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YAAACE U14 Provincial All-Star Standouts

Published by Gilbert Muako on May 24, 2011

The first ever YAAACE Provincial U 14 All-Star game showed signs of a promising yearly event. Held in the west end of Toronto, YAAACE brought some of the top 2016 prospects together to showcase their talent for one of last times before they take the high school scene by storm. The pair of Daniel Cummings and Nelson Kaputo claimed the skills competition win and Keshawn Montague easily took the 3 point shoot out. Lastly, the main event showed what seems be a very talented 2016 class, with the star power of Justin Jackson, Nolan Narain and Nelson Kaputo just to name of few.

STANDOUTS:

Justin Jackson, 6’6 SF/G, YAAACE, 2016

A Tremendous talent way ahead of the curve. Jackson stands 6’6 going on 6’7 with an incredible size and skill package already as a 13 year old. He kicked off the game with and- one poster on a defender to get the crowd into it early and confidently showed off all his traits the rest of the way. Handling the ball smoothly, making plays in transition and displaying great court vision when creating in the half court set, he is very unselfish, for a guy who can literally score the ball when ever he feels like. Jackson was named MVP for his All-around dominance. He’s got great handle and creates, can shoot it, pass it like a lead guard, dominates both end of the boards, blocks shots and possesses great b-ball IQ. Jackson is the next big deal out of Canada. Read more on him…

Nolan Narain , 6’7 PF, Blessed Sacrament, 2016

Narain is the best pure Canadian post player in this class and he showed how good he could be in the past, by leading Blessed Sacrament to a championship win at the Ontario Cup two months back. He started off quite slow in his match up versus Jackson, but it was still evident that the young post has a lot of talent. He showed it in spurts, with his movement around the rim, the way he ran the floor and his beautiful touch nailing a mid range shots and a good looking hook shot down low. He is character kid with a great attitude who is very coachable, which should lend to him developing nicely.

Matthew Smallings, 6’2 SG, Advantage Basketball, 2016

Smallings is making an early statement as a shooting guard to look out for in the 2016 class. He has a knack for scoring the ball and he had it going all in the flow of the game. Smallings is always on the attack and gets it done in a variety of ways. He was able to score on the fast break, beat guys off the dribble with a quick first step, while getting all the way to the basket for the finish or adjusting midway for a sharp looking jump shot.

Nelson Kaputo, 5’11 PG, Scarborough Blues, 2016

The best point guard prospect to take the floor. The CROWN team has been very high on Kaputo’s future since we first laid eyes on him at the ONTARIO CUP. A long armed lefty with a great feel for the game , he has good handles and is always under control. With most of the shine on Jackson, Kaputo stole a bit of the spotlight with his sharp passing touch and was finding guys on the cut, slicing passes on the half court sets and no look dishes in transition.

Kaputo is on his way to being a special lead guard.

Daniel Cummings, 6’2 SF, Scarborough Blues, 2016

A promising looking wing with good size and athleticism at this stage. Cummings has length, is strong and energetic and uses it when defending, rebounding and making straight drives to the basket. He can also knock down the open three with his feet set when given time.

Keshawn Montague, 5’10 PG, CIA BOUNCE, 2016

Montague is a strong point guard who was pretty impressive passing the ball in transition. He gets to the rim with his strong build and can shoot it from outside, evident clearly as he was able to easily win the shootout.

-Follow Gilbert Muako On Twitter @GilMuako

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