#E75 Frosh/Soph Flashback to ‘10

Saturday, August 31st, 2019

Boston University was the site of the third annual Elite 75 Showcase – Frosh/Soph Edition back in 2010.

The freshman session included a variety of big names coming out of the middle school ranks including Jeremy Miller, Jared Wilson-Frame, and Levy Gillespie, all of whom continued to show well that day.  

Johnnie Vassar, who later left the New England region but still went on to become known as one of the top point guard prospects in the national class of 2014, was also on hand.

There were a plethora of incoming freshmen who announced their arrival that day as well, including the likes of Jalen Adams, Aaron Falzon, and Bonzie Colson along with Jackson Donahue, Idris Taqqee, Kahari Beauford, and others.

The sophomore session read like a who’s who of New England’s top young prospects, but two players stole the show in Rene Castro and Noah Vonleh.  

For Castro, the performance was really about solidifying his spot among the region’s best after a strong showing during the AAU season.  The Milton, Massachusetts native did just that as he was almost unstoppable scoring the basketball that day.  

For Vonleh, the 2010 Elite 75 – Frosh/Soph was all about showing the growth of his game.  Already well known for his ability to handle the ball at his size, Vonleh broke people down off the dribble while also showing an improved perimeter jumper.  The bottom line was that no one left Boston University’s gym that day without realizing he was on his way to becoming a major national prospect.  

The event was also a springboard for players including: Jared Terrell, who went on to have a breakout AAU season just six months later; Matt Cimino, who was one of the most improved prospects in the field that day; Jake Fay, who played his way into an Atlantic 10 scholarship offer in the months afterward; and Kaleb Joseph, who was less than a year away from propelling his stock to the national level.  

The sophomore session was also a forum for newly arrived prep products to introduce themselves to the local competition as guys like DeKeeba Battee, Asur Madison, Travis Berry, and Dennis Green all made their debuts.  

Other players that showed signs of evolving into the prospects they are today included Garet Beal, Ikemefuna Ngwudo, Bernard Brantley, Adrian Oliveira, John Powell, Thomas Rivard, Kamari Robinson, Colin Pascoe, Nate Anderson, Dimitri Floras, Cane Broome, Cornelius Tyson, Colin Richey, Mike Auger, Kurt Steidl, Tom Hunt, Danny Upchurch, Douby Maduegbunam and many more.  

It wasn’t just basketball players who broke out at the 2010 Elite 75 – Frosh/Soph Edition as Lucas Shapiro was in the process of making an early splash as an up and coming media member – dropping one of his first highlight videos from his LShapiro Productions YouTube channel which featured Castro, Vonleh, and Andrew Chrabascz.