Player Spotlight: Felipe Quinones

In terms of upside and potential, 2026 Felipe Quinones’ ceiling is extremely high and that is why he is next up in our “Player Spotlight” series. I saw Quinones earlier this summer and walked away in awe of his skill-set for his size and the type of potential he has. Standing at 6’1, Quinones can do it all at the middle school level as he has a very advanced handle for someone of his age. We were able to catch up with his coach Mike Jelinsky to talk about what it is like coaching Quinones and the next part of his development…

“Felipe is probably one of the easiest kids I have ever had to coach. When he first came to us, to keep everything smooth he had to come off the bench even though he was probably our best player so right away I figured out that he had no ego, he is humble and embraced the position where he had to come off the bench. He will do whatever it takes to win and that is one of the reasons why he is a very special player.”

Everything Quinones gets is from his hard work and Jelinsky has been super impressed with the work ethic Quinones has and part of that is from the good family Quinones comes from.

“His work ethic is at the top of the list of all the kids I have coached and a lot of that is because of his parents.  They make it possible for him as they are always taking him to different places and they are sacrificing their lives to get him where he needs to be.”

Usually at this young of an age, all the kids want to do well at is offense but Jelinsky loves the type of defense Quinones can bring while he is on the court.

“He can play at the top of the press, top of the zone, he can be a matchup nightmare because of his size.”

Jelinsky continued to describe the role Quinones plays for him.

“He really plays the one through five for me. If we go small, he can play the five but he can also be a point guard and bring the ball up if we have a bigger lineup. I love using him at the top of our diamond press on the ball. Teams have trouble getting the ball in because he is so long and athletic, he is either tipping the ball, stealing the ball or we are trapping our opposition immediately.”

There is always room for improvement and especially at this age. Jelinsky touched on what he would like to see Quinone’s work on to improve his game.

“From the first year to the second year I had him, he transitioned from a center to a guard basically overnight, it was incredible. If he keeps on improving his handle and shot, I really think he can be one of the best guards at the next level during his time in college.”

Stay tuned for more from Prep Hoops Next!