Esprit gives England U-18 a boost

Incoming men's basketball freshman Simeon Esprit has been the hottest part of a not-so-hot U-18 England team at the European Championship in Bulgaria.

England missed the cut for the quarterfinals after losing in group play to Belgium, Denmark and Portugal. They'll now battle it out in the 9th-19th place bracket behind Esprit, who has been a bright spot for the team.

He's averaged a team-high eight points, with 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in the tournament. He scored 11 in a win over Estonia (a team that did make the quarters), hitting the game winning jumper with 31 seconds remaining. He also nailed a game winner with three seconds remaining in overtime to beat Georgia earlier this week.

If you care to see how Esprit does through the second half of the tourney, Hoopsfix has more.