Good times don't last forever...
It looks like the Wisconsin Playground Warriors ultra-talented 2020 team won't stay together after winning a national title on the Under Armour circuit last summer. Two big players on that team (and Wisconsin targets) - Jalen Johnson and Jamari Sibley - will be joining a new program called Phemon University. I heard something was in the works a few or two ago, but Mark Miller broke the news last night. Desmond Polk, who attended UW's advanced camp last year, will also be on that team.
The big draw for this new program is that it will be competing on the EYBL (Nike) Circuit this spring and summer with 16U and 15U programs. Last year, Playground Elite (Tyler Herro) had a spot on the EYBL circuit, but that is no longer the case. I believe they won one game and were not renewed this season.
What's interesting is that Terrance Thompson, Jonathan Davis (has UW offer) and Jordan Davis - all members of Playground Warriors 2020 team last year - tweeted about a month ago that they would join Playground Elite and play on the Nike circuit. With that no longer an option, I wonder if they'll stay with the Warriors. Or, will they also jump to the Phenom program?
So what does that mean for Wisconsin? To start, I know very little about Phemon Elite other than its current Nike status. Not sure who is running it but whoever is has to be someone well established in the AAU world. To get into the EYBL circuit and convince Johnson to jump ship is awfully impressive.
In a perfect world, I'm guessing Greg Gard and his staff would have preferred that Davis and Johnson stayed with the Warriors, which have been very Badgers-friendly (Dekker, Koenig, King, etc.) over the years. There's good relationships there and also the Under Armour connection.
Should be interesting to see what happens.
It looks like the Wisconsin Playground Warriors ultra-talented 2020 team won't stay together after winning a national title on the Under Armour circuit last summer. Two big players on that team (and Wisconsin targets) - Jalen Johnson and Jamari Sibley - will be joining a new program called Phemon University. I heard something was in the works a few or two ago, but Mark Miller broke the news last night. Desmond Polk, who attended UW's advanced camp last year, will also be on that team.
The big draw for this new program is that it will be competing on the EYBL (Nike) Circuit this spring and summer with 16U and 15U programs. Last year, Playground Elite (Tyler Herro) had a spot on the EYBL circuit, but that is no longer the case. I believe they won one game and were not renewed this season.
What's interesting is that Terrance Thompson, Jonathan Davis (has UW offer) and Jordan Davis - all members of Playground Warriors 2020 team last year - tweeted about a month ago that they would join Playground Elite and play on the Nike circuit. With that no longer an option, I wonder if they'll stay with the Warriors. Or, will they also jump to the Phenom program?
So what does that mean for Wisconsin? To start, I know very little about Phemon Elite other than its current Nike status. Not sure who is running it but whoever is has to be someone well established in the AAU world. To get into the EYBL circuit and convince Johnson to jump ship is awfully impressive.
In a perfect world, I'm guessing Greg Gard and his staff would have preferred that Davis and Johnson stayed with the Warriors, which have been very Badgers-friendly (Dekker, Koenig, King, etc.) over the years. There's good relationships there and also the Under Armour connection.
Should be interesting to see what happens.
