2023 Georgia Cup I 17U Standouts
SUWANEE, Ga—The first Georgia Cup of 2023 saw well over 100 teams kick off their seasons on the HoopSeen stage. From all age groups, the weekend was a great warm up for a big spring.
The 17U division saw several members of the 2024 class get off to great starts to the travel season.
Here are six standouts from the weekend.
There weren’t many guards. On the weekend better than Michael Pace. He’s a player that has a chance to be one of Georgia’s 2024 stockrisers this summer. He was able to get by defenders and to the basket where he was a consistent scorer. His weekend was emphasized by a 30-point game. While Game Elite Blue battle injuries that cut their weekend shorter than they would have liked, their squad still left an impression that has us excited for them moving forward, and Pace is a player we'll be watching plenty this season.
Metro Elite made the championship game of the 17U division. One of the guys that brought it on a game-by-game basis was Jaki Bell. He was one of the best point guards of the weekend. Bell was a consistent scorer and floor general. He balanced his rim attack with facilitating well and provided a strong presence on defense too.
Play with Heart had a dominant start to the weekend. This is a squad that made a loud-and-clear statement going into championship Sunday by winning all three of their games by 20 or more. The guy leading the charge was Josiah Marsh. He had multiple 20-point games on the weekend and torched nets with his 3-point shooting.
Welborn’s HoopSeen story is starting off on a great chapter. He was one of the top performers at the Spring Preview camp, and he followed that up with a solid outing at the Georgia Cup while playing up in the 17U division. He’s a young guard who can thrive on and off the ball. Welborn is a fantastic passer, and he can heat up from the 3-point line. He helped lead this Champions Chance/Team Tatum squad to an impressive showing. This is a talented group, and Welborn should be a guy that sees his HoopSeen story grow in coming years. Oh yeah, he’s only a freshman still.
The Georgia Jayhawks were one of the toughest teams in the 17U division. This squad gave teams problems all weekend and made it to the final four. Their 6-foot-5 wing Nile King was the guy for them all weekend. King was one of the most consistent players and averaged north of 15 points per game. The junior out of Union Grove kicked of his travel season on a great note with an impressive outing.
This Nets squad had a solid weekend. They relied on balance more so than an individual star to get wins. However, one guy that kept catching our staff’s attention when watching was Devin White. The Nets guard had multiple outstanding performances. One was highlighted by him hitting three 3-pointers.
