Isaiah Briscoe is putting up numbers this summer

High-level grassroots basketball is nothing new to Isaiah Briscoe. The 6’3 guard from New Jersey has played in Nike’s EYBL circuit all four years of high schoo, and the experience payed off in a big way at the most important event of the summer.

Briscoe led the New Jersey Playaz to the championship at this year’s Peach Jam. Even if Ben Simmons used the stage to establish himself as the best prospect in the class of 2015, there wasn’t a player more productive than Briscoe, who was the standout performer at the event all weekend long. Briscoe’s near triple-double in the title game against a talented Team Penny (Tenn.) squad was the perfect cap to an all-around dominant effort at the South Carolina event.

Briscoe finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in the championship game victory, besting the Memphis-based squad that includes the Lawson brothers.

Briscoe hardly did it all by himself. The New Jersey Playaz also boast Moustapha Diagne, a 6’8 big man who has committed to Syracuse and is No. 44 in the class of 2015 according to ESPN. KeVaughn Allen is another top 50 incoming senior, and the 6’3 guard is set to play at Florida a year from now. But even if the Playaz had plenty of talent, Briscoe was the clear alpha dog for the team throughout the event.

He seemed pretty excited about it:

Only Allonzo Trier scored more than Briscoe’s 22.4 points per game. Briscoe’s development as a playmaker has been even more impressive. Briscoe has been considered a pure scorer since arriving on the national scene, but he’s taken steps toward becoming a point guard rather than a combo guard.

Briscoe averaged five assists per game throughout the EYBL season after averaging only 2.8 assists on the circuit a year ago. It’s been a conscious effort by Briscoe. In high school, he’s simply too physically mature for opposing guards to handle, but he won’t always have that advantage in college. Honing his passing ability and the way he sees the floor will the key development he faces as he enters college. His wide lower body and strong build is reminiscent of another former member of the New Jersey Playaz -- current Raptors guard Kyle Lowry.

Briscoe is currently rated the No. 20 player in the class by ESPN. His list is down to Arizona, UConn, Louisville, Rutgers, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova.

Everything Briscoe has done since the end of his junior season at Roselle Catholic has proven he is up there with Jalen Brunson of Illinois as the best point guard in 2015. Dropping 61 points in one game last month certainly didn’t hurt, and neither did the hardware that comes with a terrific all-around effort at Peach Jam. He’s a name to watch as the July evaluation period hits the home stretch.