Strong start for Nike Baltimore Elite's 16s
Jamel Williams was cautiously optimistic before the start of the spring AAU basketball season.
Nike Baltimore Elite’s 16-and-under coach had great success with the 15-and-under team last year, and returned the core of that team this spring.
“So this year when we started practice, it was like we never missed a beat,” Williams said. “They came back in, knew their teammates, had the structure, and that just carried over from last year.”
Last weekend, Williams’ optimism was affirmed with NBE’s runner-up finish in the New Jersey Spring Fling -- a 32-team tournament featuring some of the top programs on the East Coast.
Nike Baltimore Elite dropped a 76-72 overtime game to the host New Jersey Playaz in the championship game.
With big men Mike Owona and Christian Owona still playing for John Carroll -- the Baltimore Catholic League champions play in the ESPN RISE National High School Invitational at Georgetown Prep this week -- Williams had to look elsewhere for help in the post. Dashawnte Lloyd, a 6-foot-1 ½, 260-pound forward from City, was up to the task.
“Almost every team in the tournament had kids 6-8, 6-9,” Williams said. “He shut them down, keeping them away from the basket. He did a great job on everybody in the tournament. He was the tournament favorite because of the way he battled with kids six, seven inches taller than that. He outworked them.”
Williams doesn’t keep track of offensive stats, choosing instead of focus on his “hustle chart,” which consists of rebounds, steals, charges, blocks, assists and forced turnovers. But whenever NBE needed a big bucket, Vermont Academy’s Daquein McNeil -- a former Carver standout -- usually delivered.
“His athletic ability has always been there,” Williams said of McNeil, who was on spring break from Vermont Academy. “But he has grown since [he left Baltimore]. He’s mature now. … He was extremely successful because of the hard work. He worked so hard. He was able to rebound, able to score, able to defend, and that was the team as a whole. A lot of his success was because of contributions from his teammates working as a cohesive unit.”
Mount St. Joseph guard Kameron Williams -- a first-team BCL selection as a sophomore -- also stood out offensively for NBE.
“He did a phenomenal job at this on his first year with our team,” Williams said. “He stepped right in and it was very comfortable. It was just like he played with us last year.”
A.J. Fisher (St. Frances), Daxter Miles (Dunbar), Tayshawn Scott (McDonogh), Rashard Todd (Mount Carmel) and Deshawn Wells (Perry Hall) also made valuable contributions to NBE’s run to the final.
Nike Baltimore Elite will host its own tournament May 6-8 at CCBC-Catonsville. Williams hopes his squad’s success continues there, and on the road as the AAU season progresses. He’s confident he has the right group of players to make it happen.
“We sort of have our own identity because our kids, some of our kids are not nationally known kids,” Williams said. “They just work hard. They just work so hard in practice and actually get along with each other. They enjoy playing with each other and accept their roles. A lot of that results in a lot of wins.”
