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Demarcus Henry, O’Neal Delancy headline Mamba Invitational top performers

A final hurrah for grassroots basketball, top-ranked high school players showcased their talent at the Mamba Invitational.

Krysten Peek, for NBA.com

Team Resilience celebrates following winning championship at Mamba Invitational. Photo courtesy of Greg Stein

LOS ANGELES – The Mamba Invitational is the finale of the summer for the top high school players in the country. There were 35 players invited to participate in the Nike Skills Academy that took place an hour outside of Los Angeles where the players ran through drills with former NBA coaches and current NBA players like Jazz forward Jaren Jackson Jr., Magic guard Anthony Black and Wizards center Anthony Davis.

The three-day camp was highly competitive and it led into a two-day tournament in downtown LA, just outside Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center), the house that Kobe Bryant built over a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. This is the fourth year of the Mamba Invitational and the atmosphere continues to be incredible. The tournament games are played on an outdoor court right in the middle of LA Live with the bright lights and city skyline as the backdrop.

“This is the best way to end the summer and we’re all here with the Mamba mentality and getting everything we can out of this week from some of the people that were around him [Kobe] and coached him,” Beckham Black, the No. 1-ranked incoming high school senior, told NBA.com. “He’s one of the best to ever play the game and it means a lot for all of us to step on this court and compete.”

Black’s squad, Team Obsession, fell short in the championship game to Team Resilience in a commanding 64-47 win. It was Missouri commit Scottie Adkinson and five-star wing Demarcus Henry that shined for Team Resilience, combining for 33 points.

Vanessa Bryant and her daughter, Natalia, were there watching the championship game and handed out medals and the MVP award at the end of the game. It was a night that had current NBA players sitting courtside while watching some future NBA talent take the court.

Here are the top performers from the 2026 Mamba Invitational.

Demarcus Henry, Class of 2027

Henry has had a busy summer and is coming off a strong performance at the ABCD Camp in Phoenix last weekend. If he’s fatigued at all from the long summer season, it didn’t show. The 6-foot-7 wing brought the intensity on both sides of the ball and really set the tone early on in the championship game when he forced two turnovers in the backcourt and converted on layups at the other end. Henry was contesting shots and defending every position off the switch and finished with 16 points, three rebounds and three steals in the championship game.

Henry is down to a final eight schools of BYU, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, Ohio State (where his older brother plays football and older sister plays basketball) and UConn.

Scottie Adkinson, Class of 2027

Adkinson went home with MVP honors after being the floor general for his squad all weekend long. When they needed a big shot, he would nail it. When the game was on the line, he made the winning drive. In the semifinals game, Team Resilience didn’t score a single point in the third quarter and looked completely out of sync. It was the guard play of Adkinson, five-star Aden Diggs and Henry that willed the team back in and chipped away in the fourth quarter. They were down by two points with seven seconds to go and Adkinson drove the lane, was blocked by Lewis Ovwo (the No. 1 high school center in the country) and Diggs flew in for the putback, tying the game with the clock running out.

In overtime, it was all Adkinson as he connected on six of the team’s 11 points in the two minute OT as Team Resilience came back and got the 47-39 win over Team Fearless.

Adkinson is already committed to Missouri and current star freshman Jason Crowe Jr. was sitting courtside watching him play. “Scottie is killing right now and making Mizzou look really good,” Crowe said. “He’s so quick with how he gets shots off, he’s getting to his spots and finding his teammates. I love to see it.”

Beckham Black, Class of 2027

Black is the No. 1 player in the incoming senior class, according to 247 Sports, and it was in the semifinals game that he showed why he’s considered the best in the class. Team Obsession didn’t lead the entire game and was down by one point with 11 seconds remaining. Black had the ball in his hand and split the defense at the top of the key and hit a tough floater over two defenders, giving his team the one-point lead while time expired. Over two games he averaged 11.5 points, five assists and only one turnover. His older brother Anthony was sitting courtside supporting his brother all weekend and has been in the gym throughout the spring and summer coaching him on his team, AB Elite, on the Nike EYBL.

Black is still uncommitted and has a scheduled fall visit to Texas set with North Carolina, Duke, Miami, Arkansas, USC, Michigan, BYU and others in the mix.

Lewis Uvwo, Class of 2027

Uvwo is coming off an MVP performance from the ABCD Camp last weekend and followed that up with an outstanding performance at the Mamba Invitational. He was the most exciting player to watch over the weekend and challenged everything at the rim. The 6-foot-10 center, originally from Nigeria, played AAU ball with Nightrydas Elite on Nike’s EYBL and led the league in blocked shots, averaging 5.7 per game. Over the course of two games at the Mamba Invitational, Uvwo recorded 13 blocks and nearly had the game-saving denial at the rim in the semifinals before Aden Diggs scooped up the rebound for the game-tying bucket.

Uvwo is the biggest riser of the spring and summer where he skyrocketed from the 94th-ranked prospect to now the No. 7 player in the class, according to 247 Sports. He holds offers from Duke, BYU, Florida State, UCLA, Baylor, Alabama, Arkansas and others.

O’Neal Delancy, Class of 2027

Delancy is coming off a Peach Jam title with the Florida Rebels where he was a part of the backcourt duo with Cayden Daughtry, one of the top guards in the country and the MVP of Peach Jam. Delancy made his own statement at the Mamba Invitational when he led his team with 17 points in the finals. He was hitting step back threes, getting downhill and finishing over multiple players when they hedged off ball screens.

Delancy holds over 25 Division I offers and has visited Maryland, Ohio State and Florida over the summer. Florida State, Houston, LSU and Miami are also involved.

Micah Gordon, Class of 2027

Gordon’s team missed out on the championship game but he was absolutely the best scoring guard on the court all weekend. The 5-foot-10 point guard plays bigger than his listed size and found ways to manipulate defenders and finish through contact in both tournament games. He led all players in scoring, averaging 18.5 points per game and shooting 70% from the field.

UConn is his most recent offer after the second live period in July. Villanova, TCU, Auburn, Maryland, Georgetown, UCLA, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State and Rutgers are all in the mix.

Colton Hiller, Class of 2028

The No. 1 slot in the incoming junior class is up for grabs after AJ Williams elected to reclass up to the 2027 class last week. Hiller and Yann Kamagate are the two vying for the top spot and Hiller has been a consistent three-level scorer all summer long on the EYBL for PSA Cardinals. He played up a division on the 17U circuit and was instrumental in the team’s success during the regular season. He has great positional size as a 6-foot-6 wing and incredible scoring instincts, letting it fly from all over the court. Hiller averaged 14.5 points and capped off a great summer showing before entering his junior year.

Duke, UConn, Florida, Villanova, Alabama, Auburn and Indiana are all in the mix for the five-star out of Pennsylvania.

Chase Branham, Class of 2027

The biggest surprise of the week at Nike Skills Academy and the pair of games at the Mamba Invitational was Branham. The 6-foot-4 guard can hit shots from all over the court and it was Jazz guard Keyonte George who was continuously pulling Branham to the side during drills to give him pointers and little tweaks on how he moves off ball.

Branham is committed to Indiana and he hit the first three shots for Team Relentless in the semifinals that forced the defense to extend and allowed other players to operate freely in space. Branham had a great summer with KC Run GMC and averaged 16.7 points per game and shot 45% from three-point range. He’s the No 21-ranked player in the class, according to 247 Sports, and was very impressive at the Mamba Invitational with his shot creation and the way he gets to his spots with ease.

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