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Before they team up at Arkansas, Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas faced off in a scrimmage on Thursday, ahead of Saturday's Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon. Acuff will play for Team USA, while Thomas will play for a local team that went against the all-star USA squad.
Several NBA executives present at the scrimmage saw Acuff's skills. It also caught Thomas' attention, who shared the highlights of his future teammate on his Instagram Story on Friday and captioned it:
"Backcourt gon give nightmares and headaches real soon @dariusacuff5."
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Both Acuff and Thomas were McDonald's All-Americans, though they played for opposite sides. Meleek Thomas played for the winning West squad, while Darius Acuff Jr. made a valiant effort for the losing team, the East. The game was on Apr. 1, which meant this scrimmage before the Nike Hoops Summit would be the second time the two faced off this month alone.
The Nike Hoop Summit is an annual all-star game for high school hoopers worldwide. It will be in the USA vs. the World format, and Acuff will be joined by fellow five-stars Nate Ament, Cameron and Cayden Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, and Koa Peat for Team USA. Team World will include Tajh Ariza, Kiyan Anthony, Shonb Abaev, and Tounde Yessoufou.
Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas will have one more team-up before heading to Arkansas
After the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon, Meleek Thomas and Darius Acuff Jr. will get to try and work together before they officially come under John Calipari's wing at Arkansas. This will happen on Apr. 18 during the Jordan Brand Classic, where the two Arkansas signees will play for Team Flight.
Like the McDonald's All-American game and the Nike Hoop Summit, the Jordan Brand Classic is an annual all-star game featuring some of the best hoopers. The two Arkansas recruits will team up with BYU signee Dybantsa and Houston signee Chris Cenac Jr.
They will take on Team Air, which will have Duke signees Cameron and Cayden Boozer, Syracuse signee Kiyan Anthony, and Kansas signee Darryn Peterson.
