The 2nd Annual Phenom Hoops Summer Havoc took place July 24-26th at the Greensboro Coliseum and Proehlific Park. There were 108 total teams and 260 games being played over the three-day period. Today, we will take a closer look at the ACC 17U Gold division. The ACC division was filled with high profile teams and players and we decided to put the top four teams in a super pool. The object was to create competitive games on opening day and continue this throughout the event. Team Charlotte coached by Jeff McInnis just came off an impressive Under Armour championship and had the biggest target on their back. The Carolina Wolves featured 6’2 senior guard Seventh Woods while the Carolina Hornets and Team United both were 16U teams playing up. The Hornets were led by 6’2 ’17 Devontae Shuler while Team United was led by 6’5 Kaleb Hunter.
While the super pool had the headlines early on, Tennessee Bobcats (John Fulkerson), Charlotte Impact, UBA Red, and Juice All Stars filled out one of the other brackets. In pool S, we had Spectrum Sports, Brand X, Higher Level, and River City Reign while pool T consisted of Team Loaded 757, Team United West, and the WV Wildcats. Each pool had fantastic games that were intense and exciting.
ACC 17U Gold Division Champs
Team Charlotte
Fresh off the Under Armour championship, Coach Jeff McInnis and Team Charlotte suffered a loss in pool play to the Carolina Wolves and a three-way tie for first place. In bracket play, Team Charlotte earned a 71-65 OT win over Team Loaded 757 and then a decisive win over Team United EYBL 2017. The championship was a revenge game for Team Charlotte and 6’7 Josh Howard calmly knocked down two free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining in the game to seal a tough hard-nosed win by the score of 62-60. Team Charlotte consistently plays at an intense level and their style of play matches the personality of their head coach Jeff McInnis. Team Charlotte has plenty of talent, although they are vastly under recruited and under the national radar. 6’4 TyShon Alexander earned MVP honors and look for 6’0 ’18 PG Devon Dotson to make the national rankings. Josh Howard, Raquan Scott, and Jason Hankins played extremely well in the championship game.
Carolina Wolves
The Carolina Wolves were without All American Seventh Woods from the championship game due to an injury, but Coach Major Williamson rallied his team from a fourteen point second half deficit and almost pulled off the upset. 6’7 ’16 Quinterious Jones, 6’5 Rayvon Witherspoon, 6’1 Xavier Miller and 5’9 Jarvis Johnson all played particularly well. Coach Williamson, like Coach McInnis both coach their teams “hard” and they responded well throughout the entire weekend.
Charlotte Impact
Charlotte Impact was the surprise team the entire weekend. They crushed a very good Carolina Hornets team 85-62 in bracket play and allowed a late game rally by the Carolina Wolves before losing 59-56. Charlotte Impact was led by D2 signees Michael Baez (Wingate) and 6’7 unsigned senior Keondre Byers. Byers has been terrific throughout the entire month of July and should garnish interest from various D1/D2 schools.
Playing Up
To the SC Hornets and Team United EYBL 2017 playing up was more about the future than anything else. Team United beat a very talented Tennessee Bobcats team in bracket play by the score of 76-69. Tennessee Bobcats were 3-0 in pool play and Team United EYBL 2017 pulled off the impressive win. Team United is building for the future and they have a core group of talented young players. Nine players from Team United EBYL 2017 participated in the prestigious NC Top 80. Coached by Tony Edwards, we look for a successful 2016 EYBL campaign from them. One of the better games of the event was an opening round loss by the score of 82-81 to the Carolina Wolves. Leading the majority of the game, Team United EYBL 2017 faltered down the stretch when Seventh Woods decided to take matters into his own hands. The SC Hornets best game was the 88-72 win over arch rival Carolina Wolves in the last game of pool play. Apparently, the win took the “sting” out of the Hornets and they came out flat in loss to the Charlotte Impact in bracket play. That being said, give credit to the SC Hornets and Team United EYBL 2017 for playing up one age division.