Regional Rankings: Rounding out the I.E. Top 10

<p>Over the last few months, the Prep Hoops SoCal staff has broken down each ranking update with in-depth pieces on the top players by position, by class and covered sleepers and players to watch across the vast SoCal area.</p> <p>In our latests rankings coverage, we wanted to regionalize the lists a little more, and in this piece we take complete the top 10 players in the Inland Empire region regardless of class with input from our collection of PH SoCal staff writers. These rankings remain consistent with our consensus class rankings published earlier this spring and take into account current impact at the high school level and long-term upside at the college level.</p> <p>6. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="748777" first="RJ" last="Smith"]</strong>, 2022, Damien - Smith impacts the game in a variety of ways from guarding multiple positions, rebounding at a high rate in and out of his area and offensively with his finishing ability and improving perimeter jump shot. Smith is as versatile and reliable of a two-way player you’ll find at the high school level.</p> <p>7. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="972408" first="Chance" last="Stephens"]</strong>, 2022, Riverside Poly - Stephens is a lethal perimeter shooting threat who moves well without the ball and is a perfect fit for the Riverside Poly system. The 6-foot-2 shooting guard is another IE guy who has seen a boost in college interest this spring and, with [player_tooltip player_id="644867" first="Lamont" last="Butler"] graduating and heading to San Diego State, Stephens becomes the go-to guy at Poly.</p> <p>8. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="680250" first="Jaden" last="Byers"]</strong>, 2021, Rancho Christian - Like Knapper who was No. 3 in our top five piece, Byers is one of the more bouncy transition athletes we have in SoCal. The 6-foot-1 lefty point guard is lightning quick on the break, carves his way to the basket and can finish through, above and around length with ease. Byers showed some improvement with this perimeter jumper during his junior season.</p> <p>9. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="680241" first="Daniel" last="Rouzan"]</strong>, 2021, Eisenhower - The 6-foot-8 big man is a traditional post player in an era of hoops that looks to celebrate the stretch four’s and five’s. Rouzan has fundamental interior footwork, great touch with either hand in the painted area and a variety of back-to-the-basket moves in his offensive repertoire. Rouzan is also a big time positional rebounder who averaged better than 16 boards per game last season.</p> <p>10. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="970280" first="Donovan" last="Dent"]</strong>, 2022, Corona Centennial - Dent won’t get enough credit for what he does for his high school team, so we’ll try to reward him for it here. The 6-foot-1 combo guard is a beast of a defender who applies tremendous on-ball pressure and creates countless turnovers with his quick hands. Offensively, Dent is a relentless attacker of the basket who uses his strong frame to absorb and finish through contact in the paint.</p>