If there were any hesitations, any questions regarding what Edrice “Bam” Adebayo brings to a basketball court, they were addressed during the 2015 Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy earlier this month.

Taking the court with 11 of the country’s top high school athletes, the Northside standout was a man amongst boys, throwing down gravity-defying dunks, rejecting opponents’ shots and impressing both national and international scouts. From basic intangibles to basketball intelligence to overall flair, Adebayo is the complete package for any college looking to add a 6-foot-9 big man of an elite caliber.

Over the last few months, rumors as where Adebayo will play his final season of high school ball have surfaced. Now, those rumors have become a choice — to play out his final season at Northside or to transfer to a preparatory school, a contender, which matches up against high-level competition.

In Italy, Adebayo was Team USA’s leading offensive producer at 11.3 points per game (34 total points). Among the leaders were Rawle Atkins, a 6-6 shooting guard from Christ the King in Brooklyn, Kobi Simmons, a point guard from St. Francis in Georgia, Frank Jackson, a point guard from Lone Peak High School in Utah and DeRon Davis of Overland High School in Colorado.

All of the showcase’s top performers either hail from an elite private school or play public school ball at the 5-A level (Jackson and Davis). In fact, all of the athletes that suited up for Team USA played at or above a 2-A level (private schools included). For 1-A, Adebayo was the lone representative.

At the same time, the 17-year-old forward was also the showcase’s top performer, proving that despite coming from a small 1-A school in Beaufort County, he can still play with the best high school players in the country. Class aside, his game speaks for itself.

But the question isn’t whether or not he can perform at a high level. The decision at hand is mostly geared toward improving his overall game.

The Coastal Plains Conference, one that featured four formidable squads in 2015, including the 1-A state champion and the eastern regional runner-up (Northside), is a star-studded table losing a great deal of talent to graduation. First place East Carteret graduates three of its four top athletes in Ty Simmons, Sam Johnson and sharpshooter Jacque Brown, who averaged 23.6 points per game last season, leaving behind rising senior Trevor Willis as the last of the Mariners’ experienced perimeter threats.

Southside is losing its dynamic guard duo in Rashaun Moore and Donshae Miller, while Pamlico County, one of the favorites to compete for a conference title in 2015, returns its top-two scorers in Daquan Dudley and Josiah Simmons.

In an interview earlier this month, Adebayo’s trainer and advisor Eric Peartree spoke of progression, not regression, as being the No. 1 priority in whether or not Adebayo will return next season. Peartree is focused on preparing his pupil for basketball at a collegiate and professional level. The conference will still be viable next season, but will not be set up to challenge a player with NBA ability.

“His attitude is changing,” Peartree said. “He’s got the mindset that he wants to win. He was just playing, enjoying the game, going through the motions, but now he wants to win. He wants to be the man. That’s the mindset he has now.”

Adebayo’s allegiance to his hometown is what likely kept him from transferring earlier in his high school career. After multiple interviews, there’s little question he loves his school, feeds off his local fan base and continues to crave that elusive state championship, which would be the first in history for Northside basketball.

While the Coastal Plains Conference offered a high level of competition last season, Adebayo regularly gets a taste of the bright lights by playing for Team Loaded, a AAU squad currently ranked No. 1 in the country. He’s taken to the hardwood in places like Washington D.C. and New York City, dominating against the highest level of competition on the biggest stages.

The idea of transferring schools is hardly unheard of among the country’s most coveted athletes. Andrew Wiggins, the sponsor for Team Loaded, made a similar move in 2011. An explosive multi-sport athlete at Vaughan Secondary School in Toronto, Wiggins made the move to the Huntington St. Josephs Prep, a basketball-centered preparatory school in West Virginia, after his sophomore year in 2011. There, he blossomed into the country’s leading basketball talent, averaging 23.6 points and 11.3 rebounds per game in two seasons.

On the other hand, for Adebayo, the situation is a bit different. As the No. 8-ranked prospect in ESPN’s Top 100 recruits for the Class of 2016, he’s already earned the reputation as the most feared big man in North Carolina, a natural force inside the paint and, now, a threat from the perimeter as well. His game is, as many scouts have reiterated, of collegiate and professional quality.

Dennis Smith Jr., a 6-1 guard who plays with Adebayo for Team Loaded and is currently ranked No. 4 in the Class of 2016, attends Trinity Christian School in Fayetteville. Adebayo reuniting with his AAU point guard for high school ball would apply chemistry that’s already been built to the high school level, though signs of that move have yet to surface.

Rumors aside, there’s still much to play for at Northside — unfinished business, a town, a fan base and, most importantly, a legacy. With regional teams like East Carteret losing key players, Adebayo’s return to Pinetown would almost surely make the Panthers one of a handful of favorites to compete for a 1-A state title.

Beaufort County hasn’t seen a basketball talent like Adebayo since Dominique Wilkins and Alvis Rogers brought Washington High School to its feet in the late-70s. For the last three years, Adebayo has packed Northside’s gymnasium, brought the national spotlight to Pinetown and given fans a show like no other.

Beaufort County has had the luxury of hosting one of the nation’s top athletes for three seasons, that much is certain.

Whether he sports the Panthers black and white next season or a jersey of another color, Adebayo deserves our support.