NORTH AUGUSTA -- The stars are out again at Peach Jam, with the best teenaged basketball players in the world displaying their talents on the courts at the Riverview Park Activities Center.
The high flyers, slick passers and shifty dribblers draw the oohs and aahs from the bulging crowds, and pull in all of the views for the straight-to-Instagram highlight reel videographers, but there is some good defense being played this week.
It's an oft-repeated complaint about the "shoe circuit" tournaments, and really about basketball as a whole anymore, that defense has fallen by the wayside in favor of a wide-open, fast-paced style of offense that's not quite the Showtime Lakers of the 80s but will still produce the same kind of scoring that looks more like the display on a pinball machine.
Nightrydas Elite's Cameron Boozer, the second-ranked player in the Class of 2025, talked to NBA TV this week about playing "positionless" basketball - meaning how he, at 6-foot-9 and 246 pounds, can easily score inside and has also continued to develop his jump shot to where he can pull his defender out to the perimeter or punish him if he doesn't.
It's not exactly the way his dad, former Duke great and NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, used to play as a prototypical power forward, and the way Cameron described it covered the offensive end. But it does also apply to the defensive side of things.
Guards tall enough to defend small forwards. Forwards quick enough to stick with the guards. Centers who can step out if needed but are also long enough to eliminate the threat at the basket.
The talk about defense this week, and throughout the entire Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, begins with PSA Cardinals' Kayden Mingo. He was recognized as the league's defensive MVP for the spring after the four-star point guard averaged 2.4 steals per game to go along with 20.5 points per outing and 42.5% shooting from 3.
Washington, D.C.-based Team Takeover is looking for a second consecutive championship in the 17-and-under division, which has never happened at Peach Jam. Team Takeover's trademark is their ferocious defense, and coming into Friday's games they led the EYBL in points allowed at a mere 45.5 per game. And they defend by committee - they didn't land a player on the 10-member EYBL All-Defense team.
Nightrydas, which is looking to make some history of its own by winning the E15, E16 and EYBL titles in order, did place one player on the All-Defense team. Forward Caleb Wilson, the fifth-ranked player in the Class of 2025, was chosen after averaging 6.5 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game while helping Nightrydas to a 14-1 record heading into Peach Jam.
Arizona Unity point guard Brandon McCoy, Jr., the second-ranked player in the Class of 2026, has dazzled crowds with his speed and defensive instincts. He averaged 16.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.9 steals for game during the spring sessions, earning All-Defense honors while also leading his team to North Augusta.
Drive Nation center Jaden Toombs and Team Thad forward Jamarion Davis-Fleming joined Wilson as the blocked-shot specialists on the All-Defense team, while Expressions Elite guard Nigel James, Brad Beal Elite guard Tristian Ford and McCoy were not far behind Mingo in the steals department.
The quarterfinal matchups were to be set following Friday night's games, with both quarterfinal and semifinal games to be played Saturday to set up Sunday's finals.
At that point, the old adage will once again come true - defense wins championships.
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