2024 Nike Hoop Summit: World TeamBy: Aran_Smith

This year’s Nike Hoop Summit took place over the week of April April 8-14th. The setting was Tigard, Oregon and Portland for the Hoop Summit Practices and game. The week of practices offers a unique opportunity for scouts to observe players from both squads, receiving instruction, practicing, shooting and scrimmaging. This has evolved into the premiere scouting event for NBA prospects, with an illustrious alumni. The World team had some major talent and hung tough for most of the first half of the game. In the end, Team USA ran away for a sizable victory. Here is a look at how the World Team prospects performed in the week of practices, scrimmage (shortened) and game over the Nike Hoop Summit.

AJ Dybantsa G/F 17 Prolific Prep Jamaica & Republic of Congo / 6’9 height, 6’11 wingspan, 8’10 standing reach, 201 lbs

AJ is billed as the top prospect in high school regardless of class, and was as good as advertised. He impressed all week with his high motor and skill level. He’s the best prospect in a number of seasons on the high school level. He has a very mature game and attitude and was the best player all week despite being a year younger than the other prospects. He impressed when I interviewed him with maturity beyond his years. In practice and in the game, he flashed his great shooting stroke and ability to freeze defenders in their tracks with pump fakes and blow by them with an incredibly fast first step. In the game he was very impactful with a team high 21 points on 7-14 shooting, struggled from three (2-7) but had 7 boards and 3 assists and 2 steals. The talent level is reminiscent of a young Tracy McGrady, with a little more a nastiness to him. It’s unusual to find a player his age with the physical attributes and advanced skill set, a testament to his focus and hard work. He’s about as can’t miss as it gets for a 17 year old high school prospect. He will surely have teams considering their tanking options in two seasons, when the 2026 NBA draft rolls around.

VJ Edgecombe PG/SG 18 Long Island Lutheran Baylor Bahamas / 6’5 height, 6’6 wingspan, 8’3 standing reach, 188 lbs

Edgecombe impressed all week in practice with his supreme athleticism, focus and high motor. He’s come a long way in a year and a half since we first saw him at the Hoop Hall West in Phoenix, when at the time he was just climbing recruiting lists as a top 50 player. He’s a consistent jumper away from being absolutely special. He has a lot of charisma and maturity for such a young player. He shows a confidence and determination that is reminiscent of Jimmy Butler. Extremely fast and explosive attacking the basket, his handles are a strength to his game and should allow him to play on the ball at the highest level. In drills and in the game, he was streaky shooting the ball. On the positive side, Edgecombe impacted the Hoop Summit game with his anticipation defensively and athleticism. Despite a bad shooting night, he flashed his talent in the game, getting out on the break for a number of high flying finishes. He struggled shooting in the game,  hitting just 1-7 from three, finishing with 17 points but on a high volume, 6-19 shooting. If he continues to progress, Edgecombe can become a combo guard in a Russell Westbrook mold.

Nolan Traore G 17 Centre Federal Du Basket-Ball France / 6’4.5 height, 6’6 wingspan, 8’5.5 standing reach, 184 lbs

Traore is an explosive lead guard with solid scoring ability. He was excellent all week in practice, but absolutely special in the Hoop Summit game. He displayed not only elite speed and quickness to get by opponents off the dribble, but the ability to score in ISO off pulls ups and get to the rim. He also showed polish playing the point guard position. He’s got the size of a 2 at the point guard position. He loves to attack the basket off the bounce. Continuing to hone his point guard skills and improving his playmaking for others plus cutting down on turnovers will be the key to unlocking his very good long term potential. He starred for the World team, trailing just AJ with 18 points on an effective 8-14 shooting, hitting 2-4 from 3 and 4 assists.

Ulrich Chomche PF 18 NBA Academy Africa Cameroon / 6’11.5 height, 7’4 wingspan, 9’1.5 standing reach, 240 lbs

Chomche is a player that we were very high on, coming into the event, from his impressive clips playing for NBA Academy Africa. In practice, his lack of feel was apparent as he loses his assignments defensively and often struggles to make the right rotations n order to stay in between opponents and the basket. He also seems to fall off balance after making plays and loses his equilibrium easily. He is very raw and still in need of a lot of time playing at a lower level, structured and competitive environment. He gets frustrated with himself easily and shows his emotions on his sleeve. He clearly is still picking up some of the basics of the game with regard to spacing and making basketball decisions in the flow of a game. Despite this, what’s intriguing about him is his excellent shooting stroke, combined with an ideal NBA body. it’s not often that you find a player with a nice shooting stroke like his in a near seven foot athletic body, so there’s some intrigue in him, but he likely needs to pull his name out of the draft and further develop or potentially risk going undrafted. Shot a perfect 2-2 from the floor in 19 minutes of action, showing his touch from the floor.

Flory Bidunga C 18 Kokomo H.S. Kansas Dem Republic Congo / 6’8.5 height, 7’2.5 wingspan, 9’1 standing reach, 216 lbs

Bidunga uses his length and athleticism extremely well around the rim. He shows some touch around the basket, despite not having much range due to an awkward shooting motion. He has a hitch in his shot and he takes time to get his shot off as the release is more of a push shot. Despite that he shows solid touch in drills with shots in the paint. He plays with a super high motor and can be factor on the boards and defensively with his length. There’s a lot to like about Bidunga as a potential role player if he fills out his body with good weight. He’ll have a chance to be a standout right away at Kansas, and if enough improvement happens with his shooting, there’s path to being a one-and-done. Started, but had a unimpressive stat line with 2 pts (1-2 fg), 2 reb, and 2 blocks.

Annor Boateng G/F 18 Little Rock Central Missouri Ghana / 6’5.5 height, 6’11 wingspan, 8’7 standing reach, 214 lbs

Boateng has a well built body and very good explosiveness. He has good length with a 6-11 wingspan and broad shoulders. His ball skills and shooting remain a work in progress but he plays with good energy and effort. His shot still needs a lot of work, but he is a player with some real upside due to his muscular body type and explosiveness. Look for him to make a positive contribution at Missouri over the next few seasons as he gains a better feel for the game and adds more to his repertoire. Got starter minutes with 26 in the game, and held his own on the defensive end and scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting.

Zoom Diallo SF 18 Prolific Prep Washington Ivory Coast / 6’5 height, 6’7 wingspan, 8’4 standing reach, 187 lbs

Diallo is a physically mature, top 50 prospect who has been on the radar for a few years. He doesn’t have great length but shows a well developed body and some scoring ability. While has game hasn’t progressed a ton in the past year or so, he’ll have plenty of time to improve his skill set playing at Washington over the next few seasons. He’s competed in events such as Treviso Eurocamp in front of scouts in the past. Went scoreless in just under 4 minutes of action, missing his only shot. Has an outside chance to become an NBA guy in time, but probably a four year player in college.

Kasparas Jakucionis G 17 Barca Lithuania / 6’5.5 height, 6’6 wingspan, 8’3.5 standing reach, 190 lbs

The Lithuanian guard has a smooth jumper with range. He’s a good scorer, but his lack of speed is glaring. He had some moments in practice, at times showing some sneaky athleticism and leaping ability, and looked really good shooting the ball from distance in informal settings. Played just 10 minutes in the game knocking the only shot he took down, a three pointer.

Khaman Maluach C 17 NBA Academy Africa Duke South Sudan / 7’1.5 height, 7’6 wingspan, 9’6.5 standing reach, 250 lbs

Maluach has incredible size and moves pretty well for a 7-2 guy. He’s very well built with a strong upper body and strong legs at a young age. He plays with a no nonsense style, looking to dunk the ball every opportunity he gets and had some impressive put backs in the practices. He plays a physical style and handles contact well. Shooting from the outside is not a strength, as he lacks great form and touch, as the ball comes off inconsistently and with some side spin, possibly due to his huge hands. If he can work some on his shot, there’s some intrigue over time in college. But he did not look like a guy that will be a one and done first round based on his week in Portland. Started the game but struggled going for just 2 points 1-6 shooting and 3 boards in 14 minutes.

Hamad Mousa G/F 18 NBA Global Academy Qatar / 6-7.5 height, 7’1 wingspan, 8’9.5 standing reach, 182 lbs

Mousa was one of the break out players from the Indiana BWB during All Star weekend. The Qatari national has a surprisingly American game with a good feel for scoring and creating off the dribble. His jumpshot is a little low, but efficient. he needs to continue to put on strength on his thin frame. Mousa struggled in the game with no points on 0-2 shooting in just 4 minutes. This is a guy to track in future years as the upside is glaring, but probably a year or two away from realizing his potential and really standing out as a prospect.

Qin Pang F 19 Christ The King H.S. China / 6’9 height, 6’8 wingspan, 8’7.5 standing reach, 234 lbs

Qingfong shows a good build and decent explosiveness, but is not very quick laterally. He’s adapted to played in the US over the past few seasons. Went scoreless in under 3 minutes of gametime on 1 shot.  While his chances of playing at the NBA level are limited, he should interest from Mid Major NCAA teams and could be a contributor over time.

Will Riley F 18 The Phelps School Canada / 6-8.5 height, 6’8 wingspan, 8’8 standing reach, 172 lbs

The Basketball Without Borders (in Indianapolis) MVP did not stand out in Portland but shows some decent long term potential. He’s a high energy wing who played hard throughout the week of practices. Still very thin and in need of weight, and not very long, but has some positive attributes. He has a solid release on his shot and shows good touch on his jumper. Had 4 points on 2-9 shooting in the game. It will be interesting to see how much his athleticism improves with added strength over the next few seasons. In need of a lot of weight, he has the look of a 3-4 year college player.