By SAM LANCE
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — One of the biggest stock risers of Nike EYBL Peach Jam may have been top-125 forward Spencer Ahrens of UPlay Canada. The 6-foot-8, 215-pound Ontario native out of Sunrise Christian dominated opposing defenses and scored in a number of ways to lead UPlay Canada to a 4-1 pool play record. UPlay eventually fell in the quarterfinals of bracket play.
Ahrens best game may have come against the Oakland Soldiers, who feature two No. 1 overall prospects in AJ Dybantsa (2025) and Tyran Stokes (2026). The Soldiers ended up making the Peach Jam championship game.
The forward was a huge reason why UPlay nearly upset the Soldiers in a physical battle. He controlled the paint and hit several tough shots while operating in the post and playing through contact. UPlay ended up falling to the Soldiers 73-65.
Spencer Ahrens of @UPLAYCanada against the Oakland Soldiers today…
— Sam Lance (@slancehoops) July 17, 2024
– 18 pts
– 7/20 FG
– 2/6 3FG
– 6 rebs
– 2 ast
A prospect I have my eyes on moving forward. He can hoop. pic.twitter.com/N8BS8c0vcX
For the tournament, Ahrens averaged 13.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists across six contests. He also shot 40.8% from the floor and blocked five shots. He said staying aggressive offensively has really allowed him to unlock the next level of his game this summer.
“Getting to my spots, being decisive where I want to score,” Ahrens said. “Like mostly getting my shots off the pop, figuring out where I want the ball in the post, the mid-range. My fadeaway. Just where I want to get the ball. So I’ve been working on that and how to hunt my shots, be more aggressive.”
Ahrens added he is mostly known as a skilled and versatile forward.
“I can shoot the ball, dribble,” Ahrens said. “And I’d say probably the most underrated part of my game is my passing, my vision as well. Just doing everything at my height.”
When Ahrens was interviewed at Peach Jam, he said there honestly weren’t many schools involved in his recruitment contacting him often.
“They’ll start picking up,” Ahrens said at Peach.
Since then, the forward has reported offers from Illinois, George Washington, Rhode Island and Eastern Michigan. Ahrens has also previously posted offers from Xavier, St. Bonaventure, Seton Hall, Harvard, Georgetown, Nebraska, Missouri, Michigan, UMBC and Ohio — but these were all extended in 2023. Arizona State offered in March of this year as well.
Illinois looks to be warm with Ahrens, as he will officially visit campus starting Aug. 1. His teammate on UPlay Canada this summer, Will Riley, committed to Illinois and enrolled early in late June.
Ahrens told ZAGSBLOG on Tuesday he’s heard from some west coast schools as well like Boise State, Santa Clara, Utah State and Stanford.
Ahrens has only taken two other visits at this point in the process: unofficials to Michigan and Michigan State. Both of these schools are close to his current home about 30 minutes west of Toronto. It’s also noteworthy the offer and visit to Michigan was before the new coaching staff with Dusty May.
Both of those visits were broken down by Ahrens at Peach Jam:
Michigan: “It was great. Great schools, great facilities. Obviously different coaching staff now. With coach [Juwan] Howard, it was great. He played my position, kind of played like me. So he had great vision for me. That’s what I liked about that school.”
Michigan State: “I like to win. So that’s huge for me. Great coach who’s been there forever. So he’d have a plan for me as well.”
Ahrens doesn’t have any other official visits set up right now besides Illinois.
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