The Jordan Brand Classic has become one of the top events in the country for high school players about to enter the college game and now that the Gators are getting back to bringing in top talent again this is once again an event worth getting eyes on to see future Florida talent.
While the Jordan Brand Classic is one of the premier showcase events it hasn’t always got the absolute best of the best–but this year it was pretty close to doing that. The game featured names that you will already be extremely familiar with such as AJ Dybantsa, Cam Boozer, Cayden Boozer, Nate Ament, Kiyan Anthony, Acaden Lewis, Darryn Peterson, Daris Acuff, Chris Cenac…okay, at this point pretty much the entirety of both rosters could be named, because this event was back to getting the top high school players in the country and putting them on display.
In addition to the names previously mentioned, future Gators CJ Ingram and Alex Lloyd were also in the game getting to put their talents up against other top players in the country. It goes without saying that this was, in fact, a showcase game, so it was never going to have the structure and intensity of a high school rivalry game between two powerhouses–but the level of competition was still quite high for a setting like this.
For whatever it’s worth, both Ingram and Lloyd were some of the last players on the bench to get on the floor for their teams. Some will cry disrespect, or politics–but you saw the names on the list. This is just a high-level collection of talent, and these coaches aren’t the only ones who see Ingram and Lloyd as just a level below the guys that are already surefire NBA lottery picks.
Lloyd played for “Team Air” alongside the Boozer brothers, Kiyan Anthony, Darryn Peterson, and other players that have been absolute studs to this point in their careers. While he was one of the last players to get on the floor for Team Air, Lloyd actually ended up playing 16 minutes due to his shotmaking. Showing off his smooth handle and midrange game Lloyd had 11 points in a hurry and he did it efficiently going 5-6 from the field. It will be impossible to get through this article without numerous caveats of the fact this was a showcase game, but it really did feel notable that in a game structured to have inefficiency from top players that command the action, Lloyd was able to come in as one of the last guys on the bench and immediately make things happen–creating space for himself and knocking down shots with a pure stroke. Just one of his attempts was from three, which he hit, so much of his work was down in the midrange and rim area. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from seeing Lloyd against the top talent in high school is the fact that he looked tall, he looked long, and he looked big. Lloyd is listed at 6’3”, but he didn’t look at all small on a floor with a lot of bodies that look NBA-ready at this moment.
Ingram was on the floor with AJ Dybantsa, Chris Cenac, and Darius Acuff among other dominant players. He got in for 11 minutes and made his presence felt, scoring 4 points while adding 2 assists and 1 block, perhaps showcasing the role he’ll have to start in college where he is a versatile forward looking to impact the game in a few ways. These types of showcase games always favor players that are best with the ball in their hands putting together lengthy dribble combinations, and that simply isn’t going to jive with a player like Ingram who is about physicality and toughness. Going into this game you certainly wouldn’t have expected him to come out looking like the most talented player on the court, but he still presented himself well. Ingram measured at 6’6” at the event, and while his muscular frame certainly looked more developed than a number of players he was up against he did look a little bit short particularly at the forward spots he’ll be playing in college. Again, this was going up against NBA bodies and there might have been more length and size in this game than in the average high-major NCAA game–but it is just little things like this you look for in a setting such as the Jordan Brand Classic.
More than what happens on the floor, you are just happy to see the Gators getting high-school talent that is the caliber of earning invitations to events such as this. Lloyd and Ingram will have opportunities to fight for rotation spots in the fall, so any chance to see them now is a great preview of what is to come.