Friday, July 19, 2019

Waynesboro native Brandon Gardner was invited to the most prestigious camp in the nation for rising ninth graders despite playing less than two years of organized basketball

Waynesboro native Brandon Gardner, a 6-5 Freshman with a wingspan of 7 feet


The CP3 Rising Stars Camp, which will be held this weekend in North Carolina, has become "the platform for incoming high school freshmen to have their talents tested and recognized on a national stage," according to the event's website. It's hard to argue with that because further evidence can be found on the site, which shows on its "CP3 Hall of Honor" page the names and images of many NBA draft picks and college basketball stars among the former campers. And the claim made about the camp being the most well attended by high school hoops media companies is nicely backed up on its media page as well.


As you can see in the tweet above, last week's Nike Peach Jam tournament featured a notable camper from the camp's 2016 session, Brandon Boston Jr. (AOT, Norcross HS). Boston is ranked #7 in the class of 2020 by ESPN, and he represents further proof that Chris Paul's brain child probably is "the first major step toward a successful high school basketball journey and beyond."



The list of this year's attendees, which was determined after a review of more than 10,000 travel basketball players, includes another camper named Brandon. But unlike Boston, Brandon Gardner, who grew up in Waynesboro before moving to South Carolina last year, is not yet a household name. In fact, the 6-5 fifteen year old has defied any "reasonable" expectation for what he could accomplish before entering high school by being invited to this weekend's camp. For even though he helped lead Bethune-Bowman's high school team to a South Carolina class 2A state semifinal round finish as an 8th grader last season, Brandon was cut from from the Burke County Middle School team less than 24 months ago when he tried out as a 7th grader who at the time had never before played organized basketball.

From playing in the dirt to playing on the big stage


Brandon Gardner in Waynesboro in 2012



Even though he showed promise playing in that league some 22 months ago, I don't think anybody would have predicted he would enjoy the kind of success he has had between then and now:

Since then Brandon has grown to be 6-5 with the wingspan of a 7 footer, he has been gobbling up recognitions left and right, and in ninth grade he will attend Gray Collegiate, a South Carolina high school hoops power.

Below former Westside state champion, Duke star and NBA first round draft pick Will Avery praises Gardner:


"Although he never played organized ball, he always played in the dirt in the yard," Gordon further explained to me when I asked about Brandon's recent progress. "He's always loved the game."

For fostering Brandon's development, Gordon credits not only Avery's developmental league, but also Rich Cook, Brandon's first organized basketball coach in that league, as well as Darius Wiley, Brandon's AAU coach who will take him to this weekend's camp, which can be followed on a live stream feed at WatchSUVtv.com.

Coming soon: More standout incoming freshmen from the area



Gardner's story proves that hard work and good fortune can transform today's beginners into tomorrow's stars. So it is impossible to know today which rising ninth graders will make an impact at the high school level in the years to come. But what I can and will do soon is show you which players have caught my eye while playing exceptional basketball on the summer circuit and during the middle school season right before that. I have a list of more than 10 players who will be featured soon in that post.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)