Maker, Froling and McDowell-White selected for 2016 Nike Hoop Summit
The rosters for the 2016 Nike Hoop Summit have been officially announced, with three Australians making the cut. Thon Maker, Harry Froling and William-McDowell White have all been named on the World Select team roster, which will go up against the USA Basketball Junior National Select team on April 9 at the Rose Garden in Portland.
McDowell-White is a surprise inclusion as Olgun Uluc of Fox Sports Australia reports, the point guard was initially left out of the game.
https://twitter.com/OlgunUluc/status/713091947695505408
McDowell-White is widely considered as one of the best pure point-guard prospects from outside of the United States and the Hoops Summit will allow him to showcase his talents and get noticed by some major collegiate programs. McDowell-White’s recruitment is still ongoing, yet Arizona State, Fresno State, Michigan State and Texas A&M have all offered McDowell-White a scholarship, while Kansas has also shown interest.
At 6’5, McDowell-White has tremendous size and strength for a point guard, which allows him to defend both guard positions effectively. As he showed at the Basketball Without Borders Camp at NBA All-Star Weekend, McDowell-White excels at setting up his teammates in a variety of different ways. His creativity with the ball is his strong suit, and in an era of basketball where scoring point guards are taking over, McDowell-White is showing out with his ‘traditional’ point guard skills. While his jumpshot needs some cleaning up, McDowell-White’s point guard instincts and basketball IQ allows him to make his presence felt on the court.
For Maker, this years Hoops Summit holds an added sense of importance. A sub-par performance at last year’s event dropped his stock dramatically but after strong showings with the Athletic Institute in Canada and at the BWB Camp, Maker will look to rebuild some lost stock at the Hoops Summit.
Maker’s collegiate recruitment is moving along, having opened his official visits with Kansas, and following up with additional visits to UNLV, Arizona State and Notre Dame. Indiana and St John’s round out the six schools in the front-running for Maker, however a positive performance at the Hoop Summit may allow him to generate greater interest before his decision is made in late April.
Maker’s defensive effort on five-star recruit DeAndre Ayton at the BWB Camp drew praise, but this time around, the two will be teaming up together. Still, Maker will be betting on his defense, high motor and willingness to do the dirty work will raise some eyebrows that may have been previously dropped.
https://twitter.com/LivOnBasketball/status/713091819039404032?s=09
Froling will be looking to build on his MVP-performance at the BWB Camp, as the SMU commit continues to build his resume before even suiting up in a college basketball game.
Froling’s offensive versatility can be compared to Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love. At 6’11, Froling has the ability to pop out and knock down the outsider jumper, with range extending beyond the three-point arc. However, Froling’s skill-set of spin moves and pump fakes also allows him to be a force to deal with in the low-post and his soft touch around the basket also helps.
Along with the three Aussies, the World Select team is comprised of Ayton (Bahamas), Edin Atic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Isaia Cordinier (France), Andres Feliz (Dominican Republic), Justin Jackson (Canada), Lauri Markkanen (Finland), Wesley Alves Da Silva (Brazil), Martynas Varmas (Lithuania), Ziming Fan (China) and Kostas Antetokounmpo (Greece).
Edrice Adebayo, Jarrett Allen, Marques Bolden, Terrance Ferguson, De’Aaron Fox, Markelle Fultz, Wenyen Gabriel, Harry Giles, Jonathan Isaac, Josh Jackson, Payton Pritchard and Jayson Tatum will represent the USA Juniors.
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