Grind Region Finals: Show-Me-State Top Shooters

Curtis Wilkerson

July 29, 2019 @ 08:29 PM

The Show-Me-State was well represented at the Grind Region Finals in Wichita, KS over the weekend. Several Missouri teams had strong showings, and even more prospects caught the eyes of our scouts and college coaches. Here is a look at some of the sharpshooters who connected from long distance with regularity throughout the weekend:   Rico Singleton - St. Louis Blazers If you've watched the Blazer this spring/summer, then you know they like to play fast and they like to shoot the three. Their roster is littered with shooters who are capable of filling it up in any given game, but Rico stood out as one of the most consistent throughout the entire weekend and was a key contributor in his team's run to the semifinals. Rico knocked down multiple three-pointers in every one of the Blazers games in Wichita and really impressed with the variety in which he can dial it up from long distance. He is a must find in transition. If you lose him getting back, he will make you pay every time. He is knock-down off the drive and kick and can create space, pull-up, and bury it off the dribble.   Bradyn Porter - All Missouri Attack Bradyn had a pretty solid weekend overall and caught our eye in an opening round upset over Boykins Basketball Academy where he connected on five three pointers, some of which from well beyond the arc.. At 6'3 with a long wingspan, Bradyn is able to elevate and connect over the top of defenders.   Drew Wheeler - Victory Ministry Blue 17U Wow, what a weekend for Drew Wheeler. This young man is an absolute sniper. I was able to catch their opening round game on Friday afternoon and Drew caught my eye knocking down several three-pointers and displaying deep range. Little did I know, I probably saw his least impressive game of the weekend. He followed that performance up with a memorable Saturday in which he buried a total of 15 three pointers in two games. He is an elite shooter and one to keep an eye on when the high school season rolls around.   Cohl Vaden - Victory Ministry Blue 16U Cohl's performance in Wichita Friday night was impressive for a number of reasons. First of all, he has been recovering from an upper body injury that impacted his ability to shoot for quite some time. Secondly, he is a 2022 prospect playing up a year. Excuses aside, Cohl drilled 9 threes in Friday night's game on 11 attempts. According to his team account, he was 7-7 in the first 6 minutes of the game and hit 3 in a span of 38 seconds. Cohl is a confident player, with a very quick release and NBA range already. He is a special talent.   Daniel Abreu/Maurice Grayer - Missouri Flight Blue 17U Expect to see these two names in several of our lists throughout the week, as they were consistently two of the top performers on a Missouri Flight team that wrapped up a fantastic grassroots season this weekend. Both of these young men can score the ball at a high level, but I am extremely impressed with the improvement and confidence they are showing from beyond the arc compared to what I saw at the Blue & Gold in December. Take their Sweet 16 game for example, where MO Flight was battling from behind most of the game and each of them buried clutch three after clutch three to keep them within striking distance.   Connor Robertson - KC Pacers Blue 17U Connor is a big time shooter that served as a very important floor spacer for the KC Pacers Blue squad that made a deep run into Championship Sunday. In an upset win over Missouri Flight, he knocked down multiple triples and was able to find space and connect from range in the quarterfinal against a loaded Dallas Showtyme squad. He has good size at about 6'4 and does an excellent job of reading defenses and finding open space on the perimeter to free up his looks from beyond the arc.