By SAM LANCE
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — There was quite the crowd of coaches to watch the first game of the 17u Peach Jam tournament on Friday — and the star of the show may have been top-30 prospect Jerry Easter — who poured in 31 points to defeat Team CP3 and eliminate them from the Peach Jam field.
However, one rising 2025 prospect, Isaiah Denis of Team CP3, also drew a number of his top programs court side. The 6-foot-5, 165-pound combo guard from Davidson Day (NC) didn’t disappoint coaches either, posting 12 points and three dimes.
Currently, Denis is hearing from Ohio State, Michigan, Pitt, Kansas, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Virginia, Cincinnati and Florida State the most. All of these programs had representation at the game vs. Team Final including head coaches from Ohio State (Jake Diebler), Pitt (Jeff Capel) and Cincinnati (Wes Miller). Here is Denis’ breakdown of some of the schools involved: Pitt: “They had Carlton Carrington who just was an NBA Draft pick. They just believe I play really similar to him, which I feel like too. The way they play just fits my style of play. They come off ball screens. They do drags. They let their guards rock and that’s what you want. Coach lets you make mistakes. He’s not afraid to play freshman. And I want a coach that’s not scared to let me make mistakes and will let me go out there and learn.” Ohio State: “I’ve been building a relationship with coach Joel [Justus] ever since he was at NC State. That’s my guy. That’s like family to me. So just building a relationship with them as well as coach Diebler. I would say I have a really good relationship with them and then just their style of play. The way he’s been breaking it down to me, he said I’m a great lead guard for them and I fit their play on and off the court. He likes my character and then on the court he just loves my play. He feels like I fit their style and I do too.” Michigan: “Really just my relationship with them over the past summer. I’ve been building a good relationship with them. At FAU, they were recruiting me a little bit. But once they went to Michigan they really turned it up and I’ve built a great relationship with them. I know Dusty May lets his people rock man. He’s a great coach. So that’s what really stood out.” Kansas: “I talked to coach [Bill] Self like two days ago. He was just saying I’m a great combo guard. He loves my versatility, being able to play on and off the ball. Being able to defend. And just the way I can play on and off the ball. That’s what a lot of schools are attracted to me about. Obviously with Kansas, it’s the name itself. It speaks for itself as a blue blood. Kansas. They put people in the NBA which is the ultimate goal for me. And then just building a good relationship with them. Even though they have a big name, if I don’t have a good relationship with them then it doesn’t matter. I definitely want to build trust and I told coach Self that on the phone as well. I told him trust is the biggest thing for me and he said that’s great because I like you because you’re not scared to communicate what you want. So we’re definitely building trust.” Mississippi State: “He’s been one of the first Power Five’s on me. And it was the head coach [Chris Jans]. He came to one of my games on accident. He just saw me playing and felt intrigued by what I was doing. He just has been reaching out ever since. He actually flew in to come see me while I was at school, got me out of class. He’s just built a great relationship with me. I know he lets his freshman rock. He lets them play and he really believes in me, believes I could be an NBA talent and I am an NBA talent if I continue to put the work in. So just his trust. I’ve built a great relationship with him.” Tennessee: “That’s a great school as well man. Obviously what they’ve done, especially with Dalton Knecht. Just having a great head coach as well. Rick Barnes is an old school coach but they win. They win games and that’s another important thing to me, winning. Obviously, you don’t like losing. So you want to be on a winning team. They have a winning program. Tennessee is a great school. The college environment over there, I’ve been over there, it’s perfect.” Denis has official visits set in stone to Pitt (Aug. 30), Ohio State (Sept. 7) and Michigan (Sept. 21). He doesn’t know who else he will schedule officials with. Denis did say he plans on trimming down his schools to “seven or less” after Peach Jam and then will take visits to all those programs. Denis is ranked the No. 42 overall prospect in the 2025 class by 247Sports. He describes himself as a playmaker and shotmaker. “I’m a two-way player and a great leader,” Denis added. “I can play on the ball and off the ball. And I can play defense as well. Playing off ball. Playing perimeter defense. Making open shots. Things of that nature.” Athletics run in the family as Isaiah’s brother, Jaidyn Denis, plays cornerback at Memphis. Their cousin is Isaac Likekele, who played four years at Oklahoma State before transferring to Ohio State for his fifth and final season of college hoops. A fun fact about Denis is he likes to draw, and that is his No. 1 hobby outside of basketball. “I take art classes,” Denis said. “I just think it’s fun, being able to draw cool stuff and being artistic.” Follow Sam Lance on Twitter Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram And Like ZAGS on FacebookGame one of Peach Jam underway in @TeamFinalEYBL vs. @TeamCp3AAU.
— Sam Lance (@slancehoops) July 12, 2024
Coaches present: Jim Larrañaga with two assistants. Jake Diebler. Jeff Capel. Wes Miller. Norm Roberts. Assistants from Oregon, LSU, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Purdue, Georgetown, Michigan, West… pic.twitter.com/sDoRD1ChsC
