UA Next Elite 24: Standouts from Friday’s scrimmage
By CHARLIE PARENT
NEW YORK — The UA Next Elite 24 scrimmage took place Friday at the Brooklyn Nets training facility, featuring 24 of the nation’s top players in the classes of 2025 and 2026.
The scrimmage was highly competitive with five specific players making the biggest impact. It’s important to note, the scrimmage was very guard oriented, not giving a lot of space for big men, like Malachi Moreno, Eric Reibe or Xavion Staton to operate, though each had nice games on the glass and defending the rim.
Here are our five standouts from Friday:
Acaden Lewis: The 6-foot-3 point guard out of Sidwell Friends (D.C.) and Team Durant was the best player on the floor Friday along with Shon Abaev. Lewis displayed his complete skillset and incredible feel for the game. He made open threes, scored the ball when needed, was active in creating all over the floor and made various impact plays on both ends. His intangibles, composure and all-around game makes him a great fit as a lead, or combo, guard for a high major program at the next level.
Lewis recently visited Syracuse and Duke, and recapped each to ZAGSBLOG postgame.
Shon Abaev: The 6-foot-7 guard continues to impress with his long frame for a natural point guard. Abaev was the primary ball handler for Team Ice, scoring from all three-levels and creating separation for quality jump-shots, even with tough defense. Abaev seemed most comfortable going downhill, showing off a unique vertical ability to attack the rim and score. Aside from his scoring, Abaev showed that he’s a willing playmaker, and looks to pass to create the open shot more than often not. His long frame allows him to be an active defender, and create problems for smaller opposing ball-handlers.
Abdou Toure: The 6-foot-6 wing has been on a tear this summer after posting insane statlines playing for Guinea at the FIBA U17 World Cup. Toure dropped a tournament-high 50 points against China, following it up with 36 points in an upset over Australia. On Friday, he backed up his performances against some of the nation’s top talent. Toure looked the part, a fluid wing with an explosive first step toward the basket and smooth handle. His ability to work angles to gain separation was a big factor in his offensive production, as well as some instinctual defensive plays to steal the ball, push in transition and finish for a layup, or even a highlight dunk.
Dylan Mingo: Mingo’s 6-foot-5 frame was put to full use for Team Ice as the 2026 Long Island Lutheran (NY) product was arguably the best defender on the floor. Mingo caused several turnovers on defense, and would win the 50-50 balls, to push the pace and finish at the rim on fast breaks. Ball-handlers had a very tough time getting past Mingo as he used his length and ever growing strength to wall them off from the inside, while guarding out on the perimeter. Offensively, Mingo continues to adjust to his size and shows a good burst downhill with nice finishes over bigger defenders at the rim.
King Grace: Grace is the definition of an impact, hustle, player who was everywhere on the floor for Team Fire. He and Acaden Lewis found a groove right before half where the pair would have deflections turned into steals on defense, followed by buckets or assists out in transition for several possessions in a row. Grace, a 6-foot-3 combo guard, is an incredibly quick player, and uses his twitch on offense to create for others, while possessing some scoring prowess of his own. When he was running the point for Team Fire, the ball was constantly swung around the perimeter, and ultimately found the open man for a quality shot.
The UA Next Elite 24 game tips off Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
Other Notables:
Omari Witherspoon: The 6-foot-4 guard stood out defensively, forcing at least four turnover while guarding on the perimeter. Witherspoon has elite strength and doesn’t allow anyone to blow buy him. He pairs that with a solid offensive game, making proper reads to find the open man or score when the opportunity arises.
Karim Lopez: The 6-foot-8 forward from Badalona, Spain, was the top international player in this scrimmage. Lopez has a very “point-forward” like skillset, where he rebounds the ball, pushes it in transition and finds the open man. He shows great touch around the rim with a nice holt of athleticism on his finishes as well. Lopez also displayed some nice versatility, matching up with taller big-men like Moreno and Staton, or taking on five-star Nate Ament, who is a scoring wing.
Nate Ament: There’s been a lot of talk about the 6-foot-9 wing in the past few weeks, with him recently moving to as high as No. 3 on some recruiting sites. Ament does have a very versatile game, and his long frame gives him a unique scoring ability. Th offensive production wasn’t off the charts in this session, but the flashes are certainly there. Where he excelled was defensively, using that length to tip shots, prevent defenders from getting inside and being a valuable piece on switches.
He broke down his recruitment to ZAGSBLOG postgame.
Malachi Moreno: Moreno was the best of the three true centers on the floor Friday. He had a least five impact moments offensively where he was either a threat as the roller or rim-running for lobs and tough finishes. He had nice flashes defensively as well with a block and strong interior presence.
Deron Rippey Jr.: The 6-foot-3 point guard in the class of 2026 was selected to the showcase roster within the last week and did a nice job taking his opportunities. Rippey settled in after a chaotic first stretch of fast breaks to do make a good impact on both ends. He first got involved in the game by deflecting the ball and diving on the floor to win possession. He paired that up with two strong finishes over a big-men at the rim and at least one more steal on defense.
Eli Ellis: The South Carolina commit out of Overtime Elite is the center around a lot of talk on social media. The undersized guard showed his scoring prowess, hitting two deep threes from behind NBA-range. Ellis’ intangibles were also refreshing to see as he was a constant communicator on defense and consistently made the right read to find the open man on offense.
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