Josh Tec's 16U Notes from EYBL Session III Day One
LOUISVILLE—Saturday was a busy day inside the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center for EYBL Session III. I went through some of my notes from the 17U division, so now I want to touch on three things that grabbed my attention from some of the 16U games I took in.
The New Colonel of the Tank
Mercy Miller—son of Master P—looks to be taking over for his old man as the Colonel of the tank. The 6-foot-4 Houston commit was tremendous in the early afternoon while I was taking in JL3’s 16U game. Miller stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, 8 rebounds and a handful of assists. Miller has a strong build to go along with this lengthy guard frame. He’s a high-level scorer that gets it done from all levels. While his father will naturally be brought up when Miller is talked about, he’s carving his own path and doing it well.
Evans’ upside smacks you in the face with his frame, but when he starts shooting it from the wing, he can really get people raving. I know because it happened to me. Evans has a smooth-looking shot from the corners. What’s even more tantalizing about Evans is that his body currently falls in line with the type that we’ve seen grow even more. He’s long and lanky at 6-foot-6. That’s already good when paired with his skillset. Just for the fun of it, let’s say that he follows a similar path as some past stars with his frame, and he grows a few inches. Add a 6-foot-8 with a little more length to his already advanced skillset, and we have a prospect that could crack the top 10 in his class.
Phenom U Phenoms
Forget about age groups, Phenom U’s Nick Janowski and Kon Knueppel made up one of the best backcourts I saw on Saturday. They’re both dangerous scorers, and they impact the game in other ways too. Janowski does a tremendous job when it comes to dictating pace and running the team’s offense. He’s also a guy that I’d want taking big shots at the end of close games. He has that sense about him. Janowski finished with 18 points and 6 assist for Phenom U in their first game of the day. Knueppel is a dead-eye shooter, and he’s an active rebounder from the guard spot. When needed, Knueppel is a great secondary playmaker that can initiate offense when called upon to do so. He finished with 13 points and 6 rebounds in their early afternoon game and added 22 points in their nightcap.
