Tristan Spurlock (photo. Dustin Snipes)

*Reprinted from Dime #42, on sale now*

After championships are won and lost, the NBA, college and high school basketball lays its foundation in the summer months. With the draft, the AAU circuit and summer camps giving rise to new stars replacing the old — plus the world’s most-watched basketball tournament getting underway in Beijing — we give you this summer’s Players to Watch…

TRISTAN SPURLOCK

Everything has been set in place for Tristan Spurlock to become the next Kevin Durant. Lanky scoring wing with a smooth outside stroke … product of the D.C. Blue Devils AAU program … infiltrating the national rankings at Montrose Christian (Md.) School. Check, check and check. At 6-7, 220, the rising senior Spurlock is visibly more filled-out than KD was/is, and going into this summer already has the interest of a cadre of major programs like Virginia, Georgetown, USC, Wake Forest and, naturally, Texas.

Missing from Spurlock’s resume, though, are the attention-grabbing stats. At Montrose — which in addition to being Durant’s alma mater has also been home to Dennis Scott, Linas Kleiza, Damien Wilkins, George Lynch, Randolph Childress and Curtis Staples in years past — Spurlock plays alongside high-level recruits Isaiah Armwood (Villanova) and Terrell Vinson in the frontcourt, meaning he wasn’t in a position to dominate. As a junior he averaged 14 points per game for the national powerhouse Mustangs. Coupled with the fact that he hadn’t been a major presence on the summer camp/AAU circuit in the past, spending a lot of that time focusing on individual workouts and weightlifting, Spurlock hasn’t yet had his breakout campaign. That all changes this summer.

Spurlock is now playing for the famed Boo Williams AAU machine, and at press time had already been a standout early in the circuit at the Next Level Tournament in Texas and the Boo Williams Invitational in Virginia. By the time he enters his senior year at Montrose, he won’t need to put up superstar numbers to establish himself as a superstar prospect.