GBCA Live Session II: Must-See Performers Pt 1

<p>As we all emerge from a covid-interfered year, LakePoint Sports hosted the GBCA Live Period Sessions the past 2 weekends, with Session II finishing up three more days Sunday. It was a truly amazing event filled with teams and players to watch and a great opportunity at last for kids to play in front of the full gamut of coaches across all divisions.</p> <p>Here’s Part 1 of some of the ballers who I couldn’t take my eyes off of Friday and Sunday:</p> <p><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="810375" first="Seth" last="Hubbard"], 6-3, CG, 2022, St Francis</strong></em></p> <p>Perhaps the day’s top overall performer with an array of scoring that showed he’s ready to be THE guy for SF at last, knocked down the 3-ball, drove it past all comers and defended the ball like the D1 talent he is, he can play either guard spot proficiently and be super effective, when he decided to turn it up offensively from any level he was virtually unguardable, with 2024 stud [player_tooltip player_id="1129814" first="Trentyn" last="Flowers"] (below) coming aboard this immediately puts the Knights right back into the thick of the A-Private title chase.</p> <p><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1129814" first="Trentyn" last="Flowers"], 6-7, SG, 2024, St Francis </strong></em></p> <p>As mentioned above his arrival as a transfer in Alpharetta is a monster-get for the Knights, together with Hubbard he’ll make one of the better 1-2 punches north of the Perimeter, great length and movement for a young player together with a basketball acumen that is apparent, he knows where to be and how to score it under duress or afforded a good open look, can seriously guard the rim and defend multiple spots, an absolute rising star and with high D1 aspirations.</p> <p><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="996829" first="Kyle" last="Greene"] Jr, 6-2, PG, 2024, Pace (pictured above)</strong></em></p> <p>Wow was all I could say after my first extended look at Greene this weekend, for a still young 2024 guard he checks all the boxes - serious penetrator who sliced up defenses all weekend, a crafty scorer with plenty of size and strength already as an incoming soph, can pull up in the open floor and knock down the J or use his exceptional handle to get two more dribbles in for a pull-up or floater, just what a Pace club needed with so many graduation-losses after another state title, All-World 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="677695" first="Josh" last="Reed"] (quite possibly the spring’s best performer in my eyes) has been making it look easy yet still needed a top PG to facilitate, 2024 wing [player_tooltip player_id="1054788" first="LJ" last="Moore"] gets better every time out as a hustle guy who is sneaky skilled as a face-up scorer and there are other complementary pieces that will certainly make Pace a very tough out again.</p> <p><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="870149" first="Robert" last="Cowherd"], 6-4, SG, 2022, Grayson</strong></em></p> <p>This well-documented embarrassment of riches for the Rams looked solid this weekend now with almost everyone back from ’20-21 and a year of playing together under their belt, Cowherd looked particularly smooth and strong and back to his Denmark days 2 years ago when I first saw him and frankly thought he was a top 15 overall player in the ATL-Metro at that juncture, his fitness looks excellent, the burst off the bounce is back and the pretty jumper was prime and sleek from multiple spots, Buford-transfer 2022 CG [player_tooltip player_id="598748" first="Caleb" last="Blackwell"] is so good he steps right into an already stacked lineup alongside explosive 2022 PG [player_tooltip player_id="1050037" first="Tyrese" last="Elliott"], 2022 forward [player_tooltip player_id="598785" first="Chauncey" last="Wiggins"] is well-known high D1 material and looks to have expanded his range which is a serious problem for defenders, and 6-6 2023 forward [player_tooltip player_id="1045086" first="Chad" last="Moodie"] looks bigger, stronger and more assertive as he’s skilled and will be the main guy alongside Wiggins battling underneath in the 7A wars.</p> <p><em><strong>Major Freeman, 6-2, PG, 2022, Archer</strong></em></p> <p>Always a blast watching Archer play for the teamwork, unselfishness and ferocious defense all the way up the floor, Freeman epitomizes that well and does it from a backcourt already packed with stars, fellow 2022s 6-5 CG [player_tooltip player_id="1227057" first="Damoni" last="Harrison"] and 6-4 SG [player_tooltip player_id="870169" first="Christian" last="Drummer"] have been piling up the headlines with their exceptional play this spring and early summer so Freeman had to be superb to stand out and he was, love his physicality and willingness to drop down and play a pseudo-forward role for a tigers team without a ton of size, with scouts pouring into the gym to see Harrison and Drummer put on a show most nights Freeman can really up his own stock by doing all the sound and solid things he does scoring, defending and handling the rock.</p> <p><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1215449" first="Lidon" last="Pate"], 6-0, CG, 2022, Tri-Cities</strong></em></p> <p>Like several teams all weekend Tri-Cities is breaking in some new faces as transfers and Pate is one, he looked super-smooth stroking it from deep, love the confidence and vocal leadership he’s already taking despite explosive scoring guard 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="870187" first="Simeon" last="Cottle"] returning from last year, teams with Luella-transfer 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="948820" first="Kory" last="Mincy"] to make for a brutally tough trio with Cottle to deal with at both ends, 6-9 2022 Will Norwood and 6-7 2023 Sandy Creek-transfer [player_tooltip player_id="1201501" first="Eltramon" last="Smith"] will provide the size with Smith already having shown off some of his multi-level scoring skills with Wood Elite this spring.</p>