Recap Day 1 Nike Spring Showdown
The Nike Showdown NCAA event proven to be the top NCAA certified event in the Midwest for the first live period. Maxing out with over 200 teams. This event brought in the top Nike, Adidas, UA and traveling teams into Matteson, Illinois. We had some of the best teams in the country! This event featured over forty 17u teams with some outstanding teams with top notch players which included Nashville Celtics, SYF, Illinois Wolverines, Peoria Heat, Racine Warriors, Fieldhouse Elite, Illinois Finest, World Class Basketball, Champaign Heat, Example Sports, Illinois Rockets, Illinois Running Rebels, Illinois Xpress, Rockford Wildcats, Team Ice, Team Nebraska, Western Kentucky Elite, Illinois Attack, Fundamental U, Martin Bros Legacy, DV Stars, M33M Elite and many great teams that came to competed.
2017 Darren Harvey, Jr., 6’6, who played up on the 17u Nashville Celtic team, dazed the crowd and sparked the interested of the scouts and college coaches. Tennessee represented very well as M33M’s Wesley Person, Jr., 6’3 and Reggie Anthony, 6’1 were floor generals. The events was loaded with players in the 2014 class including Racine Warriors Danny Mosley, 6’1, Windy City Magics Max Strus, 6’3, Tre’Shawn Thurman, 6’7 and Jarek Coles, 6’2 all from Team Nebraska. Deris Duncan, 6’5 and Arthur Haggard, 6’3 were the premier players for SYF. Martin Brother’s Reed Tellinghuisen, 6’6. Fundamental U’s-big man, shot blocker, rim shaker – Hayden Bernard, 6’10.
The 16u was the largest division topping out with over 60 teams in the division. This was the exclusive premier group that had major high profile players that dominated the courts at the Nike Showdown. Some of the teams that definitely stood out were Mac Irvin Fire, Mean Streets, Team Progeny, St. Louis Eagles, Playground Elite, Illinois Attack, QC Thunder, SYF, Arizona Stars, Central Net Gain, All Ohio Red, Minnesota Cyclones, The Family, Chicago Demons, Fundamental U, Indiana Dawgz, Martin Bros Legacy and Windy City Magic.
Team Progeny who went 4-0 at beating the St. Louis Eagles with their star Jayson Tatum, 6’7-175. Team Progeny front men rant the show which included TJ Henderson, 6-0, 165 and Harris Brown,6’0 -175, who both can knock down the 3pt and take their man off the dribble.Ogugua Anunoby, 6’6, St. Louis Egales big men. Team Progeny’s big man, Glenn Calvin, 6’8 made it very hard for the Eagles to defend his athleticism.
Mac Irvin Fire’s team was loaded with top notch players including Alonzo Chatman, 6’7, Charles More, 5’10, Edward Morrow, 6’8, Zachary Norvell, 6’4 and Ben Coupet, 6’6. Windy Magic’s floor general Miles Boykins, 6’5 was one of the outstanding guards in the tournament.
All Ohio Red’s top guns included Esa Ahmad, 6’7, Jordan Dartis, 6’2, D’mitrik Trice, 6’3, Ahmad Wagner, 6’4.
Some of the college programs that attended were Michigan State, University of Arkon, Cleveland State, University of Arkansas Little Rock, Mizzou, University of Illinois, Lehigh, SDSU, Illinois State, Louisville, Drake, Valpo, Cental Michigan, EIU, Minnesota, Chicago State just to name a few…
Media services that were present were Scout.com, Ball is Life, Nike Media, 247 Sports, Major Prep Sports, Buzzer Beater Basketball, Five Star Basketball, NSR-INC, Illinois Prep Bulls Eye, Amateur Sports 375, City/Suburban, S-Star, Chicago Southland Vistor Bureau.
We would like to thank all the teams for participating in the Nike Spring Showdown! See you in July!