Welcome to the First Annual AAU High School Indihoops Awards. Congrats to the winners that were voted on by our staff!
We have a big surprise for you on October 1st, so stay tuned and make sure you follow us on Instagram @indihoops and Twitter @indihoops
Let's get right into it! Thanks to references Ball is Life, ESPN, and D1Circuit.
Best Overall Program: Team Loaded
Team Loaded, an Adidas sponsored program added a newcomer: Thon Maker. Thon is one of the top ranked players in the Class of 2016. What became even more evident was the emergence of the highest ranked PG in the country (2016), Dennis Smith Jr, who was on another 17u Team Loaded (NC) team. It is quite impressive to have a couple of 2016 players doing so well at the 17u division. Team Loaded VA lost in the semi-finals at the end of the year in a close game in the Adidas 64, won the NY2LA Summer Jam the previous week and Big Shots, Myrtle beach the first live period of July.
17u Team Loaded (NC) was ranked as high as #2 in our 17s at one point in the year with good play in the Adidas Uprising circuit.
17u Team Loaded (VA) was ranked #13 at the end of the year and the week before were ranked as high as #3 in the nation.
Now onto their 16u program, because you need to have at least 3 great teams to qualify to win this award.
16u Team Loaded won the Adidas 64 putting them at #2 in our rankings to finish the year, with a strong case of being one of the best teams in the country at this level. The previous week they were #1, winning the Indihoops sponsored Peach State. The first live period in July they won the Big Shots tournament, and were runner ups in the Adidas Uprising tournament.
Newcoming Program of the Year: Florida Vipers
Not sure what this programs future plans are, but for a non sponsored 17u team, they were pretty impressive. They remained in the top 5 all year long. While they did not play in the sponsored tournaments, their roster and team make up makes them the newcomers of the year.
Game of the Year – Playaz Basketball Club vs. Belmont Shore Fab 48
Dinos Trigonis' Belmont Shore team has a flare for the spectacular during his hosted event at the end of the year. Belmont Shore was involved in the game of the year vs. Mo Williams Elite last season, and they nearly knocked off the #1 17u team in the nation, had a buzzer beater by Temple Gibbs from half court not gone in.
2016 Vance Jackson of Belmont Shore was the game high leader with 33 points and his teammate Tyler Dorsey who is expected to commit soon had 29/9/9. Isaiah Briscoe had 24 points for the Playaz and eventually ended up hurting himself in this game but what a spectacular one again at the Fab 48.
http://ballislife.com/nj-playaz-outlasts-belmont-shore-fab48-vance-jackson-scores-33/
Individual Game of the Year - Malik Monk (2016) - Arkansas Hawks.
To kick off the EYBL season, Malik scored 59 points in Sacramento on 15 of 26 shooting, 19 of 23 from FT line and making 10 3’s. Scoring 59 points in an EYBL game is an incredible feat.
He also had 9 rebounds 3 assists, 2 steals and only 2 turnovers.
Player of the Year – Isaiah Briscoe (Playaz)
Isaiah proved over and over that he was the best point guard and leader of a team that finished #1 in our rankings and won the EYBL Peach Jam. He was the MVP of the Pangos AA camp as well. Briscoe in the Peach Jam, which is the best travel basketball tournament of the year, averaged 18 pts, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists a game.
Best New Event – Under Armour/Adidas Uprising
Both shoe companies made a splash of their own with a league that ended in a culminating championship. It definitely put an interesting spin on things, as some of the events that were non shoe affiliated took a slight hit because of this in terms of big time teams they were accustomed to getting. However, it made for great games all year, and the other events shined some light on some underrated players.
The Nike EYBL league still reigns supreme, but Under Armour is coming right behind and Adidas Uprising had a great year as well to keep Nike honest.
Best Event of the Year – Nike EYBL Peach Jam
This one is hard to beat. The EYBL league features 40 Nike teams who play in a brutal circuit where there is no place to hid. The Peach Jam then takes the best 24 in August, Georgia and lets them duke it out. Top teams in the Country at the Peach Jam will consistently not even make it out of pool play, that is how good the event is.
Coach of the Year – Jimmy Salmon – Playaz Basketball Club
Jimmy Salmon wins the EYBL Peach Jam and did a remarkable job with this team all year. Very fun team to watch play.
Play of the Year – Antonio Blakeney
This dunk shut down the gym as you can see from the video, while it might not of been the best dunk or play of the year, the response definitely bumped it up a few points and Antonio Blakeney was deserving of this award.
Most Exciting Player of the Year – Damontrae Jefferson (Wisconsin Rebels)
The 5’7 guard wins this award hands down. We will let the video do the talking. If we had best trash talker award, he would be in that category with Antonio Blakeney and Isaiah Briscoe.
Biggest Stock Riser – Henry Ellenson
Henry played for Wisconsin Playground Elite on the EYBL circuit and averaged nearly a double double. A highly skilled PF, going into the Dallas EYBL session he was ranked in the 50’s. He now currently sits at #4 in ESPN with offers from Kentucky, MSU and Marquette.
