UC Irvine Elite Camp: Best Point Guards
Saturday’s UC Irvine Elite Camp was attended by 114 prospects of varying skill levels and projected collegiate ability.
Prep Hoops So-Cal was in attendance at the Bren Events Center and, in this piece, describes the five best point guards that made the trip to Orange County. The prospects are listed in alphabetical order.
Top 5 Point Guards
Joshua Belvin (St. Anthony – 2019)
Belvin is strong, physical and knows how to use contact to his advantage. The 6-foot-1 rising junior is adept at getting defenders on his hip and keeping them there as he probes the lane and creates for himself or teammates. Belvin is difficult to stop with a full head of steam and finishes well through contact.
John Clausell (St. Monica – 2019)
At 5-feet-5, Clausell is one of the smallest guards you’ll find in Southern California, but he plays with plenty of confidence to make up for that. The St. Monica floor general showed a high IQ coming off of high ball-screens, making sound decisions on when to set up a teammate or get his own look. Clausell plays with good pace and has the ability to change speeds and direction on a dime.
Rejean “Boogie” Ellis (Mission Bay – 2019)
We’ve covered Boogie at length, and whether it’s been camps or club ball with San Diego All-Stars, Ellis has had a dominant spring and summer. His performance Saturday earned him an offer from UC Irvine and his combination of explosive scoring ability and pinpoint passing make him a bonafide Division I prospect.
Jordan Nowden (Marina – 2020)
Nowden is, perhaps, one of the more under-the-radar prospects in all of Southern California. The 5-foot-5 rising sophomore has a lot of wiggle to his game and uses change of pace to get into a potent mid-range jumper.
Neil Owens (Loyola – 2019)
Of the five players depicted in this piece, Owens may be the closest to a true point guard. It’s easy to see that the 5-foot-11 rising junior is thinking the game one step ahead of most others on the court, he kicks the ball ahead with an advance pass and knows how to work off the ball, whether it’s via a timely cut or good screen. Owens had a number of impressive off-hand finishes on the day, as well.