Louisville high school standouts learn from time on one of biggest stages in youth hoops

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — When he played with the Western High School boys basketball team, Jayden Miles liked to go by the nickname, "The Boogieman."

When he was running the court with Mac Irvin Fire on this year's Nike EYBL E16 circuit, his role was different — he was more like, "Next Man Up."

"Sometimes, you just gotta take a backseat," said Miles, who averaged 8.7 points on 62.2% shooting with 9.6 rebounds across 27 games during his sophomore season with the Warriors. "You gotta learn how to play with good players, because that's how it is in college."

Miles never stopped grinding when Western's season came to an end with a three-point loss to DeSales in the 22nd District Tournament. The first EYBL session tipped off April 21 in Cartersville, Georgia; and after turning in 7.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 16 minutes per game during the Indy Heat's 1-3 start to the circuit, the 6-foot-8 forward decided he needed a change of scenery and joined the Chicago-based Fire.

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Traveling solo to Chicago for weekend practices and session preparations was a grind — but also an eye-opening experience, Miles said. He got to immerse himself in a big city and the "gritty" style of basketball for which Chicago's known, then put his skills to the test against lauded 2025 recruits such as Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer in front of a who's who of Division I coaches during live evaluations periods.

"It definitely boosts my confidence," Miles said, "because I'm on the floor with two potential No. 1 picks in the (NBA) draft, so it's like, 'I can be there. I'm already here.'"

Miles was one of three Louisville high school hoopers cutting their teeth in the lower age brackets at Peach Jam, an annual tournament — frequently attended by the likes of LeBron James and Kentucky's John Calipari — marking the end of the EYBL circuit. Joining Miles there in the the E15 division were sophomore guards Cole Edelen (Male) and Jayden Johnson (Trinity).

"It's been crazy being on EYBL, being around all the top talent," said Edelen, who as a freshman trailed only his older brother, Western Kentucky commit Jack Edelen, in scoring with 15.9 points per game on a team-best 44.4% clip from 3-point range. "To be in this spotlight, to be on this platform, you gotta take advantage of it."

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Each member of the trio is garnering interest from Division I programs.

Miles, who visited Louisville during the spring with Western teammate Elijah Clinton, said he has been in recent communication with Marquette and Northern Illinois after receiving scholarship offers from Ohio, Southeast Missouri and Western Illinois in 2022.

Murray State has been inquiring about Edelen, who picked up offers from Stony Brook and Jacksonville State over the past year and has aspirations of following Louisville native D'Angelo Russel's path to Ohio State.

Johnson has reported via social media offers from Cincinnati, Missouri, Texas A&M, West Virginia and Xavier. At Peach Jam, he told The Courier Journal that Arkansas, Indiana and Memphis have started reaching out, too.

After returning from one of the biggest stages in youth hoops, the trio of Louisville talents looks to build on what they learned this season on the circuit.

"My (basketball) IQ — just trying to get that higher," said Johnson, who averaged 10.6 points on 40.7% shooting with 4.4 rebounds across 32 games with the Shamrocks as a freshman. "And playing the right way, getting my teammates involved."

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Miles, however, won't get a chance to see how the lessons from his summer would have translated at Western. On Monday, he became the latest in a long line of talented players from Louisville to join the prep school ranks, using the connections he forged on the EYBL circuit to earn a spot at Chi Prep Sports Academy in Chicago.

"You gotta be gritty," Miles said. "You gotta really want it to play basketball. If you're not taking it 100%, then you can't play."

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Peach Jam 2023: What Louisville high school basketball stars learned