Best of the South is now underway, and it started with a boom on Thursday, with players looking to earn scholarships and open some eyes. Here are a few notes from the day of action:

·      Story Starters Continue to Write Stories: A couple of HoopSeen Story Starters from the spring period continued their good play in the summer period. Team Speights 2016 point guard DJ Bryant continued his good play, distributing the ball very well and showing great leadership abilities. He has been one of the more popular guards with college coaches so far. Along with him is Savon’s Academy 2017 wing Jules Jasmin, who started his story at Bob Gibbons TOC. Jasmin is a scoring machine and athletic freak, who is very difficult to match up with. He opened his Best of the South with a 25-point performance in a win. He says that he has heard from Wake Forest since emerging at Gibbons.

·      Georgia Heat’s Aidan Saunders was terrific in an opening game win. The Miller Grove product turned in 24 points, using a very nice pull up jumper in the mid-range. He will be a player that I will have curious eyes on over the course of the tournament.

·      The 16U Jacksonville Magic provided some late night sparks to close out the night. Their backcourt was fantastic, led by point guard Zachary Bryant (Pictured), a shifty guard who has a very impressive skillset and could be a big time sleeper in this tournament. Bryant said he has heard from North Florida, Florida State, Maryland, and West Virginia.

·      The Atlanta All Stars were one of the most popular teams of the night with college coaches. They are stacked top to bottom with low-major and Division II players, and could cause problems for a lot of teams in this tournament. Point guard DJ Waters of Shiloh was one of the names that was consistently asked about. Along with him, the All Stars got great play from Cameron Cox and Ross Morkem.

·      A couple of Tift County players left their mark on the opening night with the Smyrna Stars. Point guard Tyrie ‘Pig’ Jackson and wing Iman Holley were both dynamic in a big win over Reach Higher Kings. Jackson was very difficult to stay in front of, employing some quick moves off the bounce and getting into the paint. Holley also did a majority of his work in the paint, scoring the ball very well and getting to the free throw line, where he connected consistently.