One of the biggest shoe circuit AAU events is in the books. The Adidas 3SSB Palmetto Championships took place throughout the week in Rock Hill, SC.
Hubert Davis and his staff were just some of hundreds of college coaches in attendance to watch to some of the top high school players in the country. Several of the very best that Adidas had to offer have either gotten offers from North Carolina, or are getting serious consideration.
From pool play action to Sunday afternoon's Championship Game there was plenty of for the North Carolina coaches and fans alike to take in during one of the biggest grassroots weeks of the year.
Some might say the tournament did not start in earnest until Friday. That was when the elimination rounds began. But the biggest news making event to date was the arrival of Koa Peat. The 5-star power forward, and second highest ranked player on the Adidas side skipped Compton Magic's first three games in order to rest up after a dominating performance for Team USA in the U17 World Cup Championship in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Magic squad was still plenty good enough to get into the playoffs without its best player. J.J. Mandaquit and Alijah Arenas are stars in their own right. But the band was back together Friday morning against Southeast Elite in the Sweet 16. This was enough to bring out the likes of Hubert Davis, Bill Self, John Calipari, Kelvin Sampson, John Scheyer, Tommy Lloyd, Mark Pope, Jake Diebler, and Shaka Smart just to name a few.
Peat had 21 points on 8 of 14 shooting in the 75-71 win. He also grabbed 7 rebounds to go along with 3 blocked shots. Mandaquit and Arenas both added 16 points.
That brought up an Elite Eight matchup later that evening against Darryn Peterson and Team Phenom. Compton pulled away in the second half to the extent of an 81-60 thrashing. Peat had an impressive double-double of 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists.
After Friday's action, Jason Jordan wrote, "Peat was strong in the paint, finishing through contact and the combination of his footwork left the opposition with no answer."
Next up was the Indiana Elite in Saturday afternoon semifinal action in front of an absolute packed house of coaches and fans. Four quarters would not be enough. Compton Magic fought to the bitter end, but they came up short 72-68. Peat had 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Over the three game stretch, Peat averaged 23.3 points, 7.3 rebounds.
There is a pretty obvious comparison to Peat which Jason Jordan addressed over the weekend when he wrote on some of the top players in Rock Hill.
"Peat’s ability to bring the ball up the floor then break down his man off the dribble and finish efficiently at the rim had coaches on the sidelines buzzing about his similarity to Paolo Banchero."
Team Loaded VA 17U brought a perfect record to South Carolina, and they did not slip up in the opening rounds, although they had some nervous moments. They opened the tournament Tuesday with a 72-66 win against Jalen Green Elite. Nate Ament played like a top-ten talent. He went for 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks.
They battled their way to another six-point victory on day two of the tournament. Team Loaded outlasted the Mass Rivals 63-57 on Wednesday. This time Ament did put together a double-double. He posted 16 points, and 11 rebounds to go along with 4 blocked shots, and 2 assists.
Team Loaded got it's third six-point win in as many days on Thursday as they dispatched Team Tradition 64-58. Ament put together his second double-double in a row. He raised his scoring and rebounding numbers up to 19 and 12 respectively to go along with 4 blocks and 3 steals.
Team Loaded opened the playoff round of the Adidas event with one of their tightest games of the season against the New York Gauchos. Loaded squeezed out a 73-70 win. Next up was a 74-67 win against Power Five in the quarters. Ament went for double-double number three with 12 points, and 13 boards. He had 4 assists and 3 blocks to boot.
The Utah Prospects were next up on the agenda in Saturday' semis. Loaded entered as a relatively strong favorite, but they came up on the wrong end of a low scoring 52-47 decision in what had to be considered a big upset. Ament had 15 points, and 16 rebounds.
Although all of his numbers were not available, but were accounted for. From those statistics, Ament averaged 17.6 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 3.8 blocked shots.
Jordan assessed afterwards, "His ability to produce from the wing and on the low block at 6-foot-8 was a devastating combination all game. Ament’s length, footwork and touch made him impossible to stop."
Indiana Elite headed to Rock Hill with a perfect 13-0 record on the Adidas circuit. They were the victim of a huge upset on day one to Team Phenom and Darryn Peterson. Braylon Mullins struggled with his outside shot in Tuesday's loss. He only made 3 of his 12 three-pointers in his first game back from a concussion. He still accounted for 16 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and a pair of steals. Malachi Moreno added 8 points and 10 boards.
Surprisingly, things didn't get better on Wednesday, but went farther south instead. They were overwhelmed by New World 78-57. Indiana Elite gave up a combined 51 points to the backcourt tandem of Grant Polk and Aiden Argabright. Mullins responded on an individual basis however. He scored 20 points, and made four of eight three-point attempts, while Moreno put together a double-double of 13 points and 10 boards.
The Elite finally got back on the winning track in game number three on Thursday. They put together a resounding 88-72 victory against Team One of Us. Mullins had another big scoring outing with 22 points, as well as 5 assists, and 4 rebounds.
The bunch from the Hoosier State never had to break a sweat in Friday morning's Sweet 16 game. They pulled away to a 63-42 victory over Team Lillard. Mullins had 12 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. Moreno was a force on both ends. He scored 20 points, and also blocked 5 shots. He combined for 9 boards as well.
The winner's reward was a quarterfinal game against Team Loaded NC just a few hours later. Loaded had a last second win in the morning, and just couldn't get out of the starting gates later that day. The Elite cruised to a 68-48 victory. Mullins erupted for 22 points on 6 of 11 three-point shooting. That gained him an Arkansas offer immediately after the game.
Indiana Elite and Compton Magic turned out to be a monster Final Four game on Saturday. As we reported in the Koa Peat section, the Elite squad pulled out a 72-68 overtime victory. They needed Malachi Moreno, and they got him in a big way. He posted an overwhelming double-double with 21 points and 16 rebounds. He made 10 of his 16 shot attempts. Mullins had 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. He knocked down a pair of three-pointers.
After the game Jason Jordan wrote, "Moreno’s motor remained in overdrive, impacting the game on both ends of the floor on and off the stat sheet."
Sunday was the Adidas finale as Indiana Elite moved into the Championship game against last year's champions, the Utah Prospects. The group from the Hoosier State would have to settle for the silver ball. Utah repeated by the score of 61-51. Ikenna Alozie had 15 points for the Prospects, and once again the ultra-athletic guard proved to be one of the very best players in the 2026 class. Moreno had 6 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds.
Mullins led the Elite with 22 points on four of ten shooting from three-point range. He picked an offer from Duke after the game. He averaged 18.1 points for the event.
Jason Jordan obviously came away with the guard's bucket getting capabilities. "Mullins’ ability to move without the ball is elite and his efficiency on all three levels makes him one of the most dangerous scorers in the league."
