KSR's Friday takeaways from adidas 3SSB Championship

KSR made its way to the adidas 3SSB Palmetto Road Championship in Rock Hill, SC on Friday. The final 3SSB event of the summer began on Tuesday but it wasn’t until Thursday that college coaches were allowed in attendance. I arrived at the Rock Hill Sports Center on Friday afternoon, just in time to watch Kentucky head coach Mark Pope and a pair of his assistants, Cody Fueger and Jason Hart, settle in for the day.

What did I see during my first day in the gym? Let’s find out together. I’ll be back all weekend to watch the event’s final days, capped off with Sunday’s title game — which could feature plenty of Kentucky targets.

Every head coach in the country made the trip

Well, maybe not every head coach, but it sure did feel like it. Along with Pope, the likes of Bill Self, Tom Izzo, Bruce Pearl, Rick Barnes, Chris Beard, Shaka Smart, Dan Hurley, Hubert Davis, Pat Kelsey, and, of course, John Calipari were just a handful of the head coaches I noticed throughout the day. Hell, even Brad Calipari was in the building rocking Arkansas gear, which still feels weird to see in person, especially when he’s following Dad around.

Oh, did I mention that Pope made the trip down after holding practice this morning in Lexington? Seriously, the guy does not waste a second of his time. He was in Rock Hill on Thursday, too. Goodness.

Who did Kentucky coaches watch?

Now for the stuff you’re here to read about. For the most part, Pope and Co. stuck to the same court for most of the afternoon/night — and for good reason. As is the case with these major recruiting events, there are multiple courts in action at the same time. But the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center has one court called the Arena, which is off from the other courts and is designed to be the primetime playing spot of the entire building.

The Arena was the host court for games that featured Kentucky targets such as Malachi Moreno (Indiana Elite), Braylon Mullins (Indiana Elite), Mikel Brown Jr. (Team Loaded NC), Nate Ament (Team Loaded VA), Kaden Magwood (Team Loaded VA), and Darryn Peterson (Phenom United). Pope, Fueger, and Hart were all seated together in the same spot to watch every single one of them throughout the second half of the day.

Pope, Fueger, and Hart now watching Indiana Elite vs. Team Loaded (NC)

Braylon Mullins and Malachi Moreno vs. Mikel Brown Jr.

Primetime matchup. pic.twitter.com/n9NTVX0XDt

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) July 12, 2024

A few scouting spark notes: Ament and Peterson are very good at basketball, particularly Peterson (ranked No. 3 in the 2025 class), who physically looks the part of an NBA player right now and lived at the free throw line in his game against Koa Peat and the Compton Magic Elite. Mullins (No. 26 in the 2025 class) hit four triples in the second half of his team’s win, which pushed a close game into a 20-point advantage for Indiana Elite. Brown (No. 12 in the 2025 class) finished with 19 points but needed 20 shots to get there. He’s aggressive at getting to the basket but struggled to finish at the rim.

I was able to talk with both Ament and Magwood afterward, as well. With Ament (No. 7 in the 2025 class), he’s familiar with Pope and Fueger dating back to their time at BYU. There is a longstanding relationship between Ament and the coaches that has continued at Kentucky. Although he’s keeping his top schools tight to the vest, he did say he plans to officially visit all of his favorites this fall, UK included. Ament is very high on the board.

As for Magwood, the Louisville native (No. 52 overall in 2025) says he’s only hearing from Kentucky every other week at this stage. But considering he dropped an impressive 32 points in front of all three Kentucky coaches, that could certainly change moving forward.

What about the 2026 prospects?

I’m glad you asked. The lone game I witnessed where Pope and the assistants were not at the Arena was to check out a pair of 2026 recruits: Tay Kinney and Moustapha Diop. Kinney, who plays point guard for Newport High School in northern KY, put on a show for the Wildcat Select 16U group, although it came in an overtime loss to Diop’s Game Elite squad. Kinney, No. 33 overall in 2026 and a very shifty floor general, even picked up an LSU offer following that performance.

Tay Kinney has been extremely impressive as a playmaker once again this afternoon for Wildcat Select 16u.

One of the top point guard prospects in the Class of 2026.

Dozens of high-major coaches are here to watch him and Moustapha Diop of Game Elite 16u.

High-level game.#3SSB

— Brandon Ramsey (@BRamseyKSR) July 12, 2024

Talking with Diop after the win, he says a Kentucky coach reaches out at least once a week. The 6-foot-10 big man is ranked No. 13 overall in his class. It’s still early in the process for these two rising high school juniors, but Diop and Kinney will be prospects to continue monitoring.

Also, we learned of a new name on Kentucky’s 2026 Big Board, although the early contact has been minimal. Playing up a year for Utah Prospects 17U, point guard Ikenna Alozie had all three Kentucky coaches watching him play in the Arena. Alozie tells KSR that UK has reached out only once before, but added that his recruitment is still in the very early stages. In fact, he only came over to the United States from Nigeria in 2022. There’s still a long way to go in the process for the nation’s No. 10 overall 2026 recruit.

I’ll be back again tomorrow night for another full-day recap. Games begin at 9:45 in the morning and continue until 7:45 at night. I’ll be gathering even more interviews and intel from start to finish. Stay tuned for plenty more to come, or hop on KSBoard to follow along for live updates from myself and KSR’s Brandon Ramsey.