The Reebok Breakout Challenge doesn’t attract the same level of talent as the Nike Skills Academies, but there were still a number of impressive prospects featured at the event. It was also the first real action of the summer for 2012 commitment Nick Stauskas and the scoring wing guard made the most of it, impressing a number of national scouts with his ability to attack the basket, not just shoot the ball.
Rivals.com’s Eric Bossi was among those impressed:
Talk about a perfect fit for Michigan, the future Wolverine would appear to be a natural for the Wolverines style of ball. A versatile perimeter performer, he can drain long distance j’s or burn right by defenders who don’t respect his ability to attack the rim. He’s tough, rebounds and appears committed to at least trying on the defensive end.
Scout.com’s Evan Daniels echoed similar sentiments in his premium wrap-up, noting that Stauskas was the most productive camper on day 1 ($). Stauskas scored 16 points on 6 of 11 (1-3 3pt) shooting in his first game of the day and added 14 points and six rebounds in the second on 5 of 8 (0-0 3pt) shooting. The praise for Stauskas also spread to the realm of social media where Dave Telep, among others, shared kind words:
Camp games are being streamed online here, although the quality is nothing special (Stauskas plays for the Friars), and I managed to catch a bit of Stauskas in action during his second game. He showed off a nice pump fake and seemed aggressive attacking the hole.
Stauskas wasn’t the only name familiar to Michigan fans to pick-up some buzz during the first day of action in Philadelphia. Monte Morris opened some eyes as well, although he was a bit up and down on the statsheet. Stats are not always the best metric in these helter-skelter camp settings but Morris score 6 points on 2 of 6 shooting and handed out a pair of assists in his first game of the day and notched just 5 points (2-14 fg), four rebounds and two assists in the second. Scouts, including Eric Bossi, Evan Daniels ($) and a number of tweeters, were impressed:
As we mentioned in our July preview, Morris plans to visit Syracuse during the first weekend of August and his offer list should continue to grow throughout July. Morris also received the Sam Webb-Detroit News feature story treatment today:
“There was a little pressure (to commit to Michigan) but that is a life decision,” explained Morris. “It is nothing you can determine quick, especially with me being 15 years old at the time. It was a hard decision, so I just told my mom that I was going to make the decision later on in my career. She said, ‘You make any decision you want,’ because she is going to stay with me wherever I go. So that’s what we came to.”
