Atlas Begins in Bradenton
Prolific Prep needed a late basket to win its opener. SPIRE won its two games by a combined 74 points. Both left Bradenton unbeaten, along with Orangeville Prep and Mega Superbet.
BRADENTON, Fla. — The state-of-the-art IMG Academy hosted 12 games over three days to open the inaugural Atlas season, drawing NBA scouts, college coaches and media to evaluate some of the world’s top prospects born between 2007 and 2011.
With teams playing anywhere from one to three games, those early records only tell part of the story. Here’s where all 11 teams stand and what stood out from each in Bradenton.
What Bradenton showed us about all 11 teams
Prolific Prep (3-0)
DME took Prolific down to the final possession on Wednesday. The Crew won its next two games by a combined 52. Top-10 2027 Nasir Anderson led Prolific in points, rebounds and assists in the opener, and five-star Providence-bound big man Lewis Uvwo closed the weekend with 27 points on just 14 shots and six blocks against Žalgiris. Top-25 St. John's commit Malachi Jordan seemed to play better each game, and fellow five-star 2028 guard Michai White fit well alongside the Crew’s primary options. The five-star seven-footer Bamba Touray is expected back from injury soon. How Prolific uses him alongside Uvwo will be something to monitor closely.
SPIRE Academy (2-0)
SPIRE forced more than 25 turnovers in a 47-point win over Varese on opening day. A night later, IMG had a different problem: five-star LSU-bound King Gibson and top-30 Houston commit Darrell Davis combined for 49 points, and SPIRE turned it over just seven times in a 90–63 win on the event host's home floor. Anyone paying attention expected a Kevin Boyle team to get after it defensively, but the level of ball pressure SPIRE sustained in Bradenton was special.
Five-star Syracuse pledge Moussa Kamissoko and defensive specialist Mo Keita combined for 23 points and 17 rebounds against IMG, and SPIRE still has a few frontcourt pieces to get back off the IR, headlined by David Johnson, a top-five prospect in the 2029 class. That’s an embarrassment of riches for a team that’s still not at full strength.
Orangeville Prep (2-0)
2027 Kyree Taylor was one of the best guards in Bradenton. He had six assists and five steals in Orangeville’s win over Ulm, then exploded for 30 points on 8-of-12 shooting against Varese, along with five assists and six steals. Sophomore guard Praise Badejo led the Bears with 19 in the opener, and 2027 JK Mach gave both opponents problems on the glass. He had a double-double against Ulm and finished with 11 offensive rebounds across the two wins.
Mega Superbet (2-0)
Petar Bjelica had one of the most impressive showings of anyone in Bradenton. The 2009-born forward went for 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists against Žalgiris, with 2008-born guard Marko Savic adding 10 assists of his own. Bjelica was somehow even more efficient against Sunrise Christian, scoring 24 on 10-of-14 shooting in a tight 64–62 win.
Sunrise Christian (1-1)
Sunrise shot 35% against Mega and still came within a basket of leaving Bradenton 2–0. Four-star big guard Aidan Carter poured in 29, and Teke Deng grabbed eight of his 30 Bradenton rebounds on the offensive glass. Deng was just as productive in the win over Žalgiris, where he pulled down 14 rebounds and scored 14 points to share the team lead with Carter and Omaha-bound Boogie Bradshaw. He finished with 30 boards across two games, and against Mega, Sunrise needed just about every one of them.
IMG Academy (1-1)
Four-star guard Malik Olajuwon was one of the few IMG players who looked somewhat comfortable against SPIRE’s pressure. The SMU-bound guard played at his own pace and finished with 13 points and eight rebounds on a night when IMG shot 31% and lost by 27. The hosts had a lot more going against OrangeAcademy Ulm. Michigan four-star commit Lucai Anderson scored 15 and handed out seven assists, Aussie big man Yahya Basaran had 12 and 10, and six players scored at least eight in a 74–52 win.
Pallacanestro Varese (1-2)
After opening with losses to SPIRE and Orangeville, Varese picked up its first Atlas win against a familiar opponent, beating Bassano 85–80. Argentine big man Ivan Prato went for 30 points and 15 boards on just 16 shots for Varese, the club owned by former NBA forward Luis Scola. Estonian guard Robert Kangur added 15, along with some crafty playmaking, in the win.
DME Academy (0-1)
One game was enough to see why we think Troy Fason, Jr. is under-recruited. He hit six threes against Prolific and added six assists, while four-star Alabama commit Yohane Kabongo gave DME another dependable scoring option with 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting. With those two going, DME was within one possession of beating Prolific. Top-60 sophomore guard James Jenkins III provided plenty of encouraging flashes and more help should be on the way with the pending return of four-star forward K’Majay Jenkins.
OrangeAcademy Ulm (0-2)
Ulm’s depth was easy to see, especially for a group this young. Marko Volf and Juom Maker Bol Meen combined for 33 against Orangeville, and Yanu Slingerland and Gustavs Brutans hit seven threes between them against IMG. Ulm made 12 threes in that second game and still finished with just 52 points. With that much shooting spread across the roster, a little more pressure at the rim would go a long way. That’s where we see room for this group to make a real jump.
Orange1 Basket Bassano (0-2)
The appeal of Bassano’s ‘big three’ is that Lapo Santini can run the offense without having to finish every possession himself. He can score inside the arc or set the table, Liam Kabeya gives him a shooter defenses have to account for, and Nicolás Fajardo gives Bassano somewhere else to go for a bucket. The Varese game was the clearest look we got at all three clicking. Santini dished out seven assists, and Kabeya and Fajardo combined for 39. Bassano left Bradenton 0–2, but with those three on the floor, this is not a team to overlook as the season progresses.
Žalgiris (0-3)
Žalgiris had trouble containing Mega and Prolific, but the defense held up better against Sunrise. They held the Buffaloes to just 41% from the field, and Nojus Mistautas went 14-of-15 at the line in a six-point loss. The biggest thing to keep in mind with Žalgiris is who wasn’t in Bradenton. Ignas Stombergas missed the trip to IMG for a college visit and should be back in the lineup at the next event. He’s their unquestioned top player. His return changes what Žalgiris can count on every night and how far this team can go in Atlas.
Where Atlas goes next
The first matchup to circle is Prolific Prep vs. SPIRE on Dec. 6 in Miami, where two of Bradenton’s four unbeatens are scheduled to meet during Sel3ct 305. Prolific is also slated to face IMG on Dec. 2. The European programs reconvene in Varese, Dec. 14–16, before all 11 teams come back together in Kaunas, Jan. 4–8. Orangeville gets Prolific and Mega in Lithuania, putting another of the opening weekend’s unbeaten teams across from two of the others.
From there, the North American regional runs Feb. 5–7 in Geneva, Ohio, followed by All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, Feb. 18–20, and a DME–IMG date on the league slate for Feb. 26 in Daytona Beach. All 11 teams are scheduled to play in the Atlas Finals in Toronto, March 4–7. The official Atlas schedule has the full slate and tip times as they’re announced.
