Top overall performers from the 2022 Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions
The historic stage of the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions never fails. Each and every year the most historic tournament in grassroots basketball is a platform where the best of the best rise up. Let’s take a deep dive look at the top overall prospects from the 2022 tournament.
Not many guys have come through the first two live periods and The Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in recent memory that have been able to score as consistently as Byrd. He has been a guy that has willed the game on his shoulders for Team Trezz. Whenever they needed a big bucket for the last two events, Byrd has been that guy. At the collegiate level, Byrd is an impact guy at the right fit. He has the length and the natural scoring instinct to translate over to the next level. He can shoot it from the perimeter but he is at his most dangerous when he is attacking the rim. With his length and size, there are not many guys that can guard him. He is a full qualifier at the Division I level. - Justin Byerly
The UConn commit continues to show why he has been trending upwards in just about every respectable ranking out there. At 6-foot-6, Castle has elite ability getting to the rim, especially when he utilizes his size. In terms of overall physicality and physique, he has a college ready frame that he uses to his advantage to bully smaller guards at the high school level. Castle led a short handed Atlanta Xpress squad in just about every category through the weekend. He can go get a bucket at any point in time, but he really showed his ability as a playmaker. Once this kid asserts himself in the game, he is one of the top guards in the country. - Brianna Patton
Big Somto was to the 2022 Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions as Ernest Udeh was to last year’s. I said it consistently throughout the weekend. He was a force down low that not many else could match up with. A shot-blocking machine, Cyril made opponent’s lives difficult around the rim and seldom gave up easy baskets. I still feel bad for all of the rims in Suwanee Sports Academy because he put a severe hurting on all of them. One of the memories of the weekend came when Cyril threw down an elbow-deep dunk in game. It’s one of the moments that will go down in the lore of this historic tournament. - Josh Tec
From start to finish. The future Georgia Bulldog looked like a guy ready to take another jump with his game as a promising prospect. With a college frame and an aggressive style of play, Jordan played like a player that is comfortable in his own skin. The 6-foot-5 wing looks good now as a player at the prep level and ready for what awaits him in the SEC. He’s a threat to explode for 20 a game at this level every game and he will do it in a variety of ways. His perimeter game was on point and that allowed him to take advantage on closeouts for drives to the rim, where he finished in traffic and got to the foul line. The Georgia Stars won the Orange bracket of the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions because of a team balance. But let’s be clear on this - he was a stud over the weekend. - Justin Young
There aren’t many guards in the country that I’d rather have running my team than Rechsteiner. If he hadn’t already done enough to prove his meddle, he certainly added to his resume with a great Gibbons weekend. We always talk about how Gibbons is a stage for players to elevate their profiles, and I’d say Rechsteiner did just that over the weekend. During an event with highly-touted guards all over the place, I heard Rechsteiner’s name as much as anyone else’s. Whether it be via his 3-point shooting or tossing lobs to his bigs, Rechsteiner has proven to be one of the south’s best point guards. He’s already amassed a lengthy list of offers, but with a weekend like this ushering in his summer, I expect the June and July evaluation periods to be even more fruitful for Rechsteiner. He just keeps getting better as the weeks progress. - Josh Tec
The Duke University recruit was a man amongst boys throughout The Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions. The athletic and powerful forward out of Florida looks like a guy that can come in and get some minutes early for new Head Coach Jon Scheyer down in Durham, North Carolina. He is a guy that is going to clean up the boards, he is going to fill the lanes in transition and if he is near the rim, chances are he is going to punish it. Stewart also showed that he can make shots from the mid-range. I think Stewart was the best overall prospect that I saw at the long-lasting event. - Justin Byerly
