{"id":145066,"date":"2025-08-14T12:31:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T12:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/145066\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T12:31:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T12:31:11","slug":"4-star-and-5-star-top-performers-in-latest-aau-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/145066\/","title":{"rendered":"4-star and 5-star Top Performers in Latest AAU Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Numerous four-star and five-star high school prospects were among the top performers during the latest AAU season that wrapped up a few weeks ago, according to analysts and scouts. The three main shoe-sponsored circuits are the Nike EYBL league, the Adidas 3SSB league and the Under Armour Association (\u201cUAA\u201d) league.<\/p>\n<p>4-star and 5-star Top Performers in Latest AAU Season<\/p>\n<p>All three leagues held several spring sessions before conducting their season-ending playoffs in July. Throughout the most recent grassroots hoops campaign, college coaches were in attendance during a couple of NCAA-permitted live periods. Based on comments from national analysts and scouts, here are some of the top performers across these three shoe-sponsored leagues.<\/p>\n<p>Top Performers in Nike\u2019s EYBL<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_1mz4afy-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_1nowgpkmh\">Jordan Smith Jr. with the Washington, D.C.-based Team Takeover earned high marks all spring and summer. The 2026 five-star shooting guard, rated No. 2 nationally by 247Sports, is down to a final six of Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Syracuse, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/08\/jordan-smith-nations-no-2-prospect-has-leader-in-recruitment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Duke<\/a> and Georgetown. He was among the leading scorers in the EYBL\u2019s main 17U division, although Team Takeover shockingly didn\u2019t make it out of pool play at July\u2019s season-ending Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_1nowgpkmh\">The Oakland Soldiers from California featured two of the premier scorers in <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/nikeeyb.com\/cumulative-season-stats\" target=\"_blank\">EYBL<\/a> competition during the latest season. One is 2026 five-star combo guard <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thecircuithoops.com\/news_article\/show\/1343115\" target=\"_blank\">Jason Crowe Jr.<\/a>, who is verbally committed to Missouri. The second is 2026 five-star small forward Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 national prospect in this class. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/07\/tyran-stokes-kentucky-arkansas-sec\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kentucky<\/a> is trending in Stokes\u2019 recruitment, some analysts say.<\/p>\n<p id=\"_1nowgpkmh\" class=\"tagStyle_1mz4afy-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_1nowgpkmh\">Scouts anointed <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/12\/fast-rising-4-star-maximo-adams-locks-in-blue-blood-visits\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Maximo Adams<\/a> as the top forward in EYBL play this past season. The 2026 four-star prospect shined for the Las Vegas-based Vegas Elite. His work on the glass throughout the spring and summer months was impressive. Adams has locked in multiple official visits to blue-blood programs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"name\">Brandon McCoy was another top-flight scorer on the EYBL circuit. The 2026 five-star combo guard averaged 22.0 points per game at Peach Jam. The scouting experts at <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thecircuithoops.com\/news_article\/show\/1343115\" target=\"_blank\">The Circuit<\/a> named McCoy to their All-Peach Jam first team.<\/p>\n<p>Top Performers in the Adidas 3SSB League<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_1mz4afy-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_ob9n2i9r1\">Deron Rippey Jr., a 2026 five-star point guard, was arguably the top performer in the latest 3SSB season. Rippey led the 17U team of the New York-based New Heights to the quarterfinals of the Adidas playoffs. A top-10 national prospect, he recently disclosed a top 12 that features many heavyweight programs and has set a bunch of official visits for the coming months.<\/p>\n<p id=\"_67eeycy94\" class=\"tagStyle_1mz4afy-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_67eeycy94\">Bruce Branch III was electric this spring and summer for the California-based Compton Magic, analysts say. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/high-school\/basketball\/20-aau-basketball-standouts-who-dominated-the-summer-aau-circuit-in-2025-01k2b51cnsax\" target=\"_blank\">Nate Buss<\/a>, in a piece for Sports Illustrated, said that Branch had an \u201ceye-opening ascension\u201d with the Magic in the latest 3SSB season. Branch, a five-star small forward, is the No. 1 national prospect in the 2027 cycle.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_67eeycy94\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/article\/summer-scouting-series-caleb-holt-colben-landrew-neiko-mundey-lead-3ssbs-top-guards-252477717\/\" target=\"_blank\">Neiko Mundey<\/a> was one of the best guards on the 3SSB circuit. The 2026 four-star prospect averaged 21 points per game and shot around 40 percent from beyond the arc this past season. He starred for New World, a program based in the D.C. area. Adam Finkelstein, 247Sports\u2019 director of scouting, noted that Mundey is an excellent two-way player who plays with big-time energy and intensity.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_67eeycy94\">Finkelstein also characterized 2026 five-star Abdou Toure as one of the top wings in the Adidas league. Toure, a top-25 national prospect, is an explosive athletic, scouts say. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/article\/summer-scouting-series-anthony-thompson-bo-ogden-abdou-toure-lead-3ssb-wings-252541407\/\" target=\"_blank\">Finkelstein<\/a> noted that Toure, who suits up for the Boston-based BABC, is a stellar defender and strong rebounder for a wing player.<\/p>\n<p>Top Performers in UAA<\/p>\n<p>Two of the top prospects in the Under Armour Association league this spring and summer were 2026 four-star small forward Christopher Washington Jr. and 2026 four-star wing\/power forward Quinn Costello. Washington plays for the Knoxville, Tenn.-based B.MAZE Elite. Costello, one of the fastest-rising prospects nationwide, is a standout with the Boston-based Middlesex Magic.<\/p>\n<p>Not too long ago, Costello dropped a top six of Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, North Carolina, Purdue and Texas. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/06\/michigan-carrying-momentum-with-fastest-rising-2026-prospect\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Michigan<\/a> has buzz in his recruitment. Washington has a top seven of Ole Miss, Auburn, Villanova, Tennessee, Alabama, Cincinnati and Florida A&amp;M.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Andy Abeyta\/The Desert Sun \/ USA TODAY NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Numerous four-star and five-star high school prospects were among the top performers during the latest AAU season that&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":145067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[1339,77243,1372,8801,7800,1317,1337,1338,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-145066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball-recruiting","10":"tag-duke-blue-devils","11":"tag-kentucky-wildcats","12":"tag-michigan-wolverines","13":"tag-ncaa","14":"tag-ncaa-basketball","15":"tag-ncaabasketball","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115027135218537187","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}