By ADAM ZAGORIA
James Johns has what Penny Hardaway wants: a championship coaching Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren on the same team.
Johns was the head coach of the Team Final AAU team that won both the Southern Jamfest in Hampton, Va., in May, and the prestigious Nike NKE Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C. in July.
The 6-foot-9 Bates played with the 6-10 Duren on the team that won the Southern Jamfest, but did not play with Team Final at the Peach Jam because he was back with his father’s Bates Fundamental team, although Bates did support his former teammates by sitting behind the bench.
Now that both Duren and Bates have reclassified and committed to Memphis for the 2021-22 college basketball season — something I wrote three weeks ago in this space was expected — Johns believes “the sky’s the limit” for Hardaway’s team, which will be seeking much bigger titles than those found on the grassroots circuit.
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