Jarvis Varnado Stands Out at Adidas Nations, Unveils Offensive Game

The summertime basketball evolution of Mississippi State’s Jarvis Varnado recently continued at the Adidas Nations camp, which took place in Dallas, Texas back in mid-August.

If you’ll recall, Varnado has already taken part in two of Nike’s Skills Camps, led by Amare Stoudamire and LeBron James, during the latter of which, Varnado went up against King James and Chris Paul in a pickup game.

At Adidas Nations, Varnado came under the tutelage of current NBA players Antawn Jamison (Washington Wizards), TJ Ford (Indiana Pacers), Josh Smith (Atlanta Hawks), Kyle Lowry (Memphis Grizzlies), Desmond Mason (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Raymond Felton (Charlotte Bobcats). Also according to the Adidas Nations press release, Paul Silas, Detlef Schrempf, Terry Stotts, Larry Krystowiak, Lionel Hollins, Frank Johnson, Ed Schilling and Dwane Casey acted as regional head coaches for participating teams.

Jarvis was one of three players from the SEC to participate in the camp, the other two being Scotty Hopson and Tyler Smith from Tennessee.

Aggrey Sam of Slam Magazine highlighted Varnado as one of his 10 standouts in an Adidas Nations Wrap-Up:

Somewhat of a sleeper nationally, the soft-spoken Varnado was arguably the nation’s most intimidating defensive force last season, but his surprisingly skilled offensive game was a welcome revelation, as he showed he could step out to hit jumpers, maneuver for buckets on the block, run the floor for dunks on the break and finish with power.

Of course, Sam also cited Scotty Hopson as being a standout….I have a feeling the loss of Hopson will continue to hurt for a while. But the bright side is that Jarvis Varnado continues to build excitement among Bulldog fans heading into the 08-09 college basketball season.

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