Austin GASO: Saturday Takeaways & Talking Points

TexasHoops analyst Lyndon Cook takes you through his notes and evaluations from Saturday at the Austin/Round Rock Great American Shootout, detailing the games of top prospects and highlighting strong team performances from pool play as our brackets begin to take shape.

Even with Houston commit Jamal Shead coming back into the fold for ASAK Elite this weekend, the main attraction from an evaluation perspective was Austin LBJ product Jordan Teal. Teal showed exactly why he will be one of the high risers in the new 2020 rankings when they drop next week, showcasing several euro-step finishes and elevating to finish in traffic. Another standout aspect of Teal's game is his offensive rebounding ability, which is truly unique among guards.

Teal manages to get into great scoring positions off the dribble, using ball screens to great effect as he went for tallies of 23 and 18 points in pool play. Teal has some good bounce to his game, and doesn't waste any dribbles on his way to the rim. He combined especially well with teammates De'Auntre Davis and Brett Leach, as both fed off his attacking play to get their own points in bunches.

Let me just start this section by saying that while Bryce Griggs brings the star power and national allure for Team Harden 16's, this team is absolutely loaded with offensive talent. Javon Jackson had the gas pedal mashed to the floor in transition, constantly looking to attack and draw contact. Jackson also earned praise from his ability to knock down shots from the outside, using a sweet stroke for multiple threes in both pool play games.

On the same token, the ball of energy that is Zy'tarious Ivory was simply too much for the teams that came across him. Ivory was all over the floor using his athleticism and anticipation to wreak havoc and start easy fastbreak buckets for Team Harden, including a bodybag dunk over a 6-foot-9 defender you can see in the tweet below. Along with Kobe Haynes manning point guard duties and Griggs providing offensive inspiration and the capability to drop 30 in any game, this team looks in prime position to claim a title on Sunday.

Granted it was my first time to see the North Houston Bandits hoop this summer, needless to say I was impressed with the depth of talent they brought to Round Rock this weekend. Reggie Comeaux already looks the part of a next level athlete, and has a nice up-and-down shooting stroke from the outside. The Aldine Nimitz product was very active around the glass and ran the floor well to convert easy chances at the rim.

Fellow Nimitz player AJ Rose impressed evaluators with his quickness in the open floor, bolting past defenders to set up teammates around the hoop. Rose showed off a nice scoring touch in the midrange, as did Terrell Norris of Aldine Eisenhower.

It's becoming a common theme at Great American Shootouts throughout the summer, but the play of San Antonio Antonian 2021 pair Gavino Ramos and Bryon Armstrong have been consistently among the best on any given weekend. Ramos' smooth brand of scoring and distributing caught the eyes of plenty of Division 2 coaches who were there to observe at the Austin GASO, as his Next Level Raiders Elite team had another solid showing. Ramos gets to the foul line with regularity and has the composure to take care of the ball to see out games down the stretch.

Armstrong on the other hand runs with some bigger name players as part of PB Nation's 16u group, but was their leading scorer in all 3 games on Saturday as he continues to shoot the ball at an impressive clip. His versatility has jumped him into the top-20 of our newest rankings, and with some growth and increased explosiveness we could be talking top-10 by the midway point of his junior season.