By ADAM ZAGORIA
LaMelo Ball and his Spire Academy teammates will play at both Hoophall West and Hoophall East, sources told ZAGSBLOG.
Spire will face Bella Vista Prep on Dec. 7 in Hoophall West (7:30, ESPN+), and then will meet Our Savior New American Jan. 19 at the Hoophall East at Springfield College.
Ball, the 6-foot-7 guard who initially committed to UCLA, is back in the high school ranks after stints playing professionally in Lithuania and with the Junior Ballers Association.
He has said he hopes to play at a top American college like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky or Michigan State, but it remains unclear if he’ll be eligible for college.
LaMelo Ball’s First Game For Spire by @overtime https://t.co/4cN5SfakeP
— iloveball.com (@iloveball_com) November 21, 2018
LaVar Ball, the player’s famous father, said recently of LaMelo: “He’s the most entertaining, most notable high school player ever. People say that he’s better than LeBron, [Michael] Jordan — anybody.
“Nobody knew LeBron when he was in high school in London. In Germany. In Latvia. In Lithuania. The social media wasn’t like that. Melo was in the social media era where it blows everything up to astronomical proportions.”
The @HoophallClassic schedule is out and your boy LaMelo Ball is playing on Saturday, as we first reported this week. pic.twitter.com/DFq0n6o2Db
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) November 30, 2018
Jermaine Jackson, who played in the NBA for the Pistons, Raptors, Hawks and Knicks and is now the Spire head coach, says Ball could be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft in a couple of years.
“In my opinion, LaMelo Ball can be the No. 1 pick in a year or two going to the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Jackson told TMZ Sports.
“Ain’t no question about it.”
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