#StarsChristmasInvitational Immediate Takeaways

The STARS Basketball Club put on a successful tourney and had some of the top teams with some of the top middle school talent in the Nashville and surrounding areas. Here are my immediate takeaways.

Dallas Stallings (5’7/SG/2027/Brentwood Academy)

Instagram: Notd4llas

Dallas is a guard that showed he can score with the best of them. In the game I saw he came out aggressive and was looking for his offense early. He looked to get to the paint and showed an ability to finish in the paint and at the rim. He is a shifty guard with a quick first step that helped him to excel off the bounce. He is a confident scorer that has numerous finishing moves. He also showed he can defend, as he put tight on-ball pressure on his defender. He has quick hands and was able to get several steals throughout the day.    

He finished the game against Legacy MS with 12pts.

Terry J. Drake

Davis Cochran (G|F/Brentwood Middle School)

Instagram: daviscochran35

With his size, length, and skillset, Davis is a prospect with a very high ceiling. He showed his ability to do it all on the floor. He is a multi-level scorer, an additional ball-handler, a good passer, and rebounds at a high rate. As much as I liked Davis’ game, he may not be the best player on his team, but I will say that he is, without question, the most important. He is a match-up nightmare and knows how to exploit situations in which he has an advantage. He is extremely versatile as he has enough point guard-y skills to help run the show, all while scoring in bursts, keeping his turnover numbers exceptionally low, and doing it inside and out. Brentwood has very few wasted possessions due to the creating ability of Davis, which is a scary thought for future opponents as he is a young prospect that is still in the alpha stage of his development.

In the championship game, he finished with a game-high 25pts.    

Terry J. Drake

Miller Haraf (PG/CPA)

Miller is a highly skilled PG still learning to play the PG spot. However, with the knowledge of the position that he has right now, he showed an excellent foundation to build upon. He gets his teammates involved, makes some really nice passes, and plays with his head up and at a nice pace. He is a very good shooter from behind the arc, as he is able to keep the defense honest and the floor spaced. He had some moments where he looked indecisive, but things like that will automatically correct themselves if he continues to be a student of the game. He plays with a low center of gravity and quickness of the bounce, which enables him to knife through opponents causing defenses to rotate at a swift pace. For the most part, he makes sound decisions with the ball in his hands, and as mentioned earlier, he gets the rock to his teammates in a place where they can be successful. A lot of Miller’s projections will come as we see how he will grow over the next year or two, as right now, he is a small PG, yet a skilled one.   

Miller is a highly skilled PG still learning to play the PG spot.

Terry J. Drake

Malachi Jordan (6’2/PF/2027/East End)

Instagram: _malllllll

Twitter: @_mallllllll

One of the most intriguing and exciting prospects of the day was Malachi. He is a versatile prospect that is listed as a PF. He has positional size and a good physical profile at a young age. He is listed as a PF, but that position is only 1 of the 5 that he can play. He can initiate the offense, score from behind the arc, score off the bounce, and score on the low block. His shot-creating ability was impressive, and he can score in volumes. Every team that East End played at the tourney tried making adjustments to slow him down, but no one found an answer. Malachi was an unstoppable force as he was just two strong on the low block, too quick to be defended in space by other bigs, and has range when he got the opportunity from deep. To sum up Malachi’s game, I would say he’s highly switchable and versatile defensively and able to play on or off the ball with his ability to handle, pass and shoot.   

He finished with 27pts in the championship game.

Terry J. Drake

Collin Robinson (5’9/PG/2027/Mill Creek)

Instagram: @collintheguard

Collin is hands down a score first PG, and on his school team, it is simple, Mill Creek goes as Collin goes. He was one of the best iso scorers I saw throughout the day, as he is a defender’s nightmare when Collin gets them on an island. He has crafty handles and knows how to use them to get to his spots on the floor. He is a smooth multi-dimensional scorer with speed, quickness, and body balance. He has great upsize as a projected next-level PG, and I am confident that he will be a reliable and trustworthy lead guard at the varsity level in a couple of years. He has a balanced floor game with a massive repertoire of tools in his toolbox.   

In the match-up against Brentwood MS, Collin finished with 21pts. 

Terry J. Drake

Tyler King (6’0/SF/2027/Page MS)

 Tyler had a nice showing at the tourney. He is a hard-working player that brought a lot of energy and effort to the floor; he competed relentlessly and made his presence felt on both ends. He scored at all levels and just willed his way to find scoring opportunities at times. Tyler is a blue-collar player who does all the dirty work and makes winning plays, even if the winning plays are not scoring plays. He is committed to both ends of the floor and is a player that understands his role and excels in it.  

He scored at all levels and just willed his way to find scoring opportunities at times.

Terry J. Drake

George Mabury (6’1/SG/2027/Legacy MS)

Instagram: george.mabury

George was a productive guard for Legacy that was productive with very little flash. He went about his day in a business-like manner. He played with great poise and, for the most part, did not force the issue. He showed that he can score in a variety of ways and from multiple levels. He was efficient with his offensive opportunities and shot the ball exceptionally well from deep. He is a player that must be accounted for when he steps beyond half-court, and defenders should be on notice not to help off him. He is a gamer with a lot of grit and an impressive scoring package.   

He finished with 18pts in the match-up against Brentwood MS. 

Terry J. Drake

Parker Emerson (G/Brentwood MS)

Parker was perhaps the best player on the court the entire day. He can do it all and showed that he can. He has a very mature game for his age and made the game look simple and easy. He has a loaded arsenal of offensive tools, and he is a competitive, tough, and aggressive guard. He is a very clever guard with a high IQ for his age. He is a skilled guard that had a monster day, scoring the rock and creating for his teammates. He is highly competitive and does not shy away from making the tough plays. He showed mental toughness and determination to do whatever it took to win. Even when his team found themselves down early in a couple of games, Parker was never rattled and was the steady force for his squad that led the comebacks. He plays both ends of the floor and doesn’t take plays off. His ceiling is extremely high, and he is one of the best young prospects emerging in the state of TN. 

Parker was perhaps the best player on the court the entire day.

Terry J. Drake