Day 2 of the Generation Next Basketball Association (GNBA) Session 2 (Illinois) event was a successful run for many teams and a number of players who stood out with their efforts, their seeming passion for the game and their ability to make plays on both ends of the court. 2021 guard Kamari McGee was absolutely awesome for Butler Elite in a big-time win for the program. 2022 forward prospect, Steve Clay of Ray Allen Select is long and plays  really hard, which helped him shoot into the Top Performers list here as he didn’t back down to anyone in the post area and was running the floor hard and getting buckets for his team. Others also played really well and impacted the game in different ways for their teams, some who are establishing themselves through the GNBA as legitimate top performers in the area, while others too played really well and should see their stock start to pick up in the next few years.

TOP PERFORMERS
ANDREW ALIA – 2022 – G – RAY ALLEN SELECT
Alia is a little bigger guard at his age, standing 5’10” and he does a nice job of using it to make plays at different levels of the offense. From the perimeter, Alia is a good shooter and with his height he sank some shots from outside over smaller defenders closing out. Then inside, he was able to score through defenders his size or a bit bigger by using his ball handling and skill to adjust his shot a bit accordingly. He finished with 17 point in the game.

ANTON BROOKSHIRE – 2021 – PG – YANDERS LAW
Though it was a tough outing for the talented young prospect and the team, Brookshire still did many things expected of a top performer. After getting caught in the whirlwind of the press early, Brookshire settled in a bit and got his team in order by just going to work on the press himself with his handles and ability to stop and start in any direction on a dime. Brookshire got to the rack a couple times through heavy pressure and finished and he made a couple three’s as well, especially from the top of the key. He went for 15 and 19 points in two games Saturday.

ELIJAH BULL – 2021 – G – ALL IN ATHLETICS
Bull seemed to have something to prove this game, but he really just went to work doing what he does best, and that’s shoot the ball. Spread throughout the game, Bull found open spots on the court and when he got an eye for the hoop, he was sending it through the twine, scoring 20 points with 4 major three-points hits and good work on the other end of the floor as well.

STEVE CLAY – 2022 – F – WI SHOOTERS
Clay is long and athletic with a really nicely developing feel for the game, playing a lot based on his instincts right now. He has a good feel in the post area of catching and finding the right side to turn or how to get into favorable position to score with and without the ball. He ran the floor well and finished some plays on the break, he used his length really well to cause problems for the opponent defensively, and because of his size and feel inside, Clay made some tough shots against contact in playing towards the rim with a nice touch against the fouls as well, scoring 20 points in the game and 10 of those points coming from the free throw line.

ROBERT DELONG – 2021 – SG – WI SWING
Delong is quickly carving out a niche for himself and what he brings to the table. He is an effort and energy player with a skill-set that rivals its impact, passing the ball well and being up to straight up fill the hoops. Delong was great from the three-point area in the first half, hitting 3 of his 4 makes in the first half, and then added another and some mid-range area jump shots and the like, to churn out a 22-point effort.

ISAAC HANEY – 2021 – G – YANDERS LAW
Haney is typically really good from the field shooting the ball. He has the skills to take over games at times with his ability to rattle off 3 or 4 three’s in a row at times if left unattended, but the sledding was tougher for Haney today. He struggled early against Butler, but rebounded from it with some big shots from the perimeter and then in attacking the defense and making plays going to the basket and finding nifty but controlled ways to score over or around defenders inside. His second game he went lights out again, but this time more on the drive and/or from the mid-range area. He got to the line a lot and converted 8 of them, finishing with 25 points.

KAMARI MCGEE – 2021 – G – BUTLER ELITE
Going up against a squad with a couple high-scoring young guards in their backcourt, McGee and his teammates wreaked havoc with their ¾-court defensive pressure. McGee, a 5’10 guard, was on point with his anticipation of passes and generally did an excellent job of moving the opponent where he wanted to go by being disciplined with his attack. Offensively, McGee went to work also, getting multiple scores by attacking the hoop off the dribble, knocking down a few three’s, and of course the fast break conversion points. He had 2o points with 6 steals in the game.

TERRANCE MCCLENDON – 2022 – G/F – RAY ALLEN SELECT
McClendon had a strong showing for RAS as they ran away with their game early Saturday.  Roughly 5’8”, he was able to mix it up offensively by attacking the middle with the dribble and making the defense have to make decisions where to help or not, and then he used his athleticism to either score over them or stop under control and make the right pass to teammates. When they gave him a good look from three, McClendon was able to knock down a couple of those shots as well.

COOPER NOARD – 2022 – G – ALL IN ATHLETICS
Board was really good from the floor offensively on Saturday morning, making some big shots throughout the game for his team as they worked to keep it close until the closing minutes of the game. Noard was scoring both inside and outside, but it was the shooting ability on the perimeter that really set his game apart from some others. He ended the game with 16 points (3 three’s).
 
TYNAN NUMKENA – 2022 – F – QUAD CITY ELITE
Numkena made some really smart plays throughout the game for his team, both in passing the ball and knowing when to get on the attack and get to the rim for a score. He was good at the basket, showing good touch and some good lift going up to the hoop. He shot the ball ok too, hitting a couple jumpers and led his team to victory behind his 18 points and his effort altogether on both ends of the floor.

ERIC PRICE – 2021 – F – QUAD CITY ELITE
Price is a strong kid with some attitude and emotion on the court that shows how much he loves to compete. With that leadership, hustle and physicality he showed capable of bringing, he also has some quality skills that made him stand out at times Saturday. Price is a lefty shooter who can extend his range to well beyond the three-point line when needed. He finished his game with 17 points.

TE’JAI PRICE – 2021 – G/F – DTA
This Price was really playing well today for DTA, taking a number of tough plays and making them look at easy at times as he slides past people with the ball and then finishing up high on the lay-ins with his athleticism. Price also showcased a developing piece to his repertoire by being able to bury shots from the outside with more consistency and he did a pretty nice job with controlling the rebounds as well. Price was aggressive, played with a lot of speed and bounce, and then was under control though at the rim, finishing with a cool 25 points.

TANNER RESCH – 2021 – G – RAY ALLEN SELECT
Resch is quick and he’s feisty, and he plays a pretty cerebral game overall, but the one thing that has really stood out in his game so far is his shooting ability, and that was on fine display Saturday evening. Resch got some nice looks from the three-point line and he was on the mark often, burying 5 treys in the game. He was also scoring it on the attack with some nice short-range shorts off the bounce and ultimately finished with 23 points in the game.

KELLEN THAMES – 2022 – SG – ST. LOUIS CLIPPERS
Thames was absolutely “the man” for his team in a hard-fought game against the Blizzard Saturday evening. The 5’7” shooter was red hot from the field, scoring 16 of his team’s first 21 points, knocking down 4 three’s and putting up 20 first half points. The opposing defense tightened up on him considerably in the second half, where he only had a couple more buckets, finishing with 24 points, but the attention put on him, opened up his teammates to make more plays.

MARCUS TOMASHEK – 2022 – G – WI BLIZZARD
While Thames was knocking down shots for the opponent, Tomashek was doing some work himself, draining a pair of three’s in the first half, and also scored using good jab steps and fakes to get his defender off balance and then attacked the middle off those missteps. Tomashek was aggressive and under control when he drove, which got him to free throw line quite often and the young guard was very good there as well. He eclipsed the 20-point mark for the game.

BRENNAN WHITE – 2022 – G – MADE MEN
The nets had a little more swish to them at the end of seemingly any shot White put up at times throughout the game early Saturday. The 5’10” guard has a nice shooting stroke from the perimeter and was firing away as he caught fire, hitting  4 three’s in the game and really getting himself into good places to make plays for his team, be it distributing the ball out at times, or making the big shots at the other. He completed the game with a solid 20 points.

JAMAURI WINFREY – 2022 – F – IL IRISH
Winfrey was a young man on the go constantly for the Irish during their Day 2 games. Winfrey used his motor and his ability to get to the middle often to get to the rack and score and hit a couple short-range shots as well. He did a nice job being assertive when driving too, getting himself to the free throw line a couple times, including an and-1 play, racking up 19 points in a hard loss to Mac Irvin Fire.

STOCK BOOSTERS
KAM CRAFT – 2022 – G – MAC IRVIN FIRE
Craft was really good from the floor all game long really for Mac in their win over the Irish. Craft was hot from the perimeter early in the game and then just played a really solid game overall to pace his team. He passed the ball well, was getting after the loose-ball plays and just brought energy and stability to the offense at the same time, finishing with 14 points in the game.

MATT IMIG – 2022 – G – WI BLIZZARD
Imig shot the ball really well for the Blizzard in their game against the Clippers. The 5’7” combo guard was on target from the three-point line, and did a really nice job controlling the offense for his team, not forcing plays. Imig hit 4 three’s in the game and helped give his team a chance to win down the stretch with both some timely buckets and his general control with the basketball in his hands.

JORDAN RICE – 2021 – G – QUAD CITY ELITE
Rice made a number of really good plays for his team on Saturday, as he was really getting after it defensively at times and then pressed the defense to try to defend him on the attack, getting himself to the free throw line a couple times and converting the free throws into free points. He hit some shots, rebounded ok from the guard spot and just worked.

LINCOLN PALBICKI – 2023 – C – NET GAIN SPORTS
Palbicki was a force in the middle for Net Gain in a tough win early into Day 2. He’s 6’4” and still raw with his post game, but he did a really nice job of catching the ball inside and using his body to create space from the defense in order to get a good look at the rim for the score. Likewise, he did a nice job on the offensive glass, rebounding it and keeping the ball high and going back up for the put-back for a couple extra scores.

JAKOBE THOMPSON – 2021 – F – BUTLER ELITE
Thompson is an energy player and he brought it all to the court Saturday. In Butler’s big win over Yanders Law, Thompson was flying around defensively as well as up the floor on offense, and then he did a nice job controlling his pace on the way to the hoop and finishing at the basket. He played through contact with pretty good strength, and had 14 points in the game.