The Phenom Top 80 event is the top showcase in the state, if not one of the more talent packed ones in the nation. Every year Phenom brings the best freshmen, sophomores, and juniors in the state under one roof and let them measure themselves versus the best of the best. Look on the rosters of college programs all over the nation and you will find kids that have played in this prestigious event. With so much talent on hand kids know coming in the door that they need to bring their A games. Show well and see your stock rise like never before. Don't bring it, and you miss out on a tremendous opportunity. With that being said, who caught our eye' Some of the standouts from this event were as follows:
Josh Nickelberry, 6'5 2019 G at Northwood Temple
Great to see Josh back in the gym at a Phenom event. Always a plus shooter, he has added strength to go along with the rest of his game taking his play up a notch in the process. Josh has anywhere in the gym type of range and as pure a stroke as you will find in a shooting guard anywhere in America. Multiple D1 programs, including the high major blueblood types, have stepped up and put an offer on the table for this kids services. Kids that can shoot like this make the game easier for everyone on his team.
Carter Whitt, 6'2 2021 G at Leesville Road HS
Carter is one of those kids that has been on the radar for a while now, which is crazy as he just completed his freshman season in high school. Carter is a ball player's ball player. He has a feel and touch for the game well beyond his years and showed here at this event that his game is second to none. Great vision, soft touch, playmaker, and scorer. His needle is only pointing up. Scary to think that teams in NC have to face this guy for 3 more years at the high school level. Type of player that gives his team the upper hand just by being on the floor.
Ricky Council IV, 6'5 2020 G at Northern HS
Ricky reminds us an awful lot of his brother, Ricky Jr, who use to wow us here at Phenom events before moving on to Providence. Kid is an easy athlete with a long frame who can make shots anywhere on the floor. Seems to glide when he plays making it easy to sleep on him but will end up dropping 20 on you in a heart beat if you make that mistake. Great frame already and will only get stronger with time. Need to see the killer instinct come out more but he is young and that will come as he grows more comfortable with his game.
Williams Onyeodi, 6'6 2019 F at Fayetteville Academy
Williams is one of the more underrated bigs in the state. His game may not always be pretty but it is always effective. Williams is physically strong enough to hold up versus bigger in and around the paint but at the same time is skilled enough to play out on the wing and produce from there as well. We have watched Williams play several times now and each time he has given us steady play and reliable production. He may not always look like the smoothest player out on the floor but by the end of the game, he's got a full box score and you have a loss if you are facing him.
