By: Anthony Oliva, NBADLeague.com

SANTA CRUZ, CALIF. — Act 1 in Santa Cruz is in the books. The day started with a few thousand children flooding Kaiser Permanente Arena for what likely was, for many of them, their first glimpse of NBA D-League action, and the day end ended with a familiar site for the hometown faithful — a Santa Cruz win.

For a league supposedly dominated by wing play, this day was categorized mainly by strong performances in the post. Bakersfield’s Earl Barron shined from the jump with a 30-20 performance, top prospects JaMychal Green and Willie Reed went toe-to-toe in the second game and it was, among others, a pair of Santa Cruz big men — Ognjen Kuzmic and James Michael McAdoo — that spearheaded a Warriors runaway victory in the nightcap despite a valiant effort from Canton center Arinze Onuaku.

It wasn’t all about the big men, though, so here’s a complete recap of Day 1 of NBA D-League Showcase presented by Samsung.

PLAYER OF THE DAY

Earl Barron, C, Bakersfield: A well-known name in basketball circles, Earl Barron, at 33 years old, is making a strong case for a Call-Up and another stint in the NBA. In the first game on Thursday against Texas, Barron poured in 30 points while grabbing a league-wide season-high 23 rebounds — his sixth game this season with at least 30 and 10. Barron also helped lead the Jam to a victory in the opening round of the first-ever Showcase Cup. Next up for the Jam is the Skyforce in the Showcase Cup semifinals on Saturday.

CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF TOP PERFORMERS

TOP VIDEO

PROSPECT WATCH

NBADLeague.com will update the Prospect Watch each day during Showcase. Here is a look at three Prospects that saw their stock rise on Day 1.

Lorenzo Brown	Andre Dawkins	Arinze Onuaku
PREVIOUS: UR / CURRENT: 27	PREVIOUS: 30 / CURRENT: 15	PREVIOUS: 28 / CURRENT: 26

GO TO FULL PROSPECT WATCH RANKINGS

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Bakersfield’s Earl Barron (33 years old) after Thursday’s game: “A lot of these guys take this for granted. They don’t realize how easy they got it right now”

FULL COURT PRESS

• NBA Veteran Earl Barron Showing Young Bakersfield Jam the Ropes READ MORE
• JaMychal Green Shows Why He’s One of League’s Elite Bigs READ MORE
• #CallWillieUp: NBA Prospect Willie Reed Using Hashtag, Game to Land Contract READ MORE
• Andre Dawkins Makes Opening Statement with 33 Points at Showcase READ MORE
• Follow the Buzz at Showcase READ MORE