Adidas National Championships has several rising stars

The Adidas National Championships which was held in Louisville, Kentucky, is probably the granddaddy of all of the major events in girls’ basketball and no matter who happens to be in charge of the event, there is always an abundance of talented teams with talented players,  which in turn brings out an abundance of college coaches to evaluate. This year over 120 teams participated from all across the country and there were about as many colleges on site.  The championship game was won by the New Jersey Red Sparks who defeated EBO Elite from California in a very competative game.  Here are a few of the players that caught my stood out during the tournament.

2013

Tyler Carter - 6-1 forward, EBO Elite

Although she might not be the top player on the team, Tyler Carter was one of the main reasons EBO Elite made it to the finals. The slender forward found several ways to score and dominated on both ends of the floor down the stretch of the semi-final win over Top 10 in the National Blue Bracket.

Kelly Loftus - 5-10 forward, Virginia Cardinals

Kelly Loftus is one of the best players I’ve seen in the first half of July and although the game I saw her play was a complete blowout, it only took me a couple of minutes to see she was legit.  She can score at will by either shooting the long ball, hitting the short pull-up or using her speed to blow by defenders.

2014

Tyra Buss - 5-8 point guard, Indiana Elite Swish-Kessler

Point guard Tyra Buss helped keep the game close in the National Red Division Championship against the New Jersey Sparks Elite by doing several important things. She got everyone involved and she also picked her openings on offense. Her ability to score opened the doors for her teammates but one of her biggest assets is that she sees the floor extremely well.

Jalea Bennett-5-10 guard/forward, Team Ichiban Genesis

After watching her over the past month, first in the Houstonians Summer in a pre-July tournament and then a week ago at Big State Flava, Jalea Bennet showed no signs of fatigue, in fact she looked stronger. The 2014 class is so good across the nation that many deserving players won’t get consideration to be on any national Top 100 teams and Bennett will probably be one of them however with her size and ability to play multiple positions, she will play at the next level for major D-1 and go right in and contribute.

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About Simmie Colson: Simmie has been involved on the girl’s basketball for over 10 years as a coach, scout and writer. You can find more from him at www.girlzprepreport.com.