Four Lexington County high school basketball players will take part in two of the highest profile youth basketball tournaments in the country this week. 

Cam Scott and Jaxon Prunty from Lexington High School and Braylhan Thomas from Gray Collegiate Academy are participating in Peach Jam in North Augusta this week for Team United. 

The annual tournament is the last and most popular event in Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) and has drawn attention over the last few years as one of the most popular college basketball recruiting events. NBA stars such as Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Paul George, Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook have their own teams that participate and the players have often been seen at the event, sometimes coaching the teams themselves. Last year, Lebron James was seen at the event watching his son, Bronny James, play.

Peach Jam tipped off July 2 and will continue until July 9.

Treyvon Maddox from Gray Collegiate will play for the 16U Upward Stars in the Adidas Three-Stripe Select Basketball (3SSB) tournament in Rock Hill from July 5 to 9. This tournament is the final one of the 3SSB circuit. 

Team United  starts 2-1 at Peach Jam

Given their place in the circuit league standings, Team United was forced to play in a play-in game to enter the potential winners bracket of the tournament against Arizona Unity.

Arizona Unity led by small margins for most of the game. It led by three after the first quarter, held a small one-point lead at halftime and went into the fourth quarter with that same one-point advantage. 

In the fourth, Arizona Unity led by as many as eight points with 3:30 remaining, but a late surge by Team United (which included an electric Thomas dunk in transition) helped cut the lead back to one with 1:30 remaining. 

Unfortunately for Team United, it ran out of steam and Arizona Unity forced key turnovers and a flurry of easy buckets fueled by excellent ball movement to pull away and win 62-52. The loss moved Team United into a consolation bracket where it will play for the remainder of the event.

Prunty led the group of Lexington County players in scoring with 12 points and was a perfect six of six at the free throw line. Prunty’s ability to beat the defense on dribble drives allowed him to be aggressive as a scorer as well as allowed him to facilitate and record four assists.

“We have so many weapons on our team so the first part, I was being aggressive and in the second I was passing the ball,” Prunty said about his productive offensive outing. “We just didn’t hit shots like we normally do.”

Scott led the team in scoring early and made all of his buckets in the first half of the game. He finished with eight points but was also assertive on the glass as he grabbed seven rebounds. Despite his shot not falling the way it usually does in the second half, he still found a way to get others involved by recording three assists. 

Thomas made a big impact on the defensive end, bringing endless energy on the ball and diving on the floor to secure possession of loose balls and never being out of the play. He recorded two steals with one of them resulting in a thunderous dunk on the other end. He finished the game with eight points with most of them coming in transition or on offensive rebounds that were the result of high energy play. Overall, he grabbed eight rebounds with four of them being offensive.

On July 3, Team United bounced back in a big way with a win over City Rock from New York. The game went into overtime and Team United built an eight point lead in the additional frame with the help from a pair of Scott assists and a big Prunty free throw late. City Rock made some shots and forced key turnovers to give them a last chance shot to tie the game and send it to a second overtime but was unsuccessful. Team United took the win 77-74 to put them at 1-1 so far at Peach Jam. 

Prunty once again displayed his scoring potential as he put up 19 points on 6-13 shooting from the field while also grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out two assists. He continued his trend of drawing fouls and knocking down free throws as he got to the line to shoot eight free throws while making six.

Scott chipped in with five points on 2-4 shooting and recorded four assists with two coming in that crucial overtime period. Thomas contributed with four points on 2-4 shooting while also dishing out four assists and was once again a disrupter defensively with two steals.

Team United picked up another big win in the night portion of Monday’s slate against Livon 63-59. Prunty continued his solid scoring output with 12 points but was an even better distributor as he recorded seven assists with only one turnover. 

For the first time in North Augusta, someone other than Prunty was the high scorer for Team United. This time, it was Thomas who had an incredibly efficient 17-point outburst in 13 minutes of play. He made six of his nine shots from the field and four of his six free throws. Scott was limited to only eight minutes and scored one two-point basket.

The opportunity ahead

Despite playing in the consolation bracket, the rest of the event provides a huge opportunity for Scott, Prunty and Thomas to showcase their skills in front of college coaches from across the country as well as NBA scouts who attend the event to prepare for future drafts.

For the rest of the tournament, Scott is looking to work on the immeasurables. 

“My leadership ability,” Scott said when asked about his Peach Jam points of emphasis. “I feel like I was a big part of that game and that I can really change a lot of things.”

Scott went on to say that expanding his offensive role as a better ball handler and on-ball weapon is something he wants to use this tournament to grow into.

“Just being able to control the offense,” Scott added. “I feel like a big thing for me growing up, I was playing off the ball a lot so just being more ball dominant and being able to play multiple positions on the floor so I can be in the game as long as possible. Those are the things I’m mainly working on.”

Scott has garnered a lot of attention this summer after impressive showings with Team United and Lexington High as well as earning co-MVP honors at the Pangos All-American Camp in Las Vegas. He’s already had an official visit at Oregon, where he has developed a good relationship with Oregon assistant Chuck Martin, and has reportedly been in constant communication with South Carolina, per On3.com. Texas assistant coach Brandon Chappell and Alabama head coach Nate Oats were also on hand to watch his performance at the SC Live Team Camp in Rock Hill in June.

For Prunty, he’s enjoying the high level of talent that he faces on the Nike circuit and being able to prove himself as a valuable asset and shot creator. As a 6’6” point guard, he has an opportunity to raise his stock as a collegiate prospect.

“I think for me, I really like the competition,” Prunty said. “I think they really help me out, the defenders, because there is no weak person in EYBL. So, it just helps me out and makes me be better.” 

Prunty is an intriguing player in this group because he is one of the youngest. He recently turned 17 and will be one of the youngest players in his recruiting class. He’s received attention recently from multiple power five schools and has developed a good relationship with the Virginia coaching staff. 

Prunty’s stock can certainly rise in this event. So can the stock of Thomas, who impressed many during his SC Live team event in June. Since then, Thomas has received a few division one offersb including one from Georgia Southern over the weekend when he was on an official visit.

Thomas’ main individual goal is to show other division one coaches the same high ceiling play he’s displayed in other events this summer.

“I’m trying to be an opportunist,” Thomas said. “I’m just taking them [games] all one at a time and use it to my fullest potential and see what I can make myself off of it.”

Thomas has already shown his ability to defend on-ball and willingness to draw the toughest defensive assignments. He prides himself on being able to guard any position on the floor.

“Being able to guard one through five,” Thomas said when asked about his defensive strengths. “Just being strong and can take any match-up and just be a dog on defense.”

Thomas says he also says he wants to work on his shooting and get more experience knocking down shots off the dribble. He wants to model his game off of two NBA players who have made a living off of being timely scorers and great on-ball defenders.   

“I feel like I play like Jaylen Brown or Dejounte Murray,” Thomas said. “Or just a two-way guard that can create for himself.”

Managing injuries

As much as the play on the court will be something to watch for Scott and Prunty, it is important to note that both are nursing ankle injuries and are playing through it for the event.

Prunty injured his right ankle in one of the previous stops on the circuit and was limited during the SC Live Team Showcase, appearing in only one day of the event while resting on the second. 

Scott sprained his ankle in the last game of a live team event before Peach Jam but has powered through, logging 27 and 24 minutes in the first two games of the event.

Maddox’s opportunity in Rock Hill

It’s been an eventful summer for Maddox, who has spent time with both the Upward Stars 16U team on the 3SSB circuit as well as his high school squad at Gray Collegiate. Maddox is in the class of 2025 and is a rising junior.

As a 6’7” player on the wing, Maddox has the size and athleticism that can blow college coaches away. While many of the rising seniors on the circuit have a chance to increase their profile going into their final year of high school, Maddox has an opportunity to greatly elevate his ranking in the 2025 class and appear on the radar of some of the best college programs in the country.

As of now, 247Sports has Maddox as the number 58 player in the country in the class of 2025 and as the top basketball prospect in the state of South Carolina for that recruiting class.

Maddox and Upward Stars will take the floor starting July 5.