Under Armour vs. Nike. I don't get caught up in it too much. Social media is a fun thing, used in the right way, and something like this is fun.
"The kids are all friends. So we'll go out and play, win lose or draw. We want to get better for the (Under Armour) championships and we'll accomplish that this weekend."
The Showcase is put on by the Phenom Hoop Report - a regional recruiting service - and is serving as a warm-up for teams to get ready for the NCAA Live evaluation period, when college coaches can come see recruits.
The Showcase is put on by the Phenom Hoop Report - a regional recruiting service - and is serving as a warm-up for teams to get ready for the NCAA Live evaluation period, when college coaches can come see recruits.
The first of three live recruiting periods is July 11-15, followed by two more later in the month (July 18-22 and July 25-29). That's when many of these elite shoe-sponsored teams will play in their "circuit championships" and other headline events where courts will be lined with college coaches looking to find or land recruits.
The adidas Gauntlet summer championship is July 12-15 in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Under Armour Association championship is July 25-27 in Las Vegas. And the Nike EYBL (elite youth basketball league) championship, also called "The Peach Jam," is July 11-15 in North Augusta, S.C.
So this weekend's event is a final dress rehearsal for the elite teams and Phenom Hoops founder Rick Lewis thought it would be a good opportunity to match up the powerhouse "shoe" teams and give high school basketball fans the matchups they crave.
▪ On Sunday, Team Wall, the adidas-based team sponsored by Washington Wizards' guard John Wall, a Raleigh native, will face Team Felton, the Under Armour team sponsored by Oklahoma City guard and S.C. native Raymond Felton. That game will tip off at 3 p.m. at Proehlific Park in Greensboro on Court 2.
▪ And at 4:05 Sunday at Proehlific Park, the tournament's featured showcase game will match Chris Paul's CP3 17-and-under team against Team Charlotte, owned and coached by McInnis.
CP3 will be without star wing Wendell Moore, a national top 25 recruit who is playing with USA Basketball. Moore and the American 17U team will play Croatia in the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup in Argentina Friday.
But CP3 has plenty of star power, including former Charlotte Christian and Charlotte Catholic 6-foot-8 forward BJ Mack of Oak Hill Academy (Va.), twin guards Keyshaun and Kobe Langley of High Point Wesleyan and top 100 forward Antavion Collum of Tennessee Prep.
Team Charlotte, a past champion of the Under Armour circuit, features top 150 recruit Donovan Gregory of N.C. Independent Schools state champion Carmel Christian, and 6-7 Tyrone, Ga., forward T.J. Bickerstaff, who is getting major-college offers and attention.
McInnis said with all the shoe teams playing in different circuit events, it's sometimes difficult to schedule the N.C. teams against each other.
"All the shoe company teams have to do their own thing," McInnis said. "I know we're always doing stuff and in the down weekends, I have to go to camps. I have much respect for CP3 and all the teams, but at the end of the day it's about the kids and having fun.
"Our goal is to win the (Under Armour) championship and playing CP3, or anybody else like that, only helps us out for July, so when Rick (Lewis, the Phenom Hoop Report founder and owner) called me, it was like a no-brainer."
Players to watch
Greg Gantt, Team Felton 17U: Gantt, a rising senior at Fayetteville's Trinity Christian School, is ranked No. 54 nationaly by rivals.com. The 6-foot-8 power forward recently narrowed his list of potential colleges which included Providence, Texas, Florida, Clemson, Pittsburgh, Georgia, Alabama, Vanderbilt and Tennessee. See Gantt, who was recently invited to the Stephen Curry Select Camp, play Sunday at 3 p.m. at Proehlific Park against Team Wall.
Marquise Rice, Team Wall 17U: Rice is a 6-foot-5 forward who is a rising freshman. He's considered the state's top recruit in his class and is already a high-major recruit. See Rice Sunday against Team Felton.
Dayron Sharpe, Garner Road 16U: Sharpe is a 6-foot-10 rising junior at South Central High. He is considered a top 75 national recruit. He'll play in his first game since committing to North Carolina. He pairs with top 100 wing Carson McCorkle of Greensboro Day. See Sharpe play Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Proehlific Park.
Charlotte-area players to watch
Name/AAU team/offers and interest
Brice Williams, Team Loaded 704 (Charlotte, Lafayette)
Jason Thompson, Hoop State Elite (Mercer, USC Upstate, Longwood, Eastern Washington)
Demarcus Johnson, Mooresville Magic (Appalachian State)
Paul Hudson, Charlotte Dragons (Mercer, Presbyterian)
Schedule
Click here for the tournament schedule
This story was originally published July 5, 2018 at 1:54 PM.