Top 250 Expo: 5 Most Impressive 2023 & '24 Prospects

Carrolton, Texas was the host of our most recent Prep Hoops Top 250 Expo and it brought out some of the most prominent, competitive, and talented basketball prospects in the state of Texas. This exposure camp gave many underrated recruits the opportunity to showcase their skills, gain exposure, and experience while competing against the best of the best. The day was filled was action and highlight reels from every grade level from Freshmen to Seniors. Here we take a look at 5 of the most exciting and most impressive Sophomore and Junior prospects from the day. <hr /> Top Performer <img class="size-medium wp-image-1294739 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/09/62-Anthony-Bates-Jr.-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />[player_tooltip player_id="1217934" first="Anthony" last="Bates Jr"]. | Combo Guard | Katy Seven Lakes HS | C/o 2024 [player_tooltip player_id="1217934" first="Anthony" last="Bates Jr"]. dominated the competition and let it be known why he’s one of the top-ranked 2024 recruits of his class. Everything he did was extremely smooth, under control, precise, and effortless. Bates Jr. played as if the game has completely slowed down for him to the point where he was able to make anything happen on the floor at any moment. This young baller proved to be extremely efficient with a high-quality basketball IQ. Bates Jr. made an abundance of plays off the bounce and he did it all without over-dribbling or dominating the ball. A selfless ball-handler that took pride in keeping his teammates involved, always hitting cutters, open guys in the corner, and teammates trailing behind on the fast break. Elite facilitator with a creative passing mindset, great eyes, phenomenal touch, and he tosses the ball around equally as well with either hand. He touched the paint at will either for the bucket or the dish, Bates showed off his impressive body control any time he penetrated the lane, stepping around and breaking through tight spaces with ease. Great footwork and ball-handling skills, Anthony reacted to defenders reaching hands and choppy feet exceptionally well, having a counter move ready for whatever came his way. Bates Jr. seemed to have a stint in each game where he nailed at least 3 or 4 long jumpshots in a row. He looks as if he’s developing into a knockdown perimeter shooter, his shooting mechanics were terrific, his release was fluid, his shooting stroke was picture perfect, and the rotation on his jumpmshot was great as well. Defensively, [player_tooltip player_id="1217934" first="Anthony" last="Bates Jr"]. wreaked havoc with his incredibly active hands, finding several ways to get a finger on every ball that came through the air and every rebound that came his way. He constantly forced ball-handlers to change directions due to his knack for anticipating the move and cutting off angles. This kid was by far the best all-around basketball player in the building. Great upside, his potential is through the roof, the sky’s the limit for this young prospect. <hr /> [player_tooltip player_id="1125973" first="Isayah" last="Pankey"] | Point Guard | Woodrow Wilson HS | C/o 2024 [player_tooltip player_id="1125973" first="Isayah" last="Pankey"] stood out as one of the more exciting and electrifying prospects of them all. Pankey put his college-level skills and potential on full display from the jump, making brilliant plays on both ends before he ever broke a sweat. True floor general that ran the show by pushing the pace in transition where he displayed his remarkable passing abilities by setting his teammates up for layups in strides, Pankey’s excellent instincts and anticipation for the play allowed him to throw guys open left and right. His ball skills were highly impressive, the 6-foot-2-inch guard has a bag full of handles that he used to touch the paint on a play-to-play basis. Not to mention, his phenomenal speed and quickness with the rock while weaving in and out of traffic shifting gears. Very pesky defender, great feet, crowded his man’s space, pressured opposing ball-handlers from halfcourt, and forced guards into throwing bad passes or picking up their dribble. <hr /> <img class="size-medium wp-image-1294051 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/09/IMG-3279-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /> [player_tooltip player_id="1126049" first="Xavier" last="Cato"] | Point Guard | South Oak Cliff HS | C/o 2024 Sophomore lead guard [player_tooltip player_id="1126049" first="Xavier" last="Cato"] caught my attention as the best one-on-one prospect I viewed all day. This kid was on fire, everything he put up turned to gold, he couldn’t miss even if he wanted to. His ability to put points on the board was on another level, super slippery when tightly defended, he actually seemed more effective when given a small margin of space to operate. [player_tooltip player_id="1126049" first="Xavier" last="Cato"] proved to be an incredibly crafty bucket getter that made creating holes and separation off the bounce look as easy as ever. Cato also showed tremendous body control by doing an outstanding job of using his frame to draw contact or shield off defenders to protect the ball on the dribble drive, while leaning into his defender giving them no choice but to give up the layup or make him earn it from the foul line. This 6-foot standout constantly put pressure on the rim as well as opposing defenders with his relentless attacking style of play. <hr /> <img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1294753" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/09/80-Rylan-Kennedy-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />[player_tooltip player_id="1176704" first="Rylan" last="Kennedy"] | Small Forward | Mansfield Lake Ridge HS | C/o 2023 6-foot-5-inch, [player_tooltip player_id="1176704" first="Rylan" last="Kennedy"] showed off his effort, intensity, and awareness as a defender and proceeded to translate it to the offensive side of the ball where he proved to be insanely dangerous in the open floor, covering a lot of ground with his enormous strides while attacking the basket fearlessly, Kennedy was a nightmare for defenders to try to stop or slow down when coming downhill with a full head of steam. In the halfcourt set, Kennedy took the defense off the dribble with his explosive first step before slashing through the lane like a mad man. This top-notch athlete displayed the ability to jump out of the gym and throw it down with the best of them, showing off his high flying dunks on the fastbreak while getting his head well above the rim to slam home some mean tomahawk and windmill dunks. [player_tooltip player_id="1176704" first="Rylan" last="Kennedy"] is a noteworthy name, he stood out as a stud with good versatility and glimpses of greatness, and he even had times where he took over the game on both ends of the floor. <hr /> [player_tooltip player_id="961956" first="Caylon" last="Davis"] | Point Guard | Waxahachie HS | C/o 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="961956" first="Caylon" last="Davis"] was a remarkable score-first point guard that had no trouble creating his own shot, he put his bucket getting prowess on full display often seeming practically unguardable at times with the way he quickly read his defenders and got guys off-balance and out of place. Davis knows his spots and how to get to them very well and he’s just as gifted from a multitude of other areas on the floor. His most threatening assets had to be his quickness and ability to create off the dribble with either hand and top speeds which also proved to be too much for most defenders to handle alone. [player_tooltip player_id="961956" first="Caylon" last="Davis"] displayed a knack for stopping on a dime, changing speeds, and directions before accelerating with a blow-by off of one dribble. <hr />