Watch: Elite basketball prospect completes the greatest 1-second comeback ever
Sometimes, AAU basketball produces the very worst that youth sports has to offer, with things like players brawling with referees.
Other times, it reminds us why it exists when the stars of tomorrow put up monster highlights for us to gawk at while the hype machine gets cranked up for the next LeBron James or Michael Jordan to emerge for a new NBA generation.
And at Nike’s massive Peach Jam event, with recruiters and scouts in the audience, we got the hype machine in all its glory.
Cole Anthony and his PSA Cardinals took on Tyrese Maxey and the Houston Hoops in North Augusta, South Carolina, and the world was watching.
Anthony, the son of former NBA player Greg Anthony, is the No. 3-ranked prospect in the country, drawing attention from Duke and Oregon.
Maxey is No. 7 overall in those same recruiting rankings and will, as soon as he completes his one-and-done at Duke, be coming soon to an NBA draft near you.
Harris, with his team down two and just one second left on the clock, made two free throws to tie the game.
Then, on the ensuing inbound, Harris stole the ball, wheeled around, and without even properly securing possession of the ball, managed to heave it toward the net … where it went in.
As far as getting off insane shots with minimal time to do so, Harris brought to mind Will Barton of the Denver Nuggets, who managed to get off crazy jump shot with 0.6 seconds on the shot clock following a jump ball against the Pacers in 2016.
But to hit two free throws and the game-winner all in just one second of game time?
You can’t teach killer instinct, and Harris has it.
Which is no big surprise. Harris is a recruiting stud in his own right, a four-star recruit headed to Texas A&M, a school that just had Robert Williams drafted in the first round by the Celtics in this year’s draft.
As for the featured attractions, Anthony had 27 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists; Maxey had 18 points and did his part to set up Harris’ heroics by getting a steal on Anthony with 4.2 seconds left to tie the game, setting in motion the chain of events that led to the wild finish.
NBA scouts were put on blast at an AAU game — just maybe not in a way they expected.
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