By ZACH SMART
MEMPHIS – With Miami head coach Jai Lucas, Alabama’s Nate Oats, Kentucky’s Mark Pope, Marquette’s Shaka Smart and Seton Hall’s Shaheen Holloway, among others all courtside during a standing room only crowd, Class of 2027 PSA Cardinals forward Moussa Kamissoko played possessed throughout a 66-57 victory over the NY Rens.
Long and explosive in the open floor, Kamissoko authored a personal 8-0 run to get PSA jump-started.
Following a 3-pointer by Micah Gordon, Kamissoko showed his vastly improved 3-point range as he splashed a deep 3 of his own.
While his offense was notable, Kamissoko has been equally critical with his multi-faceted defensive approach.
“The length that Kamissoko has, him being able to guard multiple positions, he will attack the defensive glass, all of these factors (differentiate him),” said PSA coach Donovan Jones.
“He’s a coach able kid. He is paying attention to all of the little details. He can go anywhere in that SEC conference, in the Big East, the Big 10. How he develops his body will determine a lot, because those are physical conferences.”
PSA’s smothering, wall to wall defensive pressure made life uncomfortable for the Rens in the first half.
After being held to a meager two field goals in the first quarter, the Rens did a commendable job minimizing turnovers and capitalizing on high percentage shots.
Class of 2027 Caleb Ourigou, who brings intriguing college ready physicality at 6-foot-10, turned in a pair of back to back soaring dunks.
Flying in for a monstrous stick back dunk, Ourigou sliced the deficit to two, 30-28 in the waning moments of the first half.
PSA would counter as Gordon finished a hard surge to the rim with nine seconds remaining in the second quarter.
The Rens’ Judah Bontempts buried a mid range jumper on the move to beat the halftime buzzer, as PSA took a 32-30 edge into halftime.
Gordon’s tape measure fall away 3-pointer to culminate the third quarter at the buzzer gave PSA an eight point advantage.
High scoring Class of 2027 Rens guard Anderson Diaz splashed a 3 from the parking lot to cut it to 52-46 with just under five minutes to play in the fourth.
A short range jumper from Kamissiko swelled the spread to 10 and PSA never looked back.
Syracuse, Cincinnati, NC State, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Penn State, and a barrage of others have been in active pursuit of Kamissiko.
Suffocating defensive pressure has long been synonymous with PSA’s identity on the hyper competitive EYBL landscape.
This promising start on the road to Peach Jam has been jarringly similar to four years ago, when a PSA team anchored by Boogie Fland (Florida) and Yves Missi (Baylor/NBA) routinely neutralized formidable foes and held them under their scoring average, en route to an 8-0 start through Session II.
While this is an entirely different team, it was a bit of de ja vu on Saturday.
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