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Seven players to watch at Asheville Championship college basketball tournament

evan gerike, asheville citizen times
·3 min read

The Asheville Championship returns to Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville this weekend, bringing high-profile men's college basketball matchups to the third-year tournament.

The tournament begins at 7 p.m. Friday when Maryland and Davidson meet, followed by Clemson vs. University of Alabama at Birmingham at 9:30 p.m. Consolation and championship games are scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, respectively.

Each game will feature players among the best in their conference. Here are seven players to watch from Maryland, Clemson, Davidson and the UAB.

Maryland

Jahmir Young, fifth-year guard: Young was one of four players unanimously selected to the preseason All-Big Ten team. Young, in his second season with the Terrapins after transferring from Charlotte, averaged 15.8 points last year on his way to an All-Big Ten second-team selection.

Young led Maryland to the NCAA Tournament last season, where the No. 8-seed Terrapins scored a first-round victory over West Virginia before falling to No. 1-seed Alabama.

Julian Reese, junior forward: A year after finishing as an All-Big Ten honorable mention, Reese joined his teammate on the preseason All-Big Ten team. Reese averaged 11.4 points per game, tied for second on the team, and 7.2 rebounds per game, good for first. Reese also shot a team-best 63% from the field and blocked 42 shots.

Maryland guard Jahmir Young (1), who averaged 15.8 points per game last season, is a unanimous preseason All-Big Ten selection.
Maryland guard Jahmir Young (1), who averaged 15.8 points per game last season, is a unanimous preseason All-Big Ten selection.

Clemson

PJ Hall, senior center: Hall has started 56 of his 63 appearances during the past two seasons, averaging more than 14 points and nearly six rebounds per game. The preseason All-ACC first-team selection will be the Tigers’ engine as they look to return to the NCAA Tournament for the third time since 2011.

Hall opened his season with a 20-point performance against Winthrop to get Clemson to a 1-0 start.

Joe Girard III, graduate guard: The Asheville Championship will provide an early look at Girard in a Clemson uniform after he transferred from Syracuse and switched orange hues ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Girard started all but two games in his four-year Syracuse career and is a 36% career 3-point shooter. He averaged 16.4 points per game last season with the Orange.

Davidson

Grant Huffman, senior guard: The Wildcats’ team captain returns after averaging 9.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in 32 games last year, all starts. Huffman is the leading scorer among returners for Davidson this year.

Jarvis Moss, junior guard: The Concord, North Carolina, native returned to the Tar Heel State this season after transferring from Stanford. Moss didn’t appear much for the Cardinal, averaging just 1.8 points in 12 games, but shot 43% from beyond the arc.

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Eric Gaines, junior guard: Gaines was named to the American Athletic Conference’s preseason All-Conference first team.

Gaines is the leading producer among UAB’s returners from last season. The 6-foot-2 guard from Lithonia, Georgia, averaged 11.2 points, 4.3 assists and 3.4 rebounds a season ago.

Behind Gaines, UAB reached the NIT championship before falling to North Texas. Gaines also has NCAA Tournament experience, appearing for LSU as a sophomore in 2021-22 before transferring to UAB.

Eric Gaines (4) helped lead UAB to the NIT championship game last season.
Eric Gaines (4) helped lead UAB to the NIT championship game last season.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Seven college basketball players to watch at Asheville Championship