2021 Rankings Update: Breakout Candidates (Part I)

<p>Members of the Prep Hoops SoCal staff put their collective minds together to come up with the most comprehensive rankings the region has to offer for the class of 2021. In keeping with our content theme of breaking down this rankings update, in this piece we take a look at some lower-rated prospects with a chance to rise over the next year.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="951214" first="Uriyah" last="Rojas"]</strong>, Los Osos - The 6-foot-1 Rojas has elite feel and vision at the point guard position, and if he continues to build upon the offensive success he had his junior year, he’ll be popping up on high D2 and low D1 radars. Our 64th ranked prospect is at his best when orchestrating offensive, probing the lane and setting up teammates for open shots. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="747094" first="DJ" last="Allen"]</strong>, St. Anthony - Allen comes in at No. 63 mainly because he missed his entire junior season due to injury, and because of that, dropped in the rankings from where he was as a sophomore. There’s no doubting Allen’s potential on the wing as he showed big time promise over the summer as a "three and D" guy with his ability to stroke perimeter jumpers and guard multiple positions on the other end. At 6-feet-7 with good length, Allen has the prototypical D1 frame and we’re interested to see how he bounces back next season.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="680247" first="Adam" last="Hinton"]</strong>, Harvard-Westlake - Hinton played solid bench minutes this season as the Wolverines’ glue guy. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard played a complimentary role on a team loaded with standout seniors and showed the ability to knockdown open shots, play stout on-ball defense and wasn’t afraid to get his nose dirty on the defensive glass or diving on the floor for a loose ball. Hinton will see a bump in minutes next season as Harvard-Westlake graduates three starters, meaning he will get plenty of opportunities to jump up in the rankings from No. 68</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="951230" first="Sheldon" last="Grant"]</strong>, Aquinas - The 6-foot-2 point guard impacted every aspect of the game for Aquinas last season, scoring 19 points per game, while adding 9.7 assists and five rebounds. Grant has impressive feel with the ball in his hands and uses that to control the pace of any game he’s in. Grant is a high-level passer in transition and half-court settings, doesn’t over-handle on the perimeter and shot a solid 48 percent from the field, while leading the Falcons to 27 wins for the 2019-20 season.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="951217" first="Nico" last="Meza"]</strong>, Foothills Christian - Meza was a consistent double-figure scorer for the Knights during his junior season and will have even more scoring opportunities as a senior. The 6-foot-4 wing has good size and physicality for the position uses those traits when slashing and finishing through contact around the basket. Meza is also a consistent threat from three-point range off-the-catch as he hit better than 40 percent of his triples last season.</p>