Oakland Invitational All-Tournament

Here are the outstanding performers from Saturday’s games at North Farmington High School’s Oakland Invitational.

MVP  Danny Pippen  6-8  Sr  Detroit Allen
It’s always fun to see a player realize his potential and Pippen is in that category and rising after Allen’s win over Southfield. He did in fact have what one fan projected to be a “nutty double-double” with 32 points, 16 rebounds and nine blocked shots. As tough as he is guarding the rim, Pippen hedges well and is as comfortable playing out on the floor defensively as he is with the ball knocking down 3s. Great recruit for Kent State.

Joshua Bause  6-8  Sr  Novi Franklin Road Christian
He was like a Class D Kevin Love against Waterford Mott, running up the assists with a barrage of two-handed outlet passes. Not just tall but strong and physical on the glass. Can struggle with speed on defense and doesn’t play above the rim.

West Bloomfield’s Trishton Jackson is a top five basketball and football player in Michigan.

Trishton Jackson  6-2  Sr  West Bloomfield
The MSU football recruit was recently bumped up to a four-star recruit, and would be at least a three-star basketball recruit. Against Southfield Christian Jackson scored at the buzzer to force OT then scored the game-winner with 10 seconds left in the extra period. Even with SC’s defense keyed on him, and not with stiffs, Jackson was a hard deal to contain off the dribble, and if he was could launch and hit tough jumpers. He had 30 points and eight assists.

Jacob Joubert  6-2  Sr  North Farmington
With one of North Farmington’s D1 guard recruits, Amauri Hardy, not yet eligible, and another, Billy Thomas, going out early with an ankle injury, Joubert came to the fore and was the steady hand in a 20-point defeat of defending Class B Detroit Henry Ford. A smart, coach-friendly playmaking guard, Joubert had 17 points and eight assists.

Michael Flowers  6-1  Jr  Southfield
He had a yeoman’s scoring game in a losing cause to Detroit Allen. Flowers put his head down and forced the issue in the paint, piling them up at the line while keeping Allen honest from deep, too. In the end he’d scored 50 points, including 35 of the Bluejay’s 39 first-half points. Even adjusted for the game’s pace, it was an amazing scoring performance.

Mark Watts  6-0  Fr  Detroit Allen
A hyped middle school phenom who justified the love with 22 points and five assists against Southfield. He was aggressive with the ball and looked to pass first, a smart move playing with talent like Danny Pippen, Jason Williams and Drequan Bell, but is a dangerous scorer himself when he goes to it. Watts sometimes penetrated too deep and needs to keep his head up defensively, but he’s got 100 more high school games to figure that out.