There’s nothing like spending time in the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina and to make it even more enjoyable than to cover the Porter Gaud Holiday Classic presented by Phenom Hoop Report. Fort Dorchester (SC), Trinity Byrnes (SC), United Faith (NC), Greenville Charter (SC), Legacy Charter (SC), Village Christian (NC) Goose Creek (SC), Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach (SC), Porter Gaud (SC), and Liberty Heights (NC) all headline this event being held at the beautiful campus of Porter Gaud. Now, let’s take a closer look at some of our Friday afternoon standouts, but before we do that, be sure to check out the Friday midday standouts https://www.phenomhoopreport.com/2018/12/21/porter-gaud-holiday-classic-midday-standouts/
6’10 2019 Rodney Howard (Legacy Charter)
What a difference a summer makes! The 6’10 Ole Miss signee has made huge strides in his overall game. We’re talking about a big, strong, and tough BIG that simply knows his role and limitations. Howard works extremely hard for low post position. He uses his body well and has passer friendly hands accompanied with solid and ever improving footwork. In addition, he battles for rebounds on both ends of the court and ran the floor exceptionally ran in defensive transition. Howard finished with 15 points and earned game MVP honors. Howard is just now starting to see the long term benefits in all his hard work.
6’3 2020 Zavian McLean (Village Christian)
One thing you can always count on, 6’3 junior Zavian McLean will always bring effort and energy to the game. He’s a warrior and always one of the hardest playing players on the court. McLean can score in a variety of ways, whether it’s off the catch or creating his own shot off the dribble. In the game vs. Legacy, McLean made some acrobatic moves in the paint using the rim as protection for his nifty and crafty reverse layups. McLean finished with 21 points and continued to fight, battle and compete to the very end. In the long run, there’s not much more you can ask of him as a player.
6’1 2019 Travion McCray (Village Christian)
Travion McCray clearly exemplifies toughness at the point guard position. He has shown over the years to be one of the better point guards that can play equally hard on both ends of the court. He’s best at attacking the rim using his quickness and athleticism to get where he wants. In the game vs. Legacy, it was a gallant effort once again as he finished with 14 points and a tremendous defensive game.
6’0 2019 CJ Jamison (Legacy Charter)
CJ Jamison brings speed, quickness and the ability to score from the point guard position and in our opinion the glue guy for Legacy Charter. While he can really score from the lead guard position, we were equally impressed with his defensive intensity and tenacity. Jamison continuously used his explosiveness and athleticism to get rebounds and get 50/50 balls. More importantly, Jamison brings a certain element of moxy and toughness and his no fear attitude is quite infectiousness. For the game, Jamison finished with15 points and an unlimited amount of hustle plays throughout the game.
6’5 2020 Justin Thomas (Village Christian)
We really like the play of Justin Thomas today. Not often mentioned with the 1-2 scoring punch of Zavian McLean and Travion McCray, Thomas was an effective scorer. He finished with 18 points against a very talented Legacy Charter team and if he can bring that same mentality to the balance of the season, it will add another dimension to Village Christian. More importantly, he has excellent length and athleticism and played much taller than his listed 6’5 height.
6’8 2019 Jalyn McCreary (Legacy Charter)
At 6’8, Jalyn McCreary is a tough match up. He’s athletic but one of the more aggressive and active unsigned forwards in the country. McCreary brings that blue-color, working class, lunch pail mentality to the game. You can always expect a full throttle approach who will compete every trip down the court, whether it is fighting for position for rebounds or attacking the glass. In the hard fought game vs. Village Christian, McCreary shared team high honors with 15 points
Be sure to check out our Porter Gaud Holiday Classic Friday night standouts as well. https://www.phenomhoopreport.com/2018/12/21/porter-gaud-holiday-classic-friday-night-standouts/