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LaVar says LaMelo Ball returning to high school hoops

2017 CIF State Boys Open Division Championship - Chino Hills v Bishop Montgomery

TORRANCE, CA - MARCH 14: LaMelo Ball #1 of Chino Hills High School shoots the ball during the game against Bishop Montgomery High School at El Camino College on March 14, 2017 in Torrance, California. (Photo by Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images)

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LaMelo Ball is back!

The youngest member of the Ball family announced on Tuesday that he will be returning to the high school ranks, joining Spire Academy in Geneva, Ohio, to get diploma and compete at the high school level once again.

Ball spent last season playing professionally for BC Vytautaus in Lithuania before spending the summer playing in the Junior Basketball Association (JBA), a league for players that wanted to bypass college and get paid to play basketball after high school. Prior to his foray into the professional basketball, Ball was a top ten prospect in the Class of 2019, playing for the same Chino Hills HS program that his older brothers, Lonzo and LiAngelo, played for.

According to a report from ESPN, Ball is eligible to play in the high school ranks because he was never paid to play in Lithuania or in the JBA.

What’s interesting about this move is that Ball likely will not be on a team where he can play the kind of daddy-ball that he has been accustomed to. Spire has some talented kids on the roster, including a point guard committed to Michigan State (Rocket Watts) and five-star forward Isaiah Jackson.

I know everyone is tired of the Ball family, but LaMelo has a chance to be an NBA player. He’s 6-foot-7 (and still growing) with point guard skills, he can shoot and he gets more athletic as he grows into his body. He’s got a chance, but on a team with a bunch of tough and talented kids from Detroit, I doubt we’ll see him firing up shots from 38-feet, never getting back past halfcourt on defense and feigning interest in running an offense.

We should get a chance to see just what LaMelo Ball is as a player with Spire.