Sage Speaks – Weekday Holiday Tournament Roundup Pt 2

MARIETTA AND BARNESVILLE, GA – For Part 2 of this week’s Sage Speaks, we headed down to Lamar County HS for the Oscar Wimberly Classic and got to see 4 teams not normally heavily featured on evaluators pages in the ATL-area.

Oscar Wimberly Classic

Will Trammell | 5-8 | PG | Stockbridge | 2022

2022 teammates (and Georgia Fire teammates) Trenton Dillard and Khalil Stead often grab more headlines but it was Trammell’s steady and clutch play that won the day vs Westside-Macon, calm and cool with the ball and an ace defender at the other end he had a few sequences where his play absolutely turned to tide in the Tigers favor, had 10 of his 19 in the 4th quarter of the 1-pt victory showing off his clutch nature.

Daveon Henderson | 6-0 | SG | Westside-Macon | 2023

Such a natural scorer’s mindset has Henderson as he went on some scoring runs that both kept the Seminoles in the game in spots and pulled them out ahead as well (31pts on the night), plays and looks bigger than his 6-feet as he uses good burst on the first few dribble to either get by you or utilize a sweet pull-up 15 footer, can handle the point for you and be that modern, pace-pushing lead man but does a really effective job on the wing despite not overwhelming size.

Jeremiah Edwards | 6-4 | SG | Dutchtown | 2023

One of my favorite guys on the south side of ATL, love the frame and the movement at a streamlined but powerful 6-4, can really get off the deck both as a finisher and using exceptional lift on his jumper, the J itself is textbook as he sees openings really well and never seems to be forcing the action, shaping up as a steal from Henry County with size, smarts and scoring in one solid and tidy package, teams with fellow junior Davarri Barthell in a really underrated and must-see backcourt.

Braxton Cooley | 6-4 | SF | Dutchtown | 2023 (pictured above)

Left Barnesville with perhaps my highest impression of Cooley, part of a Cam Sports South bunch that was one of the top surprises last summer as they out-performed a lot of higher-profile clubs, plays so much bigger than 6-4 the way he attacks the rim and gets up off the deck, looks more like a 6-7 guy even at floor level, an absolute terror facing the basket on the drive he also showed off some nice positioning with his back to the basket and plenty of finesse to catch and finish from there, this young Bulldogs group is over .500 now and playing solid basketball but will really to be something with most of the roster back next year.

Tra’vion Jackson | 5-11 | PG | Manchester | 2022

Another impressive 1A program (joining Social Circle from Sage Speaks Part 1) to watch as that playoff bracket unfolds later in February and March, Jackson was physical and explosive up and back on the floor as he made his living seeking to slice up Dutchtown and get to the rim for hoop and harms, takes good care of the ball in a lead role but seemed very comfortable off the ball as well, great fight at both ends for him and all the blue Devils playing without one of their stars in Cam Long.

Zyjuan Gray | 6-4 | PF | Manchester | 2023

This good-looking 1A team is in win-now mode with Jackson, Long, other veterans and the athletic Gray working the interior, like Cooley he looks and plays much bigger and has a solid understanding of the catch and turn from the block, has power and finesse in the tank and uses a strong lower half to propel past or through defenders, when his upper body gets stronger over the next year he could really vault into another stratosphere of recruiting as he can face up and knock down J’s out to the arc as well.

Keith Agran has lived in Georgia since 2011 and joined OTR as a National Evaluator in 2021. He previously scouted for Prep Hoops dating back to 2019 and has both a championship-coaching background on the HS-level and daily newspaper writing experience, both from New Jersey. You can reach him at keithagran1@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @BracketSage.