ROCK HILL, S.C. — The 2025 Adidas 3SSB Palmetto Road Championships wrapped up on Sunday after five days of high-level grassroots basketball, and there’s a lot to unpack.
Dozens of AAU programs from around the country, featuring several of the nation’s top recruits, converged in South Carolina for Adidas’ 17U, 16U and 15U championships, widely recognized as one of the best grassroots circuits. In Sunday’s championship action, Game Elite (Atlanta, Ga.) took home the 17U title, Team Lillard (Oakland, Calif.) won the 16U tournament and Midwest Basketball Club (Cincinnati, Ohio) grabbed the 15U crown.
Locally, two of New England’s premier grassroots programs – BABC and Mass Rivals – brought their 17U, 16U and 15U teams to Rock Hill. Even though they didn’t come back to Massachusetts with championship glory, Leo Papile and Vin Pastore’s squads both delivered strong performances on the national stage.
There will be plenty of coverage from the weekend, including standouts and player interviews, but here are seven initial takeaways, observations and memorable moments, both from a local and national perspective.
Game Elite a very worthy champion
Coming into the weekend’s premier 17U tournament, there were two undefeated teams in circuit play – BABC and Game Elite, both at 8-0. While BABC dropped its first three games of the year this week, Game Elite emerged as a worthy champion, rolling to six victories in Rock Hill and claiming Sunday’s trophy. Three of those wins came by six points or less – including Sunday’s 72-71 clincher over D1 Minnesota, which they led by 17 at one point – but it never felt like Game Elite lost control in any game. Led by a monster lineup of 6-foot-5 Caleb Holt (ESPN’s fifth-ranked recruit and the Adidas circuit’s top-ranked player), 6-foot-5 Colben Landrew and Georgia Tech commit and 6-foot-11 Moustapha Diop, this team had no holes and could beat teams in several ways.
BABC falls in 17U quarterfinals
BABC, which entered the week with a 34-0 overall record this year, entered this week with high expectations as one of the top seeds and there was some obvious disappointment after falling in the quarterfinals to D1 Minnesota. After winning its first two tournament games convincingly, BABC came out flat, and D1 Minnesota got hot from 3-point range, finishing with 11 3-pointers. BABC dug itself a 17-point hole in the first half, but Leo Papile’s group, led by Amir Jenkins (Worcester, Mass.), kept fighting and clawing back. They trailed by five in the final minute before a wild sequence led to Jenkins’ buzzer-beating 3-pointer to force overtime. Down three with seconds left, Chase Geremia (Madison, Conn.) forced a steal on an inbounds play, and the ball eventually found Jenkins, who drilled a corner triple as time expired.
BABC 17U falls to D1 Minnesota in the quarterfinals of the Adidas 3SSB championships, 80-77, in an instant classic.
Tough loss for BABC after rallying from 17 down to force overtime. Amir Jenkins hit this buzzer-beating 3 to send it to OT.
Jenkins finished with 28 points. pic.twitter.com/eqdkLn6T05
— Steve Hewitt (@steve_hewitt) July 12, 2025
The play, I thought, would give BABC momentum for an unthinkable victory. But D1 Minnesota got an early edge in the extra frame and didn’t let it go. BABC had its chances, and Alex Egbuonu (Nashua, N.H.) — who otherwise had a terrific week — fouling out late in regulation didn’t help matters. It was a tough exit for a group that had bigger goals in its third season on the Adidas circuit.
BABC, with one more live period remaining this weekend in California, holds a 36-3 record following championship weekend. Despite the tournament loss, this team should leave a legacy as one of the most talented in the New England grassroots scene in recent years, buoyed by three nationally-ranked recruits in Jenkins, Egbuonu and Abdou Toure (West Haven, Conn.).
Amir Jenkins chooses to play
After Jenkins announced his commitment to West Virginia on July 1, I assumed the star point guard would not suit up for BABC at the 3SSB Championships, as did many others. But you know what they say about those who assume. Jenkins made the trip and was his typically excellent self as he led BABC to the quarterfinals. Jenkins obviously won’t like the result – he certainly wanted to cap his high school career with another championship – but he encapsulated everything about the player he is by playing and performing the way he did.
Brandon West, one of BABC’s coaches, put it very well in a social media post after the weekend: Jenkins didn’t have to play. He had earned his dream of playing college basketball, and had the option of shutting it down, avoiding an injury and could have headed straight to WVU last week to start his next chapter. But that’s not who Jenkins is. In many ways, it shouldn’t have even been a surprise that Jenkins was in Rock Hill; he’s the kind of player and person to finish what he started. He left it all on the court for his coaches and teammates who had helped him get to this point. That sacrifice, loyalty, selflessness and desire to win should be celebrated, and it’s part of why West Virginia is getting a special player.
Young Mass Rivals 16U squad turns heads
One of the best local moments of the weekend came on Thursday when the Mass Rivals 16U squad upset ETG in a 60-58 thriller to advance to the round of 16. Rivals, which trailed by double digits in the second half, fought back behind the hot shooting of Josh Roux (Andover, Mass.) and big plays from their group of impressive freshmen. Ladanion Payne’s go-ahead layup in which he somehow found a wide open lane to the hoop with one second remaining was the difference.
Ladanion Payne hits the game-winner with one second remaining to lift @RivalsNation 16U to a 60-58 win over ETG here at the Adidas 3SSB championships.
Josh Roux with five 3s in the second half. Rivals clawed back several times to win this one. Great fight. pic.twitter.com/C9zN63x2cZ
— Steve Hewitt (@steve_hewitt) July 10, 2025
Rivals head coach Vin Pastore had a big smile on his face after that win, which showed his group's great resilience. It was even more impressive when you realize this team had five players from the 2028 class playing up a grade, including the New Hampshire quartet of Derek Swartz (Portsmouth, N.H.), Finn McCauley (Portsmouth, N.H.), Wiji Dak (Bedford, N.H.) and Luke O’Connell (Bedford, N.H.). That group each had bright moments throughout the week to help Rivals to an impressive 4-2 record and a berth in the round of 16.
Antonio Pemberton’s rise
The biggest New England stock-riser at this weekend’s 3SSB Championships? It’s undoubtedly Antonio Pemberton (Methuen, Mass.), who had one of the best weekends in the entire circuit. The 2027 guard from Brewster Academy – playing up on the Rivals 17U team for the fourth consecutive year – finished the week as the 17U division’s second leading scorer during the championships at 26.8 points per game, including a 37-point explosion against Indiana Elite. We’ve seen a continued rise from Pemberton over the last few months, and it came to a head on the biggest stage against some of the best talent in the country. Pemberton now holds offers from Rutgers, Maryland, Oklahoma State, Penn State – and he got one from Georgetown after this weekend concluded. I’ll have more on Pemberton this week.
New England held its own
It’s easy, especially since we’re based here, to view basketball in a New England bubble. There is clearly just as much talent in other regions of the country, which was on display this weekend in Rock Hill. But I thought the weekend reaffirmed that New England and NEPSAC is one of the best in the country for high school basketball talent and still probably underrated in some ways.
BABC’s 17U team, as mentioned, had one of the best seasons in the country even if it fell short of its championship goal. They were ranked No. 1 in The Circuit’s national rankings for much of the spring, which takes every circuit into account.
While BABC will say goodbye to Jenkins, Toure and Egbuonu, it was noticeable that there is plenty of young talent in the pipeline coming up in the region. Pemberton has become nationally recognized and the Class of 2028 New Hampshire quartet is already making waves. Vermont Academy star Kamari Whyte led New Heights to the 16U championship, and he looks ready to make another step as one of NEPSAC’s top 2027 stars this winter.
Even BABC and Rivals’ 15U made some noise in Rock Hill. BABC’s Malachi Odugbela (Providence, R.I.) and Xavier McCall (Belchertown, Mass.) were excellent, and Rivals’ Marcus Magloire had a signature game. New England is in good hands with its next chapter of stars.
One parting thought
This was my first time covering any circuit championship weekend, and I was impressed by the quality of the event Adidas put on. The Rock Hill Sports & Event Center, which opened in 2019, is a first-class basketball facility. I love the arena, which holds 1,200 seats adjacent to the seven other courts in the building, and was used for championship games and big matchups. There was plenty of space for college coaches, parents and teams to roam and catch all the action they want. I also liked that the parking garage was free to use and that concessions were relatively cheap; I viewed that as a bone to throw for parents who already have to spend so much money for their kids throughout the AAU calendar. The banners hanging around the facility of Adidas basketball brand players, including Anthony Edwards, James Harden and Damian Lillard, were a cool touch, too. It was a fun basketball environment.
I did have one personal criticism, though, and it had to do with Sunday’s championship scheduling. The 17U championship game was played at 9 a.m., followed by the 15U final at 10:45 a.m. and the 16U title at 12:15 p.m. I thought the 17U championship – which is the main event of the weekend – should have been played in that 12:15 slot, with the 15U and 16U games serving as appetizers.
The 9 a.m. tip was too early for that big of a game, especially considering that D1 Minnesota didn’t finish their semifinal victory until 10 p.m. the night before. Give them some extra time to rest, and let some anticipation and excitement build for the biggest game of the weekend. The environment was unsurprisingly a little dull at 9 a.m., and there were fewer people in the stands for the 15U and 16U games after. I think it would have not only been a better, more excited crowd, but a better game if the 17U game was played at 12:15. But those are just my two cents.
