HoopSeen Atlanta Jam Day 1 Notebook from Justin Byerly
Suwanee, Ga. - The spring live period is here. College coaches are out and are looking at prospects throughout the United States this weekend. This is the only live period of the spring before the June live periods and two more in July, so this is the only evaluation period with travel basketball until mid-July. Let's take a look at who stood out on opening night. We had 40 college coaches in attendance tonight at historic Suwanee Sports Academy taking in the action.
Getting Hype
The North Nashville Hype had a close game with the Charlotte Wolves to open the HoopSeen Atlanta Jam. In a game that came down to the wire, the Hype prevailed behind the shooting of 5-foot-8 guard Trace Collier. The 2025 prospect scored 31 points on the night which was probably the top scoring performance of the day. Collier is one of those prospects that is small but makes up for it with their toughness and their ability to put the ball in the basket. Collier made five three-pointers during the game. He was named 1st Team All District in the 6AA classification in Tennessee.
On the Prowl
The Tennessee Tigers have always been a consistent team on the HoopSeen platform and here at the Atlanta Jam, they are off to a hot start. The 1-2 punch of Rodney Henderson and DJ Roberson were a good reason why. They combined for 35 points and challenged the ATL Pivot throughout the contest. Both guys add a layer of athleticism and aggressiveness to the Tigers attack and that has been a factor in their spring success. The Tigers could be primed for a big weekend.
Time to Pivot
ATL Pivot had a couple of strong showings in their game against the Tennessee Tigers. Big man Ethan Easterling had two really good games to start out The Atlanta Jam. He scored 17 points for ATL Pivot in their first game and had a strong showing in the second game against Florida Pro Select. The four-man is skilled and has good footwork. He showed a soft-touch around the basket and some potential.
Rising senior Tyson Baumgardner had a solid first game against the Tennessee Tigers. He connected on three, three-pointers en route to 11 points. Besides the scoring, Baumgardner was around the ball on multiple possessions, coming up with some big rebounds and had a couple of deflections that led to steals. The 2025 prospect looks like he is up in the 6-foot-5 range now and is showing that he has some tools that will translate to the next level.
Wolves on the Prowl
The Charlotte Wolves-Julius had a strong showing from Lance Beam out of Burns High School in Lawndale, North Carolina. Beam was able to score 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds during the opening game, a close loss to North Nashville Hype. Beam is one of those smaller forwards that just play so hard and aggressive that rebounds just naturally come to him. He was able to get a number of put-backs off of misses and came up with a lot of rebounds on both ends of the floor.
