Two Kansas basketball newcomers attend NBA champion Tatum’s camp in Las Vegas
Kansas Jayhawk newcomers AJ Storr and Rylan Griffen were two of 14 college men’s basketball players who attended the invitation-only Jayson Tatum Elite Camp last week at Coronado High School in Las Vegas.
The camp, which is for the top high school and college wings in the country, was led by Tatum, who recently helped the Boston Celtics claim the 2024 NBA title. He was joined by other NBA player instructors that included Chris Paul, Paolo Banchero and Isaiah Thomas.
Other college players at the camp included: Isaiah Evans, Duke; Jayden Ross, UConn; Cameron Carr, Tennessee; John Poulakidas, Yale; Fletcher Loyer, Purdue; Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State; Adou Thiero, Arkansas; Dailyn Swain, Xavier; Payton Sandfort, Iowa; Drake Powell, North Carolina; Jarin Stevenson, Alabama and Kon Knueppel, Duke.
Storr is a 6-7, 205-pound junior from Rockford, Illinois. He played at Wisconsin last season and St. John’s his freshman year of college. He was a second-team all-Big Ten player a year ago.
Storr, who started all 36 games, averaged 16.8 points per game on 43.4% shooting. He hit 48 of 150 3-point attempts for 32%. He also contributed 3.9 rebounds per contest. He averaged 22.5 points per game (in four games) during the 2024 Big Ten Tournament, which included a career-high 30 point performance against Northwestern.
“Kansas’ AJ Storr was a tough iso(lation) cover at the Tatum Elite Camp (in scrimmages),” Jon Chepkevich, director of scouting for Draftexpress.com, wrote Monday on social media site X.
“(He) leveraged his strength to displace defenders and create separation (with) limited dribbles for rising midrange pull-ups. He got where he wanted out of islands on the wing and the baseline mid-post.”
Griffen is a 6-6, 190-pound junior from Dallas. He is a transfer from Alabama, where he was a starter for the Crimson Tide’s Final Four team.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello called Griffen “one of the best shooters in the transfer portal.”
Griffen as a sophomore started 33 of 36 games. He averaged 11.2 points a game on 45.4% shooting. He was 74-of-189 from 3-point range for 39.2%. He made 48% of his 3s during the postseason.
Griffen also scored double-figures in 18 games, highlighted by a career-high 21 points at Kentucky and at home vs. Missouri. He averaged 12.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists during the NCAA Tournament while shooting 50% percent from the field and 48.1% from 3-point range.
During SEC play, Griffen averaged 12.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He dished a career-high eight assists in Alabama’s defeat of Clemson in the Elite Eight He made three or more 3-pointers in 11 regular-season games.
Draft Express’ Chepkevich did not offer a comment on Griffen’s play at the camp.
Of Iowa State’s Momcilovic, however, Chepkevich tweeted: “Momcilovic stood out at the Tatum Elite Camp with his combination of size and shooting. At 6-8 1/2 with a buttery release, he was able to get his shot off over just about anyone at the camp. Had a really long stretch holding the court in one-on-one action.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2024 at 7:20 PM with the headline "Two Kansas basketball newcomers attend NBA champion Tatum’s camp in Las Vegas."
