North Augusta, South Carolina…… The Playaz Gold 17u team went to the Peach Jam and as a squad had an up and down tournament! They started the tournament with a very bad lost to the Oakland Soldiers with Rivals #5 Aaron Gordon and #18 Jabari Bird! They then got it together with two impressive wins against Indy Speice and Team United! The turning point game was a 5 point loss to Team Final featuring Rivals #17 player Rondae Jefferson in which they led most of the contest and fell late! After that game, despite an opportunity to get out of Pool Play they lost to Boo Williams who feature Rivals #6 player Anthony(Cat) Barber and #41 player Troy Williams! While that knocked them out as the eventual champs were the Soldiers, who beat CIA Bounce out of Canada who were led by Rivals  2014 #1 player Andrew Wiggins and #20 player Tyler Ennis the Playaz had some individual strong performances. The problem was they couldn’t get them all to play well at the same time! On the grand scheme, Mike Young,Reggie Cameron and Shane Rector still showed flashes of their games which make College Coaches keep coming! Sophomore Isaiah Briscoe showed why the future is very bright for this young man, at times showing moments of brilliance! The player who probably helped himself the most down at the Peach Jam was point guard Kavon Stewart(pictured)! He showed the ability to run a team and was very good at getting to the basket and getting to the rim! The 16u team faired better in the Inaugural Nike Invitational Tournament! They reached the semifinals before losing to Washington DC’s Team Takeover! The 16’s got good performances from Rashard Figures, Jordan Forehand, Marques Townes,Tom Sweeny, Alex Thomas, Juwuan Carter and also Elijah Cain! The 17 silver team only got one win but Shackquiel Scott opened eyes with his athleticism and DeAndre Noble-Haywood also played well scoring the game winning basket on their only victory! The 15u didn’t fair well, losing all their games but all by close margins! Nick Brooks and Donovan Love played well despite the loss of highly regarded Nassir Barrino to injuries! The Playaz 17u Gold,17 Silver and 16u will now head to Atlantic City, New Jersey for the Live At A.C. Tournament beginning Wednesday July 25 to the 27th!

           After a long Eybl Nike campaign in which the Playaz Gold 17’s travelled to Minnesota, Virginia, Dallas and San Francisco they did enough to be one of 25 teams to compete at the Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina July18- 22 to see who will be the Nike EYBL AAU Champion! The Playaz come in with a 12-8 record in a tournament that’s been very competitiveness! They are led by high major recruits Reggie Cameron(pictured), Mike Young along with high recruits Kavon Stewart, Neville Fincher,Shane Rector and A.J Sumblin not to mention young high major recruit Isaiah Briscoe! Playaz Director Jimmy Salmon who has had some elite squads over the years expects maximum effort from his team. They begin Thursday 9am against the highly rated Oakland Soldiers. The Playaz also have a 17 silver, 16u and a 15u competing in the area.

Gill St. Bernards 6’1 point guard has committed to Northwestern University! While his decision was made a week ago Hoop Journal wanted to get the decision and why from the horses mouth! Jaren who is a tremendous shooter with great range told the Journal his decision came to a choice between Alabama and Northwestern and besides the academics his decision to attend Northwestern was based on” his desire to play in the Big 10 and the opportunity to get major minutes as a freshman!” Hoop Journal would like to congratulate Jaren, father Mergin, mother Jill and sister Jasmin who is a baller in her own right on his decision and hope for nothing but the best for the future!