Top of the Rockies: Top Performers 17U

<p>The Top of the Rockies showcase had a ton of talent show out! The 17U teams had a ton of talent who will go on to play in college and many competitive games. Here are our picks for the top performers from the event.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="921100" first="Baye" last="Fall"]- Colorado Hawks </strong></p> <p>If [player_tooltip player_id="921100" first="Baye" last="Fall"] is playing in a local Colorado tournament you can bet on that he will be a top performer. The number 3 sophomore in the nation lead his team to an undefeated weekend while playing up. The 6’11 forward/center dominated inside, using his height to finish over defenders. Baye also runs the floor extremely well for a big man and was able to finish many fastbreaks with highlight dunks. On the defensive end of the floor he is always using his length to effect shots and scare defenders away from the rim. Also Baye added a post up fade away jumper to his arsenal which is almost impossible to block, especially if the defender is not 6’11 (which most aren’t). There is not to much to say about Baye that has not already been said, he is dominant and has a very bright future.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="618878" first="Derik" last="Pranger"]- Roughriders GIVE</strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="618878" first="Derik" last="Pranger"] is having one of the best stock boosting seasons of anyone in Colorado right now. While we knew who Derik was before we had not seen him ball out like this before! Derik is a real 6’7 wing who uses his height and lightness on his feet to move past defenders his size with ease. From three point land Derik is a great shooter who hits many contested shots. When driving to the basket he has a creative set of moves where he mixes together floaters, layups, and dunks. Derik also on the defensive end uses his length to bother defenders and block shots. When thinking of high upside Derik is probably the first player that comes to mind in the 2022 class, we are excited to keep tracking his progression this AAU season.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1047503" first="Dylan" last="Forbord"]- Colorado Collective </strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1047503" first="Dylan" last="Forbord"] this weekend was getting whatever he wanted when near the basket and could not be slown down. Dylan has a great set of moves when at the basket, he is a guard he uses under valued post moves to create space and hit shots over defenders. At the wing position Dylan has good height standing at 6’4 and is a natural athlete who just seems to know how to get a bucket. While he uses a bit of post moves he thrived when finishing with layups at the rim, defenders struggled to match Dylans athleticism as there were a few times when he finished above bigger defenders with tap out layups. This was definetly a huge stock boosting weekend for Dylan as he showed us what he has to offer as a scorer.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1047502" first="Jayden" last="Washington"]- Colorado Anarchy</strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1047502" first="Jayden" last="Washington"] is yet another player who has been playing his best basketball yet this AAU season. Jayden is a wing with great size, he stands at 6’6 and has a broad frame that uses to get smaller defenders out his way. This past weekend he kept up the trend of shooting it very well from the outside, this makes it very hard to prepare for his match up as he can score from all three levels. Despite looking skinny Jayden bangs inside well and is great at finding a body and boxing out defenders. Jayden was one of the top scorers in the event, and continues to improve every time we see him.</p>