Four rising high school freshmen from the area get quite a learning experience at the Jr. NBA Showcase

LAS VEGAS — They may not have spoken the same language as everyone else on the court, but basketball was a common bond for four local high schoolers and top players globally last week.

Jezelle Banks (Ursuline Academy, Wilmington), Ryan Carter (Penn Charter), Jordyn Palmer (Westtown School), and Tyler Sutton (George School) were part of the inaugural Jr. NBA Showcase, which featured 40 top 13- and 14-year-olds from all over the world. While the quartet of rising freshmen already has plenty of basketball experience, the week of skill and leadership development and outreach events alongside players and coaches from home and abroad was one to remember.

“They’re teaching us stuff on and off the court, so I feel like on both stages, it’s helping us get ready for the next level,” Banks said.

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Added Carter: “I think this is definitely the highlight [of the summer] because this is the biggest showcase that I’ve ever been to. Especially because I’m meeting a lot of international girls that I probably could see in the future if we’re roommates or if I see them in college.”

Sutton cited his European coach’s instruction on moving with and without the ball as a key on-court takeaway.

“He’s taught me a lot of stuff that, personally, I didn’t know, and how they play in Europe,” Sutton said. “So just adding that to my game and being able to do that with my team in high school and AAU definitely gives us an edge on other teams.”

The teams were coached by Terri Bamford, Nesma Khalifa, Djordje Opacic, and Marcel Smith. The Jr. NBA is the league’s global youth basketball program that aims to teach kids the fundamentals of the game and values such as teamwork and respect. Philadelphia is among the cities that are part of Jr. NBA Leagues, a nationwide network of youth basketball leagues for boys and girls ages 6-14.

The week was capped by boys’ and girls’ exhibition games on July 15, and Sutton’s Team White beat Team Navy, 61-55, while Banks and Palmer were on Team Scarlet, which beat Carter’s Team White, 56-50. Banks also won the three-point challenge on July 14, while Palmer was part of the winning team for the skills competition. The games were played at Cox Pavilion, home of the NBA Summer League, while the skills competition and three-point challenge were at the Las Vegas Aces’ Michelob Ultra Arena, where the WNBA All-Star weekend was being held.

The event was a continuation of the Jr. NBA Global Championship, which had not been held since 2019 because of the pandemic.

“It’s extremely rewarding and something we tell youth at all levels of the game: Basketball can be used to expose you to so many different cultures, different people, and open doors that may not have otherwise been opened,” said Adam Harper, the NBA associate vice president of youth basketball development. “And help you build skills that are transferable whether you go on to be a basketball player or whether you go on to be just a general leader in your community. And that’s ultimately what we’re trying to do through the game of basketball is help these young people develop as individuals, as leaders in your community, and as people, first and foremost.”

Having the experience be a holistic event that included life skills workshops alongside basketball, covering topics like identity and mental health and a service project at Three Square Food Bank, was key for Harper.

“We really wanted to provide what we believe is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that’s centered on basketball but also underpinned by on- and off-court development,” he said.

Getting to know different people — and their styles of play — will help them improve their individual games, the quartet agreed.

“They do basketball a little differently, and they were teaching us how they play,” Palmer said, “and they were teaching us different moves that we could improve to our game, and we were helping them.”

Banks, Palmer, and Carter suited up for their schools’ varsity squads as eighth graders last season and have Division I offers. Playing in showcases like this alongside that season of varsity hoops raises their profile — Banks recently received a scholarship offer from Philly hoops legend Dawn Staley’s South Carolina — but their parents and coaches help them stay grounded.

”Talking to coaches is great, but you also have to realize that you have other stuff to work on,” Palmer said. “This is just an offer. You still have to keep working on your game.”

» READ MORE: Only in eighth grade, Westtown’s Jordyn Palmer has varsity game

Banks, Carter, Palmer, and Sutton are heading back to a region rich in basketball talent after their week in Vegas, but all four are determined to “stay humble” and continue to work toward their goals.

After all, they have four years of high school left.

“Since there were a lot of other good kids in Philly, this kind of shows that we’re at the top because they could have picked a lot of other people, and they chose us four,” Carter said.