Tonight was the “Night of Future Stars” held at New Albany High School in New Albany, Indiana. It was the first event of the Kentucky Derby Basketball Classic and it was an incredible night for everybody. It was a fantastic turn out as the future college stars put on a great show.
2 on 2 Contest: The first event was where the players scrimmaged each other and the first team to 12 points won. There were so many games so here is a rundown on the semifinal and final games played. Justin Simon (Arizona) and Daniel Giddens (Ohio State) lost to Bryant Crawford (Wake Forest) and Dedric Lawson (Memphis) with a score of 12-10 to advance to the final game. Thomas Bryant (Indiana) and Austin Grandstaff (Ohio State) lost to Matt Ryan (Notre Dame) and Jawun Evans (Oklahoma State) to a score of 12-4. Ryan and Evans eventually won the championship game 12-4 to be crowned the 2 on 2 tournament champions!
3-Point Shootout: The 4 players that score the highest scores will move to play in the finals on Saturday night. There were some players that couldn’t buy a shot and there were some athletes that were hitting everything. The biggest surprise came when Maryland center Diamond Stone scored the 2nd highest points with 25 points despite missing a ton of 3’s in the 2 on 2. The star of the event was Louisville commit Ryan McMahon as he set the record for most points scored in the “Night of Future Stars” 3-point shootout. He blazed to score of 26 as he got the crowd fired up for more. The other two players advancing were Matt Ryan and Brandon Sampson.
Dunk Contest: The final event of the night was a fan favorite and provided many highlight wheel slams. The 1st round was the best because everyone scored a lot higher than the 2nd time around. Prince Ali (UCLA) started it off with a between the leg dunk that earned him 25 points. Daniel Giddens (Ohio St.) did the Vince Carter “elbow in the basket” dunk but it only earned him 24 points. Jalen Adams (UCONN) and Donovan Mitchell (Louisville) both did perfect score dunks gaining a score of 30 apiece. The 2nd round was very sloppy all around. Three players ended with a score of below 20 points (Ali, Anuoby, and Adams). Donovan Mitchell stole the spotlight again as he threw the ball off the wall and laid out a tomahawk dunk that brought the night to a fantastic ending. The four finalists will compete at halftime tomorrow night (Mitchell, Purifoy, Simon, and Adams).
The title of the event certainly lived up to it. These players are the next generation of great college players and provided a spectacular show tonight. On Saturday at 7 P.M EST is the Kentucky Derby Basketball Classic at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.