Another One! Kenner League Recap Weekend 2!

On Sunday, Kenner League returned to McDonough Arena and once again, we parked ourselves on the cold, hard bleachers for four straight basketball games. We tracked stats and took notes on the 2022-23 Hoyas and have compiled our thoughts for your reading pleasure.

Denver Anglin (Freshman, G): Anglin picked up where he left off for Higher Level, scoring 17 points on another solid perfomance from three point land. He looked composed once again and impressed as a distributor, though George Mason’s Devin Dinkins handled most of the point guard duties. Anglin could also easily be identified as one of the vocal leaders of his team; an impressive feat for one the Kenner League’s youngest participants.

D’ante Bass (Freshman, F): Bass had a tough game on Sunday, scoring only 4 points by our count. He settled for some contested threes and made some questionable decisions in transition that gave the opponent easy buckets on the other end. He redeemed himself somewhat on the defense, using his quick-twitch athleticism to get at least 3 blocks and 2 steals. He also made a great pass to Anglin off of a rebound to set him up for an easy dunk.

Wayne Bristol (Junior, G/F): Bristol took a lot of shots for Clyde’s and his form looked good but he wasn’t able to connect at a very high percentage. We had him down for 8 points. He did have a few highlights including a nice dish to Qudus Wahab on a give-and-go and a good penetration move and finish.

Jay Heath (Junior, G): Heath cooled off a bit in his game but quickly realized that his shot wasn’t falling and showed off another dimension to his game by attacking the rim. He was only 2-7 from three but finished with 18 points on some tough finishes inside. We came away impressed with his completeness as a player. He clearly has the driving ability to keep defenders honest on closeouts and will be able to score at all three levels.

Brandon Murray (Sophomore, G): Once again, Murray looked like the best player on the court in his game for The Tombs. He had a highlight reel block coming across the lane, several mid range jumpers off the dribble, and multiple and-1 finishes. In one sequence, he got the crowd going with an emphatic dunk, then put together an and-1 on the next play. He even took a charge which speaks to his competitiveness. We had him for 21 points and agree that he should compete for All-Big East honors in the fall.

Ryan Mutombo (Sophomore, C): Mutombo’s performance left a lot to be desired, especially given his significant size advantage against most Kenner League teams. He was able to connect from the midrange but only finished with seven points. Mutombo still looks like an underclassman, which is fine with some depth ahead of him, but we would both love to see him soften some of his edges as the summer progresses.

Jordan Riley (Sophomore, G): Riley was not given the same opportunity to dazzle this weekend. Despite his more limited touches, he was still able to add to his highlight reel with his effortless leaping ability. He threw down a big dunk on a fast break and had a few near show-stoppers. Most notably, he caught an unbelievable alley-oop from Howard’s Elijah Hawkins in which he seemed to appear out of the blue to make the catch and throw it down with one hand.

Primo Spears (Sophomore, PG): Spears shined on Sunday as he continues to try to win the starting point guard spot. He was able to hit several threes off the dribble, an ability we had not seen last weekend, finishing with 21 points. Additionally, he flashed some Kyrie-esque handles when caught in traffic to set up a teammate who could not convert on the assist. Whether Spears can shoot like that on a consistent basis remains to be seen, but that shooting coupled with his handle will be difficult to leave on the bench.

Qudus Wahab (Senior, C): Wahab was the biggest man on his court this weekend and took full advantage. He finished with a Hoya-high 27 points, consistently backing down his opponents and taking advantage of his size with baby hooks. Eventually, his opponents began sending double-teams to shut him down inside, and he showed enough awareness to pass out a few different times. Outside of his dominant paint performance, he showcased some surprising handles, driving into the paint twice. While he failed to convert, his dribbling ability looked better than either of these writers had imagined. He also attempted a pair of threes that rimmed out but looked good coming out of his hands. This version of Wahab looks like what many had imagined he could be after he played a critical role in Georgetown’s miraculous 2021 BET run.

Malcolm Wilson (Senior, C): Wilson’s performance was pretty forgettable. He did not make any notable mistakes on either side of the floor but did not do anything particularly impressive either. He was held scoreless but did do a great job defending a red hot Primo Spears out on the perimeter. Wilson’s defense was refreshing as Georgetown bigs have struggled when forced to come out of the paint on defense.

Three days of Kenner League is still a very small sample size but we are already feeling optimistic about the 2022-23 season. See you next week!