Adidas Gauntlet: Wigginton wows

The second open weekend of April tipped off on Friday night and the second session of the Adidas Gauntlet made its way to Atlanta. The opening night was highlighted by standout performances from two very highly rated prospects.

Lindell Wigginton and his Stackhouse Elite team started off their Friday night matchup with Compton Magic a little slow. They were tied at the half and were struggling to find a good rhythm.

Once the second half rolled around, though, Wigginton ramped it up a few notches and completely took over the game. The 6-foot-1 strong, athletic lead guard made play after play throughout the second half, whether it was at the rim, connecting on a three from deep or setting up teammates for easy baskets. He admits he’s on a mission to establish himself as an elite guard in the class.

“That’s what I want to do,” Wigginton said. “Every game I go into, I’m trying to kill it. No matter who it is, if it’s a top guy, I’m trying to take his spot.”

Wigginton finished with 21 points, six assists and five rebounds. Iowa State is the newest school to join the mix for the No. 46 ranked prospect in the 2017 class. Louisville, Arizona, Arizona State, Florida State and Georgia are also involved. NC State, Virginia Tech and Arizona State stopped by to see him this week.

Despite losing a close one to the Louisville Magic, four-star power forward Alex Reese established himself throughout the game as the best prospect on the court. After just a so-so performance by his standard last weekend, the Alabama native tallied 16 points, eight rebounds and five blocks for Team Carroll in his first game of the second recruiting period.

Reese fits the description of a “stretch four” to a tee. Standing at 6-foot-8, he’s a legitimate threat from three-point range as he showed by connecting on a shot from deep to open the game. Where he really stood out on Friday was with his presence in the paint. He reeled in eight rebounds, but it felt like he was always in the mix on the glass. He used his length and quick leaping ability to protect the rim as well.

Reese said Cincinnati is the newest school to get involved in his recruitment. Kansas, Texas, Auburn, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Georgia and UAB are in the mix as well. Alabama, Auburn and UAB all conducted in-home visits with Reese last week, but he maintains nobody has an edge right now.

“They’re all pretty even right now,” Reese said. “I’ll take my official visits in the fall and then decide where I want to go.”

Alabama head coach Avery Johnson, Georgia head coach Mark Fox, and UAB head coach Rob Ehsan were all on hand to see Reese on Friday night.

Romello White, a four-star prospect in the 2016 class, was in attendance on Friday night and said he’s going to be asking for his release from Georgia Tech after the Yellow Jackets fired Brian Gregory last month. He’ll be a highly sought after prospect.

Jamal Johnson is now suiting up with Team Carroll after playing with the Atlanta Xpress last weekend. He said Alabama, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Harvard, Wake Forest, UAB and Georgia are coming after him at the moment. UAB and Georgia did in-home visits with him this week.

Kellan Grady recently committed to play at Davidson and had his future head coach watching him on Friday night. The 6-foot-5 wing has a pure stroke from three-point range. It looks so smooth that it’s almost a surprise if he misses.

Despite being on the losing end of a matchup with Lindell Wigginton, UCLA commit Jaylen Hands still had himself a good night. He pumped in 19 points with one of his future assistant coaches standing courtside. The five-star prospect is nearly an expert in reading ball screens.

Hands' teammate and fellow UCLA commit Jalen Hill is now pushing 6-foot-10 and possibly still growing as he’s only 16 years old. Long and athletic, Hill oozes with potential in the post. He’s still a work in progress offensively, but shows enough flashes to make you think his ceiling could be very high.

Chance Moore, a 6-foot-6 wing from the Louisville Magic, is an intriguing prospect in the 2017 class. He doesn’t have the prettiest looking three-point stroke, but he had it falling on Friday night against Team Carroll.