The #2 player in the ESPN Super 60, Austin Rivers, spent much of Nike EYBL Los Angeles on the sidelines watching his Each 1 Teach 1 teammates after rolling his ankle during the early part of the weekend. Despite not playing for most the weekend, Rivers was clearly still one of the main attractions of the Los Angeles Nike EYBL session.
When Rivers takes the court with his E1T1 teammates it doesn’t take long before that court is surrounded by curious fans who have heard about the 6’4″ 190 pound ‘do it all’ guard from Florida. Off the court, the buzz about Rivers continues as the curiosity about his recruitment grows. Rivers seems to enjoy the constant chatter about his recruitment too, evident by Rivers rocking Duke basketball shorts on Sunday. Jumping to conclusions because of the shorts that Rivers wears is something that is predictable, and Rivers knows that. He’s played his recruitment close to the vest since making public his decision to re-open his recruitment. Spend a few minutes with the super star guard and it’s clear that Rivers intends to make his visits before announcing his decision.
Rivers had hoped to make the short trip to UCLA this past Monday, but school work back home put that visit on hold. Rivers also confirmed to TheShiver.com that he will still visit Kansas, but it appears that a KU visit would take place later this summer.
Rivers currently has Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, Florida and UCLA as the schools he’s considering. Rivers EYBL highlights
Evaluation of Rivers:
May, 2010: Rivers plays with off the charts confidence and in full attack mode on every catch. If the player defending him is not ready to play it will be a long game. Rivers can flat out score in a variety of ways. He can get his shot off the dribble at will. He hits mid range pull ups, floaters and slashes in between defenders. He sets up the defender with fakes and jabs and simply reads and attacks. He can knock down the deep three and if he gets in rhythm he can hit two or three in a row before that defense knows what hit it. He can handle and pass but scoring is clearly at the top of his to do list. He has a good basketball IQ and plays with passion. He can loose his focus on defense at times but this scoring machine draws a crowd at every event.
