2019 E75 Frosh/Soph Flashback
We are now only a few weeks away from the 2023 Elite 75 Showcase: Frosh/Soph Edition, set for Friday, September 8th, at 6:00 PM in Hanover, MA at the Starland Sportsplex and the second installment on Sunday September 10th, at 12:30 PM in Hamden, CT at Hamden Hall.
Space is still available. Interested prospects in the classes of 2026 and 2027 can use the link above to learn more or register.
Today’s update is from 2019, when the eleventh annual installment of the Elite 75 Frosh/Soph Showcase once again raised the bar for regional recruitment. Over the past few years, many alums from the 2019 showcase have continued their success at some of the highest levels. Here are just a handful of the biggest updates from recent years:
We covered a few players in our recent 2018 Flashback article who also attended the 2019 installment, including Dasonte Bowen, Tony Felder, TJ Power, and Kyle Squires.
New Hampton alum, 2021 Gatorade New Hampshire Player of the Year, and 2021 NEPSAC-AAA Championship MVP Alex Karaban has perhaps the most noteworthy update of anyone from the event over the course of the last year, as he helped bring UConn an NCAA Tournament Championship, averaging just under 10 points and 5 rebounds, also shooting almost 50% from the field and over 40% from 3-point range.
Wilbraham & Monson alum Kyle Filipowski is another of the biggest current names from the event. It may be safe to say that he had the most impressive season as an individual of any 2019 Elite 75 alums, as he led Duke in scoring and rebounding with over 15 points and 9 rebounds, also shooting over 44% from the field. He earned ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Tournament MVP honors for his performance throughout the year. He earned the first overall rank in both the state of Massachusetts and the region of New England as a whole for the class of 2022.
Governor’s Academy alum Will Batchelder had a very successful freshman year at Holy Cross, averaging over 12 points per game and shooting over 40% from behind the three-point line. He was a top-10 recruit in Massachusetts’ class of 2022.
Northfield Mount Hermon alum Rowan Brumbaugh committed to Texas out of high school, but he redshirted his freshman year and recently announced his commitment to Georgetown from the transfer portal. He was a top-5 recruit in New England’s class of 2022.
St. Peter’s Prep alum Mark Armstrong had an impressive freshman year at Villanova this past season, averaging over 5 points and 2 rebounds in arguably the NCAA’s toughest basketball conference, also shooting over 40% from the field. He earned Big East All-Freshman Team honors. More recently, he averaged over 12 points per game as one of the leaders of the USA U19 World Cup team this summer.
Northfield Mount Hermon alum Avery Brown had a standout freshman year for Columbia, appearing and starting in all 29 games, averaging just under 10 points and leading the team in assists with 3 per game. He was a top-10 recruit in Massachusetts’ class of 2022. He earned two Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors, once in December and again in January.
IMG Academy alum Kalu Anya also had a fantastic freshman season in the Ivy League, averaging over 8 points and 6 rebounds for Brown, also maintaining a field goal percentage of 53% and a 3-point percentage of 60%. He earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week in December but unfortunately only played in 18 total games (17 starts), as he missed the remainder due to injury. Before IMG, he competed for Doherty Memorial HS in Massachusetts.
La Lumiere alum Chisom Okpara is another 2019 Elite 75 alum who had a great freshman year in the Ivy League, averaging over 7 points and just under 4 rebounds, also shooting just under 50% from the field. He was selected as the Blue Ribbon Preseason Ivy League Rookie of the Year, going on to play in all 28 games with two starts. He earned four Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors throughout the season. Before La Lumiere, Okpara competed for Vermont Academy.
Finally, Wilbraham & Monson alum Deven Austin completes the group of four 2019 Elite 75 alums who had successful freshman years in the Ivy League this past season, as he averaged over 5 points and shooting over 50% from the field and just under 58% from 3-point range. He earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week in February, but he unfortunately missed the last ten games of the season due to injury.
Once again, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to successful alums of the Elite 75 Frosh/Soph Showcases. Other players from 2018’s showcase who went on to play Division I include Jordan Clayton (Northwestern), Jack Johnson (FAU*), Sadiku Ayo (Iona), Christian Jones (George Washington), Preston Murphy Jr. (New Orleans), Darryl Simmons (Gardner-Webb), and more.
Christian Jones
TJ Power
Darryl Simmons
Jordan Clayton