An In Depth Conversation with an Insider about the Peach Jam Preparation and Experience of AOT's Sharife Cooper, Brandon Boston and Dylan Cardwell

AOT, the Atlanta based AAU team that captured the attention and adoration of so many local fans during their 4-2 run in last week’s Nike Peach Jam, which finished when the Runnin’ Rebels fell in overtime to Boo Williams Saturday in the quarterfinal round, had on its coaching staff Augusta native Michael Stokes. Stokes has a long history of coaching on the Nike EYBL circuit and in the Peach Jam. So he is the perfect person to talk to about Sharife Cooper, AOT's dynamic point guard who dominated the competition last weekend, and about his teammate Brandon Boston, ESPN's #7 ranked player in the class of 2020, who resembles some of the game's best ever players. Stokes also has a unique perspective about what it will take, for example, for the next local player to make an impact on a stage like the Peach Jam, because Mike has worked closely with some of the best guards to ever play in Georgia, like Colin Sexton, Ahmed Hill, Ricky Moore and Vonteego Cummings.

Those are the topics discussed in the interview above, which began with me asking him these two questions:

1) The play at the Peach Jam of AOT’s Sharife Cooper has captured the imagination of basketball fans here. He has become the favorite player of so many fans of all ages. His "resume" includes a MaxPreps national high school player of the year award and several honors from the EYBL for his play on the circuit. He seemed to me to be the most dominant player on the court when AOT played Pro Skills, and also when they lost in overtime to Boo Williams in the quarterfinals.

But I look at his ESPN recruiting profile and see Cooper ranked #19 in the class of 2020. Why do you think he is ranked where he is, as opposed to something more like in the top 3 or 5 or something like that, and what does an analysis like this really mean when it comes to how much success a player might have at the college level or even in the NBA, if he is fortunate enough to have that in his future?

2) I recently shared my opinion that Aiken High School’s RJ Felton is currently in the best position of all of the area’s standout players to make an impact in 12 months in a tournament like the Peach Jam. You actually coached RJ last weekend in the Peach State Summer Showcase. And in last week’s Peach Jam, you were the assistant coach for AOT, which included Evans High transfer Dylan Cardwell in its starting lineup. And in addition to all that, you coached the last area player before Cardwell to make a major impact in the Peach Jam when Aquinas and Virginia Tech standout Ahmed Hill led your then Southern Stampede team to an E16 Peach Jam runner up finish in 2012 after a double overtime loss in the championship game.

What will RJ, or other area players, or even younger aspiring hoop dreamers, need to do to give themselves a chance to play on the biggest stage in high school basketball?